EVENTS THAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY MAY 13 IN MUSIC HISTORY
On this day May 13 in 1955 – With his version of ‘Stranger in Paradise’, Tony Bennet reached number one on the UK Singles chart.
1965 – Country music singer and songwriter Roger Miller scored his first and only No.1 single in the UK with ‘King of the Road’.
1966 – The Rolling Stones released ‘Paint it Black’ in the UK on this day May 13 in music history. The song topped the charts in the UK, US, Canada and the Netherlands and is also one of the first Rock records to feature a sitar.
1967 – With their second studio release ‘More of the Monkees’, pop rock group The Monkees topped the UK Albums chart.
1967 – Girl group The Supremes scored their tenth number one single in the US with ‘The Happening’ on this day May 13.
1971 – Jefferson Airplane‘s lead singer Grace Slick suffered severe injuries when she crashed her car into the inside of a tunnel in San Francisco while drag racing Jorma Kaukonen. She was hospitalized, but thankfully made a full recovery.
1975 – American western swing singer, songwriter, fiddle player and bandleader Robert ‘Bob’ Wills died on this day May 13, aged 70 from pneumonia. Best remembered for hit songs such as ‘Smoke on the Water’, ‘Stars and Stripes on Iwo Jima’, ‘Sugar Moon’, and ‘New Spanish Two Step’ among others.
1978 – Singer Yvonne Elliman topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart with her rendition of the Bee Gees‘ disco song ‘If I Can’t Have You’. Interestingly, she dethroned the Bee Gees from No.1 who topped the chart for eight weeks with ‘Night Fever’.
1978 – With ‘Rivers of Babylon’ / ‘Brown Girl in the Ring’, vocal group Boney M topped the UK Singles chart on this day May 13 in music history. It held the top spot for five consecutive weeks.
1981 – American pop music singer Joan Weber died from heart failure, aged 45. Best remembered for her 1955 hit rendition of the song ‘Let Me Go, Lover’.
1988 – American jazz trumpeter and vocalist Chet Baker was found dead on the streets of Amsterdam on this day May 13, aged 58. Apparently he fell from the second floor window of his hotel room after getting high on heroin and cocaine.
1989 – With ‘I’ll Be There for You’, rock band Bon Jovi scored their fourth number one single on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
1989 – The number one album in the United Kingdom on this day May 13 was ‘Street Fighting Years’ by the pop rock band Simple Minds. Their third consecutive No.1 on the Albums chart.
1989 – Australian singer Kylie Minogue topped the UK Singles chart with ‘Hand On Your Heart’. It was her second chart-topper of the year in Britain as she previously was at No.1 with ‘Especially for You’ back in January.
1994 – Rock band Soundgarden released ‘Black Hole Sun’ on this day May 13 in music history. It featured on their fourth studio album ‘Superunkown’ and topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
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1995 – British boy band Take That scored their second chart-topper on the UK Albums chart with their third studio LP ‘Nobody Else’. The album was an international hit and reached No.1 in eight more countries.
1995 – Italian Eurodance group Livin’ Joy reached the top spot on the UK Singles chart with ‘Dreamer’ on this day May 13.
1995 – The soundtrack album to the stoner comedy film ‘Friday’ starring Chris Tucker and rapper Ice Cube topped the US Billboard 200.
2000 – With ‘Oops!…I Did It Again’, American pop singer Britney Spears scored her third number one single in the UK on this day May 13.
2006 – American singer Johnnie Wilder Jr died at the age of 56. Best remembered as the co-founder and co-lead vocalist of the funk/R&B group Heatwave.
2006 – Barbadian singer Rihanna scored her first number one single in the United States with ‘SOS’ on this day May 13.
2006 – Alternative rock band Snow Patrol reached number one on the UK Albums chart for the first time with their fourth studio release ‘Eyes Open’.
2006 – With their fourth studio album ‘IV’, rock band Godsmack topped the US Billboard 200 for the second time on this day May 13 in music history.
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2011 – Canadian record producer Jack Richardson died at the age of 81. Best remembered for his work with Guess Who from 1969 until 1975.
2012 – American bassist, producer, songwriter and session musician Donald “Duck” Dunn died in his sleep on this day May 13 while on tour in Japan, aged 70.
2017 – Portugal won the annual Eurovision Song Contest for the first time thanks to Salvador Sobral and his song ‘Amar Pelos Dois’,
2017 – With ‘That’s What I Like’, singer-songwriter Bruno Mars scored his fifth number one single as a solo artist in the US on this day May 13.
2021 – The number one single in the United Kingdom on this day was ‘Body’ by the British rappers Russ Millions & Tion Wayne.
2021 – English rock duo Royal Blood scored their third consecutive number one album in the UK with ‘Typhoons’ on this day May 13.
BORN ON THIS DAY MAY 13 IN MUSIC HISTORY
1911 – American jazz vocalist and performer Marietta Williams also known professionally as Maxine Sullivan was born in Homestead, Pennsylvania on this day May 13 in music history.
1912 – Influential Canadian-American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and arranger Gilmore Evans was born on this day in Toronto, Ontario.
1914 – Country music singer-songwriter Johnnie Wright was born on this day May 13 in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Best known as one half of the music duo Johnnie & Jack.
1935 – Pop singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer Teddy Randazzo was born in Brooklyn, New York. Best known for hit songs such as ‘Pretty Blue Eyes’, ‘Goin’ Out of My Head’, ‘It’s Gonna Take a Miracle’, etc.
1941 – Singer and multi-instrumentalist Joe Brown was born on this day May 13 in Swarby, England. Best known for songs such as ‘A Picture of You’, ‘Shine’ and ‘It Only Took a Minute’.
1941 – Singer, songwriter, guitarist and rock and roll pioneer Ritchie Valens was born Richard Valenzuela on this day in Pacoima, California. Best known for the songs ‘La Bamba’ and ‘Donna’.
1943 – American singer Mary Wells nicknamed the ‘Queen of Motown’ was born in Detroit, Michigan on this day May 13 in music history.
1945 – Multi-instrumentalist Richard Salwitz also known as Magic Dick was born in New London, Connecticut. He rose to fame as a founding member of the J. Geils Band.
1947 – Bass guitarist and founding member of the rock band Mott the Hoople, Pete Watts was born on this day May 13 in Birmingham, England.
1950 – British guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Danny Kirwan was born in London. Best known as a member of the rock group Fleetwood Mac from 1968 until 1972.
1950 – Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Stevie Wonder was born Stevland Hardaway Morris on this day May 13 in Saginaw, Michigan. He is one of the best-selling solo artists of all time with over 100 million records sold worldwide.
1951 – English drummer Paul Thompson was born in Newcastle. Best known as a longtime member of the art rock band Roxy Music.
1965 – Country music singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, and producer Lari White was born in Dunedin, Florida on this day May 13 in music history.
1966 – Ukrainian-American guitarist Lee Altus was born on this day in Odessa, USSR. Best known as a member of the thrash metal bands Heathen and Exodus.
1966 – Singer, songwriter and guitarist Darius Rucker was born on this day May 13 in Charleston, South Carolina. He came to prominence as the co-founder and frontman of the soft rock band Hootie & the Blowfish.
1967 – Singer, songwriter, guitarist and founder of the death metal band Death, Chuck Schuldiner was born in New York. He is considered the “Godfather of Death Metal”.
1969 – American guitarist and songwriter Brian Patrick Carroll better known by his stage name Buckethead was born on this day May 13 in Pomona, California.