27 SEPTEMBER
In Music History
1973 After becoming a devotee of the guru Sri Chinmoy, Carlos Santana starts using the name Devadip, which means "the Lamp of the Light Supreme."
1973 The syndicated music show Don Kirshner's Rock Concert debuts with a performance by The Rolling Stones, making their first appearance on US television in six years. Fittingly, they play "It's Only Rock 'N' Roll."
1970 Mark Calderon (of Color Me Badd) is born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
1970 After 22 years on various networks, the last Ted Mack's Amateur Hour show airs on CBS.
1969 A new version of The Dells' 1956 hit "Oh What A Night," now with a sonorous spoken intro, goes to #1 on the R&B chart.
1968 Flatt & Scruggs play the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, bringing bluegrass to a city known for its psychedelic sound. "The hippies were coming up and touching Scruggs and saying 'You're for real,'" producer Bob Johnston recalls.
1966 Stephan Jenkins (frontman for Third Eye Blind) is born in Indio, California.
1964 In their national TV debut, The Beach Boys appear on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing "I Get Around."
1962 Martha Reeves and the Vandellas record "I'll Have To Let Him Go."
1958 Pop singer/actor Shaun Cassidy is born in Los Angeles, California. Although he doesn't join The Partridge Family cast with mom Shirley Jones and half-brother David Cassidy, he stars on The Hardy Boys Mysteries and lands a trio of Top 10 hits in 1977 - including the chart-topper "Da Doo Ron Ron."
1954 The first national Tonight Show with Steve Allen is telecast.
1953 Greg Ham (keyboard/flute player for Men At Work) is born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
1952 Bassist Robbie Shakespeare (of Sly and Robbie) is born in Kingston, Jamaica.
1952 Patti Page's "I Went To Your Wedding" hits #1.
1947 Johnny Ace's "My Song" hits #1 R&B.
Dylan Plays For Pope
1997Bob Dylan plays "Knocking On Heaven's Door" and "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" for Pope John Paul II and an audience of 300,000 at the World Eucharist Congress in Bologna, Italy. For the 77-year-old Pope, it's a chance to connect with young people, and the pontiff does so by invoking Dylan's song "Blowin' In The Wind" during his sermon. Dylan's invite is not without controversy, as the future Pope Benedict fears the "rock prophet" and his music are at odds with the Roman Catholic faith.
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Featured Events
2025 Zach Bryan breaks the record for largest ticketed concert, drawing 112,408 fans to his show at Michigan Stadium (the "Big House") in Ann Arbor. It's the first concert in the 98-year history of the stadium, which is primarily used for University of Michigan football games.
2004 Legendary rock producer Phil Spector, best known for creating the "Wall Of Sound" on hits like The Ronettes' "Be My Baby" and The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," is indicted for the February 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson at his estate in Alhambra, California.
1995 With gangsta rap drawing negative publicity, Time Warner sells their share of Interscope Records to the founders, Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field. The next release is Dogg Food by Tha Dogg Pound, which goes to #1 in America.
1986 Cliff Burton (Metallica's second bassist) dies in a bus crash in Sweden during Metallica's Damage Inc. tour in support of the Master of Puppets album. Burton, age 24, is asleep in his bunk when the bus skids off the road. He is thrown from the window and crushed when the vehicle rolls over him.
1986 The Beatles' re-released version of "Twist And Shout" peaks at #23 thanks to its use in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
1980 Kurtis Blow becomes the first rapper to perform on national television when he does "The Breaks" on Soul Train. Host Don Cornelius is flummoxed. "It doesn't make sense to old guys like me," he tells Kurtis in the interview segment.More
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