December 31, 1970 Paul McCartney sues to dissolve The Beatles partnership and breaks ties with Allen Klein, whom the other three members have chosen to manage their affairs. The case drags on for years until the partnership is finally dissolved in a 1975 private agreement.
November 10, 1970 Martha Reeves (of The Vandellas) gives birth to her first and only son, Eric.
November 7, 1970 MGM Records president Mike Curb announces that his label is dumping 18 acts that "exploit and promote hard drugs through music."More
November 1, 1970 The Festfolk Quartet, which later becomes ABBA, play their first-ever concert at a Gothenburg, Sweden restaurant.
October 15, 1970 Music video director Chris Cunningham is born in Reading, Berkshire, England. Before working with artists like Björk ("All Is Full Of Love"), Madonna ("Frozen"), and Aphex Twin ("Windowlicker"), Cunningham starts his film career in model-making and prosthetic make-up. Hand-picked by renowned director Stanley Kubrick, he does animatronic work on what becomes the Stephen Spielberg film AI: Artificial Intelligence.More
October 12, 1970 Jesus Christ Superstar opens on Broadway, telling the story of the last seven days in the life of Jesus.More
October 4, 1970 Janis Joplin is found dead at the Landmark Hotel in Los Angeles after a heroin overdose. She was just 27.More
September 18, 1970 Jimi Hendrix is found dead in his basement. He had taken nine pills of the barbiturate Vesparax, that along with alcohol, caused a fatal overdose.More
August 30, 1970 Jimi Hendrix rocks the Isle of Wight Festival in his last British concert appearance. The show is plagued by technical problems, with the guitarist's amplifier picking up signals from the security radios. Other artists appearing onstage include Free, Joan Baez and The Moody Blues. The festival closes with a dawn performance by Richie Havens, who also opened at Woodstock.
August 26, 1970 The five-day Isle of Wight festival kicks off in England, boasting a very impressive lineup, including Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Donovan, Jethro Tull, Miles Davis, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Doors, The Who, The Moody Blues, Chicago, Procol Harum, Sly and the Family Stone, Free and, in his last concert appearance in England, Jimi Hendrix.More
June 21, 1970 Art Garfunkel makes his acting debut in the movie Catch-22. Paul Simon was also slated for a role in the film, but was dropped, leading to a rift that broke up Simon & Garfunkel.
May 16, 1970 Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane is arrested on charges of drug possession in his Bloomington, Minnesota, hotel room after police find him smoking pot. His eventual punishment is a $100 fine.
May 4, 1970 Later memorialized in the Neil Young song "Ohio," the Ohio National Guard fires on protesters at Kent State University, killing four students, two of whom weren't even protesting. This shameful event in American history leads to the formation of Devo, as Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale are both on campus and horrified by the events.More
April 10, 1970 In publicity materials released to promote his first solo album, McCartney, Paul McCartney indicates that he's done with The Beatles. Paul's comments in the press release are considered official confirmation that the band has broken up.More
March 8, 1970 Diana Ross performs for the first time as a solo artist, starting an 11-night engagement at the Monticello in Framingham, Massachusetts, where she hones her act for her Las Vegas debut in May. She left The Supremes two months earlier.
January 31, 1970 "Whole Lotta Love" reaches #4 in the US, the highest Led Zeppelin will ever chart on the Hot 100. Most of their songs, including "Stairway To Heaven," are not released as singles.
December 16, 1969 At the Fillmore West in San Francisco, Keith Emerson's band The Nice shares a bill with Greg Lake's band, King Crimson. The pair enjoy a jam session before the show and discuss a partnership, which with the addition of Carl Palmer from Atomic Rooster, becomes Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
December 4, 1969 Jay-Z (Shawn Corey Carter) is born in housing projects in Brooklyn - something he will remind us of many times in his early songs. Known for his lyrical dexterity, he becomes one of the top rappers in the game and also one of the most profitable, amassing over $1 billion with interests in liquor, apparel and record labels.
November 20, 1969 James Brown drags his road-weary band into King Studios in Cincinnati, where Clyde Stubblefield starts banging out a drum pattern. Brown makes it the basis of a song, which he calls "Funky Drummer." It's just a minor hit, but becomes one of the most sampled songs in hip-hop.
November 10, 1969 Sesame Street debuts on American public television. Many of the lessons are taught with songs, and in later seasons, musicians drop by to help out: Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, Ray Charles, Dixie Chicks and Alicia Keys are among the many to appear on the show. The two big names that turn down offers: Bruce Springsteen and Barbra Streisand.More
October 29, 1969 Douglas "SA" Vincent Martinez (vocalist, DJ for 311) is born in Omaha, Nebraska.
October 18, 1969 Peter Yarrow of the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary marries Mary Beth McCarthy, the niece of Senator Eugene McCarthy, at Saint Mary's Catholic Church in Willmar, Minnesota. His bandmate/best man Noel Paul Stookey wrote "Wedding Song (There Is Love)" for the occasion.
October 18, 1969 Rod Stewart joins Faces, formerly known as Small Faces.
October 18, 1969 Promoter Richard Nader puts on the first "Rock and Roll Revival" concerts, with performances by Chuck Berry, The Coasters, The Shirelles, Sha Na Na and Bill Haley. Held at Madison Square Garden's Felt Forum, the two shows sell out, leading to a series of similar concerts and the emergence of the "oldies" format.More
October 14, 1969 The University of Michigan student newspaper publishes a satirical story called "McCartney Dead; New Evidence Brought to Light," which adds to the rumors that Paul McCartney is dead.
October 12, 1969 Martie Maguire of The Chicks is born Martha Elenor Erwin in York, Pennsylvania.
September 20, 1969 Linda Martell's "Color Him Father" peaks at #22 on Billboard's Country chart. No Black woman gets higher on the chart until 2024, when Beyoncé's "Texas Hold 'Em" goes all the way to #1. That song is from her album Cowboy Carter, which features Martell.
September 13, 1969 At the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival, host Kim Fowley starts a rock tradition when he asks the crowd to hold up lighters for Eric Clapton and John Lennon.More
August 30, 1969 The Birmingham band Earth changes its name when lead singer Ozzy Osbourne announces on stage that the band's new name is Black Sabbath. The band had played "N.I.B.," "The Wizard," "Black Sabbath," and "Warning."
August 28, 1969 Paul and Linda McCartney have their first child: a daughter named Mary, named after Paul's mother.
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