Music History Events: Vegas
October 1, 2017 During Jason Aldean's headlining set at the Route 91 Harvest festival on the Las Vegas strip, a gunman opens fire from his suite at the nearby Mandalay Bay hotel, killing 58 and injuring over 500 in the deadliest mass shooting in US history.More
September 21, 2012 When Green Day's set is cut short at the iHeartRadio festival in Las Vegas, lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong flies off the handle, stopping the show and going into a rant where he says, "I'm not f--king Justin Bieber, you motherf--kers. You've got to be f--king joking."More
January 3, 2004 Britney Spears marries her childhood friend Jason Alexander (not the actor) at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas.More
March 25, 2003 Celine Dion begins her Las Vegas residency with the show A New Day... at Caesars Palace. With elaborate sets and a full dance troupe, it ushers in a new era of highly theatrical Vegas shows headlined by huge stars. Shania Twain, Elton John and Britney Spears all follow this path.
December 9, 2001 Perhaps hoping for a Nigel Tufnel Spinal Tap moment, Slash shows up at The Joint in Las Vegas, where his old band Guns N' Roses is playing. He is denied entry, as band management doesn't want to upset Axl Rose.
September 7, 1996 Rap star Tupac Shakur is shot five times in a drive-by following a boxing match in Las Vegas. He dies six days later at age 25.More
April 28, 1990 Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses marries Erin Everly (daughter of Don Everly of The Everly Brothers) at Cupid's Inn Chapel in Las Vegas. The rocky union lasts just nine months.
February 10, 1981 Natalie Cole is trapped in her suite on the 26th floor of the Las Vegas Hilton hotel when it catches fire.More
February 2, 1973 Elvis Presley meets Muhammad Ali in Las Vegas. The two exchange gifts, and Ali later says, "I felt sorry for him because he didn't enjoy life the way he should. He stayed indoors all the time. I told him he should go out and see people."
January 14, 1970 At the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, The Supremes play their last concert with Diana Ross, who introduces her replacement, Jean Terrell. Ross performs with the group just once more: at the Motown 25 TV special in 1983.
July 31, 1969 Elvis Presley comes to Vegas! Making his first live concert appearance since March 25, 1961, he plays the International Hotel in Las Vegas, the first of 57 shows that help revive his career and earn him $1.5 million.
September 11, 1967 Frank Sinatra, who is playing at the Sands casino in Las Vegas, gets in a fight when he is denied credit as part of a policy put in by the new owners. He breaks two teeth in the altercation and soon takes his talents (and money) to Caesar's Palace.
May 6, 2008 Cher begins her "Cher at the Colosseum" shows at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, planning to play 200 concerts over three years. The run ends in February, 2011 with 192 performances, since eight were canceled.
July 26, 2003 Vegas mainstay Tom Jones in inducted into the Gaming Hall Of Fame, along with Harrah's exec Phil Satre.
October 10, 1999 Las Vegas' Grand Hotel holds an auction of several hundred thousand dollars' worth of Elvis memorabilia, including the King's wristwatch, cigar box, and his 1956 Lincoln Continental.
August 29, 1999 HBO premieres Cher: Live In Concert From Las Vegas. The singer performed at the sprawling MGM Grand Las Vegas, the second largest hotel in the world (by number of rooms).
August 23, 1999 Phil Everly of The Everly Brothers marries his third wife, Patti Arnold, at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.
November 14, 1997 Though it's not a sell-out, The Bee Gees' show at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas still manages to gross a stunning $1,681,100. Tickets ranging in price from $50-$300 give the Arena its highest gross of the year.
December 25, 1995 Dean Martin, also suffering from lung cancer, dies from acute respiratory failure due to emphysema at age 78. Las Vegas honors the legend by dimming the lights along the city's famous Strip.
August 26, 1973 At the Hilton in Las Vegas, Bobby Darin plays his final concert. The singer dies on December 20.
February 18, 1973 At Elvis Presley's concert in Las Vegas, four men climb on stage and try to shake his hand. They are quickly thwarted by security and Elvis' bass player Jerry Scheff. Elvis tells the crowd, "Immobilize the men using karate moves." No charges are filed. Elvis tells the audience: "I'm sorry I didn't break his goddamned neck, is what I'm sorry about."
August 26, 1969 Elvis Presley cracks himself up during his concert in Las Vegas when he changes a lyric to "Are You Lonesome Tonight," singing, "Do you gaze at your bald head and wish you had hair?"More
October 8, 1968 Mama Cass Elliot of The Mamas & the Papas, makes her solo debut at the Circus Maximus theater at Caesars' Palace in Las Vegas, where she is scheduled for two shows a night for three weeks at a rate of $40,000 per week. She gets sick before the first show but does both anyway, straining to get through them. The rest of the run is cancelled, and Elliot undergoes throat surgery.
May 1, 1967 Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu are married in a private ceremony at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. They met seven years earlier when Priscilla was 14, but she claims they didn't consummate their relationship until this wedding night.
June 17, 1964 Elvis Presley's 15th movie, Viva Las Vegas, co-starring Ann-Margret, opens nationally.
October 6, 1959 At 23 years old, Bobby Darin becomes the youngest ever headliner at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas.
May 16, 1959 Wayne Newton, 16 years old, makes his Las Vegas debut, performing with his brother, Jerry, at the Freemont Hotel downtown. A few years later, he becomes a Vegas Star and a regular on the Strip.
September 7, 2020 Lily Allen marries David Harbour (Hopper on Stranger Things) at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, with an Elvis impersonator presiding.
November 16, 2019 After 1,730 performances, Donny and Marie Osmond play their last show at the Flamingo in Las Vegas, where they started their residency in 2008.
May 1, 2019 Joe Jonas of Jonas Brothers marries Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner in Las Vegas, where an Elvis impersonator officiates. The marriage lasts until September 2023, when Joe files for divorce.
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