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May 20, 1959 Susan Cowsill (The Cowsills) is born in Canton, Ohio, the youngest member and only daughter of the Cowsill family.
May 17, 1959 Paul Di'Anno, Iron Maiden's lead singer on their first two albums, is born in London, England. He's beloved by fans but clashes with group leader Steve Harris, leading to his departure in 1981, when he's replaced by Bruce Dickinson.
May 4, 1959 Country singer Randy Travis is born Randy Bruce Traywick in Marshville, North Carolina. It takes while for him to get a record deal, but when he does, he's off to the races, with 15 #1 Country hits from 1986-1994.
May 4, 1959 The very first Grammy Awards are held in Los Angeles, with Record of the Year going to Domenico Modugno's "Nel Blu, Dipinto di Blu (Volare)" and Henry Mancini's The Music From Peter Gunn soundtrack winning Album of the Year. The Champs' "Tequila," for some reason, takes home Best Rhythm and Blues Performance.
April 30, 1959 Buddy Holly's "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" (written by Paul Anka) goes to #1 in the UK nearly three months after his death. It's his only UK #1.
April 27, 1959 Sheena Easton is born in Glasgow, Scotland, the youngest of six children. She wins the Best New Artist Grammy in 1981 and has a string of hits that decade, including "Morning Train (Nine To Five)" and the Bond theme "For Your Eyes Only."
April 24, 1959 After running on Saturday nights on radio for 24 years and TV for the last nine, the final installment of the musical countdown show Your Hit Parade airs on NBC. The final Top Five: Elvis Presley, "I Need Your Love Tonight" (#5), Brook Benton, "It's Just A Matter Of Time" (#4), Ricky Nelson, "Never Be Anyone Else But You" (#3), Dodie Stevens, "Pink Shoe Laces" (#2), and the Fleetwoods at #1 with "Come Softly To Me."
April 22, 1959 The Alan Freed "Rock and Roll movie" Go, Johnny, Go premieres in New York, featuring Chuck Berry, Jackie Wilson, Ritchie Valens, Eddie Cochran, The Cadillacs, and The Flamingos.
April 3, 1959 Because of its references to bad behavior in school (writing on the wall, throwing spitballs), The British Broadcasting Corporation bans The Coasters song "Charlie Brown." The ban is lifted two weeks later.
March 31, 1959 Robert Holmes (guitarist for 'Til Tuesday) is born in England.
March 27, 1959 Keyboard player Andrew Farriss, who forms INXS along with his brothers, Tim and Jon, is born in Perth, Western Australia. He and lead singer Michael Hutchence team up to write most of the group's songs.
March 23, 1959 Bobby Darin's first full-length album, That's All, is released. Among the tracks is "Mack The Knife," a song about a cold-blooded murderer popularized in the play The Threepenny Opera. Considered just an album cut at first, in August the song is released as a single, and it transforms Darin's career, going to #1 for nine weeks and making him one of the most popular entertainers in America.
March 17, 1959 Mike Lindup (keyboardist, singer for Level 42) is born in London, England.
March 13, 1959 An emergency plane landing in a South Bend, Indiana, field nearly kills The Kingston Trio's band members.
February 27, 1959 Johnny Van Zant is born in Jacksonville, Flordia. He performs and records with the Johnny Van Zant Band and as a solo artist, but is best known for succeeding his deceased brother Ronnie Van Zant as frontman for Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1987.
February 18, 1959 While on leave from the US Army in Paris, Elvis Presley visits the famous Lido Club, performing an impromptu show there.
February 7, 1959 New Orleans blues guitarist Eddie Jones, known as Guitar Slim, struggling with alcoholism, dies of pneumonia at age 32.
February 4, 1959 A day after the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper, the Winter Dance Party tour continues in Sioux City, Iowa, with Fabian, Frankie Avalon and Jimmy Clanton as the new headliners and Waylon Jennings singing Holly's songs.
February 3, 1959 Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson are killed in a plane crash. Don McLean would call it "The Day the Music Died" in his 1971 hit "American Pie."More
February 2, 1959 At the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper play their last show as part of the "Winter Dance Party" tour. Admission: $1.25. The last song of the night: The Big Bopper's "Chantilly Lace."
January 23, 1959 The "Winter Dance Party" tour gets underway with a show at the Million Dollar Ballroom in Milwaukee. Before the tour is over, headliners Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper are killed in a plane crash.More
January 22, 1959 Buddy Holly makes his last recordings alone with an acoustic guitar in his Greenwich Village apartment. Songs include "Peggy Sue Got Married," "Crying, Waiting, Hoping," "That's What They Say," "What to Do," "Learning the Game" and "That Makes it Tough." The rough versions are overdubbed and released after his death.
January 17, 1959 Susanna Hoffs is born in Los Angeles, California. She forms the Bangles after answering an ad placed by the sisters Debbi and Vicki Peterson.
January 16, 1959 Sade is born Helen Folasade Adu in Ibadan, Nigeria. She moves to England with her mother when she's 4, and after studying fashion design in London, she forms the band Sade in 1982. Their first album, Diamond Life, is released in 1984 and includes the hit "Smooth Operator."
January 6, 1959 Neil Simpson (bass player for Climax Blues Band) is born in Stoke-on-Trent, England. At age four, he receives a toy guitar featuring a picture of The Beatles.
January 1, 1959 Johnny Cash plays one of his first jailhouse shows when he performs at San Quentin prison in San Rafael, California. Among those in the captive audience is Merle Haggard, who is serving time for burglary.More
December 26, 1958 Stan Freberg presents a check for $1,000 to the Hemophilia Foundation of Southern California as his royalties from the first year's release of "Green Chri$tma$" (he gives all proceeds from the single charity).
December 22, 1958 The Chipmunks hit #1 on the Hot 100 with the squeaky-clean festive favorite "The Chipmunk Song." It's the last Christmas song to top the chart until "All I Want For Christmas Is You" 61 years later in 2019.More
December 11, 1958 Mötley Crüe bass player Nikki Sixx is born Frank Feranna Jr. in San Jose, California. He's the main songwriter in the band; all of their hits (excluding their cover of "Smokin' In The Boy's Room") he writes either on his own or with other members of the group.
December 9, 1958 Nick Seymour (bass guitarist for Crowded House) is born in Benalla, Victoria, Australia.
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