TODAY IN HISTORY – FEBRUARY 2nd
1942 - Born this day, Graham Nash, singer, guitar, The Hollies, left in 1968, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, 1969 UK No.17 single Marrakesh Express, 1970 album Deja Vu.
1959 - Appearing at Surf Ballroom, Clear Lake, Iowa, were Buddy Holly, Richard Valens and The Big Bopper. This was to be the last ever gig for all three acts, before they were killed in a plane crash the following day.
1963 - The Beatles began their first British tour, supporting Helen Shapiro.
1963 - Born on this day, Eva Cassidy, US singer. She is the only artist to score three posthumous UK No.1 albums: 2001’s 'Songbird'; 2002’s 'Imagine' and 2003’s 'American Tune'. In 2001 she also had a UK No.42 single with ‘Over The Rainbow’ and the 2007 UK No.1 single 'What a Wonderful World' with Katie Melua. Eva died of skin cancer on November 2nd 1996, aged 33.
1963 - Cliff Richard and The Shadows started a 14-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Summer Holiday'.
1967 - The Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared at the Blue Pad Club in Darlington, England which was part of the Imperial Hotel Complex on Grange Road. The show was advertised as "Don't miss this man who is Dylan, Clapton, and James Brown all in one". After the show, as the roadies were loading up a van, one of Hendrix's Fender guitars was stolen.
1969 - Yoko Ono divorced her first husband Tony Cox, paving the way for a marriage to Beatle John Lennon six weeks later.
1973 - Keith Emerson of Emerson Lake and Palmer, (ELP), injured his hands when his piano rigged to explode as a stunt, detonated prematurely during a concert in San Francisco.
1974 - Barbra Streisand started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with the theme from the film The Way We Were. The single won an Oscar and a Grammy for song of the year.
1976 - Genesis released 'A Trick Of The Tail', their seventh studio album and the first to feature drummer Phil Collins as full-time lead vocalist following the departure of original vocalist Peter Gabriel. After auditioning over 400 vocalists, which saw Collins teaching the potential lead singers the songs, the band decided that Collins should be the new vocalist.
1977 - Born this day, Shakira, singer, 2002 UK No.2 single Whenever Wherever.
1979 - Died this day, former guitarist for the disbanded punk rock group, the Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious was found dead of a heroin overdose at the age of 22. Only the day before, he was released from a drug detoxification program, unaware that because of his detoxification, his body could no longer withstand his usual dosage of heroin. Vicious was found lying nude, faceup on the floor of a friend's Greenwich Village apartment, the morning after a party in his honour celebrating his release. Vicious, born John Simon Ritchie in London's tough East End, had appealed to England's alienated youth with his violent and repulsive stage stunts. He was on bail charged with the murder of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen.
1985 - Foreigner started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with I Want To Know What Love Is. It was also a UK No.1.
1989 - George Michael received undisclosed damages in excess of £100,000 from The Sun newspaper over articles printed which stated he had gatecrashed a party being given by Andrew Lloyd Weber and was drunk and abusive.
1992 - Todd Rundgren named his newborn son 'Rebop'.
1992 – Nirvana played their only concert in NZ at the Logan Campbell Centre in Auckland. Unfortunately lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain was ill before the show so much so that he was doubled up in pain backstage before the band went on.
1993 - Willie Nelson agreed to pay $9 million of the $16.7 million he owed the Internal Revenue Service. His accountants, Price Waterhouse, had not been paying Nelson's taxes for years and in addition to the unpaid taxes, Nelson's situation was worsened by the weak investments he had made during the early 1980s.
1999 - Freddy Fender got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2003 - Russian girl duo Tatu started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'All The Things She Said'. The song had been a hit on the Russian charts three years earlier. Tatu were the first Russian act to score a UK No 1.
2004 - TV network CBS apologised for its broadcast of the American Super Bowl after Janet Jackson was left exposed when Justin Timberlake ripped her top. The pair had been performing a raunchy half-time duet when one of Jackson's breasts was exposed as Timberlake pulled at her top. CBS quickly cut away from the scene but was still flooded with calls from angry viewers about the half-time entertainment, produced by MTV. Timberlake insisted it had been an accident saying "I am sorry that anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the half-time performance of the Super Bowl."
2007 - Billy Henderson, one of the founders of US soul group The Spinners, died aged 67 after complications from diabetes. Had the 1980 UK No.1 & US No.2 single 'Working My Way Back To You.'
2008 - The Spice Girls cut short their reunion world tour, blaming "family and personal commitments". The band said they would end their tour in Toronto on 26 February, with planned shows in Beijing, Sydney, Cape Town and Buenos Aires being axed. A spokesman for the group said: "Sadly, the tour needs to come to an end by the end of February due to family and personal commitments."
