History of Rock and Roll
History of Music http://www.infoplease.com/ip
-
1951
The white music audience is hesitant to embrace “black music,” so disc jockey Alan Freed uses the term rock 'n' roll to describe R&B.
-
1954
Bill Haley and the Comets start to write hit songs. As a white band using black-derived forms, they begin to experiment with rock and roll.
-
1956
Elvis Presley becomes one of the world's first rock stars.
-
1957
The musical West Side Story, by Leonard Bernstein is completed.
-
1959
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences holds the first Grammy Award ceremony for music that was recorded in 1958.
-
1960
John Coltrane forms his own quartet and is the voice of jazz's New Wave movement.
-
1961
Patsy Cline releases “I Fall to Pieces” and “Crazy.” Because these songs are so successful, she changes from country to pop.
-
1963
John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney (the Beatles) take Britain by storm. The Rolling Stones emerge with a blues-derived style.
-
1964
The Beatles appear on The Ed Sullivan Show.
-
1967
The Beatles release their album, Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Bands such as The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane are very successful during this period.
-
1969
More than half a million people go to the Woodstock music festival in Woodstock, N.Y. Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Joan Baez, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young are some of the performers. A Rolling Stones fan is killed at a concert by members of the Hell's Angels.
-
1970
The Beatles break up. By the end of the year, each member had released a solo album.
-
1971
At 27, Jim Morrison dies in Paris on July 3. Duane Allman from The Allman Brothers' is killed in a motorcycle accident at age 24.
-
1972
The top four categories for the 1971 Grammy Awards are won by women.
-
1973
The popularity of reggae music in the US is launched by the film "The Harder They Come".
-
1977
Elvis Presley dies at age 42 in Graceland, his Memphis Tennessee home.
-
1980
John Lennon of the Beatles is shot in New York City.
-
1982
Michael Jackson releases Thriller, and sells more than 25 million copies. It becomes the biggest-selling album in history.
-
1984
The band Band Aid releases "Do They Know It's Christmas." They send the profits of the single to Africa to feed starving people.
-
1985
The Virgin Tour-Madonna's first road tour- begins. Many top-name musicians and bands perform in London and Philadelphia, then send the proceeds to Africa for famine victims.
-
1990
Euro dance band Milli Vanilli get their Grammy Award taken away because they admit to lip-syncing the hit "Girl You Know Its True."
-
1991
The song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is released by Nirvana on the LP Nevermind and has national success. The grunge movement comes with their hit. It is characterized by distorted guitars and dispirited vocals.
-
1994
Woodstock commemorates the original weekend-long concert. Green Day and Nine Inch Nails join some Woodstock veterans. Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain committed suicide in his mansion in Seattle. They were headlining for Lollapalooza before he killed himself...they had to withdraw their concert.
-
1995
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum opens in Cleveland. Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia dies.
-
1996
Janet Jackson signs an $80-million deal with Virgin Records, becoming the highest-paid musician in history.
-
1998
Frank Sinatra dies of a heart attack at age 82.
-
1999
The third and most likely final Woodstock takes place.