This Day in Music
On August 27, 1991, Seattle rockers Pearl Jam released their debut album, Ten. A cornerstone in grunge, Ten featured such hits as “Alive,” “Even Flow,” and “Jeremy”—the latter of which earned the band Grammy nominations for Best Rock Song and Best Hard Rock Performance. The band’s most commercially successful album, Ten would be certified 13x Platinum by the RIAA, while it remained on the Billboard 200 for nearly five years, becoming one of the highest-selling rock records ever.
In 1993, Def Jam Records co-founder Rick Rubin laid the term ‘def’ to rest, feeling that it was becoming overused in pop culture as a synonym for ‘cool.’ Rubin and Russell Simmons launched the label in 1984 after founding it in Rubin’s New York University dorm. To commemorate the event, Rubin held a star-studded funeral in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Forever cemetery, complete with a eulogy by Reverend Al Sharpton and a burial of a casket filled with records.
In 1966, The Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows” peaked at No. 2 on the UK singles chart. Along with being one of the first commercial songs to use the word ‘God’ in its title, the track included the usage of many unorthodox instruments, such as the French horns in the introduction. Paul McCartney cited “God Only Knows” as his favorite song of all time.
In 1967, The Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein was found dead in his London home, following a drug overdose. He was just 32 years old. Epstein first met the Fab Four at Liverpool’s Cavern Club in December 1961, signing them to a five-year contract a month later. During his career, he managed several artists, including Gerry & The Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Cilla Black, and The Remo Four.
On this day in 1990, 35-year-old Stevie Ray Vaughan was killed in a helicopter crash, following a Wisconsin show with Robert Cray and Eric Clapton. Considered to be one of the greatest guitarists of all time, the highly respected blues-rocker was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.
In 2013, Forbes named Madonna the world’s top-earning celebrity of the year. The 55-year-old mogul made an estimated $125 million from her MDNA tour, as well as from her similarly-named clothing and fragrance lines.
In 1992, John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics for The Beatles’ “A Day In The Life” sold for $100,000 (£56,600) in an auction at Sotheby’s London. Nearly two decades later, in 2010, the lyric sheet was auctioned again, and purchased by an anonymous American buyer for $1,200,000.
BORN ON AUGUST 27
1942: Daryl Dragon (The Captain and Tenille)
1942: Chip Douglas (The Turtles)
1953: Alex Lifeson (Rush)
1956: Glen Matlock (The Rich Kids, Sex Pistols)
1970: Tony Kanal (No Doubt)
1977: Mase
1979: Sarah Neufeld (Arcade Fire)
1999: Rod Wave
