It’s May 4th and here are some reasons why this day matters in rock history:
- In 2012, Beastie Boys member Adam Yauch died from cancer at age 49.
- In 1959, the first-ever Grammy Awards took place in L.A. Mort Sahl hosted the event, which saw Henry Mancini’s The Music from Peter Gunn win Album of the Year.
- In 1970, the National Guard killed four students and wounded 11 more during an anti-Vietnam War protest at Ohio’s Kent State University. Soon after, Canada’s Neil Young went into the studio with the rest of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and recorded his ode to the tragedy, “Ohio.”
- In 1973, Led Zeppelin kicked off their North American tour, which at the time became the biggest and most profitable rock and roll tour in U.S. history. During the trek they traveled in a Boeing 720 jet that boasted a bar, a shower, a 30-foot lounge and a white fur bedroom. The jaunt grossed over $4 million U.S.
- In 1974, Grand Funk Railroad started a two-week run at No. 1 on the charts with their cover of Little Eva’s “The LocoMotion.”
- And in 1997, Courtney Love put an ad in the Seattle Times selling the house she had shared with Kurt Cobain. The five-bedroom, four-bathroom house had a list price of $3 million U.S. The carriage house where Cobain died had been knocked down when the place was refurbished.
And that’s what happened today in rock history.
Original article by Dave Basner at iHeartRadio