July 1, 1945: Deborah Ann Harry (lead singer of Blondie) was born in Miami, Florida, but will be raised in Hawthorne, New Jersey.
Debbie Harry met guitarist Chris Stein in the 1970s, and the two started a band that would later become the world-famous Blondie. Categorized as new wave (a genre of music shaped by styles that include punk, electronica, reggae and funk), Blondie eventually met commercial and critical success.
June 30, 1977: KISS released the album "Love Guns."
Love Gun, the sixth studio album and pinnacle of Kiss's first golden era, was released on June 30, 1977. It marked a pair of turning points for the band.
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| KISS |
June 29, 1984: After a failed attempt to shoot a studio video for "Dancing In The Dark," Bruce Springsteen does it live at his concert in St. Paul, Minnesota...with a young, unknown Courtney Cox.
Long before 'Friends' was even a thought, a young fresh-faced model named Courteney Cox shot to fame as the wide-eyed woman pulled up onstage to dance during Bruce Springsteen's 'Dancing in the Dark' video.
June 28, 1971: Rod Stewart released the single "Maggie May."
It's one of the relatively few songs he had a hand in writing during his solo career, but neither Rod Stewart nor his label thought all that much of 'Maggie May' at first, relegating it to B-side status on the 'Reason to Believe' single.
June 27, 1987: Whitney Houston became the first female artist to debut at Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart when her self-titled CD reached the top.
June 26, 1977: Elvis Presley played the final concert of his career at Market Square Arena, Indianapolis. He died less than one month later, on August 16.
June 25, 2009: Michael Jackson died at the age of 50 after suffering heart failure from acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication at his home in Beverly Hills.
Michael Jackson, known as the King of Pop, died unexpectedly at age 50 in 2009.
June 24, 1966: Janis Joplin performed for the first time as lead singer for Big Brother & the Holding Company at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, California. Big Brother & The Holding Company – along with bands like The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service – is considered one of the original, first wave of great psychedelic bands that came out of San Francisco in the summer of 1965.
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Janis Joplin
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June 23, 1973: George Harrison's album Living in the Material World became the new Number 1, taking the place of Red Rose Speedway from Paul McCartney & Wings.
At last it’s here, beautifully-packaged with symbolic hand-print covers and the dedication, “All Glories to Sri Krsna.”
June 22, 1953: Cyndi Lauper is born in Astoria, Queens, New York.
June 21, 1966: The Beatles record "She Said She Said," a song inspired by a party where Peter Fonda, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison were taking acid. Regarding “She Said She Said,” John Lennon remembers: “That was written after an acid trip in L.A. during a break in The Beatles tour where we were having fun with The Byrds and lots of girls.
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| Beatles |
June 20, 1995: Michael Jackson's ninth album, HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, Book I, was released.
June 18, 1942: Paul McCartney was born James Paul McCartney in Allerton, Liverpool, England. On his 31st birthday, Paul McCartney & Wings released the single "Live And Let Die."
“Live and Let Die” is the main theme song of the 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die, written by Paul and Linda McCartney and performed by Paul’s band Wings.
June 17, 1972: The Rolling Stones album Exile On Main Street hit Number 1 in America.
There are songs that are better, there are songs that are worse, there are songs that’ll become your favorites and others you’ll probably lift the needle for when their time is due. But in the end, Exile on Main Street spends its four sides shading the same song in as many variations as there are Rolling Stone ready-mades to fill them.
June 16,1972: David Bowie unveiled his landmark album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars.
June 15, 1999: Santana released the album Supernatural, which went to Number 1 thanks to hit singles like "Smooth," "Maria Maria," and "Put Your Lights On."
‘Put Your Lights On’ is about watching out for the monsters under our beds and shining a light on them. It could be sex, drugs, or anything seeking to destroy us.
June 14, 1961: Boy George (lead singer of Culture Club) is born George Alan O'Dowd in Eltham, London, England.
June 13, 1995: Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette released her breakthrough album, the alt-rock classic Jagged Little Pill.
June 12, 1993: UB40 had the Number 1 song in the UK with their remake of the Elvis Presley song "(Can't Help) Falling In Love."
June 11, 1968: John Lennon recorded "Revolution 9" in one studio at Abbey Road while Paul McCartney recorded "Blackbird" in another for The White Album.
June 10, 1922: Judy Garland is born Frances Ethel Gumm in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
Tensions were very high in her parents’ marriage, and Garland would often reflect on this throughout her career.
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| Judy Garland - Get Happy |
June 9, 1973: The Doobie Brothers moved up the chart from number 22 to 10 with "Long Train Runnin'."
“That song was a jam for the longest time, it literally was,” Doobies singer and guitarist Tom Johnston tells UCR. “I would make up different words every night while we were playing it live, because we were in clubs and it didn’t really matter.
June 7, 1958: Prince was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
June 6, 1960: Roy Orbison's "Only the Lonely" was released in the US, where it would reach Number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
June 5, 1971: Grand Funk Railroad broke The Beatles' box office record by selling out Shea Stadium in 72 hours.
Grand Funk Railroad's sold-out show at New York's Shea Stadium on July 9, 1971, is famous for selling its 55,000 tickets in 72 hours, faster than the Beatles had in August 1965.
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| Mark Farner |
June 4, 1984: Bruce Springsteen releases the album Born In The U.S.A.
"If you're listening closely, the lyrics of "Born in the U.S.A." make its subject pretty clear: The 1984 hit by Bruce Springsteen describes a Vietnam War veteran who returns home to desperate circumstances and few options.
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| Bruce Springsteen |
June 3, 1967: The Doors released a truncated version of "Light My Fire" as a single.
“Light My Fire” begins, like Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone,” with a single snare-drum shot.
June 2, 1984: "Time After Time," from Cyndi Lauper's debut studio album "She's So Unusual," reached the Number 1 position on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Cyndi Lauper didn’t plan to write “Time after Time” at all. The New York-raised singer had already left the recording studio after — she thought — completing her first solo album, She’s So Unusual.
