Pick a Day

Music History Events: Awards and Honors

July 17, 1981 Universal Pictures releases the romantic drama Endless Love, starring Brooke Shields. The film is quickly forgotten, but the theme song, a duet by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross, spends nine weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earns Richie an Academy Award nomination for Best Song.

March 31, 1981 At the first ever Golden Raspberry Awards (aka The Razzies), Neil Diamond takes home the prize for Worst Actor for his performance as Yussel Rabinovitch in The Jazz Singer. Laurence Olivier, who played Cantor Rabinovitch in the film, also scores a Razzie for Worst Supporting Actor, an honor he shares with John Adames for Gloria.

October 13, 1980 George Jones wins Single of the Year at the Country Music Association awards for "He Stopped Loving Her Today," starting a career resurgence for the country legend.

January 16, 1979 Roger Miller sings a medley of songs on The Muppet Show. He also sings "In the Summertime" in a patch of musically skilled watermelons and drops the bombshell news that he, like the all-chicken cast of Vet's Hospital, once suffered from "Cluckitis."

January 8, 1979 Rush are named Canada's Official Ambassadors Of Music by the Canadian government.

April 15, 1977 Lynyrd Skynyrd are celebrated before the Atlanta Braves home opener in a ceremony to honor the band for their live album One More For The Road, which was recorded at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta.

March 24, 1975 Rush are named Most Promising Group at the Juno Awards. They fulfill that promise, winning Group Of The Year in 1978 and 1979.

March 1, 1975 Elvis Presley wins a Grammy for Best Inspirational Performance for his live version of "How Great Thou Art."

April 15, 1970 Michael Wadleigh's Woodstock, a film chronicle of the famed 1969 counterculture festival, wins the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

April 7, 1970 Popular songwriting team Hal David and Burt Bacharach win the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" from the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Performed by B.J. Thomas, it hit #1 on the US charts. Bacharach also takes the prize for Best Original Score for his work on the film.

January 3, 1970 Melody Maker names Al Stewart's Love Chronicles its folk album of the year.

October 21, 1968 Johnny Cash wins best album at the Country Music Awards for his live release Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison.

April 5, 1965 "Chim Chim Cher-ee," composed by The Sherman Brothers for the Disney musical Mary Poppins, wins the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

April 13, 1963 At the 36th Academy Awards, Bobby Darin is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a traumatized war hero in the drama Captain Newman, M.D. He loses to Melvyn Douglas in the Western Hud.

April 8, 1963 Frank Sinatra hosts the 35th Academy Awards, held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Lawrence of Arabia wins Best Picture, with composer Maurice Jarre taking home Best Original Score. Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer land Best Original Song for "Days Of Wine And Roses" from the film of the same name.

March 4, 1943 At the Academy Awards, Irving Berlin presents the Oscar for Best Original Song, which he wins for "White Christmas." He is the only presenter to ever win the award he presented.