Today in Music History
April 27, 2008:
Prince concluded a legendary performance at the Coachella Festival in Indio, California (technically it began on April 26 at 11 p.m. local time, but much if not most of his music was on today’s date). Although not part of the original 2008 lineup announcement in January, organizers announced that Prince would headline night two of Coachella just weeks before the festival began. Prince’s set included several of his much-loved songs, including “1999,” “Controversy,” “Little Red Corvette,” “Cream” and “U Got the Look.”
He also surprised the audience with special guests, including Morris Day and the Time, who helped Prince open the set with “The Bird” and “Jungle Love.” Sheila E. also joined Prince onstage for a performance of “The Glamorous Life.” Prince continued to surprise the Coachella audience with a large number of wide-ranging covers, including three Santana tunes, as well as the B-52s’ “Rock Lobster,” Radiohead’s “Creep,” Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel,” and the Beatles’ “Come Together.” For his encore Prince left it all on the stage, delighting the Coachella crowd with “Purple Rain” and “Let’s Go Crazy.”
1932:
Casey Kasem, the DJ famous for hosting
American Top 40 and for being the voice of Shaggy on Scooby-Doo, is born Kemal Amen Kasem in Detroit.
1942:
Session drummer
Jim Keltner, whose credits include recordings for John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Leon Russell, Harry Nilsson, Bob Dylan, Traveling Wilburys, and many more, was born in Tulsa.
1944:
Cuba Gooding Sr. (lead singer for
The Main Ingredient) is born in New York City; they are known for the early-'70s hits
Everybody Plays the Fool and
Just Don't Want to Be Lonely. Of course, he also becomes the father to actor Cuba Gooding Jr.
1951:
Ace Frehley, lead guitarist for Kiss, was born in New York City.
1956:
Capitol Records signs
Gene Vincent with the intent to market him as the next Elvis.
1957:
Elvis Presley makes his second and last appearance outside of the US, wearing his classic gold lame suit for the last time as he plays Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens.
1959:
9 to 5 (Morning Train) singer
Sheena Easton is born in Glasgow, Scotland
1963:
Little Peggy March started a three-week run at #1 on the singles chart with
I Will Follow Him. At 15 years, one month and 13 days old, she became the youngest female singer to have a US #1 record.
1968:
Simon and Garfunkel release
Mrs. Robinson.
Dance to the Music, the second studio album from
Sly & the Family Stone was released.
1969:
Joe ****er made his US television debut, appearing on CBS'
The Ed Sullivan Show, performing a cover of
Dave Mason's
Feelin' Alright.
1972:
24-year-old Phil King, a booking agent for Blue Öyster Cult, is murdered over a gambling debt, inspiring the band's song
Deadline.
1973:
The
Cream compilation
Heavy Cream is released in the US.
1974:
Ray Stevens releases
The Streak.
1975:
Peter Ham of
Badfinger dies three days after his 27th birthday. For more see the April 24 entry.
1979:
Stevie Wonder makes a surprise appearance at a
Duke Ellington tribute concert held at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus. Wonder performs his Ellington tribute
Sir Duke along with Ellington's
C-Jam Blues.
1981:
Ringo Starr married actress and one-time "Bond girl"
Barbara Bach. The pair met while filming the movie
Caveman, with
Dennis Quaid and
Shelley Long. The couple are still married to this day.
1982:
Bruce Springsteen records
Born in the USA. The song didn't fit with the theme of the album
Nebraska, so it would not be released until 1984.
1983:
The
B-52’s released their third studio album,
Whammy!. The LP was not as much of a critical or commercial succes as their first two albums, and it would be the last album with guitarist
Ricky Wilson, who was dying from AIDS. After 1980's
Wild Planet, the B-52s hired the Talking Heads' David Byrne to produce a third full-length studio album. The band and Byrne could not agree with the album's musical direction, recording sessions were aborted, prompting the band to release Mesopotamia in 1982 only as an EP.
B-52's bass player and vocalist
Kate Pierson was also born on this date in 1948. In the early '70s she moves from New Jersey to Athens, Georgia, as one of the four founding members of The B-52s. Her voice is one of the most recognizable in rock, heard on the group's hits such as
Love Shack and
Rock Lobster, and also on R.E.M.'s
Shiny Happy People.
1983:
Lizzo is born Melissa Jefferson in Detroit. She moves to Minneapolis in 2011 and appears on the 2014 Prince song
BoyTrouble before releasing her breakthrough single
Truth Hurts in 2017.
1985:
USA For Africa started a three-week run at #1 with
We Are The World. The song was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and it’s one of the few physical singles to have sold at least 10 million copies worldwide. It won three Grammys, one American Music Award, and a People's Choice Award and included artists such as Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Bette Midler, and Dan Aykroyd, of the Blues Brothers.
1987:
R.E.M. released their compilation album,
Dead Letter Office, featuring the singles
Superman and
Can't Get There from Here.
U2 make the cover of Time magazine with the headline
Rock's Hottest Ticket.
1987:
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released their seventh studio album,
Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough). It features the singles
Jammin’ Me and
Runaway Trains.
1988:
Poison released their second studio album,
Open Up and Say... Ahh!, which included
Every Rose Has Its Thorn, Nothin’ But a Good Time, Fallen Angel, , and a cover of Loggins and Messina's
Your Mama Don’t Dance.
1991:
LeAnn Rimes, a nine-year old country music prodigy from Garland, Texas, competes as a junior vocalist on
Star Search, where she wins the round singing the Marty Robbins classic "Don't Worry."
1994:
The
Smashing Pumpkins and American Music Club performed at San Francisco's
Fillmore Auditorium for the reopening of the legendary rock venue.
1999:
Jazz trumpet great
Al Hirt dies at age 76 of liver failure.
2000:
Vicki Sue Robinson, who had the disco hit with
Turn The Beat Around, dies of cancer at age 45.
2002:
For the first time since 1963, there were no British acts in the U.S. Hot 100, as Americans reject acts like Blur, Oasis and Robbie Williams.
2003:
Iggy Pop reunites with the Stooges for the first time in 30 years to close out the Coachella festival. Originally formed in 1967 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the Stooges sold few records in their original incarnation, and they often performed for indifferent or hostile audiences, but they’re nevertheless widely regarded as instrumental in the rise of punk rock, as well as influential to alternative rock, heavy metal and rock music at large.
2006:
62-year old
Keith Richards fell out of a palm tree while vacationing in Fiji and went to the hospital with a concussion, creating a rare news event on the island. Sometimes the jokes just write themselves.
2008:
A nearly naked photo of 15-year-old
Miley Cyrus, who was just starting to move on from her Hannah Montana character, makes the entertainment news when it appears in Vanity Fair. Shot by Annie Leibovitz, the photo is more tasteful than scandalous, revealing Miley's back but not much else. Cyrus, still under contract with Disney, later claims she was coerced into taking the photo.
2012:
Bob Dylan received the
Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama, which is the highest honor awarded to a United States civilian citizen. Dylan was the 29th musician to receive the award.
2015:
Journey keyboard player Jonathan Cain marries celebrity preacher Paula White and begins recording worship music, releasing the album
What God Wants To Hear in 2016. It's the third marriage for both.
2016:
Beyoncé kicked off her
Formation Tour with a show in Miami. Her first solo stadium tour, it featured new tracks from her album
Lemonade and new takes on many of her old hits.
