7 JULY
Featured Events
2009 After a private ceremony at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood Hills, Michael Jackson's public funeral is held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Most TV networks cover the event, where Kobe Bryant, Mariah Carey, Andrae Crouch Choir, Motown founder Berry Gordy, Jennifer Hudson, Magic Johnson, John Mayer, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, Brooke Shields, Usher and Stevie Wonder all participate.More
1987 Eric B. & Rakim release their debut, Paid In Full, one of the first major rap albums filled with James Brown samples.
1984 "When Doves Cry" goes to #1 on the Hot 100, giving Prince his first chart-topper on the tally. The song is from his upcoming movie Purple Rain.
1980 In West Berlin, Led Zeppelin play their last concert with drummer John Bonham, who dies in September.
1977 Styx tie in with the date (7-7-77) by releasing their 7th album, The Grand Illusion.
1969 John Lennon releases "Give Peace A Chance" in the US, a song he and Yoko, along with a chorus of guests, recorded at their "bed-in" in a Montreal hotel room.
7 JULY
In Music History
2022 The only copy of Bob Dylan's newly recorded "Blowin' In The Wind" sells at auction for £1,482,000 ($1.7 million). Dylan recorded it with producer T Bone Burnett and the song was pressed to a disc in Burnett's new format, Ionic Original, which is made of aluminium but plays on a turntable.
2018 The Cure stage a 40th anniversary show in London's Hyde Park as part of the annual British Summer Time concert series. Frontman Robert Smith chose the lineup of opening acts, including Slowdive, Editors, Ride, Interpol, Goldfrapp, and The Twilight Sad.
2009 Lionel Richie got his first big break when The Commodores snagged 42 dates in the opening slot for The Jackson 5 in 1972. Thirty-seven years later on the same date, he performs The Commodores song "Jesus is Love" at a memorial service for the late Michael Jackson at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
2006 Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett dies at age 60.
2005 Former calypso artist Arthur Edlin Frederick is one of 52 innocent people killed in the 7/7 terrorist attacks in London.
2001 Sharon becomes the first Corr to wed when she marries Gavin Bonnar, a Belfast barrister. They will have two children, Cathal Robert Gerard and Flori Jean Elizabeth.
2001 Fred Neil, a folk singer-songwriter known for writing Harry Nilsson's hit "Everybody's Talkin'," dies during a battle with skin cancer at age 65.
1998 Barenaked Ladies release their fourth studio album, Stunt. It's the Canadian band's breakthrough record in the US, where it lands at #3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
1998 Along with his financial partner Don Barden, Michael Jackson announces plans to build an entertainment complex in Detroit called "The Majestic Kingdom." It never materializes.
1993 Mia Zapata (lead singer of The Gits), age 27, is murdered after being accosted by a stranger outside of Seattle's Comet Tavern. The case goes unsolved for years until DNA evidence links the crime to Florida fisherman Jesus Mezquia in 2003, who eventually is sentenced to 36 years in prison.
1992 Spinal Tap cap their reunion tour with a sold-out show at Royal Albert Hall in London.More
1992 Dream Theater release their second album, Images And Words, a progressive metal landmark.
1973 Paul McCartney & Wings release "Live And Let Die."
1973 Billy Preston's "Will It Go Round In Circles" hits #1 in America.
1971 Bjorn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Faltskog of ABBA are married in Verum, Sweden (it lasts eight years).
Live Earth Unites Musicians To Combat Climate Change
2007Live Earth, a series of concerts to initiate action against global warming, takes place around the world.
Following the tradition of benefit concerts like Live Aid and Live 8 to combat famine and poverty, and No Nukes to protest the use of nuclear energy, Live Earth is a call to action against global warming – with a twist. This concert series sends over 150 musical acts around the world and broadcasts its environmentally friendly message to over 130 countries via TV, radio, and the Internet. The green concert is spearheaded by producer Kevin Wall, founder of the environmental activist group Save Our Selves, and former US Vice President Al Gore. Gore, continuing his global warming-awareness campaign that was the subject of the 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth, challenges artists and concertgoers alike to sign a 7-point pledge. This includes using energy-efficient transportation and fighting to pass laws to expand the use of renewable energy sources. Live Earth fails to attract TV audiences in the US and UK, but sets a record for online entertainment with over 15 million streams during the live concert and 40 million more throughout the next month. Acts include Genesis, Duran Duran, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Kelly Clarkson, Kanye West, Garth Brooks, Bon Jovi, Shakira, and Lenny Kravitz. But it's not easy being green. Despite the organizers' intentions of making the event as eco-friendly as possible, Mother Nature has to pay a hefty price for the energy used to transport artists, crew members, and spectators across the globe. ABC News reports that over 100,000 trees need to be planted to offset the carbon emissions released during the concert, which also left a 1,000 ton pile of garbage in its wake. While Gore stands by Live Earth's success in raising awareness of the climate crisis, John Mayer, who didn't sign Gore's pledge, shared a different take. "If you want to peg me as not being entirely eco-friendly, you'll win," he told the press after his performance at the New York/New Jersey concert. "We're just getting together saying 'We want to be healthier.'"
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