26 FEBRUARY
In Music History
1947 Pop singer Sandie Shaw is born Sandra Ann Goodrich in Dagenham, Essex, England.
1945 Rocker Mitch Ryder is born William S. Levise Jr in Hamtramck, Michigan.
1943 Bob "Bear" Hite (lead singer of Canned Heat) is born in Torrance, California.
1943 Paul Cotton (guitarist for Poco) is born Norman Paul Cotton in Fort Rucker, Alabama.
1926 Louis Armstrong introduces scat singing when he records "Heebie Jeebies." As Armstrong tells it, he improvised his vocals when his lyric sheet fell off the stand.
1917 The first ever jazz single, "Livery Stable Blues," is recorded by the Original Dixieland Jass Band in New York. It sells a million copies and launches jazz as a national phenomenon.
Nancy Sinatra Walks Her Go-Go Boots To #1
1966Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" climbs to #1 in America.
Read more26 FEBRUARY
Featured Events
2002 The Bee Gees play what is to be their final concert, performing at Miami Beach's Love and Hope Ball, a benefit for the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation.
2002 Norah Jones releases her debut album Come Away With Me, a jazz-inflected set that wins the Album of the Year Grammy and sells over 10 million copies in America.More
2001 Daft Punk's second album, Discovery, marks a change in their musical direction from house to electronic disco. Taking a leaf from fellow European electronic artists Kraftwerk, they choose to hide their faces - performing and appearing in music videos wearing stylized robotic helmets.
1997 Perhaps trying to make amends for giving them just four awards when they were still together, The Grammys give The Beatles three awards: two for "Free As A Bird" and another for their Anthology video.More
1997 At 14, LeAnn Rimes becomes the youngest person to win a Grammy Award when she takes the trophies for Best New Artist and Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her debut single, "Blue."
1953 Michael Bolton is born Michael Bolotin in New Haven, Connecticut. Before reaching soft-rock stardom, he fronts a hard-rock band called Blackjack.More
1932 Johnny Cash is born J.R. Cash in Kingsland, Arkansas, the fourth of seven kids. He starts using the name John R. Cash when he joins the Air Force in 1950 (they wouldn't accept initials), and becomes Johnny Cash when he signs with Sun Records in 1954. One of the most popular and influential musicians of his time, Cash gets inducted into the Country, Rock And Roll, Gospel and Songwriters hall of fames.
1928 Fats Domino is born Antoine Domino in New Orleans, Louisiana. One of nine children, he quickly masters the piano, taking the name Fats from piano great Fats Waller (and also, he's 5'5" and well over 200 pounds).
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