Rock 'n' Roll History for
March 11


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



1958 - ClassicBands.com

March 11
After finding out that her husband, Jerry Lee Lewis, had married his 13-year-old cousin, Jane Mitcham files for divorce. The Lewis / Mitcham union was in question in the first place as they were wed 23 days before Lewis' divorce from Dorothy Barton was finalized.

1959 - ClassicBands.com

March 11
RCA sends a Gold record to Elvis Presley as his single "A Fool Such As I" reaches the one million sales mark.

1963 - ClassicBands.com

March 11
The English Rock group, Manfred Mann, give their first concert in London, England. Over the years, three of their most successful singles, "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", "Pretty Flamingo" and "Mighty Quinn", would top the UK Singles Chart.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

March 11
The Supremes enjoy their ninth Billboard number one record with "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone", a #17 hit in the UK.

March 11
Northern Songs, who publish The Beatles' tunes, announce that in the 18 months since "Yesterday" made its appearance, 446 other artists have also recorded it.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

March 11
The Grammy Award winners are announced. The Fifth Dimension's "Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In" is Record of the Year. Blood, Sweat And Tears' self titled LP is Album of the Year and Joe South's "Games People Play" is Song of the Year. Crosby, Stills And Nash were named Best New Artist. Blood, Sweat And Tears were nominated for a then-record eleven Grammy Awards (They won three).

1971 - ClassicBands.com

March 11
TV's fictional Rock band, The Partridge Family, featuring David Cassidy on vocals, receives a Gold record for "Doesn't Somebody Want to be Wanted". It's the second of their five US Top 20 hits.

1974 - ClassicBands.com

March 11
Janis Joplin's manager, Albert Grossman, was awarded $112,000 on her life insurance policy. The insurance company had argued that Joplin's drug overdose death in 1970 was a suicide, not an accident.

1978 - ClassicBands.com

March 11
French singer Claude Francois, who scored a 1976 UK hit with "Tears On The Telephone", was electrocuted when he changed a light bulb while standing in his bathtub.

March 11
Meat Loaf's "Bat Out Of Hell" album began a 416 week run on the UK chart and would go on to sell over 2 million copies.

1982 - ClassicBands.com

March 11
Jimy Sohns, lead singer of the Shadows of Knight is arrested for distributing cocaine. The band's biggest hit was a cover version of "Gloria", originally recorded by Van Morrison And Them.

1989 - ClassicBands.com

March 11
38 Special's biggest hit, "Second Chance" enters the Billboard charts where it will reach #6 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Adult Contemporary Chart. The Jacksonville, Florida based band featured Donny Van Zant on vocals and Don Barnes on guitar.

1991 - ClassicBands.com

March 11
Janet Jackson signs a $30 million deal with Virgin Records. It's the largest record deal ever until brother Michael signs with Sony a week later.

1993 - ClassicBands.com

March 11
Eric Clapton hit number 1 in the US with his "Unplugged" album that had been in the Top Ten for six months. The additional attention created by his six Grammys at the annual awards ceremony pushed sales of his 'live' album even higher. "Unplugged" beat out "Achtung Baby", "The Beauty And The Beast" soundtrack and albums by Annie Lennox and kd lang for album of the year.

1994 - ClassicBands.com

March 11
The Supremes are awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7060 Hollywood Blvd. Only Mary Wilson attended the ceremony, which drew about 200 avid fans to the event.

1996 - ClassicBands.com

March 11
Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr turn down a $225 million offer to do a reunion tour.

1997 - ClassicBands.com

March 11
The investiture ceremony where Paul McCartney was knighted by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II took place at Buckingham Palace. Sir Paul told reporters: "Proud to be British, wonderful day and it's a long way from a little terrace in Liverpool."

2002 - ClassicBands.com

March 11
Connie Francis launches a 45 million dollar lawsuit against her record label, Universal Music Group for unpaid royalties. The lawsuit was later dismissed.

2004 - ClassicBands.com

March 11
Edmund Sylvers, the lead singer of The Sylvers on their 1975, number one hit, "Boogie Fever", died after a ten month battle with cancer. He was just 47 years old.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

March 11
Stevie Wonder stopped by The Late Show With David Letterman where he gave The Top Ten Greatest Advantages Of Being Blind. The number one advantage was "You can act like Stevie Wonder and get paid."

March 11
Three Dog Night's longtime keyboard player Jimmy Greenspoon died of metastatic melanoma at the age of 67.

2016 - ClassicBands.com

March 11
71-year-old Keith Emerson, keyboardist and founding member of the Progressive Rock band Emerson, Lake And Palmer, died at his Santa Monica, California home from a self-inflicted gunshot to his head.

2019 - ClassicBands.com

March 11
Hal Blaine, the legendary session drummer who appeared on thousands of records, died of natural causes at the age of 90. He is most often associated with The Wrecking Crew, The Byrds, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Johnny Rivers, Simon And Garfunkel, Neil Diamond, John Denver, Barbra Streisand, Captain And Tennille, The Ronettes and The Beach Boys.

2024 - ClassicBands.com

March 11
Eric Carmen, a founding members of The Raspberries, who scored a US #5 hit with "Go All The Way" in 1972, died in his sleep at the age of 74. His solo career produced even more hits when he reached the Billboard Top 10 with "All By Myself" in 1976, and added "Hungry Eyes" and "Make Me Lose Control" in 1988.



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