Events in Music
Georges Bizet
Murder of Interest
1936 French singer Édith Piaf questioned after nightclub owner and her patron Louis Leplée murdered in Paris
Edith Piaf
- 1946 "Day Before Spring" closes at National Theater NYC after 167 performances
- 1956 "Silk Stockings" closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 461 performances
- 1956 "Plain & Fancy" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 476 performances
- 1960 "Bye Bye Birdie" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 607 performances
Event of Interest
1963 George Harrison is impressed by unsigned group "Rolling Stones"
George Harrison
Academy Awards
1969 41st Academy Awards: "Oliver", Cliff Robertson & Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand win (1st ever tie for best actress)
- 1970 "Boy Friend" opens at Ambassador Theater NYC for 119 performances
- 1972 "That's Entertainment" opens at Edison Theater NYC for 4 performances
- 1986 21st Academy of Country Music Awards: Alabama, George Strait, and Reba McEntire win
- 1988 "Mail" opens at Music Box Theater NYC for 36 performances
- 1991 "Mule Bone" closes at Ethel Barrymore Theater NYC after 67 performances
- 1991 "Oh, Kay!" closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC
- 1992 "Guys & Dolls" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 1143 performances
- 1992 "Les Miserables" opens at Palace Theatre, Manchester
- 1996 "Apple Doesn't Fall" opens at Lyceum Theater NYC for 1 performance
Event of Interest
2000 Metallica file a lawsuit against P2P sharing phenomenon Napster. This law-suit eventually leads the movement against file-sharing programs.
Jason Newsted
Music Awards
2008 42nd CMT Music Awards: Taylor Swift & Trace Adkins wins
Taylor Swift
Hall of Fame
2012 Beastie Boys inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Adam Yauch too ill to attend
Adam Yauch
Album Release
2017 Kendrick Lamar releases his fourth studio album "Damn" (2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music)
Kendrick Lamar
Music Concert
2018 Beyoncé is the first black woman to headline the Coachella Music Festival, her performance on this day the most-watched performance ever on YouTube
Beyoncé Knowles
Birthdays in Music
- 1676 Ernst Christian Hesse, German composer, born in Großengottern, Germany (d. 1762)
- 1718 Emanuele Barbella, Neapolitan composer, born in Naples, Italy (d. 1777)
- 1723 John Wainwright, English composer and organist (d. 1768)
- 1782 Carlo Coccia, Italian composer, born in Naples, Italy (d. 1873)
- 1819 Charles Hallé, Anglo-German pianist, conductor and founder (Halle Orchestra), born in Hagen, Westphalia (d. 1895)
- 1842 Sven August Körling, Swedish composer, born in Misterhult, Sweden (d. 1919)
- 1843 Gustave Leon Huberti, Belgian composer, born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1910)
- 1852 Henrique Oswald, Brazilian composer, born in Rio de Janeiro (d. 1931)
- 1857 Edgar Stillman Kelley, American composer (Gulliver), born in Sparta, Wisconsin (d. 1944)
- 1873 Viktor Josef Keldorfer, Austrian composer, born in Salzburg, Austria (d. 1959)
- 1895 Wiktor Labunski, Polish-American composer, born in Saint Petersburg, Russia (d. 1974)
- 1900 Salvatore Baccaloni,Italian opera singer and actor (Merry Andrew, Rock-a-Bye Baby), born in Rome, Italy (d. 1969)
- 1906 Hunter Johnson, American composer, born near Benson, North Carolina (d. 1998)
- 1910 Werner Wolf Glaser, German-Swedish composer, born in Cologne, Germany (d. 2006)
- 1912 Belinda Quirey, dance historian and teacher (d. 1996)
- 1912 Piet van Egmond, Dutch organist and conductor (Neth Chamber Orchestra), born in Amsterdam (d. 1982)
- 1913 Jean Fournet, French conductor, born in Rouen, France (d. 2008)
- 1916 Denis ApIvor, British composer, born in Collinstown, County Westmeath, Ireland (d. 2004)
- 1916 Emerson Buckley, American composer, born in NYC, New York (d. 1989)
- 1920 Eduardo Maturana, Chilean composer, born in Valparaíso, Chile (d. 2003)
- 1922 David Alexandrovich Toradze, Soviet composer, born in Tbilisi, Georgia (d. 1983)
- 1922 Ali Akbar Khan, Indian classical musician, born in Comilla, East Bangladesh (d. 2009)
- 1924 Shorty Rogers, [Milton Rajonsky], American jazz trumpeter and composer, born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts (d. 1994)
- 1925 Bill Harris, American guitarist (Clovers-Good Lovin'), born in Nashville, North Carolina (d. 1988)
- 1926 Jan Carl Christian Maegaard, composer
