1954
April 12
Bill Haley records "Rock Around The Clock", a song that was first released by Sunny Dae in 1952. The record will become a modest hit, selling 75,000 copies, but would become a national sensation when it was featured in the movie The Blackboard Jungle twelve months later.
1955
April 16
Elvis Presley was the headliner on The Big D Jamboree, a live radio show on KRLD in Dallas, Texas. An in-studio audience was admitted for 60 cents apiece.
April 17
Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame", which Billboard erroneously lists for months as "Ain't It a Shame", is released on Commodore Records. It will rise to the top of the Billboard R&B chart and #10 on the Pop chart, becoming the first of 37 Top 40 hits The Fat Man will have over the next eight years.
1956
April 11
While flying from Amarillo to Nashville, Elvis Presley's plane is forced to make an emergency landing in Arkansas. The incident will leave him with a permanent fear of air travel.
April 11
James Brown has his first chart entry when "Please, Please, Please" debuts on the Billboard R&B chart. The song was recorded at WIBB, a radio station in his home town of Macon, Georgia.
April 15
Mitch Miller, music director of Columbia Records, engages in a spirited debate with Allan Freed over the "potentially negative effects of Rock 'n' Roll on teenagers" on Eric Sevareid's news program on CBS-TV. Two psychiatrists also joined the discussion.
April 16
Buddy Holly's first single "Blue Days, Black Nights", was released by Decca Records. The up-tempo, Country flavored tune proved to be a poor seller.
1957
April 12
Alan Freed's Rock 'n' Roll Easter Jubilee opens for a ten-day run at Brooklyn Paramount. Buddy Knox, Charlie Gracie and Bo Didley are also included on the show.
April 13
Elvis Presley's "All Shook Up" went to #1 on the Cash Box best seller list and The Billboard Pop chart, where it would stay for the next eight weeks.
April 13
After taking "Rock Island Line" to #6 during an eight month run on the UK charts in 1956, Lonnie Donegan pushes Skiffle to new heights when "Cumberland Gap" reaches #1.
1959
April 11
After the BBC lifts its ban on The Coasters' new single "Charlie Brown", the song is played on radio's Pick of the Pops. It will go on to become the group's best selling UK hit, reaching #6.
April 13
Five weeks after it entered the Billboard Hot 100, "Pink Shoelaces" by 13 year old Dodie Stevens tops out at #3. She would go on to sing with Sergio Mendes and Brazil '77 as well as Mac Davis, but never had another Top 40 hit.
1960
April 17
Rock and Roll pioneer Eddie Cochran was just 21 years old when he was killed after the car in which he was riding blew a tire, then hit a lamp post. Cochran enjoyed hits with "Summertime Blues", "C'mon Everybody" and "Sittin' in the Balcony". Gene Vincent, who recorded "Be Bop A Lula" in 1956, and Cochran's fiancée, Sharon Sheeley survived the crash.
1961
April 11
19 year old Bob Dylan debuted as a solo artist when he opened for John Lee Hooker at Gerde's Folk City in New York.
April 12
At the third annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, Ray Charles wins three trophies including Best Pop Single for "Georgia On My Mind". Marty Robbins took home a statue for Best Country and Western Performance for "El Paso".
April 17
Paul Revere and the Raiders' first US chart hit, "Like Long Hair" tops out at #38 on the Billboard chart.
1962
April 13
The Beatles kicked off a 48 night booking at The Star Club in Hamburg, Germany. During their stay, they will record two tracks with Tony Sheridan, "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Swanee River", but whether these were the versions of Sheridan's songs that were eventually released is uncertain.
1963
April 11
Gerry And The Pacemakers were at #1 on the UK singles chart with "How Do You Do It?" The song wouldn't catch on in the US until the Fall of 1964, when it went to #9.
April 13
"Surfin' USA" by the Beach Boys was released in the US, where it will become the group's second Billboard chart-maker, reaching #3. The song was a note-for-note copy ofChuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" with new lyrics. After Berry sued, he was granted royalties and all further issues of the song gave him writing credit.
