March 5, 1975 Rod Stewart meets the Swedish actress Britt Ekland when she comes backstage after his concert at the Los Angeles Forum, kicking off an affair that results in a famous song and a nasty lawsuit.More
February 15, 1975 Linda Ronstadt finally breaks through when her album Heart Like a Wheel and single "You're No Good" both hit #1 in America, establishing her as one of the biggest stars of the '70s. It took a while: none of her first four solo albums charted higher than #45, no single higher than #25.More
December 10, 1974 The Rankin/Bass animated holiday special The Year Without A Santa Claus airs on ABC.More
November 28, 1974 John Lennon makes his last concert appearance when he joins Elton John on stage at Madison Square Garden, reciprocating for Elton's appearance on "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night" and making good on a bet he lost: Elton wagered that "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night" would hit #1 in the US, and when it did, Lennon owed the appearance. The pair perform that song and also do The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds."
November 16, 1974 John Lennon's album Walls And Bridges and single "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night" hit #1 in America. Elton John, who sang and played piano on the track, had bet Lennon that it would hit the top spot. As the bet's loser, Lennon has to join Elton on stage at a Madison Square Garden concert, which he does on November 28 to a manic ovation.
November 9, 1974 Bachman-Turner Overdrive become just the second Canadian band to hit #1 in America when "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" claims the top spot. The first to do it was another Randy Bachman band: The Guess Who, who topped the chart with "American Woman" in 1970.
November 8, 1974 R&B singer-songwriter Ivory Joe Hunter dies of lung cancer at age 60. Chart-topping hits include "Pretty Mama Blues" (1947), "I Almost Lost My Mind" (1949), "I Need You So" (1950), and "Since I Met You Baby" (1956).
November 2, 1974 Stevie Wonder's "You Haven't Done Nothin'," a dig on President Richard Nixon, hits #1 in America.
November 2, 1974 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's greatest hits album So Far goes to #1 in America. The group hasn't released a studio album since 1970 but has reunited for a tour and plans to start recording again. Unfortunately, longstanding squabbles resurface and the new album doesn't materialize.
October 26, 1974 "Then Came You," a duet between The Spinners and Dionne Warwick, goes to #1 in America. It's the only chart-topper for either act.
October 18, 1974 Al Green's "Grits Incident": When a stewardess friend of Green's shows up to meet the singer, he ends up at his Memphis home with her and his companion, Mary Woodson, who is dangerously obsessed with the singer. When Green goes into the bathroom to brush his teeth, Woodson bursts in and pours a pot of boiling grits on him, burning him badly before going in the next room and killing herself with his gun. Green takes these disturbing events as a sign from God and focuses his career on gospel music and preaching.More
October 14, 1974 Nashville veterans worry about the sanctity of country music when Olivia Newton-John wins Female Vocalist of the Year at the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards.More
October 12, 1974 Olivia Newton-John's LP If You Love Me, Let Me Know hits #1.
October 5, 1974 Olivia Newton-John's "I Honestly Love You" hits #1 for the first of two weeks, making it her first chart-topper in the US.
September 26, 1974 John Lennon releases Walls And Bridges. The album includes the chart-topping hit "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night," which features a guest appearance by Elton John, and the Top-10 single "#9 Dream."
August 24, 1974 Paul Anka's "(You're) Having My Baby" hits #1 for the first of three weeks despite condemnation from feminist groups.More
July 13, 1974 George McRae's "Rock Your Baby" hits #1 for the first of two weeks.
July 9, 1974 In Seattle, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young play a four-hour show to kick off their reunion tour (they haven't toured together since 1970). It's the first rock stadium tour - not a great fit for the band, who aren't loud or flamboyant. After the tour, they start recording an album but part ways before it's finished.
June 8, 1974 Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" goes to #1 on the Country chart. Nearly two decades later, Whitney Houston's R&B version tops the Hot 100 and becomes one of the best-selling singles of all time.More
May 23, 1974 Jewel Kilcher is born in Payson, Utah. Raised in Homer, Alaska, she rises to fame using just the name Jewel. Her debut album, Pieces Of You, released in 1995 when she's 20, catches on a year later thanks to the hits "Who Will Save Your Soul" and "You Were Meant For Me." It sells over 12 million copies and moves Jewel into the upper echelon of singer-songwriters.
April 6, 1974 ABBA become European stars overnight when their composition "Waterloo" wins the annual Eurovision Song Contest.More
February 16, 1974 Planet Waves becomes the first Bob Dylan album to reach #1 in the US.More
January 26, 1974 Ringo Starr's "You're Sixteen" hits #1 in America.
January 12, 1974 Jim Croce's album You Don't Mess Around with Jim, the one with "Time In A Bottle" and "Operator," hits #1 in America three months after his death in a plane crash.
December 20, 1973 Bobby Darin dies at age 37 after surgery to repair his ailing heart.More
August 11, 1973 The first big oldies revival kicks off in earnest as George Lucas' new film, American Graffiti, opens in theaters. Set in 1962, the film creates a wave of nostalgia for songs from the '50s and early '60s.More
July 28, 1973 The "Summer Jam" concert takes place at Watkins Glen racetrack in New York, outdrawing Woodstock with a crowd of over 600,000. The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers Band, and The Band play to the massive crowd that paid $10 a ticket - if they bought one.More
May 13, 1973 The movie That'll Be The Day, starring David Essex, Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, Billy Fury and John Hawken of The Nashville Teens opens in the UK.More
April 5, 1973 Singer/superproducer Pharrell Williams is born in Virginia Beach, Virginia. As half of the hip-hop production duo The Neptunes, he's a prime architect of the popular music landscape of the 2000s.
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January 13, 1973 Carly Simon's album No Secrets, featuring the hit single "You're So Vain," hits #1 in America.
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