Almanac

Rock 'n' Roll Almanac for Friday, October 17, 2025

83 years ago 1942Jim Seals of Seals & Crofts is born, as is Gary Puckett.
65 years ago 1960Billboard reports Dion and the Belmonts are splitting up.
61 years ago 1964The Zombies' She's Not There is released.
58 years ago 1967The musical Hair makes its premiere off-Broadway at New York's Public Theatre.
57 years ago 1968Jose Feliciano, the blind Latino singer-guitarist, issues his controversial, bluesy rendition of The Star Spangled Banner on RCA Records. He first performed it at a 1968 World Series game between the Tigers and Cardinals. The fans booed Feliciano's rendition.
57 years ago 1968Ziggy Marley is born.
56 years ago 1969Led Zeppelin begins its third U.S. tour at New York's Carnegie Hall. It also releases its Led Zeppelin II LP, which many feel is destined to become the heavy-metal Bible.
56 years ago 1969The Kinks launch their first U.S. tour in four years. The band had troubles getting permits with the American Federation of Musicians because of its frequent boozing and fisticuffs on stage. That, and the fact that the group appeared on Hullabaloo in 1966 without their permission.
55 years ago 1970Eric Clapton's After Midnight is released.
54 years ago 1971Chris Kirkpatrick of *NSYNC is born.
53 years ago 1972Rapper Eminem is born.
48 years ago 1977Sergio Andrade of Lifehouse is born.
47 years ago 1978Frankie Valli hits #1 hit with the title track from Grease. It's the biggest hit of his solo career and will go on to sell over seven million copies.
46 years ago 1979Fleetwood Mac's two record set Tusk, an experimental set of songs that cost the band $1 million to record, is released on Warner Brothers Records.
39 years ago 1986Sid And Nancy, the film biography of Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and girlfriend Nancy Spungen, opens nationally.
34 years ago 1991Tenneessee Ernie Ford dies in Reston, Virginia. He was 72.
27 years ago 1998Aerosmith holds an interactive cybercast of their concert in Holmdel, NJ. Each member is equipped with a microwave camera to broadcast their individual points of views -- Steven Tyler on his mike stand, Joe Perry on his neck, Tom Hamilton on his hat, Brad Whitford on his glasses and Joey Kramer on his chest.
26 years ago 1999Bruce Springsteen and the reunited E Street Band play the first of four nights at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The concert is the first event in the building.
9 years ago 2016Harry Shearer launches a $125 million fraud and contract breach lawsuit against Vivendi and StudioCanal over the 1984 rockumentary classic, This is Spinal Tap. Through the lawsuit, Shearer also reveals he is attempting to reclaim rights to the film and its popular soundtrack. Shearer, perhaps best known for the 23 characters on The Simpsons he voices, co-created the semi-fake band Spinal Tap in the 1970s with Christopher Guest and Michael McKean. The later film, directed by Rob Reiner and featuring Shearer as bassist Derek Smalls, was produced and released by Embassy Pictures.
7 years ago 2018Oli Herbert, guitarist and co-founder of Massachusetts metal band All That Remains, dies at age 44.

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