1964
April 11
The Beatles set another music industry record when they had 14 songs on the Billboard Hot 100. The songs ranged from "Can't Buy Me Love" at #1 to "Love Me Do" at #81.
April 12
Chubby Checker marries Catharina Johanna Lodders, who had won the Miss World Pageant in 1962.
April 16
The Rolling Stones first album was released. It sold over 200,000 copies and hit number one in the UK two weeks later and was the first non-Beatles album to reach the top in over a year.
1965
April 11
The New Musical Express, the most important music trade paper in Britain, hosted a concert at London's Wembley Empire Pool, featuring The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Tom Jones, The Seekers, Freddie and the Dreamers, The Animals, The Kinks, Herman's Hermits, The Moody Blues, Them, Cilla Black and Donovan.
April 13
Roger Miller wins in five categories at the seventh annual Grammy Awards.
April 16
The Hollies began their first US tour in New York. It wasn't until the following year that the group had their first US Top Ten hit with "Bus Stop".
April 17
The Beach Boys' "Help Me Rhonda" is released, featuring rhythm guitarist Al Jardine on lead vocal. The song will become the group's second Billboard #1.
April 17
Cannibal And The Headhunters entered the Billboard chart with "Land Of 1000 Dances", which would climb to #30. Wilson Pickett's version of the same song would reach #6 the following year.
April 17
RCA and LearJet Corporation announce the development of the combination 8 track tape player and car radio that become available in next Fall's new cars.
1966
April 11
NBC broadcasts the last episode of the Rock and Roll TV show, Hullabaloo, which features Paul Anka, Lesley Gore, Peter and Gordon and The Cyrkle. The show had been on the air since January 1965, a year after ABC came up with Shindig!
April 12
Jan Berry, the younger half of Jan and Dean was paralyzed after he ran his Corvette into a parked truck on a side street in Beverly Hills. Berry suffered total physical paralysis for over a year as well as extensive brain damage which made it impossible to return to performing. The pair started their hit streak in 1958 with "Jennie Lee" and followed with "Baby Talk", "Surf City", "Sidewalk Surfin'", "Drag City", "Dead Man's Curve", "The Little Old Lady From Pasadena" and "Popsicle". Jan's accident ended their career as hit makers, although they attempted a comeback in 1978 after the biographical movie, Dead Man's Curve, was shown on TV.
April 14
The Beatles record "Paperback Writer" and the vocals for "Eleanor Rigby".
April 15
Buffalo Springfield perform for the first time, opening for The Byrds at a concert in San Bernardino, California.
April 15
The Rolling Stones release "Aftermath", their first LP to feature all original material.
April 15
The Spencer Davis Group scored their second UK #1 single with "Somebody Help Me", a song that failed to crack the Top 40 in the US.
April 15
UK music fans were treated to a concert by Jimi Hendrix, The Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens and Englebert Humperdinck when they appeared live at the Blackpool Odeon. Tickets cost 5 and 10 shillings, ($0.70 and $1.40).
April 17
"Wild Thing" by The Troggs is released. Adults hate it, the UK music trade paper Record Retailer dubbed it "A most curious record..." but by June, it will be number one in the US and number two in the UK.
1967
April 11
While flying back to London from the US, Paul McCartney writes "Magical Mystery Tour" and lays out some ideas for the film.
April 13
Police in Poland use tear gas and batons to control several thousand teenagers who turned out to see The Rolling Stones' first show behind the Iron Curtain.
April 14
The Bee Gees release "New York Mining Disaster 1941", which will climb to #10 in the UK and #14 in the US.
April 14
The final episode of Where The Action Is, which brought Paul Revere and The Raiders to fame, airs on ABC-TV.
