27/10/2025
ADVANCED MUSIC HISTORY // October 27
In 1960, Ben E. King, the former lead vocalist for The Drifters, recorded his first songs as a soloist, two of which turned out to be timeless classics and bestsellers: “Stand By Me” and “Spanish Harlem.”
In 1963, Peter, Paul & Mary held down the two top spots on the album chart with In The Wind and Don’t Think Twice, both of which featured Bob Dylan songs.
In 1964, The Supremes’ third consecutive #1 single, “Come See About Me,” came out.
In 1964, 31-year-old Salvatore Philip Bono married 18-year-old Cherilyn Sarkisian La Piere. For a time they performed together as Caesar and Cleo before changing the name of their act to Sonny and Cher.
In 1969, Muddy Waters was seriously injured in a car crash in Champagne, Illinois. Three people were killed in the accident.
In 1975, Bruce Springsteen made the cover of both Time and Newsweek. The magazines were embarrassed, but the coverage significantly stoked his career.
In 1977, American musician Roy Estrada, a founding member of Little Feat who also worked with Frank Zappa, was convicted of sexual assault on a child. Estrada served six years in prison. Later, in January 2012, he pleaded guilty to a charge of continuous sexual abuse of a child; he is currently serving 25 years in prison with no chance for parole.
In 1979, Elton John collapsed onstage at Los Angeles’s Universal Amphitheatre; he was suffering from exhaustion.
In 1980, Former T. Rex member Steve Took choked to death on a cherry stone after some magic mushrooms he had eaten numbed all sensation in his throat. He was 31.
In 1988, U2’s film, Rattle And Hum, received its worldwide premiere in the group’s hometown of Dublin, Ireland.
In 1989, One year after its Rattle And Hum film premiered, U2 bass player Adam Clayton was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol by a Dublin court after being found driving twice over the legal limit. He was fined £500 and banned from driving for a year.
In 1996, Bruce Springsteen played at a rally near UCLA in Los Angeles to benefit efforts to defeat Proposition 209, a ballot measure that would have put an end to Affirmative Action.
In 2002, Producer/engineer Tom Dowd, who worked on classic albums for Eric Clapton, The Allman Brothers Band, Aretha Franklin, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Ray Charles, died of emphysema at age 77.
In 2003, Scott Weiland singer with Stone Temple Pilots was arrested on his birthday in Hollywood, California, after being involved in a traffic collision. He was charged with driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol; the charges were dismissed after he completed rehab and underwent subsequent drug tests.
In 2006, Amy Winehouse released her second and final studio album, Back To Black. The album spawned five singles, including “Rehab,” won a Best Pop Vocal Album Grammy, and it has sold over 20 million copies worldwide.
In 2013, Fleetwood Mac canceled the remaining dates on their world tour when bassist and co-founder John McVie was diagnosed with cancer.
In 2013, Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed died at the age of 71. An admitted hard drinker and drug user for many years, he had undergone a liver transplant six months earlier.
In 2014, The Last Ship, Sting’s musical about shipbuilding in northeast England, opened on Broadway. He described watching the opening night as “an out-of-body experience.” Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, and Blondie’s Deborah Harry were among the first-night audience at the Neil Simon Theatre.
In 2016, A letter John Lennon had written to the Queen of England explaining why he was returning the MBE she’d bestowed upon him in 1965, was found tucked in a record sleeve in an old car. Lennon had returned the MBE in protest of Britain’s involvement in the Nigerian Civil War, its support of America in the Vietnam war, and (perhaps jokingly) against “Cold Turkey” slipping down the charts. The letter had no effect on his MBE status, which could not be renounced.
