More About Music History On This Day
14 Apr 1970
Creedence Clearwater Revival made their live UK debut when they played the first of two nights at The Royal Albert Hall, London.
14 Apr 1971
The Illinois Crime Commission issued a list of 'drug-oriented records' including 'White Rabbit' by Jefferson Airplane, ’A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ by Procol Harum and The Beatles 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.'
14 Apr 1972
David Bowie released 'Starman' as a single in the UK, which became his first hit since 1969's 'Space Oddity' three years before. The song was a late addition to the album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars included at the insistence of RCA’s Dennis Katz, who heard a demo and loved the track, believing it would make a great single. The lyrics describe Ziggy Stardust bringing a message of hope to Earth's youth through the radio, salvation by an alien 'Starman'.
14 Apr 1973
Led Zeppelin started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with Houses Of The Holy also a No.1 in the US. The young girl featured on the cover of the album climbing naked up Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland is Samantha Gates who was 6 years old at the time of the photo shoot.
14 Apr 1975
After rumors that Jimmy Page, Steve Marriott, Jeff Beck or Chris Spedding variously would replace Mick Taylor as guitarist in The Rolling Stones, a press release confirmed that Ronnie Wood would be joining the band for their forthcoming American tour.
14 Apr 1976
Eric Faulkner of The Bay City Rollers reportedly came close to death after taking a drug overdose at their manager's house while in a state of exhaustion.
14 Apr 1978
Art Garfunkel started a six-week run at No.1 in the UK with the theme from the film 'Watership Down', 'Bright Eyes' which went on to become the biggest selling single of the year. The song was written by the man behind The Wombles, Mike Batt.
14 Apr 1978
Joy Division played at the Stiff Test Chiswick Challenge, at Raffters in Manchester, England. Future managers Rob Gretton and then journalist Tony Wilson saw the band for the first time.
14 Apr 1980
Gary Numan released 'The Touring Principle', the first long-form rock video to be made commercially available in the UK.
14 Apr 1983
The Pretenders bass player Pete Farndon died from a drug overdose. He was sacked from the group on June 14th 1982, (two days before Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott was found dead of heart failure). Farndon was in the midst of forming a new band with former Clash drummer Topper Headon when he died.
14 Apr 1994
Kurt Cobain was cremated at the Bleitz Funeral Home, Seattle. The death certificate listed Cobain's occupation as Poet/Musician and his type of business as Punk Rock.
14 Apr 1995
American actor, writer and folk singer Burl Ives died of cancer aged 85. Had hits with 'Funny Way Of Laughing', 'The Blue Tail Fly' and 'Little Bitty Tear', won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1958 film The Big Country.
14 Apr 1999
UK singer, songwriter and actor Anthony Newley died of cancer. Scored 12 UK Top 40 singles from 1959-1962 including the No.1 single 'Why.' He won the 1963 Grammy Award for Song of the Year for "What Kind of Fool Am I?", he was married to the actress Joan Collins from 1963 to 1971.
14 Apr 2001
Sean Puffy Combs, (P. Diddy), was arrested in Miami for riding a scooter in South Beach on a suspended driver's license. He was released 20 minutes later after signing a promise to appear in court.
14 Apr 2003
A man was arrested accused of making up a Bjork concert then selling tickets. Alex Conate allegedly sold tickets worth $14,000 at $40 each after persuading a San Diego nightclub owner that Bjork had agreed to play there. He was accused of taking the money and moving to Hawaii, where he was arrested.
14 Apr 2009
A planned auction of nearly 1,400 items from the former home of Michael Jackson was cancelled. A public preview of the collection had already begun in Los Angeles and the exhibition of Jackson's possessions would stay open until the end of next week. A last-minute settlement meant Jackson's belongings would now be returned to him. In response, he had dropped a lawsuit against Juliens Auctions.
14 Apr 2009
Former Beatle George Harrison was honoured with a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. Sir Paul McCartney attended the unveiling outside the landmark Capitol Records building, joining Harrison's widow Olivia and son Dhani. Eric Idle, Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks and musician Tom Petty also attended the ceremony.
14 Apr 2013
Justin Bieber caused outrage after writing a message in a guestbook at the Anne Frank Museum, which stated he hoped the Holocaust victim would have been a fan. The 19-year-old wrote: 'Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber.' It provoked fierce online criticism of the Canadian singer, who was in Amsterdam as part of a tour.
14 Apr 2014
Latin jazz percussionist Armando Peraza died of pneumonia at the age of 89. He was a member of Santana from 1972 until the early 90s appearing on over 15 of the groups albums. Born in Lawton Batista, Havana, Cuba, Pereza played congas, bongos, and timbales.
14 Apr 2015
American R&B and soul singer Percy Sledge died of liver cancer at his home in Baton Rouge aged 73. The inspiration behind his 1966 US No.1 hit 'When a Man Loves a Woman', came when Sledge's girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965.
14 Apr 2017
Harry Styles's debut single 'Sign of the Times' broke Ed Sheeran's 13-week run at the top of the UK charts. The One Direction star achieved his first No.1 as a solo artist with this release - the first from his self-titled debut album.
14 Apr 2021
American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter and Poco front man Rusty Young died of a heart attack at the age of 75. Young is best known for writing the Poco songs "Rose of Cimarron" and "Crazy Love". A virtuoso on pedal steel guitar, he was celebrated for the ability to get a Hammond B3 organ sound out of the instrument by playing it through a Leslie speaker cabinet.