April 15
Nancy and Frank Sinatra had the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100, The Cashbox Best Sellers List and Britain's New Musical Express record chart with "Something Stupid". To this day, they are the only father and daughter team to have a US chart topping single. ("Unforgettable" by Natalie Cole and Nat "King" Cole reached #14 in 1991)
1968
April 11
Janis Joplin, along with Big Brother and the Holding Company made their national TV debut on ABC-TV's Hollywood Palace.
April 14
Producer Phil Spector marries Ronnie Bennett of the Ronettes. The union would prove to be a very unhappy one for Bennett, who filed for divorce in 1972, citing several instances of alleged cruelty.
1969
April 12
After scoring a series of instrumental hits in the early 1960s including "Walk Don't Run" and "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue", The Ventures were back on Billboard's Hot 100 for the last time with the theme from the TV show, Hawaii Five-0.
April 12
The Fifth Dimension score their first #1 and their eighth Billboard Top 40 hit with "Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In". It made #11 in the UK.
April 14
The Monkees' TV special, 33 1/3 Revolutions per Monkee, aired on NBC. The plot featured Rock musicians Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll as mad scientists looking for something to rot the minds of young people.
April 14
At Abbey Road Studios, John Lennon and Paul McCartney record "The Ballad of John and Yoko", the Beatles single that didn't include George and Ringo. Paul played bass, drums and piano with John on guitars.
April 16
Elektra Records drops Detroit's MC5 from their label after the band takes out an ad in a local paper that includes the company logo and reads "Fuck Hudsons." The band was protesting the Michigan department store's refusal to carry their albums.
April 17
Bob Dylan's former backing group, simply known as The Band, make their first stand alone appearance at the Fillmore West in San Francisco.
1970
April 11
Peter Green, founding member of Fleetwood Mac, announces he is leaving the band to follow his religious beliefs.
April 11
Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit In The Sky" tops out at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Although the song would sell over two million copies, it would be his only Top 40 hit.
April 14
Stephen Stills broke his wrist in a car accident, resulting in the cancellation of an American tour by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Stills drove into a parked car while watching a police patrol car in his rear-view mirror.
April 17
Paul McCartney releases his first solo album, officially ending his days with The Beatles, just as the group's single "Let It Be" reached #1 in America.
April 17
While performing at the White House at the invitation of President Richard Nixon, Johnny Cash is asked to perform "Okie From Muskogee". Cash declined because it was not his song, but had been a hit for Merle Haggard. Instead, Cash sang his number one hit, "A Boy Named Sue". It is not known if Nixon recorded the concert.
1971
April 17
Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World" hit the top of the US singles chart for a six week stay. It made #24 in the UK. The record became the best selling song of the year in the US, beating out Rod Stewart's "Maggie May". Hoyt Axton, son of "Heartbreak Hotel" author, Mae Axton, wrote the song.
April 17
All four former Beatles have solo singles on the UK chart: Paul McCartney: "Another Day", Ringo Starr: "It Don't Come Easy", John Lennon, "Power To The People" and George Harrison: "My Sweet Lord".
April 17
The Doors' "Love Her Madly" is released. It would become the band's 7th Billboard Top 40 single, reaching #11.
1972
April 15
Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" became an unlikely number one hit after it was featured in the Clint Eastwood film Play Misty For Me. It had been originally released as an album cut three years earlier. After Eastwood included it in his film, Atlantic Records rush released it as a single. The song reached #14 in the UK.
April 15
Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen entered the Billboard Top 40 for the first and only time with "Hot Rod Lincoln", a re-worked version of "Hot Rod Race", a #29 hit for Tiny Hill in 1951.
April 16
The Electric Light Orchestra played its first live show, promoting their debut album, "No Answer". The concert didn't get very good reviews and founding member Roy Wood split several months later, leaving Jeff Lynne to write and produce most of the band's material.
1973
April 12
Stevie Wonder appeared on TV's Sesame Street, where he performed "123 Sesame Street" and his hit "Superstition".
April 16
Paul McCartney's first television special, James Paul McCartney, airs. The show includes performances by McCartney and Wings.
