Rock 'n' Roll History for
May 24


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1955 - ClassicBands.com

May 24
Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian welcome their daughter, Rosanne Cash. She will also grow up to be a musician, scoring a 1981 hit single with, "Seven Year Ache", which reached #22 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

1962 - ClassicBands.com

May 24
Elvis Presley was at #1 on the UK singles chart with "Good Luck Charm", his 11th UK chart topping single.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

May 24
A Detroit vocal quintet called The Reflections see their only Billboard Top 40 hit, "(Just Like) Romeo And Juliet" peak at number six during a nine week run. Although they would release several other singles and appear on all of the major teen shows of the day, the group would never crack the Top 40 again.

1965 - ClassicBands.com

May 24
Elvis Presley begins filming Frankie And Johnny in Hollywood, California. His contract with United Artists pays him $700,000 plus 50% of the profits. The title track from the film would reach #25 on the Hot 100, earning a Gold Record in the process. A second single, "Please Don't Stop Loving Me" stalled at #45.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

May 24
"Get Back" by The Beatles shot to #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, where it would remain for five weeks, becoming the group's 17th US #1 record. The song featured a keyboard solo by Billy Preston, who became the only non-group member ever credited on a Beatles single.

May 24
Still riding high on the success of "American Woman", The Guess Who make their US Television debut on American Bandstand, where they perform "These Eyes". Also on the program that day was Soul artist Solomon Burke who sang his version of "Proud Mary".

May 24
Oliver entered the US charts with "Good Morning Starshine", which would reach #3 by July and go on to sell over a million copies. His real name was William Oliver Swofford.

May 24
Andy Kim entered the Billboard Hot 100 for the third time with "Baby I Love You". The song will peak at #9 in June.

1974 - ClassicBands.com

May 24
Duke Ellington, the great Jazz band leader and subject of Stevie Wonder's 1977 hit "Sir Duke", died of cancer at the age of 75. He was a major force in Big Band music from the late 1930s until his death, and was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize Special Award for music in 1999.

1975 - ClassicBands.com

May 24
The nine piece band known as Earth, Wind And Fire saw their song "Shining Star" reach the top of both the Billboard singles chart and the Cashbox best sellers list. It was the group's seventh single and the first to crack the Top 20. Lead singer Philip Bailey would later team up with Phil Collins on the 1985 hit, "Easy Lover".

1986 - ClassicBands.com

May 24
Davy Jones, Mickey Dolenz and Peter Tork reunited as The Monkees when they kicked off their reunion tour at the Concord Hotel, in New York's Catskills Mountains.

May 24
The Count Five, whose hit "Psychotic Reaction" reached #5 in the US in 1965, reunited for the first time in eighteen years to play at their high school reunion in San Jose, California.

1991 - ClassicBands.com

May 24
After being diagnosed with throat cancer earlier in the year, 49-year-old Gene Clark, vocalist for The Byrds, died after suffering a heart attack. He wrote or co-wrote many of the Byrds' best-known originals from their first three albums, including "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better", "Set You Free This Time", and "Eight Miles High". He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 along with the rest of The Byrds.

2003 - ClassicBands.com

May 24
Paul McCartney made his first ever live performance in Russia when he appeared in Red Square in front of 20,000 fans.

2006 - ClassicBands.com

May 24
Elton John accepted £100,000 ($188,000) in libel damages from London's Daily Mail newspaper over allegations that he asked guests not to approach him at a charity ball.

2007 - ClassicBands.com

May 24
Art Garfunkel joined Paul Simon in a rare reunion in Washington, D.C. which commemorated Simon's receipt of the Library of Congress' first Gershwin Award, recognizing contributions to the popular song as an art form. Simon introduced his former partner by saying "My dear friend and partner in arguments, Art Garfunkel," before they launched into "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and "Cecilia". Also appearing on the show were Stevie Wonder and James Taylor.

2008 - ClassicBands.com

May 24
After releasing twenty-six other albums, Neil Diamond scores his first Billboard 200 chart topper with "Home Before Dark". Although he had led the Australian and New Zealand charts in the 1970s, his 1974 LP "Serenade" had been his most successful in America when it reached #3.

2009 - ClassicBands.com

May 24
Billy Joel was sued by his former drummer for hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid royalties. Liberty Devitto claimed that Joel hadn't paid him proper royalties for ten years of his work. Devitto was Joel's drummer from 1975 until 2005, when he said he was abruptly kicked out of the band without so much as a phone call. The suit would be settled a year later for undisclosed terms.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

May 24
The Bee Gees' Robin Gibb had a meltdown at London's Heathrow Airport when he allegedly hurled expletives at staff and refused to board a plane bound for Los Angeles after he was randomly selected for an extra security check. A spokesperson for British Airways said, "A passenger who was due to fly to L.A. voluntarily chose not to travel because they did not want to be subjected to additional security searches."

May 24
John Fogerty's 1985 hit "Centerfield" was selected to be honored at the National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies. The event would mark the first time a musician or song has been honored in such a way.

2011 - ClassicBands.com

May 24
Ringo Starr apologized during a BBC interview for saying earlier that he missed nothing about his hometown of Liverpool. "I apologize to those people, as long as they live in Liverpool, not outside. No real Scouser took offense, only I believe people from the outside."

2012 - ClassicBands.com

May 24
Aerosmith unveiled their first new song in six years, "Legendary Child", and also performed an old favorite, "Walk This Way", on the season finale of American Idol. John Fogerty joined eventual winner Phillip Phillips to sing two Creedence Clearwater Revival songs, "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" and "Bad Moon Rising".

2013 - ClassicBands.com

May 24
Ed Shaughnessy, drummer for The Tonight Show's NBC orchestra for over twenty-nine years, died at the age of 84 following a heart attack.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

May 24
In an interview with Nigel Farndale of the UK publication The Telegraph, Art Garfunkel said that in the early years of their career he felt sorry for Paul Simon because of his height, and he offered him love and friendship as a compensation. "And that compensation gesture has created a monster."

2017 - ClassicBands.com

May 24
Sonny West, one of the original members of Elvis Presley's Memphis Mafia, died of lung cancer at the age of 79. Joining Elvis in 1960, he was abruptly fired, along with his cousin Red and bodyguard Dave Hebler, in 1976 without explanation. The following year he co-authored the book Elvis, What Happened?.

2023 - ClassicBands.com

May 24
Tina Turner, who placed fourteen songs on the Billboard Top 40 between 1984 and 1993, died at her home in Switzerland at the age of 83. Along with having Top Ten hits such as "What's Love Got To Do With It" (#1 in 1984), "Better Be Good To Me" (#5 in 1984), "Private Dancer" (#7 in 1985), "We Don't Need Another Hero" (#2 in 1985) and "Typical Male" (#2 in 1986), she won eight Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.

2024 - ClassicBands.com

May 24
Doug Ingle, the lead vocalist, keyboard player and primary composer for Iron Butterfly, passed away at the age of 78. The band's 1968 album, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" reached #4 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold over 30 million copies worldwide. After leaving the band in 1971, Ingle discovered that mismanagement and unpaid taxes had left him in serious debt. Forced to sell off most of his possessions, he spent several years managing a recreational vehicle park in the Los Angeles National Forest before rejoining the group in 1978. He officially retired from performing in 1999.



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