On This Day, January 22 in Music History
EVENTS ON JANUARY 22 IN MUSIC HISTORY
On this day January 22 in 1959 – Buddy Holly was informed by Decca Records that his contract would not be renewed.
1963 – Gerry and the Pacemakers recorded their debut single ‘How Do You Do It?’. The song was released on March 14 the same year and it reached No.1 in the UK on April 11.
1969 – Elvis Presley recorded ‘Suspicious Minds’ at the American Sound Studio in Memphis on this day January 22 in music history. The song was written by Mark James and it became Presley’s eighteenth chart-topper in the US.
1972 – David Bowie stated that he was gay in an interview for the British weekly music magazine Melody Maker. However, in future interviews, Bowie claimed that he’s more of a bisexual and even a “closeted heterosexual”.
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1972 – With his second studio album ‘American Pie’, Don McLean went to number one on the US Billboard 200 chart on this day January 22. The album held the top spot for seven consecutive weeks and it features the chart-topping singles ‘Vincent’ and ‘American Pie’.
1977 – Paul McCartney and Wings topped the US Billboard 200 chart with their triple live album ‘Wings over America’. Also a chart-topper in Canada and a No.8 hit in the UK that year.
1977 – Country music singer-songwriter Slim Whitman started four-week stint at No.1 in the UK on this day January 22 with his album ‘Red River Valley’.
1977 – Stevie Wonder hit number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart with ‘I Wish’ – the lead single from his eighteenth studio album ‘Songs in the Key of Life’.
1982 – Country music group Alabama released the single ‘Mountain Music’ on this day January 22 in music history which is also the title-track to their sixth and commercially most successful studio album. The song became a chart-topper on the Country charts in the US and Canada.
1994 – Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, and Sting topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart with ‘All for Love’. The song featured in the movie ‘The Three Musketeers’ and it reached number one in eleven other countries worldwide.
1994 – With ‘Things Can Only Get Better’, D:Ream hit No.1 on the UK Singles chart for the first of four consecutive weeks on this day January 22.
1997 – Scottish singer and songwriter William “Billy’ Mackenzie died at the age of 39 from an overdose. Best remembered as the co-founder and frontman of the new wave band The Associates.
2000 – Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers topped the UK Singles chart on this day January 22 with ‘The Masses Against the Classes’.
2000 – With their eighteenth studio album ‘Supernatural’, rock band Santana hit number one on the US Billboard 200 for the first of three weeks. The album was a chart-topper in sixteen other countries that year, including the UK.
2002 – Punk rock band Bad Religion released their twelfth studio album ‘The Process of Belief’ through Epitaph Records on this day January 22. The LP topped the US Independent Albums chart and peaked at No.49 on the Billboard 200.
2005 – American rock band The Killers went to number one in the United Kingdom with their debut studio album ‘Hot Fuss’. The LP features four singles, including the international mega-hit ‘Mr. Brightside’.
2005 – With their seventh studio album ‘American Idiot’, punk rock band Green Day began a two-week run at No.1 in the US on this day January 22 in music history.
2005 – The re-issued double A-side single ‘One Night’/’I Got Stung’ by Elvis Presley reached number one in the UK. The single was originally a chart-topper in 1959.
2011 – Singer and songwriter Bruno Mars scored his second consecutive number one single in the UK with ‘Grenade’ on this day January 22.
2017 – English bass guitarist Peter Overend Watts died on this day at the age of 69 from throat cancer. Best remembered as a founding member of the rock band Mott the Hoople.
2022 – With his third studio album ‘DS4Ever’ (read as ‘Drip Season 4Ever’), rapper Gunna reached the top spot on the US Billboard 200.
BORN ON JANUARY 22 IN MUSIC HISTORY
1924 – American jazz trombonist, arranger, and composer James Louis “J.J.” Johnson was born in Indianapolis, Indiana.
1931 – The “King of Soul’ – Samuel Cook also known professionally as Sam Cooke was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Best known for hit songs such as ‘You Send Me’, ‘Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha’, ‘Chain Gang’, ‘Twistin’ the Night Away’, etc.
1940 – Singer and founding member of The Shirelles, Addie “Micki” Harris was born in High Point, North Carolina.
1949 – American singer-songwriter Stephen “Steve” Perry was born in Hanford, California. He came to prominence as the frontman of the rock band Journey.
1949 – American musician Vincent Lopez also known as Mad Dog was born in Neptune Township, New Jersey. He rose to fame as the drummer for Bruce Springsteen’s backing bands Steel Mill and the E Street Band.
1951 – Canadian multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer Benjamin “Ben” Mink was born in Toronto.
1960 – Australian singer and songwriter Michael Hutchence was born in Sydney. Best known as the co-founder and frontman of the rock band INXS.
1965 – American disc jockey, songwriter, and record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Best known as one half of the hip hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince.
1965 – American drummer and songwriter Steven Adler was born Michael Coletti in Cleveland, Ohio. He rose to fame as a member of the hard rock band Guns N’ Roses.
1965 – British singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist Andrew Roachford was born in London, England.
1981 – Guitarist, songwriter, and co-founder of the band Evanescence, Benjamin “Ben” Moody was born in Little Rock, Arkansas.
1981 – American singer, songwriter, actress, and producer Amanda Willford also known as Willa Ford was born in Ruskin, Florida.