17 MAY
In Music History
1971 The Christian musical Godspell opens at New York's Cherry Lane Theatre. It becomes the third-longest-running off-Broadway production of its day.
1970 Jean Knight records "Mr. Big Stuff" and King Floyd lays down "Groove Me" at the same sessions at Malaco Records' studios in Jackson, Mississippi. Both songs become huge hits, reviving the fortunes of the label.
1970 R&B singer Darnell Van Rensalier (of Shai) is born in New Jersey.
1970 Pop singer Jordan Knight (of New Kids on the Block) is born in Worcester, Massachusetts.
1969 At a shipyard in South Bristol, Maine, Pete Seeger launches the Clearwater, a sloop he sails to push for clean water initiatives, specifically in his beloved Hudson River. Don McLean is one of the original crew members.
1968 Dave Abbruzzese, drummer for Pearl Jam on their albums Vs. and Vitalogy, is born in Stamford, Connecticut, raised in Mesquite, Texas.
1967 The acclaimed Bob Dylan documentary Don't Look Back premieres at the Presidio Theatre in San Francisco. Directed by D. A. Pennebaker, it follows Dylan on his 1965 European tour.
1965 Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) is born Michael Trent Reznor in New Castle, Pennsylvania.
1965 Homer O'Dell (guitarist for Mint Condition) is born.
1961 New age singer Enya is born Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin in Dore, Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland. "Eithne" is pronounced "Enya," so she goes with that spelling to avoid confusion.
1959 Paul Di'Anno, Iron Maiden's lead singer on their first two albums, is born in London, England. He's beloved by fans but clashes with group leader Steve Harris, leading to his departure in 1981, when he's replaced by Bruce Dickinson.
1953 During a recording session at Atlantic Records studios in New York, Ray Charles learns that his mother has died. He continues on with the session, recording the song "Sinner's Prayer."
1953 George "Lightnin' Licks" Johnson, guitarist in The Brothers Johnson, is born in Los Angeles.
1952 Georgia Gibbs' "Kiss Of Fire" hits #1.
1952 Roy Adams (drummer for The Climax Blues Band) is born in Birmingham, England.
Chris Cornell Dies At 52
2017After performing with Soundgarden in Detroit, Chris Cornell is found dead from an apparent suicide at the age of 52.
Read more17 MAY
Featured Events
2013 Eight years in the making, Daft Punk's fourth album, Random Access Memories, features guest appearances from a range of artists including Giorgio Moroder, Nile Rodgers and Pharrell Williams. It becomes their first US chart topper, propelled by the massive worldwide hit single (and Nile Rodgers collaboration) "Get Lucky."
2012 Donna Summer dies of lung cancer at her home in Naples, Florida, at age 73.
2008 A pregnant Ashlee Simpson marries Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy. The union lasts three years.
1987 Tom Petty's home in Encino, California, burns to the ground. Petty and his family escape unharmed, but are traumatized by the blaze, which is determined to be arson. The perpetrator is never caught.More
1966 Bob Dylan, who had recently "gone electric" and added rock and roll instruments to his folk music, appears at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England. Just before he begins a version of his latest hit, "Like A Rolling Stone," a member of the audience, a folk purist angry at the move to rock, shouts out, "Judas!" Dylan responds with, "I don't believe you," adding, "You're a liar!" He then proceeds to tell the band to play the song "f--king loud."
1965 The FBI ends its two-year investigation into the Kingsmen song "Louie Louie," determining that the largely indecipherable lyrics are not obscene.
1963 It's the very first Monterey Folk Festival, featuring Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Peter, Paul and Mary and Joan Baez.
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