May 26th: The Biggest Music Headlines

2022 – Andy Fletcher
Depeche Mode keyboardist Andy Fletcher died age 60. Fletcher was a founding member of the band which found success with their dark electronic sound with hits including ‘Personal Jesus’. Depeche Mode had chart success in the 1980s and 1990s with singles including ‘New Life’, ‘Enjoy the Silence’ and ‘Just Can’t Get Enough.’

2022 – Alan White
English drummer Alan White best known for his tenure in the progressive rock band Yes died age 72. In 1969, White joined John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Plastic Ono Band, playing drums on the singles ‘Instant Karma! and ‘Imagine’, as well as most of Lennon’s 1971 Imagine album. White also performed on over 50 albums by other musicians, notably George Harrison, Ginger Baker’s Air Force, Terry Reid, Joe Cocker and The Ventures.

2022 – ABBA
The four members of Abba made their first public appearance in 14 years as they attended the premiere of their Abba Voyage show in London, UK. Agnetha, Frida, Benny and Bjorn reunited for the opening night of the concert, which featured digital versions of the band. The concert had been in the works since 2016 and featured ground-breaking new technology that recreated the sight of Abba in their 1970s prime.

2021 – Marilyn Manson
Police in the US state of New Hampshire issued an active arrest warrant for singer Marilyn Manson in connection with assault charges. Manson, was accused of two counts of “class A misdemeanour simple assault” involving a videographer during a concert in Gilford in 2019. In a statement, the police said the singer and his agents “have been aware of the warrant for some time”. But he had made no effort to return to answer the charges, the police said.

2017 – Chris Cornell
Chris Cornell was laid to rest at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles next to Johnny Ramone. Mourners at the funeral service include Dave Navarro, Tom Morello, Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Courtney Love and his Soundgarden bandmates Matt Cameron and Kim Thayil. Cornell hanged himself on May 18 2017.

2016 – Pink Floyd
A set of stamps celebrating 50 years of Pink Floyd were unveiled by the Royal Mail. The ten stamps which would be available the following month marked five decades since the band turned professional. The collection included the band’s most famous album covers as well as live performance shots.

2015 – B.B. King
US authorities were investigating the death of blues legend B.B. King after two of his daughters claimed he was poisoned. Karen Williams and Patty King said the musician had been given “foreign substances to induce his premature death” by his business manager Laverne Toney. King died in his sleep at his Las Vegas home on 14 May of this year, aged 89.

2009 – James Brown
A US judge ended a bitter two-year battle over the late soul singer James Brown’s estate. Judge Jack Early ruled half of his assets will go to a charitable trust, a quarter to his wife and young son, and the rest to his six adult children. Brown’s family and wife Tomi Rae Hynie Brown, had fought over his fortune since he died of heart failure in 2006.

2007 – The Beatles
Contemporary musicians recorded their own versions of songs from the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper album to mark 40 years since it was released. Acts including Oasis, Travis, The Fray, Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight, Bryan Adams and The Magic Numbers all worked with Geoff Emerick – the engineer in charge of the original 1967 sessions, using the original analogue 4-track equipment to demonstrates the techniques employed for the recording at Abbey Road studios in 1967.

2002 – Ozzy Osbourne
The first episode of At Home With The Osbournes was shown on MTV in the UK. Already becoming a hit in the the US, the show focused on the madman and his family (his wife Sharon, and two of their three children). Oblivious to the camera, they bicker, squabble, curse and hang out backstage at Ozzy shows.

2000 – Tommy Lee
Drummer Tommy Lee was jailed for five days for drinking alcohol. Lee appeared in front of a LA court charged with violating his probation by consuming alcohol, an act that directly contravenes the terms of his parole.

1996 – Eric Clapton
A fire at the home of Eric Clapton caused over one and a half million pounds worth of damage; Firemen arrived on the scene to find Clapton braving the blaze to save his collection of guitars.

1995 – The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones played two semi-acoustic concerts at the Paradiso Amsterdam over two days. Keith Richards later said that the Paradiso concerts were the best live shows the Stones ever did. The venue is housed in a converted former church building that dates from the nineteenth century, subsequently squatted in 1967 by hippies who wanted to convert the church into an entertainment club. Artists who have recorded concerts at the Paradiso include Joy Division, Willie Nelson, Phish, Nirvana, The Cure, Lenny Kravitz, Nick Cave, Dave Matthews and Amy Winehouse.

1994 – Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley. The couple divorced in 1995. They had first met when the seven-year-old Presley attended several of Jackson’s concerts in Las Vegas.

