1959, 22 year old Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens, aged 17, died in a crash shortly after take-off from Clear Lake, Iowa, the pilot of the single-engined Beechcraft Bonanza plane was also killed. Holly hired the plane after heating problems developed on his tour bus. All three were travelling to Fargo, North Dakota, for the next show on their Winter Dance Party Tour which Holly had set – covering 24 cities in three weeks, to make money after the break-up of his band, The Crickets, last year.
1967, Producer Joe Meek shot his landlady Violet Shenton and then shot himself at his flat in London, Meek produced The Tornadoes hit ‘Telstar’, the first No.1 in the US by a British group. Meek was interested in spirituality and often attended séances . At one such meeting in 1958 he was warned that Buddy Holly would die on February 3. Meek tried his best to find Holly when he was in London to warn him but failed in his mission. Holly died on February 3, 1959.
1968, One Hit Wonders The Lemon Pipers went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Green Tambourine’ the song was a No.7 hit in the UK. The song has been credited as being one of the first bubblegum pop chart-toppers.
1968, The Beatles started work on their new single ‘Lady Madonna’ at Abbey Road studios in London. Recording three piano and drum takes with overdub bass, fuzz guitars, drums, and vocals.
1970, Led Zeppelin II was in the Top 20 on both the UK & US album charts after peaking at No.1. The album went on to spend 138 weeks on the UK chart. The album is now recognised by writers and music critics as one of the greatest and most influential rock albums ever recorded.
1973, Elton John started a three-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Crocodile Rock’. Elton’s first of five US No.1 singles.
1979, Blondie had their first of five UK No.1 singles, with ‘Heart Of Glass’, taken from the band’s third studio album, Parallel Lines. ‘Heart of Glass’ was originally recorded in 1975 under the name ‘Once I Had a Love.’
1986, Dire Straits were at No.1 on the UK album charts with their fifth studio album Brothers in Arms. With ten weeks at No.1, the album is the seventh best-selling album in UK chart history and won two Grammy Awards in 1986, and also won Best British Album at the 1987 Brit Awards. Brothers in Arms also spent nine weeks at No.1 on the Billboard 200 in the US, and thirty-four weeks at No.1 on the Australian Album Chart.
1990, For the first time ever, the UK Top 3 singles featured non-British and non-American acts. Ireland’s Sinead O’Connor, Australia’s Kylie Minogue and Belgium’s Technotronic. Sinead O’Connor had her first No.1 single with Nothing Compares To U’, a song written by Prince.
1992, On their first Europe tour Pearl Jam played at The Esplanade Club in Southend, England to 300 people, the bands first ever UK show. The tour also took Pearl Jam to Norway, Sweden, Holland, France, Spain and Italy.
1999, American soul singer Gwen Guthrie died of cancer aged 48. She sang backing vocals for Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder and Madonna and wrote songs for Sister Sledge and Roberta Flack. She scored the 1986 R&B No.1 ‘Ain’t Nothin’ Goin’ on But the Rent’.
1999, Tony Hadley singer with Spandau Ballet told a High Court in London of his “desperate” financial situation after his solo career failed. Hadley and band members Steve Norman and drummer John Keeble, were suing Spandau Ballet songwriter Gary Kemp for hundreds of thousands of pounds of allegedly unpaid publishing royalties. Hadley earned £120,000 a year during the band’s heyday in the early 1980s, but the court heard that when he fell on hard times he was forced him to sell his home to pay off a £50,000 overdraft in 1993.
2004, Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs settled a $3 million court case filed by his former driver after an incident in 1999. Wardell Fenderson had driven Mr Combs and his then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez away from a New York nightclub where three people had been wounded in a shooting. Mr Fenderson said he was traumatized by having guns in the car and being ordered to ignore police orders to stop, for which he was arrested.
2004, R. Kelly appeared in Court and entered of plea of not guilty to 21 charges of child pornography. Kelly, who was free on bond, did not talk during the brief hearing. Outside the Cook County Criminal Courthouse fans voiced their support for the singer, proclaiming his innocence with placards and T-shirts. Kelly had been arrested in Florida after he was indicted by a grand jury in Chicago on 21 counts of child pornography, stemming from a videotape that allegedly shows the star performing sexual acts with a 14-year-old girl.
2004, American woodwind, keyboard player and vocalist Cornelius Bumpus died of a heart attack at age 58. He toured with The Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan. Bumpus became ill while on an airline flight from New York to California, where he was scheduled to perform at the Columbia College Jazz Concert Series. The plane made an emergency landing in Sioux City, Iowa but Bumpus died by the time the plane reached the ground.
2007, Wayne Fontana, of ‘Game Of Love’ fame, was arrested at his home in Glossop, Derbyshire, England and charged with arson with intent to endanger life. The 61 year-old, who was already set to appear in court in March on traffic offenses, was accused of pouring gasoline over a bailiff’s car and setting it on fire. The following November, he was sentenced to 11 months in jail, but was allowed to walk free from court immediately after already serving the equivalent of his term while held under the Mental Health Act.
2008, UK singer Adele went to No.1 on the UK album chart with her debut album ’19’. As of December 2011, worldwide sales for the album stood at over 6.5 million copies.
2010, AC/DC singer Brian Johnson, joined a growing group of critics of Bob Geldof and U2 singer Bono over their very public charity work, saying they should stop lecturing audiences about charity work and instead do their good deeds in private. Johnson said “When I was a working man I didn’t want to go to a concert for some bastard to talk down to me that I should be thinking of some kid in Africa. I’m sorry mate, do it yourself, spend some of your own money and get it done. It just makes me angry.”
2014, Bruce Springsteen was at No.1 on the US chart with his eighteenth studio album High Hopes. His eleventh No.1 album in the US, placed him third all-time for most No. 1 albums only behind The The Beatles and Jay-Z. The album is a collection of cover songs, out-takes and re-imagined versions of tracks from past albums, EPs and tours.
2018, American pop, funk and jazz drummer Leon Chancler died in Los Angeles, California of prostate cancer, at the age of 65. He worked with Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Michael Jackson’s (on ‘Billie Jean’), Donna Summer, Carlos Santana, The Crusaders, Frank Sinatra, Weather Report, Lionel Richie, Kenny Rogers, Thelonious Monk, Herbie Hancock and John Lee Hooker.
