Today in Music History for April 21:
In 1921, Canadian tenor Roger Doucet was born in Montreal. He was best-known for singing "O Canada" at the home games of the Montreal Canadiens, Alouettes and Expos. Doucet also performed the national anthem at special events in the U.S. He died in 1981.
In 1924, Ira Louvin, who formed a gospel and bluegrass duo with his brother Charlie, was born in Rainesville, Ala. "The Louvin Brothers" first gained notice in the '50s with their talking gospel songs, such as "Satan is Real" and "Make Him a Soldier." Their secular hits included "When I Stop Dreaming" and "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby." He died in a 1965 car crash in Missouri.
In 1947, new wave performer Iggy Pop was born James Jewel Osterberg in Ann Arbor, Mich. Pop and his band "The Stooges," formed in 1968, are now considered forerunners to the punk rock movement. He earned notoriety for his wild concert performances, which included flinging himself into audiences and smearing his body with anything handy, from peanut butter to blood.
In 1956, "Heartbreak Hotel," Elvis Presley's first single for RCA Victor, went to No. 1 in the U.S. It stayed in the top spot for eight weeks, becoming his first million-seller.
In 1960, "American Bandstand" host Dick Clark testified before a Congressional committee investigating payola.
In 1963, "The Beatles" went to the Crawdaddy Club in London to see "The Rolling Stones." The impressed "Beatles" recommended the "Stones" to their former publicist Andrew Loog Oldham, who became the band's first manager.
In 1965, "The Beach Boys" appeared on ABC's "Shindig!" program to perform "Do You Wanna Dance?"
In 1969, rock singer Janis Joplin gave one of her greatest performances at London's Royal Albert Hall. The show was attended by a glittering array of British rock performers. Just 18 months later, on October 4, 1970, Joplin died of a drug overdose. She had just finished recording her album "Pearl," which contained her first No. 1 single, Kris Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee."
In 1970, Chicago blues guitarist and singer Earl Hooker, a cousin of the better known John Lee Hooker, died of tuberculosis at age 40. He brought a modern feeling to traditional blues and became known as the king of the electric slide guitar.
In 1971, "The Rolling Stones" released "Sticky Fingers," the first album for their own label, Rolling Stones Records.
In 1974, the country duo of Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton performed together for the last time.
In 1977, the musical "Annie," based on the comic strip "Little Orphan Annie," opened on Broadway with Andrea McArdle in the title role. The original production played for 2,377 performances.
In 1977, singer-songwriter Jesse Winchester played his first U.S. show in 10 years. He had fled to Canada to avoid the draft.
In 1978, British folk-rock singer Sandy Denny died of a brain hemorrhage after falling down the stairs at a friend's home in London. She was 37. Denny performed with "The Strawbs," "Fairport Convention" and "Fotheringay." She was one of Britain's most popular singer-songwriters in the early '70s.
In 1986, Kim Wilde and Nik Kershaw headlined the first of five London benefit concerts for Greenpeace.
In 1990, 184,000 people jammed a soccer stadium in Rio de Janeiro for a Paul McCartney show.
In 1993, former "Rolling Stones" bassist Bill Wyman married for the third time. Wyman, 56, married 33-year-old American fashion designer Suzanne Accosta in France. Wyman's previous marriage, to teenager Mandy Smith in 1989, lasted less than two years.
In 1996, Nova Scotia's Acadia University announced it would bestow honorary music degrees on "The Rankin Family." The university cited the Cape Breton singers for bringing their award-winning mix of traditional Celtic tunes and contemporary originals to stages around the world.
In 1998, singer Helen Ward, who performed with the Benny Goodman and Harry James big bands in the '30s and '40s, died in Arlington, Va., at age 82. Among the songs Ward recorded with Goodman was the million-seller "These Foolish Things."
In 1998, Giant Records used the Internet to distribute the first single from Brian Wilson's album "Imagination" to four U.S. radio stations. The company called it the first time the Internet was used to distribute a song to radio.
