22 NOVEMBER
Featured Events
2019 Pollstar publishes their list of the top touring artists of the 2010s in North America. U2 is on top with a gross of $1,038,104,132, followed by The Rolling Stones ($929,196,083), Ed Sheeran ($922,361,663), Taylor Swift ($899,627,048) and Bon Jovi ($868,715,392).
1975 "That's The Way (I Like It)" by KC & the Sunshine Band goes to #1 in America.
1968 The Beatles release The White Album, a double album that contains both the soothing "Blackbird" and discomfiting "Helter Skelter."
1965 Bob Dylan marries his first wife, Sara Lownds, in Nassau County, New York; as she is already pregnant with his first child, the marriage is kept a secret for the next two months. The couple would divorce in 1977.
1963 US president John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas. The incident inspires several songs, including Connie Francis' "In The Summer Of His Years" and The Beach Boys' "Warmth Of The Sun."
22 NOVEMBER
In Music History
2020 For the third consecutive year, Taylor Swift wins Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards. She accepts from a Nashville studio where she's re-recording her first six albums, which have been acquired by a holding company.
2011 At her concert in Madison Square Garden, Taylor Swift brings out James Taylor - whom she's named after - to perform "Fire And Rain" and "Fifteen."
2010 On their fourth and final album, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, My Chemical Romance cast themselves as post-apocalyptic outlaws fighting corruption on the mean streets of California. More
2009 At the American Music Awards, Adam Lambert makes a statement with a lascivious performance of his debut single, "For Your Entertainment," where he drops a smooch on his (male) keyboard player.More
2008 Songwriter Alan Gordon (The Turtles' "Happy Together," Three Dog Night's "Celebrate") dies of cancer at age 64.
2006 After decades of living in California, Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood is finally naturalized as a citizen of the United States.
2005 A collection of poems written by Bob Dylan in 1959 and 1960 when he was a student at the University of Minnesota sells for $78,000 at auction. The poems are the first known time he used the name Bob Dylan - he was born Robert Zimmerman.
2005 Ne-Yo releases "So Sick," his first #1 single (as a singer) in both the US and UK.
2005 Just six months after their Mezmerize album, System Of A Down release Hypnotize, which also goes to #1 in America. The band splits up the next year; they re-form in 2010, but go that entire decade without another release.
2003 The Compaq Center in Houston closes with a final concert by ZZ Top, who performed there when it was known as The Summit. The venue is acquired by Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.
2002 Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger of The Doors announce plans to re-form with The Cult lead singer, Ian Astbury, and The Police drummer, Stewart Copeland. They initially tour as "The Doors of the 21st Century," but a lawsuit by original drummer, John Densmore (who declined to tour citing hearing loss), forces them to stop using the "Doors" moniker. They change their name to "Riders on the Storm" as a result of the litigation.
2001 Jazz musician Norman Granz, producer for Ella Fitzgerald, among others, dies at age 83.
2000 Ted Gardner, former manager of Tool, sues the members of the LA band, their corporation, and their publishing company, alleging breach of contract and fraud.
1994 Pearl Jam's third album, Vitalogy, is released, but only on vinyl. Two weeks later it is issued on CD.
1990 Two members of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, Ruben Gomez (16) and Sergio Gonzalez (18), are arrested for possession of marijuana at Miami International Airport and fired from the group. This does little to change the band dynamic, as Menudo regularly brings in younger members as others age out.
INXS Frontman Michael Hutchence Dies
1997Michael Hutchence of INXS dies in a Sydney hotel room in what the coroner rules a suicide. The famous frontman was just 37.
Hutchence's friends had been trying to reach him all morning after the singer left them several distraught messages indicating he was at an emotional brink. But they were too late. At 11:50 a.m., a maid at the Ritz-Carlton in Sydney's Double Bay discovers Hutchence hanging by a snakeskin belt from his suite's door. The INXS frontman was struggling with depression, taking Prozac and a range of illegal drugs to help cope, made worse by constant media scrutiny over his relationship with British TV host Paula Yates and her contentious custody battle with ex-husband Bob Geldof (The Boomtown Rats). INXS was in their native Australia preparing for the last leg of a world tour in support of their 10th studio album, Elegantly Wasted. Yates was supposed to visit with her daughters, including Tiger Lily, the 16-month-old girl she had with Hutchence. At the last minute, Geldof put the brakes on the plan, and Hutchence, lonely for his daughter, was beside himself. Yates recalled in her police statement that the singer was "frightened and couldn't stand a minute more without his baby." Coroner Derrick Hand rules the death a suicide as a result of Hutchence's depression coupled with drug and alcohol use. INXS made a steady rise in the '80s, conquering Australia years before they made inroads in America with the singles "Original Sin" (1984) and "What You Need" (1985). Their 1987 album Kick, the band's sixth, was their international breakthrough, booting them to superstar status with the first single, "Need You Tonight," a #1 hit in America. A bona fide rock star, Hutchence gave the tabloids plenty to write about, hanging out with famous friends (like Bono) and dating a string of celebrities, including Helena Christensen and Kylie Minogue. He was hard to pin down, keeping residences in various cities and always on the lookout for new projects. Making music got more and more difficult under the weight of celebrity. "Please, can I just sing?" he asked in 1994.
Categories
©2024 Songfacts®, LLC
Comments: 2
send your comment