April 17
Pink Floyd receives a Gold album for "The Dark Side of the Moon," one of Rock's landmark albums. The LP remained on the charts for 741 weeks from 1973 to 1988, longer than any other album in history and has sold an estimated 45 million copies.
1974
April 13
Elton John reached the top spot on the Billboard singles chart for the second time with "Bennie and the Jets". It made #37 in the UK.
April 13
Paul McCartney's LP "Band On The Run" topped the Billboard album chart. It went on to sell over 6 million copies world-wide.
April 17
Vinnie Taylor, guitarist with the Rock 'n Roll revival band Sha Na Na, died from a drug overdose.
1975
April 12
Elton John led the US Pop chart with "Philadelphia Freedom", a song inspired by Billie Jean King's World Team Tennis League entry.
1976
April 14
Stevie Wonder signed a $13 million deal with Motown, the largest music contract to that date. Wonder would go on to have a half a dozen Top Ten hits from several hot selling albums.
April 14
Bay City Rollers' singer Eric Faulkner nearly died after swallowing Seconal and Valium tablets. The 21 year old claimed to be weary of the group's hectic schedule.
1977
April 11
After being paid $40,000 for a show in Sydney, Australia, Alice Cooper is placed under house arrest at his hotel until he posts a bond for $59,632. That amount was the sum that a local promoter claimed to have paid Cooper for a 1975 Australia tour he never made. The two settle when it is found that the promoter did not fulfill his part of the agreement either.
April 16
While riding high on the success of his hit TV show Starsky and Hutch, David Soul reached Billboard's top spot with "Don't Give Up On Us". The record had already topped the UK chart the previous January.
1978
April 12
The Four Tops sang at Aretha Franklin's wedding to actor Glynn Turman. The union would last six years.
1979
April 12
Mickey Thomas replaces Marty Balin as the lead singer for Jefferson Starship. Thomas' voice had previously been heard on the 1976 Elvin Bishop hit, "Fooled Around and Fell in Love".
April 14
With only drummer John Hartman and guitarist Patrick Simmons left over from the band that reached #1 in 1975 with "Black Water", The Doobie Brothers scored their second Billboard chart topper with "What A Fool Believes". It made #31 in the UK.
1980
April 13
The 1950s musical Grease finally closes its Broadway show after 3,883 performances and earning over $8-million. To this day, it is twelfth on the all-time appearance list.
April 14
A New Jersey State assemblyman introduces a resolution to make Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" the official state song. After some consideration, the song was eventually cited by legislators as the state's "rock anthem."
1981
April 11
Van Halen lead guitarist Eddie Van Halen marries Valerie Bertinelli, co-star of the 1980's television hit, One Day at a Time. The two had met eight months earlier when Bertinelli's brother dragged her to a Van Halen concert in Shreveport, Louisiana. Their union would last 25 years.
April 11
Daryl Hall and John Oates reached the top spot on Billboard's Hot 100 with their 10th Top 40 hit, "Kiss On My List". The tune was a #33 hit in the UK.
1982
April 15
Billy Joel suffered a broken wrist when the motorcycle he was driving was hit by a car. The Piano Man was in the hospital for over a month.
1983
April 11
Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes perform "Up Where We Belong" at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles, where the song wins in the Best Music category. The record had reached #1 in the US and #7 in the UK.
April 13
Pete Farndon, bassist for The Pretenders on their US Top 20 hits "Brass In Pocket" (1980) and "Back On The Chain Gang" (1983), died of a drug overdose. He was 30 years old.
April 17
Felix Pappalardi, bassist for the group Mountain, who had a hit in 1970 with "Mississippi Queen", was shot and killed by his wife Gail Collins when they argued over his long-standing affair with a younger woman. She was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and sentenced to four years in prison. Felix was 43.
1984
April 14
Michael Jackson made a one hundred thousand dollar contribution to establish a 19-bed cancer research unit at a New York hospital.
April 14
Michael Jackson's "Thriller" LP marks its 37th week at #1 in US - the longest run in Rock history to that date.
