18 MARCH
In Music History
1992 Donna Summer gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1982 Soul singer Teddy Pendergrass of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes is partially paralyzed following a car accident in Philadelphia, where his Rolls Royce skids off a road and crashes.
1979 Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine is born in Los Angeles.
1978 Cal Jam II takes place at Ontario Motor Speedway outside of Los Angeles. The largest festival of the late '70s, performers include Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Foreigner, Santana and Heart. An estimated 350,000 fans attend; the Los Angeles Times reports that 700 of them were treated for overdoses of Angel Dust.
1977 Devin Lima of LFO is born Harold Lima in Boston, Massachusetts.
1976 The Man Who Fell To Earth, starring David Bowie, premieres in London. The film is based on Walter Tevis' novel of the same name, about an alien who visits Earth in search of water for his planet, which is suffering from a drought. It's Bowie's first major film role.
1974 Stuart Zender (original bass guitarist for Jamiroquai) is born in London, England.
1970 Queen Latifah is born Dana Elaine Owens in Newark, New Jersey.
1967 The Beatles "Penny Lane" reaches #1 on the US Hot 100. There is a real Penny Lane in Liverpool, but the song is written about the bus station.
1967 Steve Winwood announces plans to form Traffic.
1966 Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell is born in Tacoma, Washington.
1965 The Supremes debut "Stop In The Name Of Love" on the BBC special The Sound of Motown, performing the traffic cop choreography that becomes forever associated with the song.
1965 The Standells appear on the "Far Out Munsters" episode of The Munsters.
1963 Vanessa Williams is born in Tarrytown, New York. She becomes the first Black woman to win Miss America, but gives up the crown when nude pictures of her are published. It takes several years, but Williams is able to move past the controversy and establish herself as a successful singer and actress.
1963 Jeff LaBar (guitarist for Cinderella) is born in Darby, Pennsylvania.
Neil Young Goes To #1 With "Heart Of Gold"
1972Neil Young's "Heart Of Gold," with backing vocals by James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt, goes to #1 in the US.
Read more18 MARCH
Featured Events
2017 Rock originator Chuck Berry dies at age 90.
2017 Katy Perry accepts the National Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign for her work supporting LGBTQ causes. In her speech, she admits that she did more than just kiss a girl.More
2001 Thanks to airplay on British radio, Eva Cassidy's album Songbird goes to #1 in the UK, five years after the singer's death.
1996 The Sex Pistols announce that they are reuniting for a 20th anniversary tour, which they call the Filthy Lucre Tour. Lead singer Johnny Rotten, who once vowed never to reunite the group, says, "We have found a common cause to bring us back together again, and it's your money." The Sex Pistols tour again in 2002 and 2007.
1978 The Bee Gees' "Night Fever" hits #1 on the Hot 100 and stays there for eight weeks, becoming the longest-running chart-topper of 1978.
1965 On Moosic Street in Scranton, Pennsylvania, a tractor-trailer carrying 15 tons of bananas loses control and crashes into cars, telephone poles, and houses on its way down the hill, injuring many people and killing the driver. Singer-songwriter Harry Chapin tells the story of the tragic event in his song "30,000 Pounds Of Bananas."
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