2020 John Prine, who grew up near Chicago, is named the first honorary poet laureate of Illinois. Prine died of coronavirus three months earlier.
2017 Jay-Z releases his album 4:44, which addresses the infidelity accusations his wife Beyoncé leveled at him in her album Lemonade. "Let the baddest girl in the world get away," he raps on the opening track, "Kill Jay-Z."
2015 Apple launches a new streaming service, Apple Music.
2012 In Kiev, Queen launch their first tour with American Idol alumnus Adam Lambert on lead vocals. The band had previously toured with Paul Rodgers.
2009 U2 launch their 360 tour with a show in Barcelona. 109 shows later, the tour finishes with $735 million in earnings, blowing away the $558 million record set by The Rolling Stones on their 2005-2007 A Bigger Bang tour. Ed Sheeran breaks the record in 2019 when his ÷ (Divide) tour rakes in $775 million.
2008 Olivia Newton-John marries Amazon John Easterling, a TV producer and entrepreneur.
2006 Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey divorce after three years of marriage.
2006 US president George W. Bush and Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi visit Graceland in Memphis.
2004 Dave Davies of The Kinks suffers a massive stroke while walking out of a BBC building in London. Completely incapacitated for a few days, he gradually recovers, re-learning how to walk and play guitar over the next few years.
2001 The Rockabilly Hall of Fame opens in Jackson, Tennessee.
2001 Chet Atkins, a country guitarist and forerunner of the burgeoning Nashville sound of the '50s, dies of cancer at age 77.
1998 System Of A Down release their frantic self-titled debut album. The singles "Sugar" and "Spiders" earn airplay on rock radio and MTV, and as the band builds a following through touring, it goes on to sell over a million copies in America.
1995 Phyllis Hyman commits suicide by drug overdose at age 45. Known for the 1979 hit single "You Know How to Love Me," among others.
1994 Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam testify before congress to make their case against Ticketmaster - the band couldn't keep ticket prices for a planned tour under $20 because of Ticketmaster's fees, so they decided to cancel it. The hearing draws attention to the issue but nothing comes of it.
1993 Six days after falling off a 10-foot platform during rehearsal for a game show, 31-year-old Wong Ka Kui (lead singer of Beyond) dies of his head injuries.
Marvel Comics publishes a Kiss comic book with a vial of their blood mixed into the ink.
Read more2019 Taylor Swift's former label, Big Machine, is sold to Scooter Braun's company for an estimated $300 million, giving him control of her back catalog, including the master recordings. In response, Swift accuses Braun of bullying her and says she will re-record all her old albums to devalue his purchase.More
2009 Spinal Tap start (and end) their One Night Only World Tour at Wembley Arena in London.
2000 During a Pearl Jam concert at Denmark's Roskilde Festival, nine people are crushed to death as the crowd rushes the stage. Several people fall and can't get up, and in addition, crowdsurfers are falling into the open area. Pearl Jam stops the show and asks people to back up, but it is too late. Investigations conclude that the events were an accident, and many European venues ban crowdsurfing. The Pearl Jam song "Love Boat Captain" refers to the events with the line "Lost nine friends we'll never know... two years ago today."
1984 Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark" reaches its chart peak of #2 on the Hot 100. The song spends four weeks at runner-up, held off the last three by Prince's "When Doves Cry." Springsteen never does reach #1 (except as a writer: Manfred Mann's Earth Band took "Blinded by the Light" to #1 in 1977), but the next six singles from his Born In The U.S.A. album all hit the Top 10.
1975 Cher marries Gregg Allman. Their union produces a son (Elijah Blue Allman) and an album, but ends for good in 1979.
1975 The Jackson 5 announce they will be leaving Motown Records for Epic Records and changing their name to The Jacksons because Motown owns The Jackson 5 name.
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