26 MAY
In Music History
1993 Singapore lifts its decades-old ban on the music of The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Chicago.
1988 Frank Sinatra appears in a commercial for Michelob singing "The Way You Look Tonight" as part of the brewery's "The Night Belongs to Michelob" ad campaign.
1987 Richard Marx releases his first single, "Don't Mean Nothing," featuring Joe Walsh on guitar. It climbs to #3 on the Hot 100, the first of seven consecutive singles to place in the Top 5.
1984 Deniece Williams' "Let's Hear It For The Boy," from the movie Footloose, hits #1 in America.
1982 Bobby Darin, who died in 1973, gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1977 Beatlemania!, a Broadway tribute to the music of The Beatles, starring sound- and look-alikes, opens at the Winter Garden Theater to rave reviews.
1977 R&B singer William Powell (of The O'Jays) dies of cancer at age 35.
1975 Lauryn Hill is born in East Orange, New Jersey.
1973 Carole King returns to her hometown of New York City to play a free concert in Central Park. The crowd, estimated at 70,000, includes Joni Mitchell, who sang on her Tapestry album. After enjoying the show, the crowd cleans up after themselves using garbage bags distributed by Parks Department.
1973 The Edgar Winter Group's rock instrumental "Frankenstein," titled because it was a monster to edit, hits #1 in America.
1973 Despite breaking up three years earlier, The Beatles land the #1 album in America, the compilation The Beatles 1967-1970.
1969 Still on their honeymoon, John Lennon and Yoko Ono check in to the Queen Elizabeth Hotel (the "Hotel La Reine") in Montreal, where they start their second week-long "bed-in" for peace. At the end of their stay, they record "Give Peace A Chance" with a chorus that includes Timothy Leary, Tommy Smothers and Dick Gregory.
1969 Janis Joplin lands on the cover of Newsweek with the headline, "Janis Joplin: Rebirth of Blues."More
1968 Little Willie John, known for '50s and '60s R&B hits like "Need Your Love So Bad" and "Fever," dies of a heart attack at age 30 while serving a sentence for manslaughter at Washington State Penitentiary. He was imprisoned in 1966 as a result of a fatal knifing incident after a performance in Seattle.
1967 Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention release Absolutely Free, their second studio album. Considerably more commercially successful than their debut album, it peaks at #41.
Michael Jackson Marries Elvis' Daughter
1994Michael Jackson marries Lisa Marie Presley, the child of Elvis, in a secret ceremony held in the Dominican Republic. The couple divorce 20 months later, citing irreconcilable differences.
Read more26 MAY
Featured Events
2006 The right-leaning National Review reveals their list of the 50 greatest conservative rock songs. At the top is "Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who, which is praised for its revolutionary spirit. Next on the list is "Taxman" by The Beatles and "Sympathy For The Devil" by The Rolling Stones.
1999 Backstreet Boys' album Millennium sells 1.13 million units in its first week, establishing a new SoundScan-era record for sales in a single week.
1996 Firemen arrive at the burning home of Eric Clapton to find the guitarist running in and out of the home to save his guitar collection. The house is gutted, with about three million dollars in damage.
1977 Rock sensations and serial marketers Kiss provide Marvel Comics with a vial of their blood to be mixed with the red ink used to print their upcoming comic book. The photo op takes place at the printing plant in Depew, New York, where the comic will be made.
1974 An overenthusiastic crowd at a David Cassidy concert in London rushes the stage, injuring a thousand screaming fans and crushing 14-year-old Bernadette Whelan, who dies from her injuries four days later. A distraught Cassidy refuses to tour for the next 11 years.
1972 Mott The Hoople, on the verge of breaking up, are offered help from David Bowie, who allows them to record two songs he wrote. They pass on "Suffragette City" but cut "All The Young Dudes," which becomes their biggest hit and revives their career.
1964 Lenny Kravitz is born in Manhattan, New York, to The Jeffersons actress Roxie Roker and TV executive Sy Kravitz. He releases his debut album, Let Love Rule, in 1989.More
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