1980, Genesis scored their first UK No.1 album when 'Duke' went to the top of the charts.
1980, R.E.M. played their first ever gig when they appeared at St Mary's Episcopal Church, Athens, Georgia.
1981, Canned Heat singer Bob "The Bear" Hite died of a heart attack aged 36. (1970 UK No.2 & US No.26 single 'Let's Work Together'). Played at both the 1967 Montery Pop Festival and the 1969 Woodstock Festival.
1983, Danny Rapp, leader of 50's group Danny and the Juniors committed suicide in a hotel in Arizona by shooting himself. (1958 US No.1 & UK No.3 single 'At The Hop').
1985, At 3:50pm GMT, over 5,000 radio stations worldwide aired the charity single by USA for Africa 'We Are The World'. The single went on to be a No.1 in the US & UK, and most Western territories.
1994, Kurt Cobain committed suicide by shooting himself in the head at his home in Seattle. Cobain’s body wasn’t discovered until April 8, by an electrician who had arrived to install a security system, who initially believed that Cobain was asleep, until he saw the shotgun pointing at his chin. A suicide note was found that said, "I haven't felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music, along with really writing . . . for too many years now". A high concentration of heroin and traces of Valium were found in Cobain’s body. His death was officially ruled as suicide by a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head.
1997, The Chemical Brothers went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Block Rockin Beats.' Taken from their second album Dig Your Own Hole the song won a Grammy award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
1998, British drummer Cozy Powell was killed when his car smashed into crash barriers on a motorway in Bristol, England. Powell had worked with Whitesnake, ELP, Black Sabbath, Rainbow and the ELP spin-off Emerson, Lake, & Powell. Plus sessions with Donovan, Roger Daltrey, Jack Bruce, Jeff Beck, Gary Moore and Brian May.
2006, Gene Pitney was found dead aged 65 in his bed in a Cardiff hotel. The American singer was on a UK tour and had shown no signs of illness. Pitney helped the Rolling Stones break the American market with his endorsement of the band. Jagger and Richards wrote his hit That Girl Belongs to Yesterday which became the Stones duo's first composition to reach the American charts. He scored the 1962 US No.4 single 'Only Love Can Break A Heart'. and 1967 solo UK No.5 & 1989 UK No.1 single with Marc Almond 'Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart', plus over 15 other US & UK Top 40 hits.
2007, Former Kiss guitarist Mark St. John died from an apparent brain hemorrhage at the age of 51. St. John was Kiss' third official guitarist, having replaced Vinnie Vincent in 1984 and appeared on the album ‘Animalize’.
2008, Apple's iTunes overtook supermarket group Wal-Mart to become the largest music retailer in the US. Market research firm NPD said iTunes surpassed Wal-Mart in January and February if 12 downloads are considered equal to the sale of one CD album. iTunes had sold more than four billion songs since its launch in 2003.
1929, Born on this day, Joe Meek, producer. Shot himself dead on 3rd February 1967 after killing his landlady. Produced 'Telstar' the 1962 UK and US No.1 single by The Tornadoes. The first British act to have a No.1 in the US. Also produced hits for John Leyton and The Honeycombs.
1935, Born on this day, Peter Grant, manager of Led Zeppelin. Died from a heart attack on 21/11/95 aged 60. Known as being one of the shrewdest and most ruthless managers in rock history, Grant secured 90% of concert gate money and intimidated record store owners who dealt in bootlegs. The former wrestler, also worked as a film extra and bodyguard. During the early 60s Grant worked as a tour manager for Bo Diddley, The Everly Brothers, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent and The Animals.
1942, Born on this day, Alan Clarke, vocals, The Hollies, (over 25 top 40 hits, 1972 US No.2 single 'Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress'), 1988 UK No.1 single 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother', first released in 1969.
1948, Born on this day, Dave Holland, drummer, Judas Priest.
1950, Born on this day, Agnetha Faltskog, vocals, Abba, (first UK hit 1974 No.1 'Waterloo', followed by eight other UK No.1 singles and 9 UK No.1 albums, 1977 US No.1 single 'Dancing Queen').
1954, Born on this day, Stan Ridgeway, Wall Of Voodoo, solo, (1986 UK No.4 single 'Camouflage').
1965, Born on this day, Mike McCready, guitar, Pearl Jam, (1992 UK No.15 single 'Jeremy', 1993 US No.1 album 'Vs').
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