Today in Music History

The surviving members of The Doors officially announced the breakup of the group, two years after Jim Morrison’s death. Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger later attempted several reunions, including the projects “Other Voices” and “Full Circle” and a major tour in 2002 under the name The Doors of the 21st Century with singer Ian Astbury of The Cult.

Elton John released the single “The Bitch Is Back” in the UK on DJM Records. The B-side was “Cold Highway”.

Singer, songwriter, rapper and co-founder of the pop and hip-hop group LFO Richard “Rich” Cronin was born in Boston, Massachusetts.

The Ramones performed at CBGB in New York, appearing during one of their many performances there.

Casey Johnson, bassist with American Hi-Fi, was born.

Elton John’s ninth studio album “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy” returned to No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 after a six-week break. That same year, it also topped the charts in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

Eric Clapton performed at the Scope arena in Norfolk, Virginia.

KC and the Sunshine Band reached No. 1 on the US singles chart with “Get Down Tonight”. It was the first of five of their singles to reach No. 1, and the song reached No. 21 in the UK. It later received a platinum certification for sales of one million copies in the US and reached No. 1 in Canada.

Orleans first entered the Billboard Top 40 with “Dance With Me”, which later climbed to No. 6. The following year, they returned to the chart with “Still The One”, which reached No. 5, and in 1979 with “Love Takes Time”, which reached No. 11.

Paul Kossoff, guitarist with Free and Back Street Crawler, was taken to hospital after a sudden deterioration in his health, where he was considered dead for 35 minutes. Kossoff died on March 19, 1976, from heart failure following long-term problems with drug use.

Rod Stewart reached No. 1 on the UK albums chart with “Atlantic Crossing”, which began a five-week run at the top.

Aerosmith performed at the International Center Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii.

During the carnival in the London district of Notting Hill, clashes broke out between Black youths and the police. Members of The Clash were present, and the event inspired them to write “White Riot” as a call for white people to protest with the same intensity.

Jun Matsumoto, Japanese singer and actor from the group Arashi, was born.

Patti Smith performed at The Odeon in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The Grateful Dead performed at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado.

Barclay James Harvest performed beside the Berlin Wall in a concert titled “A Concert For The People” before an audience of approximately 250,000 people.

David Bowie released “Ashes to Ashes”, which reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart. The song continued the story of the character Major Tom.

Cher made an unannounced appearance as a singer with Black Rose during a concert in Central Park, New York.

Christopher Cross’s “Sailing” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for one week. The following spring, it won Grammy Awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Arrangement of the Year, and also helped Cross win the award for Best New Artist. The song also reached No. 1 in Canada.

Judas Priest released the album “Screaming for Vengeance” in the United States.

Queen performed at McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, during their North American tour.

The Beatles fans paid $271,180 for memorabilia at an auction in London, England.

Jock Mahoney, an actor and jazz musician, died at the age of 70.

George Ryan Ross III, lead guitarist and singer of the American rock group Panic! at the Disco, was born. In 2008, the group had an Australian No. 1 album and “Pretty.Odd.” reached No. 2 in the US and UK.

Steve Winwood reached No. 1 on the US singles chart with “Higher Love”, which began a four-week run at the top. In the UK, the song reached No. 13. It later won two Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

Jazz pianist Teddy Wilson died at the age of 73.

Michael Jackson released “Bad”.

Bruce Springsteen’s wife Julianne filed for divorce after newspapers published photographs of Springsteen together with backing singer Patti Scialfa.

Danzig, fronted by former Misfits singer Glenn Danzig, released their self-titled debut album, produced by Rick Rubin. The song “Mother” became a minor hit when it was reissued five years later.

American singer and songwriter Bleta Rexha was born. She first established herself as a songwriter, including as a co-writer of Eminem’s single “The Monster”, which later won a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Performance, as well as songs for Shinee, Selena Gomez and Nick Jonas. Her 2017 single “Meant to Be” with Florida Georgia Line was highly successful as a country crossover, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending a record 50 weeks at the top of the US country chart.

Billy Joel fired his manager and former brother-in-law Frank Weber after an audit uncovered serious financial irregularities, substantial depletion of his accounts and a $5 million debt to the US Internal Revenue Service. The following September, he sued Weber for $90 million, accusing him of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and extortion under federal law. A few days after the lawsuit was filed, Weber declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy to protect his remaining assets. The legal dispute eventually ended in an out-of-court settlement, and Joel recovered only part of the lost funds, approximately $8 million. Frank Weber was never criminally prosecuted or imprisoned.

Izzy Stradlin of Guns N' Roses was arrested for disorderly conduct during a flight in the United States. He urinated on the floor, verbally abused a flight attendant and smoked in the non-smoking section of the plane.

Dottie West suffered serious injuries in a car accident while travelling to a performance at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. She died five days later.

Jan Berry of Jan & Dean married Gertie Filip in Las Vegas, Nevada. The wedding took place on stage during a Jan & Dean performance.

Billy Joel’s version of Elvis’s song “All Shook Up” reached No. 92 on the US singles chart. The song came from the soundtrack to the film “Honeymoon in Vegas”.

Elvis Presley’s “Don't Be Cruel” reached No. 42 on the UK singles chart.

Nirvana won the Best New Artist and Best Alternative Video awards at the MTV Video Music Awards for “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.

At that year’s Reading Festival in England, Suede, Ride, Pavement, Public Enemy and Manic Street Preachers performed. Nirvana headlined the festival and played their final UK concert, which became one of their most famous performances. Kurt Cobain came on stage in a wheelchair pushed by music journalist Everett True, parodying speculation about his mental state. Manic Street Preachers bassist Nicky Wire smashed a guitar into two pieces and threw it into the audience, hitting a security worker who required 16 stitches. L7 also appeared on the bill, and their singer Donita Sparks threw a used tampon into the audience.

Comedic songwriter Allan Sherman died at the age of 68.

At the premiere of The Late Show with David Letterman on CBS, Billy Joel became the first musical guest. The show was broadcast from the newly renovated Ed Sullivan Theater in New York. Joel performed with Paul Shaffer and the newly named CBS Orchestra, playing “No Man's Land”.

Jeff Buckley released the album “Grace”.

Oasis played an unplanned acoustic performance at the Virgin Megastore on Marble Arch in London, where they performed a selection of new songs. Evan Dando of The Lemonheads joined them on stage, and together they performed the new song “Whatever” live for the first time; it was not released as a standalone single until December of that year.

Oasis released their first studio album “Definitely Maybe”, which later spent 177 weeks on the UK chart. It also became the fastest-selling debut album in the UK, and more than eight million copies were sold worldwide.

Singer and songwriter Rina Sawayama was born.

Usher released his self-titled debut studio album.

James Taylor and his former wife Carly Simon performed together for the first time since 1979 before 10,000 fans at the benefit concert “Livestock '95” on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. The couple separated in 1981 and their divorce was finalized in 1983. They first performed separate solo sets and then performed together to raise money for a local agricultural society.

During the filming of the video for Meat Loaf’s song “I'd Lie for You”, a pilot and cameraman were killed in a helicopter crash in Sequoia National Forest approximately 150 miles north of Los Angeles, California.

Sterling Morrison, founding member and guitarist of The Velvet Underground, died in Poughkeepsie, New York, from non-Hodgkin lymphoma, one day after his 53rd birthday. He left the group in August 1971 and rejoined it in 1992 for a European tour. In the 1980s, he became a tugboat captain in Houston. The Velvet Underground were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.