On This Day, March 6 in Music History
EVENTS ON MARCH 6 IN MUSIC HISTORY
On this day March 6 in 1958 – The Everly Brothers recorded their version of ‘All I Have To Do Is Dream’, a song penned by the husband-and-wife songwriting duo Felice and Boudleaux Bryant. It was released as a single in April and it became the only song to top all of the Billboard singles charts simultaneously on June 2.
1959 – American doo-wop vocal group The Drifters recorded ‘There Goes My Baby’. The song was released on April 24 and it peaked at number one on the Billboard R&B singles chart and reached No.2 on the Hot 100.
1961 – English singer-songwriter, actor and comedian George Fromby died on this day March 6 in music history at the age of 56.
1964 – Vocal group The Temptations scored their first number one single in the US on this day March 6 with ‘My Girl’.
1966 – The Rolling Stones started recording their now-signature hit ‘Paint It Black’. The song was finished a few days later and it was released in May. By the end of the year it became a chart-topper in the UK, Canada, the US and the Netherlands.
1967 – Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly died on this day March 6, aged 85. Best remembered in the music world as the creator of the Kodaly Method.
1971 – With ‘Baby Jump’, rock group Mungo Jerry went to number one in the United Kingdom on this day March 6.
1975 – The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awarded the Average White Band a Gold Record for ‘Pick Up The Pieces’ which sold over 500,000 units. The song was a chart-topper in the US the month prior.
1975 – Led Zeppelin received a Gold Record by the RIAA on this day March 6 in music history for their sixth studio album ‘Physical Graffiti’. As of March 2024, the album is certified 16x Platinum with over 8 million copies sold in the US alone.
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1976 – Disco artist Tina Charles started a three-week stint at No.1 on the UK Singles chart with ‘I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance)’.
1976 – With ‘Love Machine’, The Miracles scored their second US Billboard Hot 100 number one single on this day March 6.
1982 – New wave band The Go-Go’s started a six-week stint at No.1 on the US Billboard 200 with their debut studio album ‘Beauty and the Beat’.
1982 – With their rendition of ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’, Tight Fit hit No.1 in the UK on this day March 6 for the first of three consecutive weeks.
1993 – With her debut studio album ‘Diva’, pop singer Annie Lennox went to number one in the UK on this day March 6 in music history.
1993 – Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle topped the US Billboard Hot 100 with ‘A Whole New World’. The song featured in Disney’s animated film Aladdin.
1994 – 78 year old Frank Sinatra fainted onstage during a show in Richmond, Virginia. The incident forced him to retire in the following months.
1995 – Annie Lennox released her second solo studio album ‘Medusa’ through RCA Records on this day March 6. It peaked at number one in the UK and Canada while in the US it reached No.11.
2000 – The 15th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. Inductees: Earth, Wind & Fire, The Lovin’ Spoonful, The Moonglows, Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor, and Eric Clapton. This was Clapton‘s third induction after previously being inducted as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream.
2004 – American singer Peggy DeCastro died on this day March 6 in music history, aged 82. Best remembered as one third of the vocal group The DeCastro Sisters.
2006 – Malian singer and multi-instrumentalist Ali Farka Toure died of bone cancer at the age of 66 on this day March 6.
2006 – American soul singer-songwriter King Floyd died at the age of 61. Best remembered for his 1970 hit single ‘Groove Me’.
2009 – American singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and producer David Williams died on this day March 6, aged 58 of a cardiac arrest. Best known for his work as a session musician for Madonna and Michael Jackson.
2010 – American R&B singer-songwriter Jason Derulo reached the top spot on the UK Singles chart with ‘In My Head’.
2010 – The number one single in the United States on this day March 6 in music history was ‘Imma Be’ by the Black Eyed Peas.
2013 – English singer-songwriter, and guitarist Graham Anthony Barnes better known by his stage name Alvin Lee died at the age of 68. Best remembered as the frontman of the blues rock band Ten Years After.
2014 – American vocalist and guitarist Charles Love died on this day March 6 at the age of 68. Best remembered as a founding member of the band Bloodstone.
BORN ON MARCH 6 IN MUSIC HISTORY
1893 – Delta blues singer, guitarist and songwriter Walter ‘Furry’ Lewis was born in Greenwood, Mississippi.
1905 – American western swing singer, songwriter, fiddle player and bandleader Robert “Bob Wills was born in Kosse, Texas.
1918 – Bebop jazz pioneer and trumpeter Howard McGhee was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
1923 – Jazz guitarist John Leslie “Wes” Montgomery whose playing influenced the fusion and smooth subgenres was born in Indianapolis, Indiana.
1944 – Singer and founding member of the vocal group The Supremes, Mary Wilson was born in Greenville, Mississippi.
1945 – Drummer and percussionist Hugh Grundy was born in Winchester, England. Best known as a member of the rock band The Zombies.
1946 – English guitarist, singer and songwriter David Gilmour was born in Cambridge. He came to prominence as a member of the rock band Pink Floyd.
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1947 – Pop music singer Pauline Matthews also known professionally as Kiki Dee was born in Bradford, England. Best known for hit songs such as ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’, ‘Armoureuse’, and ‘I’ve Got the Music in Me’.
1948 – Canadian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Marc Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York.
1964 – American keyboardist and percussionist Stephen Bier also known by his stage names Pogo and Madonna Wayne Gacy was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Best known for his work with Marilyn Menson.
1970 – English singer, rapper, and songwriter Alison Moira Clarkson also known professionally as Betty Boo was born in London.
1974 – American rapper Beanie Sigel was born Dwight Equan Grant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1974 – Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Guy Garvey was born in Bury, England. He rose to fame as the founder and frontman of the rock band Elbow.
1984 – American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Christopher “Chris” Tomson was born in New Jersey. Best known as the drummer of the indie-rock group Vampire Weekend.