This Day in Music
On this day in music, April 9, 1969, folk star Bob Dylan reinvented himself with the release of his ninth studio album, Nashville Skyline. The album was a sonic and stylistic pivot from his earlier work and found Dylan immersing himself in country music. Even his singing voice was unrecognizable, as the artist delivered songs like “Lay Lady Lay” and “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You” in a deeper, softer croon. The album, which hit No.3 on the Billboard chart (and became Dylan’s fourth chart-topper in the UK), also featured a duet with one of country’s biggest names – Johnny Cash.
In 2021, 50-year-old rapper DMX died following a cardiac arrest. Born Earl Simmons, he became a hip-hop MC in 1984 and signed with Def Jam Records in 1996. His 1998 debut, It’s Dark And Hot Is Hell, marked the first of a record-breaking five multi-platinum albums that debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200. He took his stage name from a DMX drum machine he used to practice his rhymes to, but later said it was an acronym for “Dark Man X.”
In 1983, David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” became the shapeshifting artist’s first single to top the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. The funky track, which was produced by Chic’s Nile Rogers and featured guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, rebooted Bowie’s career with a new generation of fans.
In 2018, Lindsey Buckingham’s sudden departure from Fleetwood Mac was announced by the band, who also stated that his place would be taken on an upcoming tour by Crowded House’s Neil Finn and former Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ guitarist Mike Campbell. According to Buckingham, he was told by the band’s manager that “Stevie (Nicks) never wants to be on a stage with you again.”
In 2000, with “Fill Me In,” British R&B star Craig David – who was a month shy of his 19th birthday – became the youngest UK male solo artist to write and perform a No.1 hit on the UK singles chart. Four months later, he scored another chart-topper with “7 Days.”
In 1988, 50-year-old singer Dave Prater (of the famous soul duo Sam & Dave) was killed in a car accident. Nicknamed the “Dynamic Duo,” the pair had a volatile relationship and split up several times. Their biggest hits, which they recorded for Stax Records in the 1960s, included “Soul Man” and “Hold On, I’m Coming.”
In 1977, ABBA topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time with “Dancing Queen.” The song, which marked the Swedish quartet’s seventh Top 40 single in the US, hit No.1 in the UK and a dozen other countries.
BORN ON APRIL 9
1932: Carl Perkins
1946: Les Gray (Mud)
1961: Mark Kelly (Marillion)
1977: Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance)
1978: Rachel Stevens (S Club 7)
1980: Albert Hammond Jr. (The Strokes)
1987: Jazmine Sullivan
1987: Jesse McCartney
1999: Lil Nas X
