More About Music History On This Day

4 May 1989
Stevie Ray Vaughan set out on what would be his last ever tour at the Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver, British Columbia. The guitarist was killed in a helicopter crash on 27th Aug 1990 after a concert at Alpine Valley Music Theater in Wisconsin, after playing 107 of the 110 dates.

4 May 1991
Cher scored her first solo UK No.1 single with 'The Shoop Shoop Song' from the film 'Mermaids'. The song had been a hit for Betty Everett on 1964, and gave Cher her first No.1 in the UK since 1965's 'I Got You Babe'.

4 May 1996
Alanis Morissette started a six-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with Jagged Little Pill. The record produced six successful singles, including 'You Oughta Know', 'Ironic', 'You Learn', 'Hand in My Pocket', and 'Head over Feet'.

4 May 1996
George Michael scored his seventh UK No.1 single as a solo artist when 'Fastlove' started a three-week run at the top of the chart. The second of six singles to be taken from George's comeback album Older.

4 May 1997
Courtney Love placed an advert in The Seattle Times selling the house she had shared with Kurt Cobain. The five-bedroom four-bathroom house was on the market for $3m. The carriage house where Kurt Cobain died had been knocked down during refurbishment.

4 May 2000
Metallica were demanding online music service Napster cut off 335,000 users who they claimed had been illegally trading their songs. The band had passed on the names of all those they considered to be "stealing" their material over the internet in the latest development in an ongoing battle over the protection of music copyrights on the web.

4 May 2004
Producer Clement Seymour Dodd died aged 72. He was a major force in the development of ska and reggae and made the first recordings of Bob Marley.

4 May 2008
Madonna's latest album Hard Candy went straight to No.1 in the UK, giving the singer a chart double, with her song 4 Minutes, featuring Justin Timberlake, on top of the singles chart for a third week. Hard Candy was Madonna's 10th number one album.

4 May 2008
Thieves broke into the childhood home of Motown star Martha Reeves and stole about $1 million worth of uninsured recording equipment, including speakers, microphones and karaoke machines. A suspect was arrested at his home later in the day after he tried to sell the goods to a pawnshop for $400.

4 May 2012
American rapper, musician, film director, and human rights activist Adam Yauch died of cancer aged 47. He was best known as a founding member of the hip hop group Beastie Boys, who sold over 40 million records worldwide.

4 May 2016
After Donald Trump's campaign played ‘Start Me Up’ following his victory speech celebrating his path to the Republican nomination, The Rolling Stones asked him to stop using their music, joining several other artists in decrying his use of their songs.

4 May 2021
English singer-songwriter, musician and model Nick Kamen died following a long battle with bone marrow cancer age 59. He was best known for the singles ‘Each Time You Break My Heart’ from 1986 and ‘I Promised Myself’ from 1990, as well as for appearing in a 1985 Levi's advert.

Date & Time

May 4, 2024

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