8 JUNE
Featured Events
2004 Bolstered by the hit singles "Helena" and "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)," My Chemical Romance goes mainstream with their second album, Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge.More
2003 Billy Joel wins a Tony Award for the orchestration of his Broadway musical Movin' Out.
1996 Jars of Clay hit #37 with "Flood" - the first Top 40 hit for a Contemporary Christian band in the Alternative Rock era. Over the next few years, a steady stream of Christian Rock bands cross over, led by Creed.
1991 Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa get married. They have three children together.More
1990 Two days after a federal court declares the 2 Live Crew album As Nasty As They Wanna Be legally obscene, Charles Freeman, the owner of a record store in Ft. Lauderdale, is arrested for selling the album by six Broward county sheriff's deputies who are working undercover. He is later found guilty of selling obscene material and fined $1000. Police may have motive for targeting Freeman, as he is later arrested for selling cocaine.
1977 Kanye West is born in Atlanta, Georgia. He produces tracks for Jay-Z before starting his solo career in 2004 with his album The College Dropout.
1969 The Rolling Stones fire founding member Brian Jones, whose relationship with his bandmates has deteriorated beyond repair. Brian Jones tells the press he is leaving to "play my kind of music." Less than a month later, he is found dead at his home.
8 JUNE
In Music History
2020 Bonnie Pointer of The Pointer Sisters dies of a heart attack at 69.
2017 Country songwriter/producer Norro Wilson, who penned hits for George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Charley Pride, and others, dies at age 79.
2016 Brian May of Queen posts a note on his website objecting to Donald Trump's use of "We Are The Champions" at campaign events. "Regardless of our views on Mr. Trump's platform, it has always been against our policy to allow Queen music to be used as a political campaigning tool," May writes. The following month, Trump uses the song as his entrance music when he makes his first appearance at the Republican convention.
2012 Nat Reese, noted blues guitarist from West Virginia, dies at age 88.
2010 Olivia Newton-John plays a celebrity judge on the Glee episode "Journey To Regionals."
2004 Bad Religion release their 13th full-length studio album, The Empire Strikes First.
2004 Velvet Revolver release their first album, Contraband. The group is made up of former Guns N' Roses members Slash, Matt Sorum and Duff McKagan, along with Scott Weiland and Dave Kushner.More
2000 Sinead O'Connor comes out as a lesbian during an interview with Curve magazine, saying, "I would say that I'm a lesbian. Although I haven't been very open about that and throughout most of my life I've gone out with blokes because I haven't necessarily been terribly comfortable about being a lesbian. But I actually am a lesbian." She marries a man the following year and says she's "three-quarters heterosexual, a quarter gay."
1996 "Mother Mother" by Tracy Bonham goes to #1 on Billboard's Modern Rock chart. She's the last female solo artist to top the chart until 2013, when Lorde claims the top spot with "Royals."
1996 The Fugees' reworking of "Killing Me Softly," featuring lead vocals by Lauryn Hill, goes to #1 in the UK, where it becomes the top-selling single of 1996.
1991 Paula Abdul's second album, Spellbound, hits #1 in America. The ballad "Rush, Rush" and the rosy "The Promise of a New Day" both go to #1 on the Hot 100.
1985 Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" hits #1 in the US for the first of two weeks.
1984 Bruce Springsteen plays a surprise gig at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey, going on after the scheduled act to warm up for his Born In The U.S.A. tour.
1984 The movie Beat Street opens in theaters. One of the first films with a hip-hop backdrop, it features appearances by Doug E. Fresh, Melle Mel and Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force.
1981 Alex Band (vocalist for The Calling) is born in Los Angeles, California. His father is horror film director Charles Band, known for the Puppet Master franchise.
Dolly Parton's "I Will Aways Love You" Hits #1
1974Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" goes to #1 on the Country chart. Nearly two decades later, Whitney Houston's R&B version tops the Hot 100 and becomes one of the best-selling singles of all time.
Parton wrote the bittersweet ballad of undying (platonic) love for her longtime mentor Porter Wagoner, who saw her rise to success during her seven years as a singer on his television show. The two also recorded 13 duet albums together before Parton decided to part ways. "If I should stay, I would only be in your way," she sings. In reality, Wagoner was standing in Parton's way as mentor and protege continuously butted heads over her decision to go solo. The song was a last-ditch effort to bring her stubborn partner around to the idea. "It's saying, 'Just because I'm going don't mean I won't love you. I appreciate you, and I hope you do great, and I appreciate everything you've done, but I'm out of here,'" Parton explained. It worked, but Wagoner insisted on producing the track. Not only does the song land at #1 on the country chart in 1974, it does it again when it's re-released in 1982, making Parton the first artist to reach #1 twice with the same song. Meanwhile, an 11-year-old choir girl in New Jersey named Whitney Houston is just beginning to sing solos in church. Little does anyone know, her powerhouse rendition as sung to Kevin Costner in The Bodyguard (1992) will become the defining version to many. It holds the #1 spot on the Hot 100 for 14 weeks and carries the distinction of being the best-selling single ever from a female artist. Several other artists have recorded the ballad, including Linda Ronstadt with a pre-Whitney R&B version, but not Elvis Presley. The King's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, tried to get Parton to sign over half her publishing rights before Elvis would record the cover, but she wouldn't be snookered into a raw deal. All in all, it's a lucrative bit of songwriting for Parton that leaves no room for sour grapes. Parton even presented Houston with the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female at the 1994 ceremony, where "I Will Always Love You" also won Record of the Year.
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Of all the artist I toured with, there's no doubt in my mind that Whithney Houston was my favorite!