On This Day, June 29 in Music History
EVENTS ON JUNE 29 IN MUSIC HISTORY
On this day June 29 in 1961 – Singer-songwriter Del Shannon started a three-week stint at No.1 on the UK Singles chart with ‘Runaway’. The song was an international hit that year and it also went to No.1 in Australia, Canada, Chile, New Zealand, and the US.
1968 – With their third studio album ‘Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake’, Small Faces hit number one in the UK for the first of six consecutive weeks.
1968 – With their fourth studio album ‘Bookends’, Simon & Garfunkel topped the US Billboard 200 chart on this day June 29 in music history. Also a chart-topper in Britain hat year.
1969 – American soul singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Earl “Shorty” Long drowned in the Detroit River after his boat crashed, aged 29.
1974 – Gordon Lightfoot went to number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart with ‘Sundown’ on this day June 29. The song also peaked at No.1 in Canada and South Africa that year.
1974 – With ‘She’, French singer and songwriter Charles Aznavour started a four-week stay at number one on the UK Singles chart.
1975 – American singer-songwriter Timothy “Tim” Buckley died on this day June 29 at the age of 28 from a drug overdose. He was the father of fellow musician Jeff Buckley.
1985 – Neo-progressive rock band Marillion scored their first number one album in the UK on this day June 29 in music history with their third studio LP ‘Misplaced Childhood’.
1985 – Mick Jagger & David Bowie got together and recorded a cover of ‘Dancing in the Street’. They joined forces to raise money for the Live Aid famine relief cause. The song was released on August 27 and it peaked at No.1 in seven countries, including the UK and Canada.
1985 – With ‘Frankie’, R&B vocal group Sister Sledge started a four-week stint at No.1 on the UK Singles chart on this day June 29.
1991 – Australian actor and singer Jason Donovan had the number one single in the UK with his rendition of the 1968 song ‘Any Dream Will Do’ from the musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”.
1991 – Heavy metal band Skid Row topped the US Billboard 200 chart with their second studio album ‘Slave to the Grind’ on this day June 29.
1991 – With her twentieth solo studio album ‘Love Hurts’, singer and actress Cher topped the UK Albums chart for the first time. It held the top spot for six weeks straight.
1999 – Heavy metal band Slipknot released their self-titled debut studio album on this day June 29 in music history on the Roadrunner Record label.
2002 – American singer and actress Rosemary Clooney died on this day at the age of 74. Best remembered for hit songs such as ‘Come On-a My House’, ‘Mambo Italiano’, ‘Botch-a-Me’, ‘Hey There’, etc.
2002 – Rapper Nelly hit No.1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart with ‘Hot in Herre’ for the first of seven consecutive weeks on this day June 29. The song also earned him a Grammy Award for Best Male Rap Solo Performance.
2004 – Canadian rock band Rush released the EP ‘Feedback’ on the independent label Anthem Records. It peaked at No.5 in Canada and No.19 in the US.
2007 – Founding member and guitarist of The Marshall Tucker Band, George McCorkle died on this day June 29 from cancer, aged 60.
2013 – Rapper and record producer Kanye West scored his second chart-topper on the UK Albums chart with his sixth studio LP ‘Yeezus’.
2013 – Heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath went to No.1 in the US with their nineteenth and final studio album ’13’ on this day June 29 in music history. The album was also a chart-topper in the UK, Denmark, Germany, and Canada that year.
10 Interesting Black Sabbath Facts
2017 – The charity supergroup Artists for Grenfell topped the UK Albums chart with their rendition of ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’. The song raised money for the families of the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire.
2017 – The number one album in the United Kingdom on this day June 29 was ‘How Did We Get So Day?’ by the hard rock duo Royal Blood.
2018 – American singer Eugene Pitt died at the age of 80. Best remembered as a founding member of the doo-wop group The Jive Five.
2019 – With her fourteenth studio album ‘Madame X’, Madonna topped the US Billboard 200 chart on this day June 29.
2020 – American singer and songwriter Benjamin “Benny” Mardones died at the age of 73. Best remembered for his hit single ‘Into the Night’.
2021 – English singer John Lawton died on this day June 29 in music history, aged 74. Best known for his work with the rock bands Uriah Heep, Lucifer’s Friend, and Les Humphries Singers.
BORN ON JUNE 29 IN MUSIC HISTORY
1940 – English singer-songwriter and guitarist Alan Klein was born in London.
1940 – American composer and lyricist Lawrence Russell Brown was born in Newark, New Jersey. Best known for co-writing songs such as ‘Knock Three Times’, ‘I Woke up This Morning’, and ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree’.
1943 – American pop singer Eva Boyd better known professionally as Little Eva was born in Bellhaven, North Carolina. Best known for her hit rendition of ‘The Loco-Motion’.
1943 – English multi-instrumentalist and sculptor Roger Ruskin Spear was born in London. He rose to fame as a member of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.
1947 – Northern Irish keyboardist Eric Wrixon was born in Belfast. Best known as a founding member of the bands Them and Thin Lizzy.
1948 – English drummer Ian Paice was born in Nottingham. He came to prominence as a founding member of the hard rock band Deep Purple.
10 Fun Facts about Deep Purple
1951 – One third of the vocal trio Dino, Desi & Billy, William “Billy” Hinsche was born in Manila, Philippines. He’s also known for playing keyboards with the Beach Boys’ backing band.
1953 – Singer-songwriter and guitarist Colin Hay was born in Kilwinning, Scotland. He rose to fame as the lead singer of the band Men at Work.
1953 – Founder and frontman of the glam metal band Dokken, Donald “Don” Dokken was born in Los Angeles, California.
1960 – Singer, songwriter and producer Evelyn “Champagne” King was born in The Bronx, New York City. Best known for the hit songs ‘Shame’, ‘Love Come Down’, and ‘I’m in Love’ among others.
1961 – American guitarist Gret Hetson was born in Hawthorne, California. Best known for his work with the hardcore punk bands Redd Kross, Bad Religion, and Circle Jerks.
1962 – Film score composer, producer, musician and songwriter Neil Davidge was born in Bristol, England. Best known for his work with Massive Attack and DNA.
1964 – English singer and dancer Stedman Pearson was born in North London. Best known as a member of the sibling pop group Five Star.
1978 – American singer-songwriter and dancer Nicole Scherzinger was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the girl group The Pussycat Dolls.
1983 – American singer and dancer Aundrea Fimbres was born in Upland, California. Best known as a member of the girl group Danity Kane.