Rock 'n' Roll History for
April 18


<-- Previous Day -- Home Page -- Next Day -->



1957 - ClassicBands.com

April 18
Buddy Knox, whose "Party Doll" was a recent number one, is called up for six months of active duty with the US Army Reserve. Roulette Records rushed Knox to the studio to cut over twenty songs to ensure his career does not stall while he's in uniform. It will anyway.

1960 - ClassicBands.com

April 18
Bobby Rydell appears as "The Singing Delinquent" on an episode of the Danny Thomas TV series, Make Room For Daddy. The plot has Danny trying to help a talented young singer whose career may be hurt by his surly attitude.

1963 - ClassicBands.com

April 18
Actress Jane Asher makes a guest appearance on the UK TV show Juke Box Jury and reviews a show at The Royal Albert Hall. She describes the opening acts, which included Gerry And The Pacemakers and singer Shane Fenton, as "noisy", but when The Beatles appeared she remarked "Now these I could scream for!" She would soon become the steady girlfriend of Paul McCartney.

April 18
Bobby Bare records "Detroit City" at RCA Victor Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. The song, co-written by future Country music star Mel Tillis, would become Bare's third Billboard Top 40 hit, rising to #16.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

April 18
Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit In The Sky" tops out at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, behind "ABC" by The Jackson 5 and The Beatles' "Let It Be". Although the song would sell over two million copies, it would be his only US Top 40 hit.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

April 18
The Jackson 5 and Bill Cosby guest on Diana Ross' solo TV special, diana.

1974 - ClassicBands.com

April 18
James Brown receives a Gold record for the single "The Payback", which had topped the Billboard R&B chart. It would also peak at #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May, becoming his second and final single to be certified Gold by the RIAA for sales of one million copies.

1975 - ClassicBands.com

April 18
Four Bay City Rollers fans were taken to hospital and thirty-five others required treatment after they attempted to swim across a lake to meet their heroes during an appearance at a BBC Radio 1 fun day at Mallory Park.

1981 - ClassicBands.com

April 18
Yes temporarily split up when bassist Chris Squire and drummer Alan White left the group to rehearse with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin fame. The intended super group was to be called XYZ (Ex Yes and Zeppelin), but Plant soon bowed out, saying he didn't like "complicated music." Yes would reform 2 1/2 years later, releasing "90125", which contained the number 1 single, "Owner of a Lonely Heart".

1984 - ClassicBands.com

April 18
Michael Jackson underwent surgery in Los Angeles to repair damage done after his hair caught fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial on January 27th. Jackson was hospitalized and recuperated for months before he could return to work.

1987 - ClassicBands.com

April 18
When her newest release reached the top of the Billboard chart, Aretha Franklin set a record for the artist with the longest gap between US #1 singles. It had been nineteen years, ten months from "Respect" (June 1967) to "I Knew You Were Waiting for Me" (With George Michael).

1988 - ClassicBands.com

April 18
The Motown song writing team of Holland-Dozier-Holland is inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Consisting of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland, the trio wrote thirty-five songs that reached the Billboard Top 10 between 1963 and 1990, including ten number one hits for The Supremes and two for The Four Tops.

1997 - ClassicBands.com

April 18
Bernard Edwards, bass guitarist for Chic, died of pneumonia in a Tokyo Hotel room while touring Japan. He had also worked with Sister Sledge, Diana Ross, Johnny Mathis, Debbie Harry, Air Supply, Rod Stewart and many others.

2006 - ClassicBands.com

April 18
A sale of clothing owned by Elton John raised more than $700,000 (£395,000) for the singer's AIDS charity. Over ten thousand pieces were sold during a five-day sale in New York City at the specially-created shop, Elton's Closet, at New York's Rockefeller Center.

2011 - ClassicBands.com

April 18
Elton John announced that he'll return to The Coliseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas with his "Million Dollar Piano" show starting in September. His first stay at Caesars Palace ended in April 2009, but was extended to a five-year run because of audience demand.

2012 - ClassicBands.com

April 18
Dick Clark, who brought Rock 'n' Roll into the homes of millions of viewers on his daytime TV show American Bandstand from 1956 to 1988, suffered a fatal heart attack at a hospital in Santa Monica, California at the age of 82. Two days later he would be cremated and his ashes were scattered over the Pacific Ocean.

2014 - ClassicBands.com

April 18
Linda Ronstadt's newest album, "Duets" rose to #32 on the Billboard album chart, her highest position since "Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind" peaked at #7 in 1990.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

April 18
74-year-old Ringo Starr was inducted into Cleveland's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, becoming the last of The Beatles to receive that honor. Since the band's break-up in 1970, he had released eighteen solo studio albums, including his latest, "Postcards From Paradise" earlier this month. Also inducted into The Hall were Bill Whithers, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Lou Reed, Joan Jett And The Blackhearts, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The 5 Royals and Green Day.

2023 - ClassicBands.com

April 18
Eddie Van Halen's iconic Fender "Frankenstrat" guitar that he played both onstage and in the classic video for Van Halen’s "Hot for Teacher" sold at a Sotheby's auction for $3.9 million.

2024 - ClassicBands.com

April 18
80-year-old Dickey Betts, guitarist and founding member of The Allman Brothers Band, died of cancer and COPD at his home in Osprey, Florida. He was the writer and singer on the Allmans' 1973, Hot 100 #2 single, "Ramblin' Man".



<-- Previous Day -- Home Page -- Next Day -->