1959 - As the snow melts in Mason City, Iowa, Buddy Holly's glasses are found from the plane crash that killed him two months earlier. They are turned in to police, where they stay until 1980, when a sheriff finds them and returns them to Holly's widow.
1969 - John and Yoko recorded "Give Peace A Chance" in their Toronto hotel room during one of their bed-ins for peace.
1978 - The Police released 'Roxanne' as the first single from their debut album Outlandos d'Amour. The song was written from the point of view of a man who falls in love with a prostitute. The title came from the name of the character in the play Cyrano de Bergerac, which Sting saw on an old poster which was hanging in a hotel foyer in Paris, France where the group had been staying.
2008 - Bob Dylan got an honorary Pulitzer Prize for his "profound impact on popular music and American culture." He was the first Rock musician to win the award.
2016 - Bruce Springsteen cancelled a concert in North Carolina, joining business groups in condemning a state law that rolled back protection for gay and transgender people. In a statement Springsteen said, "Some things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry which is happening as I write is one of them."
On this day one year ago, John Prine died at age 73 due to complications from Covid-19. He released his debut album in 1971, and put out a total of 19 studio albums. While wider mainstream success eluded him for years, he earned a sizable following, including some of the 20th century's greatest songwriters. Bob Dylan said in 2009: "Prine's stuff is pure Proustian existentialism. Midwestern mind trips to the nth degree. And he writes beautiful songs." (Photo by Beth Gwinn/Getty Images)
Birthdays:
Billie Holiday, the greatest female jazz singer of all time, was born today in 1915.
Ravi Shankar was born today in 1920.
Drummer and founding member of the Grateful Dead Bill Kreutzmann is 75.
Florian Schneider-Esleben of Kraftwerk was born on this day in 1947. David Bowie titled his 'Heroes' instrumental track 'V-2 Schneider' after Schneider and was heavily influenced by Kraftwerk's sound during his 'Berlin period' in the late 70s.
American session drummer Dallas Taylor was born on this day in 1948, in Denver. Taylor was the drummer for Stephen Stills' group Manassas in 1972 and 1973. Manassas is in the Colorado Music Hall Of Fame.
John Oates of Hall & Oates is 73.
Grammy award winning American singer/songwriter Janis Ian is 70. She went to No. 1 in 1975 with her song "At Seventeen".
On This Day In Music History is sourced from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, Song Facts and Wikipedia.