11 OCTOBER
In Music History
1992 Amy Grant and her songwriter husband Gary Chapman have their third child: Sarah Cannon.
1992 Cardi B is born Belcalis Almanzar in Edgewater, New Jersey. After two seasons on the reality show Love & Hip-Hop, her music career takes off with the 2017 #1 hit "Bodak Yellow." Over the next few years, she establishes herself as an uninhibited fashion icon and top rapper.
1988 Sarah McLachlan releases her debut album, Touch, through Nettwerk Records. The album would be re-mixed and re-released the following year.
1976 Donna Summer's Four Seasons Of Love concept album is released.
1975 Neil Sedaka's "Bad Blood," with backup vocals by Elton John, hits #1 for the first of three weeks.
1973 The divorce between Elvis and Priscilla Presley is finalized. The two remain close friends and walk out of the Santa Monica courthouse arm in arm.
1971 Rapper MC Lyte is born Lana Michele Moorer in Brooklyn, New York.
1970 Elvis Presley is made an honorary "special" deputy sheriff of Bel Air, California.
1969 Muddy Waters is severely injured in a car crash just outside Chicago that leaves three other passengers dead. Waters will remain absent from music for about a year, and will rarely stand up on stage again.
1968 Aretha Franklin's "I Say a Little Prayer" is certified gold.
1967 Barbra Streisand's third TV special, The Belle Of 14th Street, airs on CBS.
1966 Singer-songwriter Todd Snider is born in Portland, Oregon. Known for humorous story songs like "Talkin' Seattle Grunge Rock Blues" and "Beer Run," he builds a following in the Pacific Northwest but is careful to stay out of the mainstream.
1965 Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers marries his first wife, Pauline Behan -- the former secretary of his fan club!
1962 Scott Johnson (rhythm guitarist/backing vocalist for Gin Blossoms) is born.
1960 Aretha Franklin plays a selection of standards at the Village Vanguard in New York City. It is Aretha's first non-gospel performance.
Saturday Night Live Debuts With Lots Of Music
1975Saturday Night - a title later changed to Saturday Night Live - makes its debut on NBC. Music is a big part of the show, and the first episode features two musical guests performing two songs each: Janis Ian doing "At Seventeen" and "In the Winter," and Billy Preston playing "Nothing from Nothing" and "Fancy Lady."
Read more11 OCTOBER
Featured Events
2004 The Vote for Change tour wraps up in Washington, DC. with a concert featuring Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., The Dave Matthews Band, Dixie Chicks and James Taylor. The goal of the tour is to get president George W. Bush voted out of office in the November elections. Bush wins by a narrow margin.
2003 Justin Timberlake makes his first appearance on Saturday Night Live, doing double-duty as host and musical guest. It's the first of many appearances he makes on the show through the coming years; his sketches eventually grow to include a Bee Gees parody, a sketch about dating Lady Gaga, a bailiff in a courtroom trial of an alligator, "the Target lady," appearing in drag onstage with Beyoncé, and the infamous "Dick in a Box" bit.
1991 Apple Computers reaches an agreement with The Beatles' Apple Corps, paying $26.5 million for the rights to run music software - an update to their 1981 deal that prohibited the computer maker from selling anything music-related. The deal is revised from time to time as Apple Computer makes music a major part of their business.
1986 "When I Think of You" by Janet Jackson goes to #1 on the Hot 100, making her and Michael the first siblings to land #1 solo singles on the chart. The song is also the first #1 produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who reach the summit 15 more times.
1983 Lionel Richie releases his second solo album, Can't Slow Down, which goes on to sell over 10 million copies in America.More
1981 Opening a show for The Rolling Stones at Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, Prince gets booed off the stage. The Stones have good intentions in bringing in a rising star, but his act isn't a good fit for this crowd, and when he opens his trench coat to reveal bikini briefs, it gets ugly. Prince never again performs as an opening act.
©2026 Songfacts®, LLC