This Day in Music
On August 26, 2007, The Rolling Stones concluded their A Bigger Bang World Tour with a final show at London’s O2 Arena. The band’s longest and largest tour of their career, it earned over $560 million and the title as the highest-grossing tour in rock history. The Stones had previously set the record with their 1994 Voodoo Lounge Tour.
In 1970, long-running recording studio Electric Ladyland opened its doors in New York City. While the facility was commissioned by Jimi Hendrix two years earlier, the esteemed rockstar only spent ten weeks recording there before his death. Nevertheless, it soon became a hotspot for many top-selling recording artists, including John Lennon, AC/DC, Stevie Wonder, and Guns N’ Roses.
Across the Atlantic that same year, the third Isle of Wight Festival kicked off. Featuring Joni Mitchell, The Doors, The Who, Miles Davis, and The Moody Blues, the British festival also marked Hendrix’s final UK appearance. An estimated 600,000-700,000 people attended the weekend.
In 1995, Britpop rivals Blur and Oasis released their singles “Country House” and “Roll with It,” respectively. While the two bands were neck-and-neck, Blur’s “Country House” sold 270,000 copies (50,000 more than Oasis), placing them at the top of the pop charts and earning them their very first No.1 single in the UK.
In 2003, Rolling Stone named Jimi Hendrix as the greatest guitarist in rock history. Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine wrote that Hendrix “manipulated the guitar, the whammy bar, the studio, and the stage” and “took what was to become Seventies funk and put it through a Marshall stack, in a way that nobody’s done since.” Eric Clapton, Chuck Berry, Jimmy Page, and Stevie Ray Vaughan also made the ranking’s top 10.
In 1967, The Beatles held a press conference with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at University College in Bangor, North Wales. The four-piece announced that they had become disciples of the guru and members of the Maharishi’s “Spiritual Regeneration Movement,” renouncing the usage of drugs and donating a week’s earnings monthly to the organization.
In 2014, Kate Bush made her stage comeback after 35 years with a performance at London’s Hammersmith Apollo. Her 22-show residency sold out in less than 15 minutes and ran from August 26-October 1.
In 1987, Sonny Bono announced his campaign for mayor of Palm Springs, California. The singer, songwriter, and former husband of Cher had once stated that he had never voted until he was 53, but he successfully won the 1988 mayoral election and went on to win a seat in Congress in 1996.
BORN ON AUGUST 26
1938: Jet Black (The Stranglers)
1948: Valerie Simpson (Songwriter and recording artist)
1965: Annie Holland (Elastica)
1966: Dan Vickrey (Counting Crows)
1966: Shirley Manson (Garbage)
1969: Adrian Young (No Doubt)
