1959 – Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly, Richard Valens and The Big Bopper all appeared at the Surf Ballroom, Clear Lake, Iowa. This was all three acts last ever gig before being killed in a plane crash the following day.
1967 – Jimi Hendrix
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.
1973 – Keith Emerson
Keith Emerson of Emerson Lake and Palmer injured his hands when his piano rigged to explode as a stunt, detonated prematurely during a concert in San Francisco.
1979 – Sid Vicious
Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious died of a heroin overdose in New York City. There had been a party to celebrate Vicious’ release on $50,000 (£29,412) bail pending his trial for the murder of his former girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, the previous October. Party guests, said that Vicious had taken heroin at midnight. An autopsy confirmed that Vicious died from an accumulation of fluid in the lungs that was consistent with heroin overdose. A syringe, spoon and heroin residue were discovered near the body.
1989 – George Michael
George Michael received undisclosed damages in excess of £100,000 ($170,000) from The Sun newspaper over articles printed that stated Michael had gatecrashed a party given by Andrew Lloyd Weber and was drunk and abusive.
1993 – Willie Nelson
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.
2002 – Stevie Wonder
The Phonographic Performance Ltd launched performersmoney.com for artists to check if they were owed any of the £10 million ($17 million) in unclaimed money. It showed that Michael Jackson was owed over £100,000 ($170,000) for ‘Say, Say, Say’, Stevie Wonder had money owing for ‘Ebony And Ivory’ and Ray Davies of The Kinks was owed a six-figure fee for ‘You Really Got Me’. Director Dominic McGonigal said “If anyone has seen Rick Astley please let him know, he is still earning money for his hits.”
2004 – Janet Jackson
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 – Joe Hunter
US keyboardist Joe Hunter, a veteran session musician as one of the Funk Brothers who helped craft the distinctive Motown sound, died in Detroit, Michigan, at the age of 79. Hunter performed with such legendary Motown acts as Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and Martha and the Vandellas.
2021 – Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson was dropped by his record label following claims by actress Evan Rachel Wood that she was “horrifically abused” by the musician. Loma Vista Recordings said it would no longer be working with Manson and would cease promoting his latest album “effective immediately”. Manson denied the allegations, saying they are “horrible distortions of reality”.
