This Day in Music History – August 24th

1964 – The Beatles released “Matchbox/Slow Down.”

1978 – Bruce Springsteen appeared on the cover of “Rolling Stone.”

1979 – “I Wanna Be Your Lover” by Prince was released. It was his first U.S. hit.

1979 – B.B. King celebrated his 30th year in show business at a special celebration held at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles, CA.

1979 – The Cars performed at New York’s Central Park for an audience of a half million people.

1981 – Mark David Chapman was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for the murder of John Lennon.

1983 – Jerry Lee Lewis’ wife, Shawn, was found dead at the couple’s home in Mississippi. An autopsy revealed she died of a methadone overdose.

1989 – The Who performed “Tommy” at the Universal Amphitheatre with special guests Steve Winwood, Elton John, Phil Collins, Patti LaBelle and Billy Idol.

1990 – It was ruled by a judge in Reno, NV, that the band Judas Priest was not responsible for the suicides of two youths after they had listened to the band’s music.

1990 – Sinead O’Connor refused to perform if the United States National Anthem was played before her show at the Garden State Arts Plaza in Homdel, NJ, as is custom. A patriotic uproar ensued which led to several radio stations banning her music.

1994 – Dave Abbruzzese quit Pearl Jam. He was replaced with drummer Jack Irons.

1998 – A Shania Twain concert in Syracuse, NY was halted when lightning hit the ground 40 yards behind the stage. The concert was almost over at the time of the lightning strike.

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