Almanac

Rock 'n' Roll Almanac for Thursday, May 15, 2025

89 years ago 1936Counterculture icon Wavy Gravy is born.
88 years ago 1937Singer Trini Lopez is born.
77 years ago 1948Singer/songwriter and producer Brian Eno is born.
72 years ago 1953Musician-composer Mike Oldfield is born.
68 years ago 1957Mercury Records signs the Del-Vikings, whose Come and Go With Me, was a hit for the small independent label.
62 years ago 1963The winners of the fifth annual Grammy Awards are announced. Record of the Year is Tony Bennett's I Left My Heart in San Francisco. Peter, Paul and Mary's If I Had a Hammer wins both Best Performance by a Vocal Group and Best Folk Recording.
60 years ago 1965The Byrds enter the Hot 100 for the first time with an electric version of Bob Dylan's Mr. Tambourine Man. It will peak at #1 after 13 weeks on the charts. The song's success prompts Dylan to go electric as well.
58 years ago 1967Paul McCartney meets future wife Linda Eastman at the Bag O' Nails club in London. McCartney was there to see Georgie Fame perform.
55 years ago 1970Pink Floyd play at the Crystal Palace Bowl in London. Performing in front of a large lake, a number of fish are killed by the loud music.
54 years ago 1971Two John Lennon and Yoko Ono films are screened at the Cannes Film Festival. The first is Apotheosis, an 18-minute camera shot of a snowy countryside. Ono's Fly is a graphic exploration of a nude women's body by a fly.
53 years ago 1972The Rolling Stones' 1972 U.S. tour encounters its first problem three weeks before it starts. A computer designed to handle ticket distribution of the San Francisco show over loads. It leaves thousands of fans waiting. Because of the foul-up it took twelve minutes to process each order.
51 years ago 1974Bill Wyman, the quiet Rolling Stone, releases his first solo album, Monkey Grip. It's the first solo LP by a member of the group.
51 years ago 1974Frank Zappa and his wife announce the birth of their third child, a boy named Ahmet Rodan. He is named after the Japanese movie monster who lived mostly on a diet of 707 jets.
41 years ago 1984Just before the beginning of the Born in the U.S.A. world tour, guitarist Nils Lofgren joins Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Lofgren replaced “Miami” Steve Van Zandt.
30 years ago 1995Stone Temple Pilots lead singer Scott Weiland is arrested after trying to buy drugs in a motel parking lot in Pasadena.
25 years ago 2000Bob Dylan and violinist Isaac Stern each receive about $110,000 in Sweden as part of the Polar Music Prize for their contribution to music.
5 years ago 2020Carlos Santana announces the death of his brother Jorge Santana on Facebook. Jorge was also a guitarist, and a member of the group Malo, who hit in 1972 with Suavecito.

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