1968 - Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham made their live debut as Led Zeppelin but billed as The New Yardbirds at Teen Club in Gladsaxe (a suburb in the outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark).
1978 - Keith Moon, drummer with The Who, died of an overdose of heminevrin prescribed to combat alcoholism. Moon had attended a party the night before organized by Paul McCartney for the launch of the "The Buddy Holly Story" movie. He played on all The Who albums from their debut, 1965's My Generation, to 1978's Who Are You, which was released two weeks before his death.
1985 - For the first time in the Rock Era, the top three songs on the Hot 100 were all written for movies:
#1: "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" by John Parr
#2: "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis & the News (from Back to the Future)
#3: "We Don't Need Another Hero" by Tina Turner (from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome)
1987 - Michael Jackson releases "Bad," the title track to his first album since Thriller. The song was supposed to be a duet with Prince, who turned down the offer.
1994 - Weezer release their breakthrough single, "Buddy Holly," named for the rock and roll icon on what would have been his 58th birthday. It's featured on the band's debut album, Weezer (aka The Blue Album).
1996 - Rap star Tupac Shakur is shot five times in a drive-by following a boxing match in Las Vegas. He dies six days later at age 25.
2003 - Warren Zevon, singer-songwriter and musician, died at his home in Los Angeles.
When Zevon received a diagnosis of terminal lung cancer, David Letterman turned an entire hour over to his friend for conversation and music.
"Enjoy every sandwich," Zevon advised, as good parting words.
He recorded over 15 solo albums, had the 1978 US No.21 single 'Werewolves Of London'.
Birthdays:
Buddy Holly was born today in 1936. Buddy Holly is perhaps the most anomalous legend of '50s rock & roll -- he had his share of hits, and he achieved major rock & roll stardom, but his importance transcends any sales figures or even the particulars of any one song (or group of songs) that he wrote or recorded. Holly was unique, his legendary status and his impact on popular music all the more extraordinary for having been achieved in barely 18 months. His death inspired Don McLean's American Pie.
Gloria Gaynor is 79.
Chrissie Hynde, founding member of The Pretenders, is 71. While living in Ohio, she played in a band with Mark Mothersbaugh, who would later form Devo. She later went to England and tried to get a band going with Mick Jones, before he helped put together The Clash. It was in England that she recruited James Honeyman-Scott, Pete Farndon, and Martin Chambers, to form The Pretenders. (Photo by Nicky J Sims/Getty Images)
Diane Warren is 66.
Benmont Tench, keyboardist, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, is 69.
LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of the Dave Matthews Band, was born on this day in 1961.
Eazy-E, rapper with NWA, was born today in 1964.
Chad Sexton of 311 is 52.
On this Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Song Facts Allmusic, and Wikipedia.