Description
At the age of 23, Bobby Darin became the youngest headliner in the history of the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas.
Related events
- Bobby Darin signed a six-year film contract with Paramount, which was expected at the time to earn him $1 million. As he transitioned from a teenage idol to a more universal artist, he wanted to move beyond roles aimed solely at teenage audiences and insisted on quality acting and serious filmmaking.
- Bobby Darin released the classic single “Mack the Knife”.
- Bobby Darin’s “Mack the Knife” debuted at No. 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 30. It came from the 1928 German play “Three Penny Opera”, later became Darin’s biggest hit, reached No. 1 and won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year.
- Following the stabbing deaths of two teenagers by a 17-year-old perpetrator and other similar violent incidents in New York, radio station WCBS banned all versions of “Mack the Knife.” Bobby Darin's version later won Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best New Artist and was added to the National Recording Registry in 2016.
- Bobby Darin's “Mack the Knife” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 5, beginning its first six-week period at the top. After a brief interruption, it returned to No. 1 and spent a total of nine weeks there. The recording won the Grammy for Record of the Year, and Bobby Darin won the Grammy for Best New Artist; in 2003 the song was ranked No. 251 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs.
- At the age of 23, Bobby Darin became the youngest headliner in the history of the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas.
- “Splish Splash” by Bobby Darin reached No. 3 on the U.S. chart.
- The film “Come September,” starring Bobby Darin and his wife Sandra Dee, was released in cinemas.
- Bobby Darin sold his music publishing company for one million dollars.
- Bobby Darin appeared on the ABC musical program This Is Tom Jones. During this period, he also used the name “Bob Darin” as part of his change in image and musical direction. On the program, he performed his original folk-rock song “Distractions” and then joined Tom Jones for a medley of “A Worried Man,” “Aquarius,” and “Let the Sunshine In.”
- Bobby Darin performed his final concert at the Las Vegas Hilton. He died on December 20, 1973, at the age of 37 after his second open-heart surgery.