12 MAY
Featured Events
2013 After the Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield records the David Bowie song "Space Oddity" on board the International Space Station, his sublime rendition is posted to YouTube, quickly garnering millions of views.More
2000 Following the launch of Metallica's legal case against the popular online file-sharing service Napster, Chuck D of Public Enemy and Lars Ulrich of Metallica appear on The Charlie Rose Show, where they debate whether MP3 downloading is a vehicle for piracy or a return of power to the people.More
1984 Lionel Richie's "Hello," a song inspired by his younger years when he was too shy to talk to the ladies, goes to #1 in America.
1977 The Sex Pistols sign with Virgin Records for £15,000 after being dropped by both EMI and A&M. This one takes, and Virgin issues their landmark album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. "I've always liked Richard Branson because, pompous rich t--t that he is, he has a great sense of rebelliousness," lead singer Johnny Rotten says.
1972 The Rolling Stones release Exile On Main Street, a landmark double album recorded primarily at a villa in France, where the group is living to avoid British taxes (they are "tax exiles," thus the album name).
1967 The first Jimi Hendrix album, Are You Experienced?, is released. Songs include "Foxy Lady," "Hey Joe" and "Purple Haze."
1963 Bob Dylan refuses to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show when they won't let him play "Talkin' John Birch Society Blues."More
12 MAY
In Music History
2017 Harry Styles becomes the second One Direction member (following Zayn Malik) to release a solo album. The eponymous album is a departure from his boy band material in 1D, with meaty songs like "Sign of the Times" and "Sweet Creature." It goes to #1 in many countries (including the US and UK) and establishes Styles as a solo artist.
2017 To commemorate the 30th anniversary of their acclaimed 1987 album, The Joshua Tree, U2 embarks upon The Joshua Tree Tour 2017, with an opener in Vancouver, Canada. The band plays through the entire album, including rare treats "Exit" and "Trip Through Your Wires," which haven't been performed since the '80s, and a live first for "Red Hill Mining Town."
2011 David Gilmour and Nick Mason join their former Pink Floyd bandmate Roger Waters at the London 02 Arena performance of Waters' The Wall tour, joining in on "Comfortably Numb" and "Outside The Wall." It's the first time they've played together since Live 8 in 2005.
2011 The Monkees, minus Mike Nesmith, embark on a 45th Anniversary Tour with a date at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. It's the group's fourth and final reunion tour, as Davy Jones dies in 2012.
2011 Jamaican drummer Lloyd Knibb (of The Skatalites) dies of liver cancer at age 80.
2007 Brian May of Queen goes under police protection after a schizophrenic leaves a letter at his home blaming him for his mental illness and threatening to kill him. The news is published in the Sunday Mirror the following day, against May's wishes.
2001 Perry Como dies in his sleep less than week before his 89th birthday.
2001 File this under strange but true: After 27 years as a fugitive from a New Jersey prison, convicted child-killer Edward Solly is arrested in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he has been masquerading as long-dead Sha Na Na guitarist Vinnie Taylor, complete with a website and nightclub act. More
1998 Lenny Kravitz releases his fifth studio album, aptly titled 5. The album features his first Grammy Award-winning hit, "Fly Away."
1997 Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson appear on VH1's Storytellers, where they play each other's songs and swap stories. It's released as an album the following year.
1997 Married country singers Tim McGraw and Faith Hill release their first duet, "It's Your Love."
1994 Garth Brooks guest stars on the "Up All Night" episode of the sitcom Mad About You.
1983 Meat Loaf files for bankruptcy.
1981 Debbie Harry branches off from Blondie, announcing her solo career. She continues working with the band, which proves more successful.
1978 Alex Ebert, lead singer of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, is born in Los Angeles. His mother is the actress Lisa Richards, who had a regular role on the soap opera Dark Shadows and appeared on episodes of Fantasy Island and Chips.
Burt Bacharach Born
1929Burt Bacharach is born in Kansas City, Missouri.
Determined to make it in the music business, Bacharach rents out a cramped office in the famed Brill Building, where some of the biggest hits are born. He has little success, however, until he meets New York City native Hal David in 1957. When Bacharach's swooning melodies and daring rhythms meet David's sincere and clever lyrics, the duo become the premier architects of sophisticated pop. Gene Pitney ("Only Love Can Break A Heart"), Mary Robbins ("The Story Of My Life"), Perry Como ("Magic Moments"), The Carpenters ("(They Long To Be) Close To You"), The 5th Dimension ("One Less Bell To Answer"), and Herb Alpert ("This Guy's In Love With You") all hit the charts with Bacharach-David numbers. But the pair's main muse is Dionne Warwick. The former gospel singer records more than 60 of their compositions, bringing 19 of them to the Top 40, including "Don't Make Me Over," "Walk On By," and "Do You Know the Way to San Jose." With the advent of the singer-songwriter era, many songwriters are left out in the cold as most performers start writing their own tunes. Some, like Carole King, become singers in their own right; others, like Bacharach and David, turn to writing music for TV and film. The title themes for Alfie, What's New, Pussycat?, Casino Royale ("The Look of Love"), and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid all earn Oscar nominations, with the latter's "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head," sung by B.J. Thomas, taking the prize for Best Original Song. After his tenure with David ends in the mid-'70s, Bacharach teams with lyricist Carole Bayer Sager (his third of four wives), yielding the Oscar-winning theme to the 1981 film Arthur and the hit 1985 single "That's What Friends Are For," among others. Aside from his partnerships, Bacharach started releasing solo albums in the late '60s, occasionally singing but mostly sticking to instrumentals or accompanying a guest vocalist on piano. In 2005, he releases the protest album At This Time, featuring Elvis Costello and Rufus Wainwright. It wins the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Pop Album. When the Daily Telegraph asks him about the enduring quality of his work in 2013, the then-85-year-old composer replies: "It's part sound, part sophistication – the different time signatures, different harmonies, maybe a little bit in front of its time. Maybe not too sophisticated, but sophisticated enough to have some durability. And not too sophisticated to have you just hear it by some piano player in a bar."
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