This Day in Music
On August 25, 1975, Bruce Springsteen released his third studio album, Born to Run. The now-classic title peaked at No.3 on the Billboard 200 and has since been certified 7x Platinum by the RIAA. Featuring iconic hits like “Born to Run” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” the record marked the New Jersey rocker’s breakthrough album, bringing him mainstream success and broad critical acclaim. Over the decades, the album has ranked on numerous best-of lists (including landing at No.18 Rolling Stones’ 500 Greatest Albums of All Time), while in 2015, Born to Run was added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry.
In 1970, Elton John played his first American show at The Troubadour. In addition to performing his recent single, “Border Song,” the 23-year-old British singer-songwriter’s setlist included “Your Song,” “Take Me to the Pilot,” and a cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women.” The Los Angeles show, which kicked off a 17-date US tour, was attended by the likes of Don Henley, Quincy Jones, and Leon Russell.
In 2001, 22-year-old R&B star and actress Aaliyah died in a plane crash in the Bahamas, while shooting a music video for her single “Rock the Boat.” The artist, who rose to fame as a teenager in 1994 with her multi-platinum debut, Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number, had recently released her third studio album, Aaliyah. The record would go on to sell more than 13 million copies worldwide, following her tragic death.
In 1957, Paul Anka, who was just shy of his 16th birthday, became the first teenage solo act to reach No. 1 with the single “Diana,” written about his brother’s babysitter. The Canadian Music Hall of Famer would go on to find major success as a singer and songwriter over the following decades.
In 2000, the Academy Award-winning composer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and producer Jack Nitzsche died of a heart attack at age 63. As a producer, Nitzsche worked with the likes of The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, The Walker Brothers, and Buffalo Springfield, while he scored such films as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and The Exorcist.
BORN ON AUGUST 25
1918: Leonard Bernstein
1933: Wayne Shorter
1942: Walter Williams (The O’Jays)
1949: Gene Simmons (KISS)
1951: Rob Halford (Judas Priest)
1954: Elvis Costello
1961: Billy Ray Cyrus
1967: Jeff Tweedy
