1969 - Led Zeppelin became the first major British rock group to appear in Hawaii, when they appeared at the Civic Auditorium in Honolulu.
1970 - The world premiere of The Beatles last film project, Let It Be, took place in New York City. The film was released shortly after the album of the same name.
1985 - Bruce Springsteen gets married for the first time, tying the knot with the model/actress Julianne Phillips. The couple divorce in 1989.
1985 - The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) holds a meeting in a Washington church where they foment support for their agenda: a ratings system for albums and concerts like those used for movies, and also to keep offensive album covers out of view in record stores. Their efforts lead to warning stickers on albums with offensive lyrics.
The National Parent Teacher Association brought the issue to a head by sending letters not just to politicians, but to their wives, two of whom organized the PMRC in April. They are:
Tipper Gore, wife of Senator Al Gore and a mother of four. She gets fired up after hearing her 11-year-old daughter playing the Prince song "Darling Nikki."
Susan Baker, wife of Treasury Secretary James Baker, whose moment of outrage comes when her 7-year-old daughter asks her to define the word "virgin" after hearing the Madonna song "Like A Virgin." A devout Christian, she likes classical music and country.
In November, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which represents most record companies, agrees to voluntarily place warning stickers on albums deemed offensive, fending off legislation.
2011 - "Like A Rolling Stone" was voted Bob Dylan's best song by Rolling Stone magazine, who had asked the opinions of a panel of writers, academics and musicians to compile a poll to mark Dylan's 70th birthday on May 24 of that year. The rest of the top 5 included: A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, Tangled Up in Blue, Just Like a Woman, All Along the Watchtower.
More Birthdays:
Ritchie Valens was born on this day in 1941.
Stevie Wonder is 72. Stevie is a beloved American icon and an indisputable genius not only with R&B but popular music in general. Blind virtually since birth, Wonder's heightened awareness of sound helped him create vibrant, colorful music teeming with life and ambition. Nearly everything he recorded bore the stamp of his sunny, joyous positivity; even when he addressed serious racial, social, and spiritual issues (which he did quite often in his prime), or sang about heartbreak and romantic uncertainty, an underlying sense of optimism and hope always seemed to emerge.
Stevie has a Colorado connection too. He spent some time at Caribou Ranch, when Elton John was there too. Elton revealed that he once let Stevie Wonder drive his snowmobile alone.
“I was at the Caribou Ranch in Nederland and I was recording,” he told Jimmy Kimmel. “It was thick snow, and Stevie wanted to go out in the snowmobile.” So he handed over the keys.
“We thought, okay, that’s another rival gone,” he quipped. “That’s him out of the way. We just needed to get Phil Collins and Rod Stewart up there.” (Photo by Francois Durand/Getty Images)
Roxy Music drummer Paul Thompson is 71.
Motown superstar Mary Wells was born on this day in 1943.
Darius Rucker of Hootie & the Blowfish is 56.
Alison Goldfrapp — best known as the lead vocalist of the electronic music duo Goldfrapp — is 56.
On this Day In Music History is sourced from Inside Hook, This Day in Music, Allmusic, Song Facts and Wikipedia.