2020 The South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, becomes the first major American festival cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Other tours and festivals around the world are called off soon after in efforts to limit the outbreak.More
2009 Thousands of Phish fans descend upon Hampton, Virginia, to see Page McConnell, John Fishman, Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon return to the stage for their first show since 2004. They open with "Fluffhead," a song they haven't played since 2000.
2000 Eric Clapton is inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, making him the first person inducted three times. He is also in as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream.More
1998 Liam Gallagher of Oasis headbutts 19-year-old British fan Benjamin Jones, breaking his nose. The incident takes place in Brisbane outside of the singer's hotel. Gallagher is charged with assault, but Jones later drops the case and pursues civil charges.
1982 Beauty and the Beat hits #1 in America, making The Go-Go's the first all-girl band with a #1 album.More
1976 EMI Records reissues 23 singles by The Beatles - every one of them charts (again) in the UK.
2017 Chance the Rapper, who made his debut mixtape, 10 Day, while on a 10-day suspension from school, announces a $1 million donation to the Chicago public schools.
2014 Charles Love (vocalist, guitarist for Bloodstone) dies of complications of pneumonia at age 68 in Kansas City, Missouri.
2013 Alvin Lee (lead vocalist, guitarist for Ten Years After) dies at age 68 from complications after a routine surgery.
2011 David Cassidy is the first contestant booted off Season 11 of The Celebrity Apprentice.
2010 The Golden Raspberry Awards judges decide the Jonas Brothers aren't capable of portraying themselves and bestow the trio with a Razzie for Worst Actor for Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience.
2010 Neo soul singer D'Angelo is arrested in Manhattan's West Village when he tries to solicit a sex act from a female undercover police officer.
2006 Pearl Jam makes their new single "World Wide Suicide" available as a free download after the track is leaked.
2006 Renown African musician Ali Farka Toure dies of bone cancer at age 66.
2006 New Orleans soul singer King Floyd dies from complications of stroke and diabetes at age 61.
2004 David Crosby (of The Byrds, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young) is arrested on marijuana and weapons charges in New York City (he's given a $5,000 fine and a conditional discharge).
2004 Peggy DeCastro (of The DeCastro Sisters) dies of lung cancer in Las Vegas, Nevada, at age 82.
2001 Michael "Smitty" Smith, drummer for Paul Revere & the Raiders, dies in Hawaii at age 58.
2001 MTV Cribs visits Redman's two-bedroom pad on Staten Island. Unlike the show's usual ostentatious fare, the rapper's modest crib is a testament to "keeping it real." The highlights are his makeshift doorbell (which is signaled by crossing two exposed wires), a freezer-full of Gorton's fish, and his cousin conked out on his living room floor.
1998 Sixto Rodriguez performs in South Africa for the first time, where his two albums from the early '70s have made him a star. Rodriguez, who didn't know about his popularity in that country until recently, is later the subject of the documentary Searching For Sugar Man, which chronicles a South African fan's quest to find him.
1995 Annie Lennox issues her second solo album, Medusa, a collection of covers. The first single is "No More I Love You's," originally recorded by the English group The Lover Speaks.
Diplo and his electronic dancehall project Major Lazer land a historic Havana gig, becoming the first US musical act to perform in Cuba in the new era of diplomatic relations between the island and the US, precipitating a visit from President Obama later in the month.
As President Obama prepares to become the first US president to visit Cuba in nearly a century, a celebration brews on the island. Thousands of Cubans gather outside of the US embassy in Havana for a free concert from Major Lazer, the first taste of Musicabana, a free music festival that will officially begin welcoming international acts in May. Major Lazer are joined on the Tribuna Antiimperialista stage by local DJs as a symbol of solidarity between the two nations, whose tense relations inspired the very monument on which they stand (it was erected in 2000 in tribute to the victims of American injustices). It's a special moment for the group's creator, Diplo, who tells the crowd, "We came to bring peace," before launching into reggae-infused remixes of Justin Bieber's "Sorry" and Macklemore's "Can't Hold Us." He says, "For as long as I can remember, Cuba has played an influential role on my love of music - Cuba has such a powerful cultural impact all over the world and for me, especially growing up in Florida, it became one of the biggest cultural centers for music to evolve from." The island is indeed a cultural center that plenty of artists from the US want to gain entrance to, but the cost of admission is pricey. Because Cuba doesn't offer the billion-dollar brand sponsorships that make stateside music festivals like Coachella and SXSW possible, outside acts have to pony up to play. Major Lazer stakes $150,000 to support their gig, which looks like chump change compared to the $7 million The Rolling Stones will shell out to fund their own trip weeks later. Until Cuban companies get on board with sponsorships, smaller acts will have to hoard plenty of pesos if they hope to hit the Havana stage.
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