2010 Vampire Weekend release their second album, Contra, which goes to #1 in America. The cover girl is an unwilling subject, leading to a lawsuit.More
1999 Britney Spears releases her first album, ...Baby One More Time.More
1998 The 13th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies are held in New York. Inductees include the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, The Mamas & The Papas, Lloyd Price, Santana, and Gene Vincent.
1993 At the eighth annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Cream, Ruth Brown, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Doors, Frankie Lymon & the teenagers, Etta James, Van Morrison, and Sly & the Family Stone are welcomed into the hall. Cream reunite on stage, but Morrison skips the ceremony, becoming the first living inductee to do so.More
1991 "I Touch Myself" by Australian new wave girl group Divinyls hits #1 on the Australian ARIA chart, #4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and #10 on the UK charts. This is a landmark event, as the song deals very frankly with female libido and sexual desire - not just as the passive object of a male.
1974 Steve Miller's "The Joker" hits #1 in the US, leaving many to wonder what exactly is the "pompatus of love."
1959 Berry Gordy, who had a hit as a songwriter with "Lonely Teardrops," launches the Tamla Record Company with $800 he borrowed from his family. A year later, he changes the label's name to Motown Records.
2023 Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis, dies of cardiac arrest at 54.
2018 The movie Proud Mary opens in theaters with the tagline, "killing for the Man every night and day." John Fogerty is not pleased, tweeting his disapproval.More
2014 Beautiful: The Carole King Musical opens on Broadway. It wins a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album and is nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical.
2013 The 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow used by Freddie Mercury until his death in November 1991 is sold at an auction for £74,000 to a Russian businessman. It comes with a box of Kleenex Mansize tissues left in the car by the Queen frontman.
2013 Black Sabbath, complete with their newly reunited original frontman Ozzy Osbourne, announce the upcoming release of the album 13, the first Black Sabbath album in 18 years (since 1995's Forbidden).
2012 Lou Reed and John Cale of The Velvet Underground sue the Andy Warhol Foundation for licensing the iconic banana logo Warhol created for the band to third parties.
2004 Randy VanWarmer, who had a hit in 1979 with "Just When I Needed You Most," dies of leukemia at age 48.
2002 Saturday Night Live skewers the uproar over the rumor that 'N Sync will be appearing in the latest installment of the Star Wars franchise, Attack of the Clones. The skit features an over-the-top cameo by the boy band, including Jimmy Fallon as Justin Timberlake, singing their hit "Bye Bye Bye" and a Star Wars-themed ballad about being a "Jedi knight in these Jedi days."
2002 Adam Ant, suffering from manic depression, is arrested after bringing a starter pistol to a London pub and threatening to shoot customers. He left to get the pistol after some patrons were poking fun at him for his clothing.
1995 The 10th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies are held in New York. Inductees include The Allman Brothers Band, Al Green, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Martha and the Vandellas, Neil Young, and Frank Zappa.
1993 Zayn Malik, the first One Direction member to go solo, is born in East Bowling, Bradford, England.
1992 The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger and wife Jerry Hall have their third child, Georgia May Ayeesha.
1990 Bob Dylan plays the longest show of his career, performing 50 songs over four hours and 20 minutes at the club Toad's Place in New Haven, Connecticut. One of the songs in his set is "Dancing In The Dark," the only time Dylan covers a Bruce Springsteen song.
1981 The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) donates several rock albums to the Library of Congress, including Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde and KISS' Alive!
1977 Stephen Stills and Neil Young's album Long May You Run is certified Gold.
While awaiting emergency surgery for a strangulated intestine, Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees dies unexpectedly of a heart attack at age 53.
Maurice Gibb, along with twin brother Robin and older brother Barry, found fame in one of the most successful pop/rock groups of all time: the Bee Gees. The British trio was known for their three-part harmonies and unique vocal stylings throughout the '60s and '70s on chart-toppers like "Jive Talkin'," "You Should Be Dancing" and "Night Fever," especially the respective vibrato and falsetto from lead singers Robin and Barry. Their singing and songwriting prowess made the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, containing the hits "Stayin' Alive" and "How Deep Is Your Love," a worldwide sensation that exemplified the disco era. Maurice often felt like the third wheel with his brothers as leads, but he contributed backing vocals, melodies, arrangements, and instrumentation on their 22 albums spanning over 30 years. He occasionally took the lead on tracks he wrote, like "Lay It On Me," "Country Woman," and "On Time." Maurice married twice (first to Scottish pop singer Lulu from 1969-1973, then to Yvonne Spenceley Gibb from 1975 until his death) and had two children with his second wife. He fought a long battle with alcohol and drug abuse but cleaned up after younger brother Andy Gibb died in 1988 when addiction and depression led to fatal heart problems. The Bee Gees continued to work together in the ensuing decades, with some occasional breaks for solo efforts, on R&B-flavored songs. Their last album of new material was 2001's This Is Where I Came In. Shortly after Maurice's death, Robin and Barry decided to retire the Bee Gees in his honor.
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