This Month in music history
September 2
• 1995: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opens in Cleveland, Ohio
September 3
• 1977: Elvis Presley has 27 albums and 9 singles on the UK chart simultaneously
• 1967: Folk singer Woodie Guthrie dies in New York City at the age of 52
September 5
• 1987: After 30 years, the television show “American Bandstand” is cancelled
• 1946: Freddie Mercury of Queen is born Frederick Farookh Bulsara
September 6
• 1989: Neil Young wins Best Video at the MTV Music Awards for “This Note’s For You,” which was originally banned by the station
• 1985: After Paul McCartney suggests he invest in publishing rights, Michael Jackson outbids the surviving Beatles and purchases the ATV music catalog, which contains the rights to over 250 John Lennon/Paul McCartney songs, for $47 million, thus ending his friendship with McCartney
• 1961: Bob Dylan makes his live performance debut at The Gaslight Café in New York City
• 1944: Roger Waters of Pink Floyd is born
September 7
• 1996: Tupac Shakur and Marion “Suge” Knight are shot while driving in Knight’s Mercedes following a Mike Tyson fight in Las Vegas; Shakur will die six days later
• 1978: The Who’s Keith Moon dies of a drug overdose
• 1936: Buddy Holly is born Charles Hardin Holley
September 8
• 1932: Patsy Cline is born Virginia Patterson Hensley
September 9
• 1941: Otis Redding is born
September 10
• 1988: Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child o’ Mine” hits #1 on the singles charts
• 1950: Joe Perry of Aerosmith is born
September 11
• 1987: Peter Tosh is murdered in his Jamaican home
• 1965: Moby is born Richard Melville Hall
September 12
• 1944: Barry White is born
September 13
• 1976: Fiona Apple is born
September 14
• 1984: The first MTV Music Awards takes place, with Herbie Hancock winning multiple categories
• 1968: Pete Townshend of The Who tells Rolling Stone magazine that he has an idea of creating a rock opera about a deaf, dumb and blind boy
September 16
• 1970: Jimi Hendrix makes his final public appearance when he joins Eric Burdon and WAR at a London club
• 1925: B.B. King is born Riley B. King
September 17
• 1967: Ed Sullivan requests that Jim Morrison change the lyrics “Girl we couldn’t get much higher” to “Girl we couldn’t get much better” during their performance; Morrison agrees but performs the original lyrics
September 18
• 1983: KISS appear on MTV without their makeup
• 1970: Jimi Hendrix dies in London
September 19:
• 1981: Simon and Garfunkel reunite to perform in New York City’s Central Park for over 400,000 fans
September 20
• 1970: Jim Morrison of The Doors is found guilty of indecent exposure during a Miami concert
September 21
• 1968: Trugoy of De La Soul is born David Jude Jolicoeur
September 22
• 1960: Joan Jett is born Joan Larkin
September 23
• 1974: Robbie McIntosh of The Average White Band dies when he mistakenly snorts pure heroin, thinking it was cocaine
• 1949: Bruce Springsteen is born
September 24
• 1993: Drummer Steven Adler of Guns N’ Roses is awarded $2.5 million from the band for being kicked out due to an ongoing heroin addiction
September 25
• 1980: Led Zeppelin’s John “Bonzo” Bonham dies of alcohol abuse
• 1976: Boston’s debut album enters the charts and will become the fastest selling debut album in history
September 26
• 1969: San Francisco’s concert hall, The Fillmore West opens
September 27
• 1947: Meat Loaf is born Marvin Lee Aday
September 28
• 1991: Jazz legend Miles Davis dies in New York at the age of 65
September 29
• 1935: Jerry Lee Lewis is born
September 30
• 1964: Trey Anastasio of Phish is born
• 1963: Jim Croce dies when his plane crashes into a tree upon takeoff
Complied from the archives of Rock & Roll Library www.rocklibrary.com