- 1926 Gloria Jean, American actress and singer (Never Give a Sucker an Even Break), born in Buffalo, New York
- 1929 Paavo Berglund, Finnish conductor (works of Sibelius)
Loretta Lynn
1932 Loretta Lynn, American country singer-songwriter (Coal Miner's Daughter), born in Butcher's Hollow Kentucky
Loretta Lynn
Ritchie Blackmore
1945 Ritchie Blackmore, English guitarist (Rainbow-Stone Cold, Deep Purple), born in Weston-super-Mare, England
Ritchie Blackmore
- 1946 Patrick Fairley, guitarist (Marmalade - "Ob La Di, Ob La Da")
- 1948 Larry Ferguson, Nassau, keyboardist (Hot Chocolate-You Sexy Thing)
- 1949 Sonja Kristina [Shaw], English songwriter and actress (Hair, Curved Air), born in Brentwood, England
- 1951 Matima Kinuani Mpiosso, musician
- 1951 Julian Lloyd Webber, English cellist
- 1952 Kenny Aaronson, rocker
- 1957 Mikhail Pletnev, Russian pianist, conductor and composer
- 1960 Brian Forster, rocker (Partridge Family Drums)
- 1967 Barrett Martin, American drummer and composer
- 1969 Martyn LeNoble, Dutch musician, born in Vlaardingen, Netherlands
- 1970 Shizuka Kudō, Japanese singer, born in Tokyo, Japan
- 1970 Emre Altuğ, Turkish singer, born in Istanbul, Turkey
- 1973 David Miller, American tenor (Il Divo), born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
- 1974 Shawntae Harris, American rapper, born in Joliet, Illinois
- 1975 Avner Dorman, Israeli composer, born in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
- 1976 Christian Älvestam, Swedish musician (Scar Symmetry), born in Sweden
- 1980 Win Butler, American musician (Arcade Fire), born in Truckee, California
- 1984 Adán Sánchez, Mexican-American singer, born in Torrance, California (d. 2004)
Weddings in Music
- 2012 "Lady Antebellum" singer Dave Haywood (29) weds executive with Warner Bros. Records Kelli Cashiola (30) in Nashville, Tennessee
Divorces in Music
Divorce of Interest
1994 Musician Billy Joel & supermodel Christie Brinkley announce plans to divorce
Billy Joel
Deaths in Music
- 1655 Johann Erasmus Kindermann, German composer, dies at 39
George Frideric Handel
1759 George Frideric Handel, German-British baroque composer and organist (Messiah, Water Music), dies at 74
George Frideric Handel
Pete Farndon
1983 Pete Farndon, rock bassist (Pretenders), dies
Pete Farndon
- 1983 Willem F Bon, Dutch composer, dies at 42
- 1985 Reginald Beane, American pianist (Starlit Time, Once Upon a Tune), dies at 63
- 1987 Karl Holler, composer, dies at 79
- 1988 Herbert Reynolds Inch, American composer and teacher, dies at 83
- 1988 Johan Franco, Dutch composer, dies at 79
- 1990 Thurston Harris, American pop vocalist (The Sharps, Little Bitty Pretty One), dies of a heart attack at 58
- 1992 Sammy Price, US boogie-woogie pianist, dies
- 1995 Burl Ives, American folk singer and actor (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), dies from complications of mouth cancer at 85
- 1995 James Daniel "Danny" Turner, saxophonist, dies at 75
- 1996 Gaylord Birch, drummer (Pointer Sisters, Herbie Hancock), dies at 50
- 1996 Manuel A "Manny" Greenhill, record producer, dies at 80
- 1999 Anthony Newley, British actor and singer-songwriter (Doctor Dolittle; Goldfinger theme; Willy Wonka score), dies at 67
- 2005 Benny Bailey, American jazz trumpeter, dies at 79
- 2007 Don Ho, American musician (b. 1930)
- 2010 Peter Steele, American musician. (b. 1968)
- 2013 Colin Davis, English conductor (NY Met 1967-71), dies at 85
- 2015 Percy Sledge, American soul singer (When A Man Loves A Woman), dies at 73
April in History
![Hallelujah! Music That Moved a King]()
Hallelujah! Music That Moved a King
Few can fail to be moved by Handel's Messiah oratorio, culminating in the Hallelujah Chorus. It was even said to have brought a king to his feet.
April 13, 1742![Iceberg Sinks 'Unsinkable' Titanic]()
Iceberg Sinks 'Unsinkable' Titanic
The Titanic hit an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sank on this day in history. She took with her to the bottom of the sea some of the world’s richest people.
April 15, 1912![Madame Tussaud's Bloody Background]()
Madame Tussaud's Bloody Background
Madame Tussaud, famous for her waxworks, perfected her art in the grimmest of 'schools' – the French Revolution - where she made models of guillotined heads.
April 16, 1850![Boxing Match That Went for 42 Rounds]()
Boxing Match That Went for 42 Rounds
The first "world championship" boxing match was a brutal affair, lasting nearly two and a half hours and stretching over 42 rounds.
April 17, 1860
