On This Day, April 1 in Music History
EVENTS ON APRIL 1 IN MUSIC HISTORY
On this day April 1 in 1966 – David Bowie released his first solo single ‘Do Anything You Say’ with ‘Good Morning Girl’ on the B-side through Pye Records. The song wasn’t received well and it failed to chart.
1966 – The Troggs recorded their rendition of ‘Wild Thing’ at the Olympic Sound studio in London. It was released in May as a single and it became a chart-topper in Australia, the UK, New Zealand, and the US.
1971 – Jimi Hendrix‘s posthumously released album ‘The Cry of Love’ was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
1983 – Heavy metal guitarist Kirk Hammett received a phone call from Metallica‘s manager to audition for the band. The rest is, as they say, history.
WATCH: Metallica perform in front of 1 million people
1984 – R&B and soul singer Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his father Marvin Sr. after a heated argument, aged 44. Best remembered for hit songs such as ‘Sexual Healing’, ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’, ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’, and others.
1985 – Van Halen‘s lead singer David Lee Roth left the band in order to pursue a solo career. However, fans weren’t made aware of the news until August.
1989 – Pop rock group The Bangles topped the US Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Eternal Flame’. The song was an international hit that year and it reached No.1 in eight other countries, including the UK and Australia.
1989 – With her fourth studio album ‘Like a Prayer’, Madonna went to number one in the United Kingdom for the first of two weeks straight.
1992 – British drummer Nigel Preston died on this day April 1 in music history, aged 28 from a drug overdose. Best remembered as a founding member of the rock band The Cult.
1995 – While serving time in prison, rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur also known as 2Pac started a four-week stint at No.1 on the US Billboard 200 with his third studio album ‘Me Against the World’.
1995 – Hip-house duo the Outhere Brothers topped the UK Singles chart with ‘Don’t Stop (Wiggle Wiggle)’.
1999 – R&B singer, songwriter, pianist, producer and arranger Jesse Stone also known by his stage names Charles Calhoun and Chuck Calhoun died at the age of 97. Best remembered for his hit song ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll’.
2000 – With their eighteenth studio album ‘Supernatural’, rock band Santana started a two-week stint at number one in the UK.
2000 – Singers Melanice C and Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes reached the top spot on the UK Singles chart with ‘Never Be the Same Again’..
2004 – Guitarist and record executive Paul Atkinson died at the age of 58. Best remembered as a founding member of the pop rock band The Zombies.
2005 – American songwriter, composer and record producer James “Jack” Keller died at the age of 68 of leukemia. Best remembered for co-writing hit songs such as ‘Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool’, ‘Venus in Blue Jeans’, ‘My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own’, ‘Run to Him’, etc.
2006 – American R&B singer and songwriter Ne-Yo scored his first No.1 single in the United Kingdom with ‘So Sick’.
2006 – The number one single in the United States on this day was ‘Temperature’ by the Jamaican singer Sean Paul. The song spent 17 weeks in the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that year.
2006 – Pop music duo Journey South went to number one in the United Kingdom with their self-titled debut studio album.
2015 – John Lennon‘s first wife Cynthia Lennon died at the age of 75. She is the mother of musician Julian Lennon.
2021 – American singer and songwriter Lana Del Rey scored her fifth number one album in the UK with ‘Chemtrails over the Country Club’.
BORN ON APRIL 1 IN MUSIC HISTORY
1910 – American jazz saxophonist and clarinet player Harry Carney was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Best known as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra.
1932 – American actress and singer Debbie Reynolds was born in El Paso, Texas. Best known for starring in films such as ‘Singin’ in the Rain’, ‘The Singing Nun’, ‘How the West Was won’, ‘Charlotte’s Web’, and so on.
1934 – Country music singer-songwriter James Edward Brown was born in Sparkman, Arkansas.
1939 – Singer-songwriter and founding member of the family musical group The Isley Brothers, Rudolph Isley was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1942 – American musician and author Philip ‘Phil’ Margo was born in Brooklyn, New York. Best known for his work with The Tokens with whom he had the chart-topping single ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’.
1942 – British guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, and producer Alan Blakley was born in Bromley, England. Best known as a member of The Tremeloes.
1945 – American drummer John Barbata was born in Passaic, New Jersey. Best known for his work with bands such as The Turtles, Jefferson Airplane, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
1946 – Bass guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and record producer Ronald ‘Ronnie’ Lane was born in London, England. He came to prominence as a founding member of the rock bands Small Faces and Faces.
1947 – Singer-songwriter, guitarist, and founder of the music project ‘M’, Robin Edmond Scott was born on this day in Croydon, England
1948 – Jamaican singer and multi-instrumentalist James Chambers also known professionally as Jimmy Cliff was born in St. James, Jamaica.
1949 – American jazz singer-songwriter, poet, and instrumentalist Gilbert Scott-Heron was born in Chicago, Illinois.
1951 – Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Henry Gross was born in Brooklyn, New York. Best known for his work with the rock band Sha Na Na.
1954 – Drummer, songwriter, and record producer Jeffrey Porcaro was born in Hartford, Connecticut. Best known as a member of the rock bands Toto and Steely Dan.
1958 – Guitarist, singer, songwriter, and co-founder of the rock group Minutemen, Dennes D. Boon was born in San Pedro, California.
1961 – Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer Mark White was born in Sheffield, England. He rose to fame as a member of the electronic music band Vice Versa.
1964 – Scottish singer Susan Boyle was born in Dechmont, Scotland. She came to prominence as a contestant on the talent competition show Britain’s Got Talent.
1981 – English actress, singer, and founding member of the pop group S Club 7, Hannah Spearritt was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.