In 1998, hundreds of friends and fans gathered in Santa Barbara, Calif., for a candlelight tribute to Linda McCartney. The American-born wife of Paul McCartney had died four days earlier of breast cancer at age 56. Singer Jim Messina performed "Forever My Love" during the hour-long ceremony.
In 2001, "R.E.M." guitarist Peter Buck was arrested for allegedly getting drunk and going on a rampage on a flight from Seattle to London. He was later found innocent of the charges.
In 2003, Nina Simone, whose deep, raspy, forceful voice made her a unique figure in jazz and later helped chronicle the civil rights movement, died at her home in France. She was 70.
In 2009, country music legend Jimmy Dean and his wife escaped a fire that heavily damaged their $1.3 million house in Virginia.
In 2009, country music star Toby Keith was presented with the Military Officers Association of America's Distinguished Service Award, given to those who strongly support military men and women and their families. Keith had performed more than 100 shows for the organization.
In 2010, Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald was named Songwriter of the Year and Jason Mraz received Song of the Year ("I'm Yours") honours at the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers' 27th annual Pop Music Awards. Gottwald wrote five of the top hits of 2009, including Katy Perry's "Hot N Cold," Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA" and Flo Rida's "Right Round." Mraz's song, “I'm Yours,” at the time, held the record for the most weeks spent on Billboard's Hot 100 chart at 76.
In 2010, Daniel Sullivan was sentenced to 12 months house arrest for attacking "Oasis" guitarist Noel Gallagher on stage at a music festival in Toronto in September 2008. While performing, Gallagher was pushed from behind, causing him to fall onto a speaker and break three ribs. Oasis was forced to cancel later concerts in Paris and New York.
In 2010, the top-selling Christian group "Casting Crowns" won the fan-voted Artist of the Year award at the 41st annual Dove Awards. "Needtobreathe" took Group of the Year honours, snapping "Casting Crowns" five-year winning streak.
In 2011, Michel Martelly, a popular singer known by the stage name "Sweet Micky," was officially declared the next president of the earthquake-devastated country of Haiti.
In 2011, singer-actress Olivia Newton-John hosted a benefit concert celebrating the late John Denver as he became the first inductee of the Colorado Music Hall of Fame. Among his many hits were "Take Me Home, Country Roads," and "Thank God I'm a Country Boy."
In 2012, country music star Keith Urban became the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry. Singer Trace Adkins presented the guitar virtuoso with the Opry Member Award, making his induction official.
In 2013, Carly Rae Jepsen had the biggest haul of the Juno weekend with marquee wins for Pop Album and Album of the Year for "Kiss" and Single of the Year for her uber-hit "Call Me Maybe." Montreal troubadour Leonard Cohen won Songwriter of the Year. Justin Bieber won the Fan Choice Award and k.d. lang was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
In 2013, Chrissy Amphlett, the raunchy lead singer of the Australian rock band "Divinyls" whose hit "I Touch Myself" brought her international fame in the early 1990s, died after a battle with breast cancer and multiple sclerosis. She was 53.
In 2015, AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd pleaded guilty in a New Zealand court to a charge of threatening to kill a man who used to work for him. He also pleaded guilty to possessing methamphetamine and marijuana. (In July, he was sentenced to eight months of home detention.)
In 2016, music icon Prince, the dazzlingly talented and charismatic singer, songwriter, arranger and multi-instrumentalist who created a gender- and genre-defying blend of rock, pop, funk and soul, died of an accidental overdose of the painkiller fentanyl at his Paisley Park estate in suburban Minneapolis. He was 57. He broke through in the late 1970s with hits "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" and "I Wanna Be Your Lover," and soared over the following decade with such albums as "1999" and "Purple Rain." He was a veritable music factory, whether with side projects, such as Vanity and Morris Day and The Time, or the songs he wrote for others - Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U," Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You" and the Bangles' "Manic Monday." Prince sold more than 100 million records, won seven Grammys and received an Academy Award in 1985 for his music from "Purple Rain," the movie he also starred in. In 2004, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
----
The Canadian Press