23 MAY
In Music History
1994 Jimmy Fernandez (bassist for The God Machine) dies suddenly of a brain tumor at age 28.
1992 Totally Krossed Out by the teenage rap duo Kriss Kross hits #1 in the US. Produced by Jermaine Dupri, the title is a reference to how they wear their clothes: backwards in a look they call "krossed out."
1987 The Doobie Brothers reunite with original members, including singer/guitarist Tom Johnston, for a Vietnam Veterans benefit at the Hollywood Bowl. The show leads to a series of reunion concerts over the next month, and a full-on reunion tour in 1989.
1985 It's Aretha Franklin Appreciation Day in Michigan, as Governor James Blanchard declares the singer "One of Michigan's natural resources."
1985 Hall & Oates perform with Temptations Eddie Kendrick and David Ruffin at the re-opened Apollo Theatre in Harlem. The concert is later released as Live At The Apollo.
1979 The Third Barry Manilow Special airs on ABC. A mix of music and comedy, it includes an appearance by John Denver, who commiserates with Manilow on how critics can't stand them despite their legions of fans.
1979 The Who's acclaimed documentary The Kids Are Alright debuts in New York City.
1979 Sister Sledge's We Are Family is certified Platinum.
1978 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band begin their "Darkness Tour" at Shea's Buffalo Theatre in Buffalo, New York.
1977 When San Francisco outlaws "electronic instruments" in public, a free Jefferson Airplane concert in Golden Gate Park is canceled.
1976 Bob Dylan finishes recording the album Hard Rain.
1975 Jackie "Moms" Mabley, vaudeville star and standup comedian who appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, dies of heart failure at age 81. At age 75, she became the oldest living person to have a Top 40 hit with her 1969 cover of Dion's "Abraham, Martin and John."
1973 Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, starring James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson, debuts in theaters. In addition to scoring and writing songs for the film, Bob Dylan makes his acting debut as a knife-wielding stranger named Alias. His acting is derided, but he lands a hit with "Knockin' On Heaven's Door."
1973 Neo-soul singer Maxwell is born Gerald Maxwell Rivera in Brooklyn, New York.
1971 Iron Butterfly breaks up.
The Who Release The Rock Opera Tommy
1969The Who release their album Tommy, a rock opera about a deaf, dumb and blind boy who plays a mean pinball.
Read more23 MAY
Featured Events
2010 Bret Michaels of Poison wins Season 9 of Donald Trump's show The Celebrity Apprentice.
2008 Weezer's video for "Pork and Beans," featuring a number of YouTube stars, makes its debut.More
2007 The US Library of Congress hands out the first Gershwin Award to Paul Simon for being a "performer whose lifetime contributions exemplify the standard of excellence associated with the Gershwins."
2006 Dixie Chicks release Taking the Long Way, their seventh studio album. It goes on to win five Grammy Awards.
2000 A Perfect Circle release their debut album, Mer de Noms. In addition to Maynard James Keenan of Tool, the group features guitarist Billy Howerdel and drummer Josh Freese, who had been working on the Chinese Democracy album for Guns N' Roses. Mer de Noms racks up worldwide sales of well over 2 million; Chinese Democracy doesn't appear until 2008.
1997 Country singers LeAnn Rimes and Trisha Yearwood release separate versions of the Diane Warren-penned ballad "How Do I Live" on the same day.More
1979 Responding to a wave of lawsuits after refusing to transfer his contract to MCA Records, Tom Petty files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a bold move that halts the legal proceedings and forces MCA to negotiate.More
1974 Jewel Kilcher is born in Payson, Utah. Raised in Homer, Alaska, she rises to fame using just the name Jewel. Her debut album, Pieces Of You, released in 1995 when she's 20, catches on a year later thanks to the hits "Who Will Save Your Soul" and "You Were Meant For Me." It sells over 12 million copies and moves Jewel into the upper echelon of singer-songwriters.
©2026 Songfacts®, LLC