1998 On their way to perform at the 1998 MTV Europe Music Awards at Milan's Fila Forum, British girl group All Saints are held up for six hours in London by a walkout of Milan airport employees.
1997 Hollywood session guitarist Tommy Tedesco dies of lung cancer at age 67. Aside from playing on classic TV themes such as The Twilight Zone, Batman, and M*A*S*H, he recorded with a number of artists, including Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, and Elvis Presley.
1994 Jazz singer Carmen McRae dies at age 72, a month after suffering a stroke.
1994 Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and Robert Plant perform an all-acoustic version of "Stairway To Heaven" while visiting a Japanese talk show.
1990 In a sign that pop and rap have fused together, To the Extreme by Vanilla Ice replaces MC Hammer's Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em at #1 on the US albums chart.
1990 Ronnie Dyson dies of heart failure at age 40. The stage actor, known for his lead vocal on the Hair theme "Aquarius," launched his recording career with the Top 10 hit "(If You Let Me Make Love to You Then) Why Can't I Touch You?" in 1970.
1988 Gladys Knight guest stars on the "Three Girls Three" episode of the sitcom A Different World. She stops by Hillman College to hold auditions for new backup singers. At the end of the episode, she performs "Love Overboard" with Jasmine Guy and Dawnn Lewis.
1986 Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band releases Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Live: 1975-85; it sells one-million copies in one day.
1984 Frankie Goes to Hollywood's debut album, Welcome To The Pleasuredome, debuts at #1 in the UK, but the band is in America, making their US TV debut on Saturday Night Live, where they perform their UK smash "Two Tribes" and their cover of "Born To Run."
1983 Billy Idol releases his second album, Rebel Yell. Along with the title track, hits from the album include "Eyes Without A Face" and "Flesh for Fantasy."
1979 The Eagles' "Heartache Tonight" hits #1.
1979 Chris Joannou (bass player for Silverchair) is born Christophoros John Joannou in Newcastle, Australia.
1978 Rapper Eve is born Eve Jihan Jeffers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1975 The SS Edmund Fitzgerald sinks suddenly in Lake Superior during a storm, killing all 29 men aboard and inspiring Canadian folkie Gordon Lightfoot to write a song about the tragedy, "Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald."
1975 Jimmy Eat World frontman Jim Adkins is born in Mesa, Arizona.
1979"Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang becomes first rap song to hit the Billboard Hot 100, entering the chart at #84.
Read more2007 For the first time, country(ish) artists occupy the top three spots on the US albums chart: 1) Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride 2) Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand 3) Gary Allan - Living Hard
2002 Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello, Lenny Kravitz, and Brian Setzer guest star on The Simpsons in an episode where they run a rock and roll fantasy camp. The first rule of the camp: There are no rules! Second rule: No outside food.More
1992 Ween's major-label debut, Pure Guava, is released on Elektra records. The album features the single "Push th' Little Daisies," which gets them attention on MTV after being featured on the channel's animated series Beavis and Butt-head. During the clip, Butt-head quips, "These guys have no future."More
1988 After a 6-year hiatus where he waits out the '80s, Steve Miller starts touring again, kicking off with a show in Burlington, Vermont.
1969 Sesame Street debuts on American public television. Many of the lessons are taught with songs, and in later seasons, musicians drop by to help out: Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, Ray Charles, Dixie Chicks and Alicia Keys are among the many to appear on the show. The two big names that turn down offers: Bruce Springsteen and Barbra Streisand.More
1938 On her radio show, Kate Smith sings the Irving Berlin song "God Bless America" for the first time, introducing it to the country. Berlin composed the song for a 1918 musical he wrote, but decided not to use it.More
©2026 Songfacts®, LLC