Another week, another bit of Rock history!
Some major awards and accolades:
Elvis Presley bought the Graceland mansion from Ruth Brown-Moore for $102,500 in 1957
The mostly instrumental single “Tequila” by The Champs hit #1 in 1958
The Beatles’, She Loves You, hit #1 in 1964 and It remains the band’s best-selling single in the UK
In 1967, The Beatles’ Penny Lane hit #1 in the US
Otis Redding’s ”(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” hit #1 in 1968 becoming the first posthumous #1 single in the US.
In 1978, The Bee Gees’ Night Fever hit #1, where it would remain for 8 weeks
Jefferson Starship’s Sara hit #1 in 1986, their second consecutive chart topper
In 1991, Michael Jackson signed a $1 billion contract with Sony
Donna Summer received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1992.
In 1994, Bruce Springsteen won an Oscar for the song ‘Streets of Philadelphia’
The movie Selena debuted in theaters in 1997, chronicling the life of the late Tejano singer, who was murdered two years earlier by the former president of her fan club
Robert Plant is presented with a lifetime achievement Grammy award in 2005
in 2010, Sony Music and Michael Jackson’s estate signed a $200 million deal in 2010. It called for 10 projects over seven years including a release of previously unreleased material
Some major premiers:
The Bee Gees made their U.S. television debut when they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1968
In 1975, The movie version of The Who’s rock opera ”Tommy” premieres in America
A major retirement was announced when is 1989, Dick Clark announced the end of his 33 years as host of American Bandstand
An a rock legend fathered an upcoming rock legend was born:
Valerie Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen became the proud parents of a 7-pound 13-ounce son named Wolfgang Van Halen in 1991
A very influential marriage took place:
John Lennon married Yoko Ono in 1969
Some major legal battles were settled:
Paul McCartney’s divorce from Heather Mills was settled for $48.6 million in 2008
In 2018, a US Court of Appeals awarded Marvin Gaye’s family $5.3 million after they determined Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams used portions of Marvin’s song “Got to Give it Up” in their track ”Blurred Lines”
And a fair share of tragedy occurred:
Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist Randy Rhoads died when he took a plane ride with a pilot who tried to buzz Ozzy’s tour bus in 1982. When the wing hit the bus, the plane crashes into a nearby house, killing Rhoads, the pilot, and the tour costume designer/hairdresser
Seven members of Reba McEntire’s band and her road manager were among 10 people who were killed when their private jet crashed in California in1991
John Phillips from The Mamas & the Papas died of heart failure in 2001
In 2017, Chuck Berry died at the age of 90 due to cardiac arrest
Kenny Rogers died in 2020 due to bladder cancer
