25 AUGUST
In Music History
1962 Little Eva, who takes care of Carole King and Gerry Goffin's daughter, takes their song "The Loco-Motion" to #1 in America.
1962 Vivian Campbell, who would replace the late Steve Clark as guitarist for Def Leppard, is born in Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
1958 The Elegants' "Little Star," an adaptation of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," hits #1 in America.
1956 Matt Aitken of the songwriting team Stock Aitken Waterman is born in Coventry, England. Among their hits: "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley.
1954 Rock singer/songwriter Elvis Costello is born Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus in Paddington, London, England. He would adopt his stage surname from his dad, who performed as Day Costello.
1952 Geoff Downes (keyboard player/songwriter for Asia and Yes) is born Stockport, Cheshire, England.
1951 Rob Halford, the hell-bent-for-leather frontman of Judas Priest, is born in Sutton Coldfield, England.
1950 Willy DeVille (of rock band Mink Deville) is born William Paul Borsey Jr. in Stamford, Connecticut. Known for "Storybook Love," a collaboration with Mark Knopfler that served as the theme to the 1987 movie The Princess Bride.
1949 Gene Simmons (of Kiss) is born Chaim Weitz in Haifa, Israel, to Nazi concentration camp survivor Flora Klein and her carpenter husband, Feri.
1942 Walter Williams (of The O'Jays) is born in Canton, Ohio. He would go on to be a spokesman for multiple sclerosis, an illness he was diagnosed with in 1983.
1941 Christopher Augustine (drummer for Every Mother's Son) is born in New York. Known for the 1967 hit "Come on Down to My Boat."
1941 Skinnay Ennis records "Don't Let Julia Fool Ya."
1933 Jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter is born in Newark, New Jersey. Known for several compositions for Miles Davis, including "Prince of Darkness," "Footprints" and "Sanctuary."
1918 Composer Leonard Bernstein is born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Known for his work on Broadway smashes West Side Story, Peter Pan and On the Town, among others.
Lauryn Hill Releases First Solo Album
1998Fugees member Lauryn Hill releases her solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. It becomes the first hip-hop album to win the Grammy for Album of the Year.
Read more25 AUGUST
Featured Events
2009 Skillet's Awake album debuts at #2 on the US albums chart, tying with Underoath's Define The Great Line and Casting Crowns' The Altar and the Door for the highest-charting Christian rock album. The album also features their first Hot 100 entry: "Awake and Alive."More
2001 After shooting the music video for "Rock The Boat" in The Bahamas, 22-year-old Aaliyah dies in a plane crash along with eight others when the overloaded aircraft goes down shortly after takeoff.More
1994 Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin reunite in a London studio to record the concert that becomes the MTV special Unledded.
1979 The Knack's "My Sharona" hits #1 in the US for the first of six weeks.
1976 Boston release their self-titled debut album, which despite being mostly recorded in Tom Scholz' basement studio, becomes one of the best-selling debuts of all time.More
1975 Bruce Springsteen releases his third album and big breakthrough: Born to Run.
1970 The little-known 23-year-old singer Elton John plays his first live show in the United States, co-headlining with the singer/songwriter David Ackles at The Troubadour in West Hollywood. The show gets rave reviews, giving him a huge career boost in America.More
1970 Jimi Hendrix opens Electric Ladyland Studios in New York City. He dies a few months later, but the studio lives on, with many major acts recording there over the years.
1967 Jimmy Page's band The Yardbirds play the Village Theatre (later the Fillmore East) in New York City, where their opening act, Jake Holmes, plays his song "Dazed And Confused." Later with Led Zeppelin, Page releases a very similar song with the same title.More
1961 Billy Ray Cyrus is born in Flatwoods, Kentucky. The "Achy Breaky Heart" singer is also known as dad to Hannah Montana alum Miley Cyrus.
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