Creedence Clearwater Revival made their live UK debut when they played the first of two nights at The Royal Albert Hall, London.
14 Apr 1971
The Illinois Crime Commission issued a list of 'drug-oriented records' including 'White Rabbit' by Jefferson Airplane, ’A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ by Procol Harum and The Beatles 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.'
14 Apr 1972
David Bowie released 'Starman' as a single in the UK, which became his first hit since 1969's 'Space Oddity' three years before. The song was a late addition to the album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars included at the insistence of RCA’s Dennis Katz, who heard a demo and loved the track, believing it would make a great single. The lyrics describe Ziggy Stardust bringing a message of hope to Earth's youth through the radio, salvation by an alien 'Starman'.
14 Apr 1973
Led Zeppelin started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with Houses Of The Holy also a No.1 in the US. The young girl featured on the cover of the album climbing naked up Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland is Samantha Gates who was 6 years old at the time of the photo shoot.
14 Apr 1975
After rumors that Jimmy Page, Steve Marriott, Jeff Beck or Chris Spedding variously would replace Mick Taylor as guitarist in The Rolling Stones, a press release confirmed that Ronnie Wood would be joining the band for their forthcoming American tour.
14 Apr 1976
Eric Faulkner of The Bay City Rollers reportedly came close to death after taking a drug overdose at their manager's house while in a state of exhaustion.
14 Apr 1978
Art Garfunkel started a six-week run at No.1 in the UK with the theme from the film 'Watership Down', 'Bright Eyes' which went on to become the biggest selling single of the year. The song was written by the man behind The Wombles, Mike Batt.
14 Apr 1978
Joy Division played at the Stiff Test Chiswick Challenge, at Raffters in Manchester, England. Future managers Rob Gretton and then journalist Tony Wilson saw the band for the first time.
14 Apr 1980
Gary Numan released 'The Touring Principle', the first long-form rock video to be made commercially available in the UK.
14 Apr 1983
The Pretenders bass player Pete Farndon died from a drug overdose. He was sacked from the group on June 14th 1982, (two days before Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott was found dead of heart failure). Farndon was in the midst of forming a new band with former Clash drummer Topper Headon when he died.
14 Apr 1994
Kurt Cobain was cremated at the Bleitz Funeral Home, Seattle. The death certificate listed Cobain's occupation as Poet/Musician and his type of business as Punk Rock.
14 Apr 1995
American actor, writer and folk singer Burl Ives died of cancer aged 85. Had hits with 'Funny Way Of Laughing', 'The Blue Tail Fly' and 'Little Bitty Tear', won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1958 film The Big Country.
14 Apr 1999
UK singer, songwriter and actor Anthony Newley died of cancer. Scored 12 UK Top 40 singles from 1959-1962 including the No.1 single 'Why.' He won the 1963 Grammy Award for Song of the Year for "What Kind of Fool Am I?", he was married to the actress Joan Collins from 1963 to 1971.
14 Apr 2001
Sean Puffy Combs, (P. Diddy), was arrested in Miami for riding a scooter in South Beach on a suspended driver's license. He was released 20 minutes later after signing a promise to appear in court.
14 Apr 2003
A man was arrested accused of making up a Bjork concert then selling tickets. Alex Conate allegedly sold tickets worth $14,000 at $40 each after persuading a San Diego nightclub owner that Bjork had agreed to play there. He was accused of taking the money and moving to Hawaii, where he was arrested.
14 Apr 2009
A planned auction of nearly 1,400 items from the former home of Michael Jackson was cancelled. A public preview of the collection had already begun in Los Angeles and the exhibition of Jackson's possessions would stay open until the end of next week. A last-minute settlement meant Jackson's belongings would now be returned to him. In response, he had dropped a lawsuit against Juliens Auctions.
14 Apr 2009
Former Beatle George Harrison was honoured with a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. Sir Paul McCartney attended the unveiling outside the landmark Capitol Records building, joining Harrison's widow Olivia and son Dhani. Eric Idle, Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks and musician Tom Petty also attended the ceremony.
14 Apr 2013
Justin Bieber caused outrage after writing a message in a guestbook at the Anne Frank Museum, which stated he hoped the Holocaust victim would have been a fan. The 19-year-old wrote: 'Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber.' It provoked fierce online criticism of the Canadian singer, who was in Amsterdam as part of a tour.
14 Apr 2014
Latin jazz percussionist Armando Peraza died of pneumonia at the age of 89. He was a member of Santana from 1972 until the early 90s appearing on over 15 of the groups albums. Born in Lawton Batista, Havana, Cuba, Pereza played congas, bongos, and timbales.
14 Apr 2015
American R&B and soul singer Percy Sledge died of liver cancer at his home in Baton Rouge aged 73. The inspiration behind his 1966 US No.1 hit 'When a Man Loves a Woman', came when Sledge's girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965.
14 Apr 2017
Harry Styles's debut single 'Sign of the Times' broke Ed Sheeran's 13-week run at the top of the UK charts. The One Direction star achieved his first No.1 as a solo artist with this release - the first from his self-titled debut album.
14 Apr 2021
American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter and Poco front man Rusty Young died of a heart attack at the age of 75. Young is best known for writing the Poco songs "Rose of Cimarron" and "Crazy Love". A virtuoso on pedal steel guitar, he was celebrated for the ability to get a Hammond B3 organ sound out of the instrument by playing it through a Leslie speaker cabinet.
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