1942 - In Passaic, New Jersey, Glenn Miller plays his last concert as a civilian. Ten days later he joins the Army, where he performs for troops. In December 1944, his plane disappears over the Atlantic Ocean. Glenn went to high school in Ft. Morgan and attended CU for 3 semesters. He is a member of the Colorado Music Hall Of Fame.
1973 - The syndicated music show Don Kirshner's Rock Concert debuts with a performance by The Rolling Stones and the Doobie Brothers. Noted for featuring live performances, which was unusual for the period since most television appearances at that time used lip-synching to prerecorded music.
1973 - After becoming a devotee of the guru Sri Chinmoy, Carlos Santana starts using the name Devadip, which means "the Lamp of the Light Supreme."
1986 - The pioneering rap/rock version of "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith and Run-D.M.C. hit the Top 5. Producer Rick Rubin wanted a 'white rock song that can be turned into a rap song.'
Mixing up genres wasn’t a new concept for Rubin. He had already sampled AC/DC’s riff from “Back in Black” for the Beastie Boys’ Def Jam debut “Rock Hard.” It was a genius move to combine the two disparate groups that created one of the greatest genre-crossing hits — and arguably helped changed the face of American music forever. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy )
1986 - The Beatles track "Twist and Shout" re-entered the U.S. singles chart over twenty-five years after it first appeared, when the song was featured in the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
1997 - Bob Dylan played "Knocking On Heaven's Door" and "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" for Pope John Paul II and an audience of 300,000 at the World Eucharist Congress in Bologna, Italy. For the 77-year-old Pope, it was a chance to connect with young people, and the pontiff did so by invoking Dylan's song "Blowin' In The Wind" during his sermon.
2011 - Tony Bennett became the oldest living person to top the US album chart when the 85-year-old's 'Duets II' album went to No.1. The record, which featured collaborations with Amy Winehouse and Lady Gaga. The previous oldest performer to top the chart was Bob Dylan in 2009 with 'Together Through Life'. At the time he was 67-years old.
2018 - Marty Balin died at the age of 76. He was best known as a founding member and one of the lead singers of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship.
Birthdays:
Randy Bachman of Guess Who is 78.
Meat Loaf is 74.
Lil Wayne is 39.
Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind is 57.
Avril Lavigne is 37.
On This Day In Music History is sourced from This Day in Music, Song Facts, Biography.com, and Wikipedia.