24 FEBRUARY
In Music History
1941 Joanie Sommers is born Joan Drost in Buffalo, New York.
1940 Frances Langford records "When You Wish Upon A Star."
1932 Michel LeGrand is born in Bécon les Bruyères, France. A noted film composer, he earns his first Academy Award in 1968 for The Thomas Crown Affair's title song, "The Windmills Of Your Mind."
1711 George Frideric Handel's Rinaldo, the first Italian language opera written specifically for the London stage, premieres at the Queen's Theatre in London's Haymarket.
1607 Claudio Monterverdi's first opera, L'Orfeo, premieres in the The Ducal Palace, a group of buildings in Mantua, Lombardy. Monteverdi is considered the first opera composer to make it into a cohesive art-form.
Elton John Gets The Royal Treatment
1998Elton John is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
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Featured Events
1993 Eric Clapton wins big at the Grammy Awards, taking three awards for "Tears In Heaven," two more for his album Unplugged, and Best Rock Song for his acoustic version of "Layla."
1992 Balloting begins to decide the design on the new Elvis stamp. The choice is between a fit '50s Elvis or a more plump '70s one. Young Elvis wins in a landslide.More
1992 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana and Courtney Love of Hole are married in Hawaii, with a non-denominational, female minister conducting the ceremony.
1990 At the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, The Byrds' David Crosby, Roger McGuinn, and Chris Hillman reunite for a tribute concert honoring the recently deceased Roy Orbison and raising money to support the homeless, a cause Orbison was passionate about. Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, John Fogerty and Bonnie Raitt are also on the bill; the concert is later broadcast as a Showtime special.
1976 The Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) becomes the first album certified Platinum by the RIAA, a designation introduced in 1975.
1973 Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly With His Song" hits #1 for the first of five weeks, a longer run than any other song of 1973. It was written by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel, the guys who wrote the theme songs to Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley.
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