More About Music History On This Day
23 May 1987
Twelve former members of the Doobie Brothers reunited for a charity concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. The show raised $350,000 for Vietnam veterans, about two-thousand of whom attended the show for free.
23 May 1991
Photographer Michael Lavine took what would be the publicity shots for Nirvana's Nevermind album at Jay Aaron Studios in Los Angeles. The idea for the front cover shot of the baby swimming was taken after Kurt Cobain and Dave Grohl saw a TV documentary on water babies and was taken by Kirk Weddle. Several babies were used; five-month-old Spencer Eldon's photo came out best.
23 May 1992
A statement issued by Freddie Mercury's attorneys stated that Mercury had bequeathed the majority of his estate (£10 million - $17 million) to his long-time friend Mary Austin.
23 May 2000
Noel Gallagher walked out on his band Oasis during a European tour. The move was put down to a series of burst-ups with his brother Liam. The band drafted in replacement guitarist Matt Deighton for the rest of the European dates.
23 May 2000
Eminem released his third studio album the Marshall Mathers LP. It debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200, staying atop for eight consecutive weeks and went on to sell over 25 million copies worldwide. The album is one of the most groundbreaking and controversial albums in the history of American music. The Marshall Mathers LP has been named on several lists of the greatest albums of all time and is widely regarded as Eminem's best album.
23 May 2002
'Up For Grabs' opened at London's Wyndham's Theatre featuring Madonna in the lead role. The first night crowd complained that the singer was lacking in vocal power and strained to hear her lines.
23 May 2002
Winners at the 47th Ivor Novello awards included, Dido for Songwriter of the year, Best song went to U2, 'Walk On.' Kylie Minogue won The Dance Award and Most Performed Work and International Hit for 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head.' Hear'say won Bestselling UK single for 'Pure And Simple'. Mick Hucknall won Outstanding Song collection and Kate Bush was awarded Outstanding Contribution to British music.
23 May 2006
The King of Sweden presented the surviving members of Led Zeppelin with the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm recognizing them as "great pioneers" of rock music. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were joined by the daughter of drummer John Bonham, who died in 1980. The Polar Music Prize was founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson, manager of Swedish pop group ABBA who named it after his record label, Polar Records.
23 May 2009
Amy Winehouse cancelled her appearance at a concert to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Island Records. The event, scheduled to take place on 31st May at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire, had now been cancelled completely, her management said.
23 May 2010
The Rolling Stones scored their first UK No.1 album for 16 years with the re-release of their classic 1972 double LP Exile On Main Street. The album, which was first released in 1972, had been reissued with previously unheard tracks. Their last No.1 album was 1994's Voodoo Lounge.
23 May 2012
Erasmus MC University Medical Center in the Netherlands announced they had drawn clear links between listening to loud music, smoking marijuana and having "risky" sex. The study, published in the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, revealed that young people who listened to loud music on their MP3 players were more likely to have sparked up a joint in the last month. The researchers surveyed 944 students from inner-city vocational schools aged 15 to 25.
23 May 2014
The parents of a camera assistant who was killed after being hit by a train while shooting footage for a biopic about Gregg Allman were suing the musician and the film's producers. The case claimed film-makers "selected an unreasonably dangerous site for the filming location" and failed to take actions to adequately protect the crew.
23 May 2019
Richard Ashcroft regained rights to his song ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ after more than two decades. The Verve singer lost the rights to his most recognizable song, which ended up in the possession of The Rolling Stones’ Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Released in 1997 on Urban Hymns, the track sampled The Rolling Stones’ song ‘The Last Time’, using a composition by Andrew Oldham, and became the center of lawsuits, which saw Ashcroft stripped of rights and royalties.
Twelve former members of the Doobie Brothers reunited for a charity concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. The show raised $350,000 for Vietnam veterans, about two-thousand of whom attended the show for free.
23 May 1991
Photographer Michael Lavine took what would be the publicity shots for Nirvana's Nevermind album at Jay Aaron Studios in Los Angeles. The idea for the front cover shot of the baby swimming was taken after Kurt Cobain and Dave Grohl saw a TV documentary on water babies and was taken by Kirk Weddle. Several babies were used; five-month-old Spencer Eldon's photo came out best.
23 May 1992
A statement issued by Freddie Mercury's attorneys stated that Mercury had bequeathed the majority of his estate (£10 million - $17 million) to his long-time friend Mary Austin.
23 May 2000
Noel Gallagher walked out on his band Oasis during a European tour. The move was put down to a series of burst-ups with his brother Liam. The band drafted in replacement guitarist Matt Deighton for the rest of the European dates.
23 May 2000
Eminem released his third studio album the Marshall Mathers LP. It debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200, staying atop for eight consecutive weeks and went on to sell over 25 million copies worldwide. The album is one of the most groundbreaking and controversial albums in the history of American music. The Marshall Mathers LP has been named on several lists of the greatest albums of all time and is widely regarded as Eminem's best album.
23 May 2002
'Up For Grabs' opened at London's Wyndham's Theatre featuring Madonna in the lead role. The first night crowd complained that the singer was lacking in vocal power and strained to hear her lines.
23 May 2002
Winners at the 47th Ivor Novello awards included, Dido for Songwriter of the year, Best song went to U2, 'Walk On.' Kylie Minogue won The Dance Award and Most Performed Work and International Hit for 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head.' Hear'say won Bestselling UK single for 'Pure And Simple'. Mick Hucknall won Outstanding Song collection and Kate Bush was awarded Outstanding Contribution to British music.
23 May 2006
The King of Sweden presented the surviving members of Led Zeppelin with the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm recognizing them as "great pioneers" of rock music. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were joined by the daughter of drummer John Bonham, who died in 1980. The Polar Music Prize was founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson, manager of Swedish pop group ABBA who named it after his record label, Polar Records.
23 May 2009
Amy Winehouse cancelled her appearance at a concert to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Island Records. The event, scheduled to take place on 31st May at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire, had now been cancelled completely, her management said.
23 May 2010
The Rolling Stones scored their first UK No.1 album for 16 years with the re-release of their classic 1972 double LP Exile On Main Street. The album, which was first released in 1972, had been reissued with previously unheard tracks. Their last No.1 album was 1994's Voodoo Lounge.
23 May 2012
Erasmus MC University Medical Center in the Netherlands announced they had drawn clear links between listening to loud music, smoking marijuana and having "risky" sex. The study, published in the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, revealed that young people who listened to loud music on their MP3 players were more likely to have sparked up a joint in the last month. The researchers surveyed 944 students from inner-city vocational schools aged 15 to 25.
23 May 2014
The parents of a camera assistant who was killed after being hit by a train while shooting footage for a biopic about Gregg Allman were suing the musician and the film's producers. The case claimed film-makers "selected an unreasonably dangerous site for the filming location" and failed to take actions to adequately protect the crew.
23 May 2019
Richard Ashcroft regained rights to his song ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ after more than two decades. The Verve singer lost the rights to his most recognizable song, which ended up in the possession of The Rolling Stones’ Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Released in 1997 on Urban Hymns, the track sampled The Rolling Stones’ song ‘The Last Time’, using a composition by Andrew Oldham, and became the center of lawsuits, which saw Ashcroft stripped of rights and royalties.
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