On This Day, September 20 in Music History
EVENTS ON SEPTEMBER 20 IN MUSIC HISTORY
On this day September 20 in 1957 – Buddy Holly released ‘Peggy Sue’. The song was written by Norman Petty and Jerry Allison and it became a No.3 hit for Holly on the Billboard Pop chart.
1958 – With the soundtrack album ‘King Creole’ to the film of the same name, Elvis Presley started a seven-week run at No.1 in the UK.
1969 – Fictional pop rock band The Archies topped the US Singles chart with ‘Sugar, Sugar’. The song was a worldwide hit and it topped the charts in fifteen other countries.
1969 – Rock supergroup Blind Faith topped both the US Billboard 200 and the UK Albums charts with their self-titled debut album.
1969 – Creedence Clearwater Revival started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK Singles chart with ‘Bad Moon Rising’.
1969 – John Lennon unofficially left The Beatles after announcing to his bandmates that was leaving the band. However, the group’s disbandment was not made official until April 1970.
1970 – Jim Morrison was found guilty of indecent exposure by a courthouse in Miami, Florida for stripping naked during a The Doors concert earlier that year.
1973 – American folk and rock singer-songwriter Jim Croce died on this day September 20 in an airplane accident, aged 30. Best remembered for his chart-topping singles ‘Time in a Bottle’ and ‘Bad, Bad Leroy Brown’.
1975 – Singer-songwriter Janis Ian scored her first and only number one album in the US with her seventh studio release ‘Between the Lines’.
1975 – David Bowie scored his first No.1 single in North America by topping both the US and Canadian singles charts with ‘Fame’ on this day September 20 in music history.
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1976 – Hard rock band AC/DC released their third studio album ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap’ through Albert Productions. The album sold over 8 million copies worldwide and peaked at No.3 in the US.
1977 – Ringo Starr released his sixth solo studio album ‘Ringo the 4th’ through Atlantic (US) and Polydor Records (UK) on this day September 20.
1980 – Kate Bush became the first British female solo artist to top the UK Albums chart when her third studio album ‘Never for Ever’ climbed to number one.
1980 – With their eighth studio album ‘The Game’, Queen started a five-week run at number one in the US on this day September 20. The band’s only chart-topper in America. It reached No.1 in Argentina, Canada, the Netherlands, and the UK as well.
1984 – American country and folk music singer-songwriter Steve Goodman died on this day at the age of 36 of leukemia. Best remembered for the songs ‘City of New Orleans’ and ‘Go Cubs Go’.
1986 – Huey Lewis and the News hit number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart with ‘Stuck with You’ for the first of three consecutive weeks.
1997 – American singer Nick Traina committed suicide by overdosing on drugs, aged 19. Best remembered as the lead singer of the punk band Link 80.
1997 – Elton John started a five-week run at No.1 in the UK on this day September 20 in music history with the double A-side single ‘Something About the Way You Look Tonight/Candle in the Wind 1997’.
Elton John – Candle in the Wind
1997 – American rapper Master P scored his first number one album on the US Billboard 200 chart with ‘Ghetto D’, his sixth studio album.
2003 – Singer and actress Hilary Duff reached number one in the US with her second studio album ‘Metamorphosis’ on this day September 20.
2008 – American R&B and soul music singer Napoleon Brown better known by his stage name Nappy Brown died at the age of 78. Best remembered for his hit singles ‘Don’t Be Angry’ and ‘Night Time Is the Right Time’.
2008 – With their ninth studio album ‘Death Magnetic’, Metallica were at number one in the United Kingdom. The album reached No.1 in twenty-four countries worldwide and it won the band three Grammy Awards.
2008 – American rapper Jay Jenkins better known by his stage name Jeezy topped the US Top LPs chart with ‘The Recession’.
2008 – Rock band Kings of Leon topped the UK Singles chart with ‘Sex on Fire’ on this day September 20. At the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, the song won the band an award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or a Group with Vocal.
2014 – With her debut single ‘All About That Bass’, Meghan Trainor started an eight-week run at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song reached No.1 in 58 countries worldwide and it became the best-selling single of the decade by a female artist in America.
2014 – DJ and record producer Calvin Harris featuring singer John Newman topped the UK Singles chart with ‘Blame’.
2014 – The number one album in the US on this day September 20 was Maroon 5‘s fifth studio album ‘V’. Also a chart-topper in Canada and India that year.
2021 – American singer and actress Sarah Dash died at the age of 76. Best remembered for her work with Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles and The Rolling Stones.
BORN ON SEPTEMBER 20 IN MUSIC HISTORY
1924 – American pop singer Myrtle Audrey Arinsberg better known by her stage name Gogi Grant was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on this day September 20 in music history. Best known for her 1956 hit single ‘The Wayward Wind’.
1925 – R&B singer Ulysses “Bobby” Nunn was born in Birmingham, Alabama. Best known for his work with the groups The Robbins and The Coasters.
1937 – American songwriter, singer, composer, and arranger Margo Guryan was born on this day September 20 in New York City.
1945 – American singer Hillard “Sweet Pea” Atkinson was born in Oberlin, Ohio. He rose to fame as a member of the band Was (Not Was).
1946 – Guitarist and singer-songwriter Mick Rogers was born as Michael Oldroyd in Dovercourt, England. Best known as a member of the band Manfred Mann’s Earth Band.
1948 – Twin brothers and founders of the rock band Styx, Charles and John Panozzo were born in Chicago, Illinois.
1957 – Multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and artist Alannah Currie was born in Auckland, New Zealand. She came to prominence as a member of the band Thompson Twins.
1960 – Hip hop musician Robert Keith Wiggins also known professionally as Keef Cowboy was born in The Bronx, New York. He rose to fame as a member of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
1966 – American multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and producer Nuno Bettencourt was born in Praia da Vitoria, Portugal on this day September 20 in music history. Best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Extreme.
1967 – Twin brothers Gunnar and Matthew Nelson of the rock band Nelson were born in Santa Monica, California. They are also the sons of Ricky and Kristin Nelson
1968 – American musician Benedict “Ben” Shepherd was born on this day September 20 in Okinawa, Japan. He rose to fame as the bassist of the rock band Soundgarden.
1979 – American musician Richard Woolstenhulme Jr. was born in Gilbert, Arizona. Best known as the drummer of the rock band Lifehouse.
1982 – Record producer and songwriter Ian Kirkpatrick was born in Los Angeles, California. Best known for his work with the likes of Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, Shakira, Katy Perry, Jason Derulo, and others.