Today in Music History

Three Dog Night's “Easy to Be Hard” entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 77. The song continued to climb the chart and reached its peak position of No. 4 on September 27, 1969.

The Allman Brothers Band performed at the Drive-In Theater in Collinsville, Virginia. Approximately 200 fans attended on a rainy night.

New Musical Express published Roger Daltrey’s response to Pete Townshend’s interview of May 31. Daltrey responded sharply to Townshend’s comments about The Who and their performances.

Elvis Presley performed at the International Hotel in Las Vegas at the opening show of his next engagement.

King Crimson performed at the Marquee Club in London.

The Who performed at the War Memorial Auditorium in Rochester, New York.

Third Eye Blind bassist Arion Salazar was born in Oakland, California.

Elvis Presley performed a Dinner Show and a Midnight Show at the Hilton International Hotel in Las Vegas on August 9, 1972. The Midnight Show included “Proud Mary”, “Fever”, “Hound Dog” and “An American Trilogy”.

Elvis Presley performed a Dinner Show and a Midnight Show at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas on August 9, 1973. Both programs featured “Steamroller Blues”, “You Gave Me a Mountain”, “Hound Dog” and “Suspicious Minds”.

Henry McCullough and drummer Denny Seiwell left Wings.

Four members of the jazz-rock group Chase, including bandleader Bill Chase, died in a plane crash near Jackson, Minnesota. The group had the 1971 hit “Get It On.”

Gilbert O'Sullivan released “A Woman's Place/Too Bad” in the UK on MAM Records.

Typically Tropical reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with their debut single “Barbados”. The song also reached No. 1 in Ireland and South Africa and was their only hit.

Bee Gees began a two-week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart with “Jive Talkin'.” It was their second US No. 1 hit and the first of several American disco hits to top the chart. The single reached No. 5 in the UK. Barry Gibb was inspired to write the song while driving across a Florida bridge on his way to the recording studio.

Composer and pianist Dmitry Shostakovich died in Moscow at the age of 68 from lung cancer. He is regarded as one of the most important composers of the 20th century.

Don Kirshner staged the first Rock Music Award Show in Santa Monica, California. Among the honorees were Eagles, Stevie Wonder and Bad Company.

Janis Ian was at No. 1 on the US Adult Contemporary chart with “At Seventeen”.

ABBA released the single “Fernando.”

Aerosmith performed at the Springfield Civic Center in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Linda Ronstadt released her cover version of Buddy Holly’s “That'll Be The Day”.

Muddy Waters performed at a White House picnic for President Jimmy Carter.

Luke Concannon, guitarist and singer of the British duo Nizlopi, was born.

Bruce Springsteen performed at the Agora Theater in Cleveland during his Darkness Tour. The concert became well known and was widely circulated through unofficial recordings.

ABBA scored their eighth UK No. 1 hit with “The Winner Takes It All,” the lead single from their seventh studio album “Super Trouper.” The song reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Top 10 in 24 other countries.

AC/DC achieved their first UK No. 1 album with “Back In Black.” It was the band’s first album recorded without original vocalist Bon Scott, who died on February 19, 1980, and the album was dedicated to him. It was also the band’s first album with Brian Johnson. In August 2024, it was certified 27× platinum in the US by the RIAA, representing 27 million certified units.

Ten original drawings by Gerald Scarfe created for Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” were stolen from the foyer of Earls Court in London, where they were on display.

George Thorogood And The Destroyers released their fifth studio album “Bad to the Bone.” The album, featuring the title track, reached No. 43 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart and later received a gold certification from the RIAA.

Yekaterina Samutsevich, Russian singer and member of Pussy Riot, was born.

Thomas Reilly, a 22-year-old friend of Spandau Ballet who sold merchandise during their True Tour, was shot dead by a British soldier in Belfast. His death later inspired Spandau Ballet’s song “Through The Barricades” and Bananarama’s song “King Of The Jungle”.

NBC premiered the variety television show “Motown Revue”, created in the wake of the success of the television special “Motown 25”. It was cancelled after five weeks.

Queen played their final live concert with Freddie Mercury at Knebworth Park in Stevenage, England, bringing their Magic Tour to a close. More than 120,000 fans attended the performance. Belouis Some, Big Country and Status Quo performed before Queen. Freddie Mercury closed the concert with “We Are the Champions” and “God Save the Queen”, giving the audience his final farewell while wearing a royal robe and crown. The entire tour attracted 400,000 fans and grossed £11 million.

Approximately 250 Gary Numan fans protested outside BBC Radio 1 in London, demanding more airtime for their favorite artist.

Swedish singer, songwriter and music producer Jonnali Parmenius, known professionally as Noonie Bao, was born in Stockholm.

Edie Brickell & New Bohemians released their debut album “Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars.”

Rick James pleaded not guilty to charges that he had imprisoned, tortured and sexually assaulted a woman at his California home.

The 5th Dimension received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Blvd. The ceremony honored the original lineup of Billy Davis Jr., Marilyn McCoo, Florence LaRue, Ron Townson and LaMonte McLemore. Between 1966 and 1983, the group placed 20 songs in the Billboard Top 40 and 14 albums on the Billboard album chart.

Lionel Richie divorced his first wife, Brenda Harvey.

The Notorious B.I.G. released his debut single "Juicy". The song reached No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Hot Rap Singles chart.

During an Oasis concert at The Riverside in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, a man jumped onto the stage and punched Noel Gallagher in the face. Noel refused to continue performing, and after he left, a crowd of more than 300 people attacked the band’s bus; the musicians were not on board.

Lynyrd Skynyrd released their eighth album, “Endangered Species”, which featured acoustic reworkings of many of the band’s best-known songs. The album reached No. 115 on the Billboard 200.

American rapper King Von was born.

Jerry Garcia, guitarist, singer and co-founder of The Grateful Dead, died at the age of 53 from a heart attack caused by atherosclerosis at the Serenity Knolls rehabilitation facility in San Francisco. Four days after his death, more than 25,000 fans attended a public memorial service in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Half of his ashes were later scattered in the Ganges River near the holy city of Rishikesh in India, with the remainder scattered in San Francisco Bay.

The original members of KISS performed together for the first time since 1980 during the recording of the television special “MTV Unplugged”, when Peter Criss and Ace Frehley joined Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. The overwhelmingly positive fan response paved the way for the band’s official reunion tour in 1996, which saw the return of their signature costumes and makeup. The special was later released as the album “Kiss Unplugged”.

The Ramones broke up.

The Verve played their first concert in Sheffield, England, following the band’s breakup two years earlier.

Lzzy Hale and her brother Arejay performed their own song “Love Is Power” at the Schuylkill County Fair talent show in Pennsylvania under the name Halestorm.

Puff Daddy & The Family reached No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 with their debut album “No Way Out”. The album also reached No. 1 in Austria, Canada and Switzerland, and No. 8 in the UK.

Spice Girls manager Bob Herbert died in a car accident in Windsor, England. He was involved in the formation of the Spice Girls and Five, and managed the group Bros in the 1980s.

English singer-songwriter Arlo Parks was born.

Lisa Marie Presley married actor Nicolas Cage. The marriage lasted less than four months.