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 It's the first day of the two-day Isle of Wight Festival. Performers include Bob Dylan, the Moody Blues and The Who. This is the second Isle of Wight Festival - it goes on again next year, but doesn't return until 2002.
August 18, 1969 Jimi Hendrix closes out Woodstock with an early morning performance of "Hey Joe." The festival headliner, he was supposed to play the previous night, but when it ran long, he ended up taking the stage on a Monday morning. His set includes a scorching rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner."More
August 16, 1969 Eric Clapton's supergroup Blind Faith release their self-titled album. On the cover is a photo of a naked 11-year-old girl holding a model spacecraft.More
July 24, 1969 Jennifer Lopez is born to Puerto Rican parents in The Bronx in New York City.More
July 21, 1969 Blind Faith, a group comprised of Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ginger Baker and Ric Grech, release their self-titled debut album in the United States.More
June 10, 1969 With his father Jerry Lewis as guest host, Gary Lewis performs "This Diamond Ring" on The Tonight Show with his band Gary Lewis and the Playboys.
June 1, 1969 John Lennon and Yoko Ono record "Give Peace A Chance" to close out their "bed-in" in Montreal.More
May 1, 1969 Neil Young releases his second solo album, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, which features favorites "Cowgirl in the Sand," "Cinnamon Girl," and "Down by the River."
February 24, 1969 Johnny Cash plays one of his many prison concerts, this one at San Quentin State Prison in California. Recorded and released as the album Johnny Cash At San Quentin, it goes to #1 for four weeks and secures Cash's outlaw cred.
January 4, 1969 Jimi Hendrix is banned from the BBC after going off-script when he and his band, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, appear on the show Happening for Lulu, hosted by the "To Sir With Love" singer Lulu.More
December 28, 1968 Joni Mitchell, Fleetwood Mac, Steppenwolf and the Grateful Dead, land in Hallandale, Florida's Gulfstream Park to entertain 100,000 fans at Miami Pop Festival II, the East Coast's first major rock festival.More
December 26, 1968 Led Zeppelin's first US tour begins in Denver. They're the opening act for Vanilla Fudge.More
December 11, 1968 The Rolling Stones record their Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus TV special - and then bury it for nearly 30 years.More
December 7, 1968 The Grateful Dead play "Rosemary" at Bellarmine College in Louisville, Kentucky. Despite the song being one of the most popular among Deadheads, this is the only time the band plays it live.
November 12, 1968 Neil Young releases his self-titled debut solo album, featuring one of his most enduring songs, "The Loner." More
November 11, 1968 John Lennon and Yoko Ono release the album Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins with a cover photo of the pair naked. Many record stores stock it in a brown paper wrapper.More
September 29, 1968 The Supremes eschew their elegant dresses and go casual to perform "Love Child" on The Ed Sullivan Show. Diana Ross wears a sweatshirt, which is in line with the character in the song.More
July 20, 1968 Hugh Masekela's trumpet composition "Grazing In The Grass" hits #1 in America, knocking off trumpet player Herb Alpert's "This Guy's In Love With You."
May 11, 1968 A Rolling Stone review of Electric Flag's album A Long Time Comin' incorporates the first documented use of the phrase "heavy metal": "This is the new soul music, the synthesis of white blues and heavy metal rock."
April 22, 1968 "This Guy's in Love With You" becomes a huge hit after Herb Alpert sings it to his wife on the TV special The Beat of the Brass. The song, written by Burt Bacharach, is released as a single two days later thanks to viewer demand.
April 20, 1968 Apple Music, the Beatles' new label, runs their famous "This Man Has Talent" ads in Britain's New Musical Express, seeking demo tapes from unknown artists. Most are never heard but pile up in Apple's offices, and the majority of the label's signings are acquired through acquaintances.
April 12, 1968 The outspoken Frank Zappa performs at a dinner for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, who are the people who give us the Grammys. Zappa says the event is "a load of pompous hokum" and tells the audience, "All year long you people have manufactured this crap, now for one night you're gonna have to listen to it!"
April 5, 1968 With tensions high the night after Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated, James Brown goes ahead with his concert at the Boston Garden, agreeing to televise the show to help keep calm in the city.More
February 22, 1968 Genesis release their first single, "The Silent Sun." At this point, the band is a 5-piece fronted by Peter Gabriel with Chris Stewart on drums. Phil Collins joins two years later.
January 30, 1968 Cilla Black's BBC show Cilla debuts, adding another Britgirl to the UK television lineup. Unlike the shows of Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield, Sandie Shaw, and Lulu, Cilla has longevity, lasting until 1976. This series makes her one of the most popular television personalities in the UK until her death in 2015.
January 13, 1968 Johnny Cash plays two shows for inmates at Folsom Prison in California. Unlike his previous prison concerts, they are recorded and packaged into his acclaimed live album At Folsom Prison.More
December 9, 1967 Jim Morrison of The Doors is arrested onstage during his band's concert in New Haven, Connecticut. The singer is arrested after angrily telling the crowd about a backstage run-in he'd had with a police officer before the show. The officer had confronted Morrison and maced him while he was hanging out in a private area with a young woman. It's the first time a famous musician is arrested in the middle of a performance.More
November 9, 1967 The first issue of Rolling Stone magazine is published, with a photo of John Lennon on the cover and items about David Crosby, The Who and Country Joe McDonald (of Country Joe & the Fish).More
April 17, 1967 Liz Phair is born in New Haven, Connecticut; she is raised by her adoptive parents in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Winnetka, Illinois. She becomes a '90s indie-rock icon with her debut album, Exile In Guyville, a feminist treatment of the Rolling Stones' Exile On Main St.More
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