1985
April 11
A court ruling gave the Rock group Boston the right to record for MCA instead of CBS. The legal dispute had prevented the release of the band's third album for more than five years.
April 13
"We Are The World", the Quincy Jones produced effort that raised millions to help feed starving people in Africa, topped the Billboard singles chart. The 45 artists that recorded the effort on January 28th were asked to "check their egos at the door."
1986
April 11
Dave Clark's musical Time opened at London's Dominion Theatre, starring Cliff Richard. Despite poor reviews, the show was in for a long run.
April 14
Members of the First Church of the Nazarene in Ironton, Ohio, held a record burning after evangelist Jim Brown told them that the song "A Horse is a Horse", the theme song from the US TV show Mr. Ed, contained satanic messages when played backwards.
1987
April 15
Queen is presented with an award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music at the 32nd annual Ivor Novello Awards in London.
April 17
Carlton Barrett, drummer for Bob Marley and the Wailers, was shot and killed outside his home in Kingston, Jamaica. Barrett's widow, her lover and an accomplice were charged with murder two weeks later.
1988
April 11
Cher wins the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in the filmMoonstruck.
April 12
Sonny Bono is elected Mayor of Palm Springs, California, an office he held until 1992 when he ran for the Republican nomination for United States Senate. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1994 to represent California's 44th congressional district.
1989
April 12
Herbert Mills of the Mills Brothers died of viral meningitis at the age of 77. The vocal group had several hit records in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s and are remembered for their 1968, #23 hit, "Cab Driver". Donald Mills, the last of the original group passed away in 1999.
April 12
After two DJ's at Los Angeles station KLOS asked "what ever happened to David Cassidy?", the singer phoned the station and was invited on the show. David played three songs live on air and was subsequently signed by a new record label.
April 15
Roy Orbison had his final Top 10 single on the US chart with "You Got It", four months after he passed away. The song was written by Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty and appeared on Orbison's "Mystery Girl" album that was released posthumously.
1990
April 14
Thurston Harris, who had a US #6 hit in 1957 with "Little Bitty Pretty One", died of a heart attack at the age of 58.
1992
April 15
The three surviving members of Queen raised over $15 million at a charity concert in memory of the late Freddie Mercury, who died in November, 1991. They were joined by David Bowie, Annie Lennox, Elton John, Guns N' Roses, Roger Daltrey, Robert Plant, Paul Young and others.
1993
April 12
The Grateful Dead sang the US national anthem before the San Francisco Giants' home opener.
April 16
Paul McCartney headlines a concert at the Hollywood Bowl to celebrate Earth Day. Other performers at the concert include Ringo Starr, Steve Miller and Don Henley.
April 16
Singer / songwriter Billy Burnette announces he's leaving Fleetwood Mac to concentrate on recording Country music.
April 17
David Bowie went to the top of the UK album chart with "Black Tie, White Noise", his eighth UK #1 LP.
1994
April 13
Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley announced they had separated after nine years of marriage.
1995
April 14
Burl Ives, who reached the US Top 40 with "Little Bitty Tear" (#9), "Funny Way Of Laughing" (#10) and "Call Me Mr. In-Between" (#19) as well as recording the Christmas classic "Holly, Jolly Christmas", died of cancer at the age of 85.
1996
April 15
The rest of Jerry Garcia's ashes were scattered near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. A small portion had been placed into the Ganges River in India 11 days earlier. The Grateful Dead leader had died on August 9th, 1995.
April 16
KISS appear in full make-up at the 38th Grammy Awards, where they announce a reunion tour. It will mark the first time all four members have appeared together in fifteen years.
1997
April 11
Grand Funk reformed for a three concert tour to raise money for the Bosnian-American Relief Fund. Further gigs were booked over the following eighteen months and a 3 CD collection was released in 1999.
April 16
Elton John is given an honorary membership to his alma mater, the Royal Academy of Music, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school.
