7 SEPTEMBER
In Music History
1988 INXS, the new sensation from Australia, are the big winners at the MTV Video Music Awards, taking five trophies, including Video Of The Year, for "Need You Tonight/Mediate." The songs are separate tracks on the album but combined for the video; the "Mediate" part is an homage to Bob Dylan's 1965 "Subterranean Homesick Blues" film.
1986 Mike Nesmith joins the other three Monkees on stage during their reunion tour concert in Los Angeles.
1985 Ringo Starr becomes the first Beatles grandfather when his son Zak's child is born.
1985 "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" hits #1 in the US. David Foster and John Parr wrote the song for the film St. Elmo's Fire, but they wrote it about Rick Hansen, who went around the world in his wheelchair raising money for spinal cord research on his "Man In Motion" tour.
1984 With most of her family (including her parents) on the road with The Jacksons' Victory tour, 18-year-old Janet Jackson elopes with James DeBarge from the group DeBarge. The marriage ends eight months later.
1984 INXS play the first of two concerts in Guam, a small island in the Pacific that rarely draws major acts. The stop follows a three-month US tour and precedes their tour of Japan.
1975 The Guess Who perform their final concert (before the inevitable reunion), in Montreal.
1970 Chad Sexton (drummer/percussionist for 311) is born in Lexington, Kentucky.
1963 Eric "Eazy-E" Wright (member of N.W.A., founder of Ruthless Records, executive producer) is born in Compton, California.
1957 Sam Cooke releases "You Send Me."
1956 Songwriter Diane Warren, whose many hits include Aerosmith's "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" and Cher's "If I Could Turn Back Time," is born in Van Nuys, California.
1953 Benmont Tench (keyboardist for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) is born Benjamin Montmorency Tench III in Gainesville, Florida.
1951 Chrissie Hynde (of The Pretenders) is born in Akron, Ohio.
1949 Disco queen Gloria Gaynor is born Gloria Fowles in Newark, New Jersey.
1946 Disco/soul singer Alfa Anderson (of Chic) is born in Augusta, Georgia.
Tupac Shot Five Times
1996Rap star Tupac Shakur is shot five times in a drive-by following a boxing match in Las Vegas. He dies six days later at age 25.
Read more7 SEPTEMBER
Featured Events
2003 Warren Zevon dies of cancer (peritoneal mesothelioma) in Los Angeles, California, at age 56.
2000 Rage Against The Machine bass player Tim Commerford interrupts the MTV Video Music Awards when he climbs up the backdrop on stage, baffling the crew as well as Limp Bizkit, who are accepting the Best Rock Video award for "Break Stuff." Rage was nominated in the category for "Sleep Now in the Fire."More
1994 Weezer release their breakthrough single, "Buddy Holly," named for the rock and roll icon on what would have been his 58th birthday. It's featured on the band's debut album, Weezer (aka The Blue Album).
1987 Michael Jackson releases "Bad," the title track to his first album since Thriller. The song was supposed to be a duet with Prince, but the Purple One turned down the offer.
1987 In the UK, Pink Floyd release A Momentary Lapse of Reason, their first album without founding member Roger Waters.More
1985 For the first time in the Rock Era, the top three songs on the Hot 100 were all written for movies: #1: "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" by John Parr #2: "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis & the News (from Back to the Future) #3: "We Don't Need Another Hero" by Tina Turner (from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome)
1978 Keith Moon of The Who dies at age 32 after overdosing on medication that is supposed to help him overcome his alcoholism.
1936 Buddy Holly is born. He lives just 22 years but influences many of the biggest stars of the '60s, including The Beatles. Don McLean's "American Pie" is about his death.
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