1990 – Madonna
For the first time ever the Top five positions on the US singles chart were held by female artists; Madonna was at No.1 with ‘Vogue’, Heart were at No.2, Sinead O’Connor No.3, Wilson Phillips at No.4 and Janet Jackson was at No.5.

1984 – Denience Williams
Former backing singer with Stevie Wonder, Deniece Williams started a 2 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Let’s Hear It For The Boy’, taken from the film ‘Footlose’, a No.2 hit in the UK.

1979 – Blondie
‘Sunday Girl’ gave Blondie their second UK No.1 hit single. The track was taken from the group’s ‘Parallel Lines’, which went on to become the biggest selling album of 1979.

Embed

Copy and paste this HTML code into your webpage to embed.

03:01

1977 – Billy Powell
Billy Powell singer with The O’Jays died of cancer. (1972, hit ‘Back Stabbers’, 1973 US No.1 & UK No.9 single ‘Love Train’). Originally known as The Triumphs, and then The Mascots, they took the name “The O’Jays”, in tribute to radio disc jockey Eddie O’Jay.

1974 – David Cassidy
Tragedy struck at a David Cassidy concert at London’s White City when over 1,000 fans had to be treated by first aid workers due to the frenzied excitement. One fan Bernadette Whelan died from heart failure four days later.

1973 – Rick Derringer
The Edgar Winter Group went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Frankenstein’, the bands only US No.1, it reached No.18 in the UK. The group featured ex McCoys guitarist Rick Derringer. In live performances of the song, Edgar Winter further pioneered the advancement of the synthesizer as a lead instrument by becoming the first person ever to strap a keyboard instrument around his neck.

1972 – David Bowie
At the point of the band splitting up David Bowie offered Mott The Hoople two of his new songs, ‘Suffragette City’, which they turned down and ‘All The Young Dudes’, which they recorded. The song gave the group a No.3 UK and US Top 40 hit.

1972 – Joe Cocker
The first day of the four day UK festival ‘The Great Western Express’ near Lincoln featuring; the Faces, Joe Cocker, Humble Pie, Slade, The Groundhogs, Ry Cooder, Don McLean, Brewers Droop plus a special appearance by Monty Python.

1969 – John Lennon
John Lennon and Yoko Ono began an eight-day ‘bed in’, in room 1742 of The Hotel La Reine Elizabeth, Montreal, Canada, to promote world peace. They recorded ‘Give Peace a Chance’ in the hotel room (Petula Clark can be heard on the chorus). The song was credited to Lennon & McCartney, even though Paul had nothing to do with the record.

1968 – Little Willie John
US blues artist Little Willie John died in prison after being convicted of manslaughter. Co-wrote and was the first to record a ‘Fever’ (covered by Peggy Lee in 1958), and ‘Need Your Love So Bad’ covered by Fleetwood Mac. James Brown recorded a tribute album ‘Thinking Of Little Willie John… And A Few Other Nice Things’.

1968 – OZ Magazine Benefit
Pink Floyd, Blonde On Blonde and The Pretty Things all appeared at the OZ magazine benefit at the Middle Earth Club, Covent Garden, London, England. OZ was a satirical humour magazine, founded by Richard Neville and based in Sydney, Australia from 1963. In its second and better-known incarnation it became a counter-culture magazine, based in London from 1967 to 1973.

1967 – The Beatles
The Beatles released Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, in the UK. Recorded over a 129-day period beginning in December 1966, the album is widely regarded as one of the greatest of all time and was the first Beatles album where the track listings were exactly the same for the UK and US versions. As of 2011, it has sold more than 32 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums in history.

1966 – The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Paint It, Black’, their sixth UK No.1 single. It was originally titled ‘Paint It Black’ without a comma. Keith Richards has stated that the comma was added by the record label, Decca. It was the first No.1 single to feature a sitar on the recording.

Embed

Copy and paste this HTML code into your webpage to embed.

03:41

1966 – The Beatles
The Beatles recorded ‘Yellow Submarine’ at Abbey Road studios in London. Recovering from a case of food poisoning, producer George Martin missed this recording, EMI engineer Geoff Emerick worked on the session. The track features John Lennon blowing bubbles in a bucket of water, shouting “Full speed ahead Mister Captain!”

1964 – Marianne Faithful
Marianne Faithful recorded the Mick Jagger and Keith Richards song ‘As Tears Go By’, accompanied by future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page on guitar and John Paul Jones on bass.

Visits: 1