26 FEBRUARY
Featured Events
2002 The Bee Gees play what is to be their final concert, performing at Miami Beach's Love and Hope Ball, a benefit for the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation.
2002 Norah Jones releases her debut album Come Away With Me, a jazz-inflected set that wins the Album of the Year Grammy and sells over 10 million copies in America.More
2001 Daft Punk's second album, Discovery, marks a change in their musical direction from house to electronic disco. Taking a leaf from fellow European electronic artists Kraftwerk, they choose to hide their faces - performing and appearing in music videos wearing stylized robotic helmets.
1997 Perhaps trying to make amends for giving them just four awards when they were still together, The Grammys give The Beatles three awards: two for "Free As A Bird" and another for their Anthology video.More
1997 At 14, LeAnn Rimes becomes the youngest person to win a Grammy Award when she takes the trophies for Best New Artist and Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her debut single, "Blue."
1966 Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" climbs to #1 in America.More
1953 Michael Bolton is born Michael Bolotin in New Haven, Connecticut. Before reaching soft-rock stardom, he fronts a hard-rock band called Blackjack.More
1932 Johnny Cash is born in Kingsland, Arkansas.
1928 Fats Domino is born Antoine Domino in New Orleans, Louisiana. One of nine children, he quickly masters the piano, taking the name Fats from piano great Fats Waller (and also, he's 5'5" and well over 200 pounds).
26 FEBRUARY
In Music History
2022 The Avicii Experience museum opens in Stockholm with interactive and real-life exhibits dedicated to the DJ/producer, who died in 2018 at 28.
2011 Mark Tulin (bassist for The Electric Prunes) dies of a heart attack at age 62 while helping at an underwater cleanup event in Avalon, California.
2010 Though they are separated, The-Dream and Christina Milian welcome a baby daughter, Violet.
2009 The Biography Channel airs the debut episode of The Chris Isaak Hour, a new talk-show featuring top musical guests. In this episode, presenter Chris Isaak interviews country artist Trisha Yearwood.
2008 Drummer Buddy Miles dies of congestive heart disease in Austin, Texas, at age 60.
2003 Fife player Othar "Otha" Turner dies in Gravel Springs, Mississippi, at age 95.
2002 John Fogerty, Elton John, Eagles, Stevie Nicks, and Billy Joel perform at the multi-venue Los Angeles charity benefit Four Concerts for Artists' Rights, proceeds of which benefit a labor-friendly musicians' organization called the Recording Artists Coalition.
1997 Bluegrass newcomer Gillian Welch's debut album, Revival, is nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album but loses to Bruce Springsteen's The Ghost of Tom Joad.
1995 Former Led Zeppelin duo Jimmy Page and Robert Plant kick off a year-long world tour in Pensacola, Florida, supporting their live No Quarter reunion album.
1990 Cornell Gunter, former lead tenor for The Coasters, is murdered in Las Vegas, Nevada, at age 53. Gunter, who was in the midst of making a comeback, was shot in his car by an unknown assassin.
1985 The Judds win their first Grammy Award when "Mama He's Crazy" (their first #1 single) is named Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
1985 Bruce Springsteen wins his first Grammy, taking home the Best Male Vocal Performance award for "Dancing In The Dark." "What's Love Got To Do With It" by Tina Turner wins Song of the Year and Record of the Year.
1977 Doo wop singer Sherman Garnes (of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers) dies of a heart attack at age 36.
1977 Blues guitarist Bukka White dies of cancer at age 67 in Memphis, Tennessee.
Pet Shop Boys Make Cover Of Magazine Neil Tennant Worked For
1986Thanks to their hit "West End Girls," Pet Shop Boys land the cover of Smash Hits magazine, which their frontman, Neil Tennant, used to write for.
As a Smash Hits writer in the early '80s, Tennant interviewed acts like Big Country Bonnie Tyler, and Eurythmics. In 1983, on assignment in New York for a story on The Police, he met up with the dance music producer Bobby O. Teaming with Chris Lowe, whom he met two years earlier, Tennant formed Pet Shop Boys, wrote some songs, and recorded them with Bobby O. One of them was "West End Girls," which they released as a single on Epic Records in 1984. It sold well in France and Belgium, but didn't garner enough interest for Epic. They moved on to EMI in 1985, re-recorded the song with a different producer, and re-released it. This time, the song was a huge hit, reaching #1 in the UK in January 1986 and landing them the Smash Hits cover. In the piece, Tennant explains that their dour demeanor on TV is because they are genuinely miserable when making those appearances. He also reveals that he takes singing lessons twice a week. "West End Girls" goes on to conquer America as well, reaching #1 in May. Pet Shop Boys go on to a long and storied career with three more UK chart-toppers.
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