14 June

Pick a Day

14 JUNE

In Music History

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2020 BTS draw about 750,000 viewers (in 107 countries) to their Bang Bang Con livestream concert, earning an estimated $20 million in ticket sales, far more than what a traditional concert could earn. It proves that livestream shows, which have mostly relied on donations, can be immensely profitable as ticketed events.

2018 At the end of his set at the World Cup opening ceremonies in Moscow, a petulant Robbie Williams flips off the camera.More

2017 The annual Bridge School benefit concert is cancelled after Neil Young begs off. The concerts, benefiting the school that treated Young's son Ben and others with disabilities, started in 1986.

2017 The National Music Publishers Association gives Yoko Ono the Centennial Award for song of the century and adds her name to the credits of the award-winning song, "Imagine." John Lennon took the sole credit, but later admitted he got the idea from Yoko's book Grapefruit, where she wrote things like, "Imagine 1000 suns in the sky at the same time."

2012 Drake and Chris Brown are involved in a fight at a New York City nightclub, with Brown accusing Drake of throwing a bottle at him. They had beef over Rihanna, whom they both dated.

2009 Bob Bogle (lead guitarist, bassist for The Ventures) dies of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at age 75.

2007 Chris Tomlin's cover of "Indescribable" is used as the official wake-up call for NASA astronaut Patrick Forrester while on the Space Shuttle mission STS-117.

2006 Rufus Wainwright, son of folk singer Loudon Wainwright III, recreates the whole of Judy Garland's legendary 1961 Carnegie Hall concert at the famous institution in order to mark the show's 35th anniversary.

2005 Backstreet Boys stray from their traditional pop fare with their rock-leaning comeback album, Never Gone. It debuts at #3 in America, sells over 10 million copies worldwide...and is slayed by critics.

2003 Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers is awarded a Member of the British Empire medal by Queen Elizabeth in London.

2003 "Bring Me To Life," the debut single from Evanescence, hits #1 in the UK and stays for four weeks. The song peaks at #5 in America.

2002 Moby's "Extreme Ways" plays during the end credits of the action thriller The Bourne Identity. The 18 track goes on to close out every installment in the long-running franchise.

2002 Cher starts her Living Proof: The Farewell Tour. Planned for 59 dates, it ends up at 325, bringing in 260 million dollars. It's billed as her final tour, though she ends up returning to music years later.

1996 Mathew Fletcher, drummer for Heavenly, commits suicide at age 26 just before the release of the band's fourth and final album, Operation Heavenly.

1996 Beatles producer George Martin is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

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Beatles Butcher Cover Gets Chopped

1966

Deeming its "butcher cover" in poor taste, Capitol Records recalls the new Beatles album, Yesterday and Today, which is scheduled for release the next day and has already been sent to stores.


The gory cover was shot in March by the Australian photographer Robert Whitaker, who is known for his artistry and sense of macabre. His concept is a play on how The Beatles are adulated religiously, with inspiration drawn from the works of the surrealists Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali. The shot of the group wearing butcher uniforms amid dismembered doll parts, raw pork and sausage links is meant to show how they are being torn apart by their celebrity. Capitol president Alan Livingston is horrified by the photo, but John Lennon loves it, so he goes along with it to appease the star. About 60,000 advance copies are sent to stores and media outlets, which is when the backlash begins. When it becomes clear that retailers won't put the album on shelves, Capitol begins the recall, claiming that the image was an attempt at "pop art satire" that didn't work. A furious effort begins to replace the cover. When the album is finally released on June 20, it is with an innocuous shot of the group posed around a trunk. Word of the "butcher cover" gets out, as not every copy made its way to Capitol. It also gets out that recalled copies had the new cover pasted on top of the butcher shot, so many owners take a shot at steaming the album to see if they have the magic ticket. Copies of the album with the original cover become a top-line collector's item and part of Beatles mythology. In 2016, a copy sells for $125,000.

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