Rock 'n' Roll History for
February 29


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1964 - ClassicBands.com

February 29
Betty Everett's rendition of "The Shoop Shoop Song" enters the Billboard chart, where it will peak at #6. The Shirelles' management team had turned the song down and Soul singer Merry Clayton's version, recorded as "It's in His Kiss" in 1963, failed to catch on.

February 29
The Trashmen enter the American Top 40 with "Bird Dance Beat", a follow-up to their #4 hit, "Surfin' Bird". The song will top out at #30.

1968 - ClassicBands.com

February 29
At the tenth Grammy Awards, The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is named Album Of The Year. The LP had spent a total of 27 weeks at the top of the UK album chart and 15 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 200. "Sgt. Pepper" is considered to be one of the most influential and most famous Rock album of all time, having shipped over 32 million copies worldwide.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

February 29
John Lennon's US immigration visa expires, starting a three-and-a-half year battle to remain in the country.

1980 - ClassicBands.com

February 29
Mason City Police discovered a file containing Buddy Holly's glasses and a watch owned by The Big Bopper, that were found in the wreckage of their plane crash in 1959. Holly's cuff links worn during the crash had already been presented to Paul McCartney back in 1976 when the first Buddy Holly Week was held. Sheriff Jerry Allen returned the glasses to Holly’s widow, Maria Elena. She subsequently sold them to Civic Lubbock, Inc., a city booster organization, for $80,000. They were then donated to the City of Lubbock for display at The Buddy Holly Center.

1984 - ClassicBands.com

February 29
40-year-old Joey Vann of The Duprees suffered a fatal heart attack. The group scored a #7 hit on the Billboard singles chart in 1962 with "You Belong To Me".

February 29
The LP "Sports" by Huey Lewis And The News is certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. It will go on to top the Billboard album chart in June and become the second largest selling album of the year, behind Michael Jackson's "Thriller". The collection also spawned four Billboard Top Ten singles, "Heart and Soul" (#8), "I Want a New Drug" (#6), "The Heart of Rock & Roll" (#6) and "If This Is It" (#6).

2012 - ClassicBands.com

February 29
64-year-old vocalist Meat Loaf fell ill just moments before he was to appear on the UK TV show Loose Women. Although he missed the program, he was later able to carry on with his full line-up of appearances.

February 29
64-year-old Davy Jones, of the made-for-TV group The Monkees, suffered chest pains while riding one of his fourteen horses at a farm near Indiantown, Florida. He was rushed to Martin Memorial South Hospital in Stuart, Florida, where he was pronounced dead of a severe heart attack due to coronary artery disease. His former band mate Micky Dolenz would later say, "He was the brother I never had and this leaves a gigantic hole in my heart."

2016 - ClassicBands.com

February 29
The Rolling Stones announced that they would play a landmark concert in Havana, Cuba on March 25th. Rock music was marginalized in Cuba for political reasons after the Cuban revolution in the 1950s which saw Fidel Castro come to power.



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