1998
April 17
Linda Eastman McCartney, wife of former Beatle Paul McCartney, died while vacationing with her family near Tucson, Arizona. She had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995. Paul was at her bedside, speaking to her when she passed away.
1999
April 16
Skip Spence, an original member of Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape, died of lung cancer in a San Francisco hospital at the age of 52. He had battled schizophrenia and alcoholism and had been on a ventilator for 11 days before his death.
2000
April 14
The heavy metal band, Metallica filed suit against Napster Inc, Yale University, the University of Southern California and Indiana University for copyright infringement. Yale and Indiana were dropped from the suit after they blocked access to Napster on campus servers.
2001
April 15
Joey Ramone of the 70s punk band The Ramones died of lymphatic cancer at the age of 49 . His real name was Jeff Hyman.
2002
April 13
Ravi Shankar's daughter, 23 year old Nora Jones, makes her TV debut on CNN International's The Music Room.
2003
April 13
Madonna struck back at online peer-to-peer pirates of her new album, "American Life" by flooding file-sharing networks with decoy files. Those who download tracks from such services as KaZaA were greeted by the voice of Madonna asking, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
April 13
For the first time since Jimmy Carter was in the White House, Lynyrd Skynyrd had a hit single on the radio. Rock stations across the country played the band's "Red White and Blue", an anti-protest song that includes the line "If they don't like it, they can just get the hell out." The song's success prompted the band to rush out its new album "Vicious Cycle" in May.
2004
April 14
Former American Bandstand host, Dick Clark, revealed that he has had type 2 diabetes since 1994, but kept it a secret from everyone except close friends and family.
2005
April 13
Johnnie Johnson, a Rock 'n' Roll pioneer who teamed with Chuck Berry on "Roll Over Beethoven" and "No Particular Place to Go", died of natural causes at the age of 80.
April 14
Steve Jablecki, singer and guitarist for the L.A. group, Wadsworth Mansion, who reached #7 in the US with "Sweet Mary" in 1971, died at the age of 59.
April 15
John Fred Gourrier, who led John Fred and his Playboy Band to Billboard's #1 spot in December 1967 with "Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)", died after a long bout with kidney disease. He was 63.
2006
April 11
June Pointer, the youngest of the four Pointer Sisters who went from teenage Gospel singers to the top of the Pop charts with such hits as "Fire", "Slow Hand" and "I'm So Excited", died of cancer at the age of 52.
2007 -
April 12
The Beatles' company, Apple Corps, settled a £30 million ($59.2 million) royalties dispute with the band's label, EMI. The suit alleged unpaid royalties on Beatles albums based on an audit of sales between 1994 and 1999, a period which included the release of three Anthology compilations. Details of the settlement were not disclosed.
April 15
Legendary crooner Don Ho, who entertained Hawaiian tourists for decades wearing raspberry-tinted sunglasses and singing his catchy signature tune "Tiny Bubbles", died of heart failure. He was 76.
2008
April 13
Clifford Davies, drummer for Ted Nugent, who played on his trademark recording "Cat Scratch Fever", was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in his suburban Atlanta home. He was 59.
April 17
Danny Federici, the longtime keyboard player for Bruce Springsteen, whose stylish work helped define the E Street Band's sound on hits from "Hungry Heart" through "The Rising", died of cancer at the age of 58.
2009
April 13
According to a chart compiled for the UK's BBC Radio 2, Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" was the most played song in public places in the past 75 years. Rounding out the top ten were: #2 - "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen, #3 "All I Have To Do Is Dream" by The Everly Brothers, #4 - "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet, #5 - ("Everything I Do) I Do It For You" by Bryan Adams, #6 - "Angels" by Robbie Williams, #7 - "All Shook Up" by Elvis Presley, #8 - "Dancing Queen" by ABBA, #9 - "Magic Moments" by Perry Como, #10 - "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby.
April 14
Hundreds of fans and friends, including Paul McCartney and Tom Petty, were on hand to see George Harrison receive a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of the Capitol Records building.
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