1942 - Born this day, Graham Nash, singer, guitar, The Hollies, left in 1968, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, 1969 UK No.17 single Marrakesh Express, 1970 album Deja Vu.
1959 - Appearing at Surf Ballroom, Clear Lake, Iowa, were Buddy Holly, Richard Valens and The Big Bopper. This was to be the last ever gig for all three acts, before they were killed in a plane crash the following day.
1963 - The Beatles began their first British tour, supporting Helen Shapiro.
1963 - Born on this day, Eva Cassidy, US singer. She is the only artist to score three posthumous UK No.1 albums: 2001’s 'Songbird'; 2002’s 'Imagine' and 2003’s 'American Tune'. In 2001 she also had a UK No.42 single with ‘Over The Rainbow’ and the 2007 UK No.1 single 'What a Wonderful World' with Katie Melua. Eva died of skin cancer on November 2nd 1996, aged 33.
1963 - Cliff Richard and The Shadows started a 14-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Summer Holiday'.
1967 - The Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared at the Blue Pad Club in Darlington, England which was part of the Imperial Hotel Complex on Grange Road. The show was advertised as "Don't miss this man who is Dylan, Clapton, and James Brown all in one". After the show, as the roadies were loading up a van, one of Hendrix's Fender guitars was stolen.
1969 - Yoko Ono divorced her first husband Tony Cox, paving the way for a marriage to Beatle John Lennon six weeks later.
1973 - Keith Emerson of Emerson Lake and Palmer, (ELP), injured his hands when his piano rigged to explode as a stunt, detonated prematurely during a concert in San Francisco.
1974 - Barbra Streisand started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with the theme from the film The Way We Were. The single won an Oscar and a Grammy for song of the year.
1976 - Genesis released 'A Trick Of The Tail', their seventh studio album and the first to feature drummer Phil Collins as full-time lead vocalist following the departure of original vocalist Peter Gabriel. After auditioning over 400 vocalists, which saw Collins teaching the potential lead singers the songs, the band decided that Collins should be the new vocalist.
1977 - Born this day, Shakira, singer, 2002 UK No.2 single Whenever Wherever.
1979 - Died this day, former guitarist for the disbanded punk rock group, the Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious was found dead of a heroin overdose at the age of 22. Only the day before, he was released from a drug detoxification program, unaware that because of his detoxification, his body could no longer withstand his usual dosage of heroin. Vicious was found lying nude, faceup on the floor of a friend's Greenwich Village apartment, the morning after a party in his honour celebrating his release. Vicious, born John Simon Ritchie in London's tough East End, had appealed to England's alienated youth with his violent and repulsive stage stunts. He was on bail charged with the murder of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen.
1985 - Foreigner started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with I Want To Know What Love Is. It was also a UK No.1.
1989 - George Michael received undisclosed damages in excess of £100,000 from The Sun newspaper over articles printed which stated he had gatecrashed a party being given by Andrew Lloyd Weber and was drunk and abusive.
1992 - Todd Rundgren named his newborn son 'Rebop'.
1992 – Nirvana played their only concert in NZ at the Logan Campbell Centre in Auckland. Unfortunately lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain was ill before the show so much so that he was doubled up in pain backstage before the band went on.
1993 - Willie Nelson agreed to pay $9 million of the $16.7 million he owed the Internal Revenue Service. His accountants, Price Waterhouse, had not been paying Nelson's taxes for years and in addition to the unpaid taxes, Nelson's situation was worsened by the weak investments he had made during the early 1980s.
1999 - Freddy Fender got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2003 - Russian girl duo Tatu started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'All The Things She Said'. The song had been a hit on the Russian charts three years earlier. Tatu were the first Russian act to score a UK No 1.
2004 - TV network CBS apologised for its broadcast of the American Super Bowl after Janet Jackson was left exposed when Justin Timberlake ripped her top. The pair had been performing a raunchy half-time duet when one of Jackson's breasts was exposed as Timberlake pulled at her top. CBS quickly cut away from the scene but was still flooded with calls from angry viewers about the half-time entertainment, produced by MTV. Timberlake insisted it had been an accident saying "I am sorry that anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the half-time performance of the Super Bowl."
2007 - Billy Henderson, one of the founders of US soul group The Spinners, died aged 67 after complications from diabetes. Had the 1980 UK No.1 & US No.2 single 'Working My Way Back To You.'
2008 - The Spice Girls cut short their reunion world tour, blaming "family and personal commitments". The band said they would end their tour in Toronto on 26 February, with planned shows in Beijing, Sydney, Cape Town and Buenos Aires being axed. A spokesman for the group said: "Sadly, the tour needs to come to an end by the end of February due to family and personal commitments."