17 NOVEMBER
Featured Events
2007 Twenty-eight years after their last #1 album (The Long Run), the Eagles return to the top spot in America with Long Road Out Of Eden, a double album initially sold only at Walmart for the bargain price of $11.88. The group released the album on their own label, allowing them to keep a hearty chunk of the profits.
2000 Cher makes her first appearance on the TV show Will and Grace, in the episode "Gypsies, Tramps and Weed."
1988 Unable to deny his sexual orientation any longer, Elton John divorces from German recording engineer Renate Blauel, whom he married in 1984.
1988 Guns N' Roses get the cover of Rolling Stone with the headline, "Hard-Rock Heroes." The magazine compiled the story that summer when the band was on tour as the opening act for Aerosmith. Aerosmith assumed they were getting the cover, but by the end of the tour, their opening act had become much more popular.More
1979 The Guinness Book of World Records verifies ABBA as the biggest-selling recording group in history.
1966 Jeff Buckley, known as Scott "Scottie" Moorhead to his family, is born in Los Angeles, California.More
1962 The Four Seasons' "Big Girls Don't Cry" hits #1 in the US. It holds the top spot for five weeks.
1960 TV personality RuPaul, known for the hit "Supermodel (You Better Work)" is born RuPaul Andre Charles in San Diego, California.
17 NOVEMBER
In Music History
2020 Shazam announces the most-Shazamed songs in history. The Top 5: 1) "Dance Monkey" - Tones and I 2) "Prayer In C" - Lilly Wood & The Prick 3) "Let Her Go" - Passenger 4) "Wake Me Up" - Avicii 5) "Lean On" by Major Lazer
2016 Peter Gabriel launches the "Imprisoned For Art" campaign, an effort to free prisoners around the world who have been sent to jail for opposing their governments. More
2016 Ludacris opens the Chicken + Beer restaurant, named after his 2003 album, in Concourse D of Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta.
2014 Soul singer Jimmy Ruffin dies in Las Vegas, Nevada, at age 78. His hits include "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" (1966) and "Hold On (To My Love)" (1980).
2006 Icelandic rock act the Sugarcubes take the stage in Reykjavik for the first time in 14 years. The group, whose most famous alumnus is Björk, reassembles to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its debut single, "Birthday."
2006 R&B singer Ruth Brown dies after suffering a heart attack and stroke at age 78. Known for '50s hits like "So Long," "Teardrops From My Eyes," and "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean."
2003 Songwriter and country musician Don Gibson dies of natural causes at age 75. Wrote the country standards "Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You."
2003 Soul singer Arthur Conley dies of intestinal cancer in Ruurlo, Netherlands, at age 57.
2003 Tori Amos releases her first compilation album, Tales Of A Librarian.
2003 Let It Be... Naked, a stripped-down version of The Beatles' Let It Be album, is released. Phil Spector produced the original, and the new release removed his lavish strings and other accoutrements.
2003 After collapsing on stage during a concert in London, Meat Loaf is rushed to a nearby hospital with what a publicist terms "exhaustion due to a prolonged viral infection" but what is actually an irregular heartbeat requiring emergency surgery.
2000 Nickelodeon releases the film Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, an event significant in the music world because its soundtrack includes "Who Let The Dogs Out" by Baha Men. The song becomes a worldwide hit, charting in the Top 10 in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. It even becomes the unofficial anthem for New Year's Eve parties going into 2001.
1998 Retailers in the US are hit with a wave of superstar releases on what the industry dubs "Super Tuesday." Among the sets released are Garth Brooks: Double Live, Whitney Houston's My Love is Your Love, Mariah Carey's #1's, Jewel's Spirit, and three soundtracks associated with the animated film The Prince of Egypt.
1998 The Offspring release their fourth studio album, Americana, with the hit "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)."
1997 Shania Twain's second album, The Woman in Me, is certified Diamond for sales of 10 million copies.
Lou Reed Song Released As Charity Single With Bono, Bowie, Elton John
1997An all-star rendition of Lou Reed's 1972 song "Perfect Day" featuring Reed, Elton John, David Bowie, Tammy Wynette, Joan Armatrading and several other stars, is released as a single in the UK, with proceeds going to the BBC's Children In Need charity. It debuts at #1 on the UK singles chart and raises over £2 million for the appeal.
The song first appeared, unannounced, on September 20 as a promotional message on the BBC set to a video featuring the various artists. The BBC is government funded and uses their independence to play a wide variety of music, a point driven home by the diversity of artists who participated. Reed appears first, followed by Bono of U2. Next are: Skye Edwards of Morcheeba David Bowie Suzanne Vega Elton John Boyzone Lesley Garrett Burning Spear Bono (again) Thomas Allen Heather Small Emmylou Harris Tammy Wynette Shane McGowan Dr. John David Bowie (again) Robert Cray Huey Morgan of the Fun Lovin Criminals Ian Broudie of The Lightning Seeds Gabrielle Dr John (again) Evan Dando evan dando Courtney Pine (on saxophone) Brett Anderson of Suede Joan Armatrading Laurie Anderson (Reed's girlfriend, later his wife) Heather Small (again) Tom Jones Heather Small (again) Lou Reed (again) Bowie produced the original version of the song, which appeared on Reed's album Transformer. The artists were paid a token £250 for their efforts. Viewers sent letters, made phone calls and even emailed the BBC, asking if the song was available. In response, the network organized the single release, with proceeds going to charity. After debuting at #1 on the UK Official Charts, it holds the top spot another week and stays in the Top 10 for a total of nine weeks.
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