This Day in Music: October 6, 2026

• 2025: Rush's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson announce a reunion tour.
  The two surviving members said they missed playing together and would return to the road with German drummer Anika Nilles in the seat once held by Neil Peart, who died in 2020. It was to be the band's first tour since 2015.
• 2020: Guitarist Eddie Van Halen dies at 65.
  The Van Halen co-founder had battled throat cancer. His finger-tapping showcase “Eruption” rewrote the rules for rock guitar, and he also played the famous solo on Michael Jackson's “Beat It.”
• 2020: Singer Johnny Nash dies at 80.
  The Texas-born singer topped the charts in 1972 with “I Can See Clearly Now,” regarded as the first reggae song to reach number one in America. He also helped introduce Bob Marley's songwriting to U.S. listeners.
• 2019: Cream drummer Ginger Baker dies at 80.
  The English drummer drove the power trio with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce on “Sunshine of Your Love” and “White Room.” Cream entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
• 2016: Prince's Paisley Park opens to the public.
  A Minnesota landmark: the Chanhassen complex where Prince lived, recorded and rehearsed began welcoming tour groups less than six months after his death that April.
• 2000: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation premieres with The Who's “Who Are You” as its theme.
  The CBS drama brought the 1978 rock hit to a new generation of viewers. Its spinoffs CSI: Miami, CSI: NY and CSI: Cyber each opened with a Who song as well.
• 1998: Alabama receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
  The country band from Fort Payne, Alabama, was honored at 7060 Hollywood Boulevard. By then the group had piled up more than 30 number-one country hits, including “Mountain Music” and “Song of the South.”
• 1996: Country stars Faith Hill and Tim McGraw marry.
  The pair had toured together earlier that year and wed in McGraw's hometown of Rayville, Louisiana. They went on to record a string of hit duets, starting with “It's Your Love.”
• 1990: The Gathering of Tribes festival puts Soundgarden, Iggy Pop and Public Enemy on one bill.
  Organized by Ian Astbury of The Cult, the show at Shoreline Amphitheatre in California also featured Ice-T, The Cramps and Joan Baez. Its mix of styles is seen as a forerunner of Lollapalooza, which launched a year later.
• 1985: Arranger and bandleader Nelson Riddle dies at 64.
  Riddle shaped the orchestral sound of Frank Sinatra's classic 1950s albums and also worked with Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald. Late in life he arranged Linda Ronstadt's hit albums of standards.
• 1979: Robert John's “Sad Eyes” reaches number one.
  The falsetto ballad took over the top of the Billboard Hot 100 from The Knack's “My Sharona.” John had scored earlier in the decade with a remake of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
• 1973: Cher's “Half-Breed” hits number one.
  The single began a two-week stay atop the Billboard Hot 100. It was her second solo chart-topper, following “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves” in 1971.
• 1959: Bobby Darin becomes the youngest headliner ever at the Sands in Las Vegas.
  Darin was just 23 and had the biggest record in the country that fall with “Mack the Knife.”
• 1958: Johnny Mathis releases Merry Christmas.
  It was the first of his many holiday albums. His smooth takes on “Winter Wonderland” and “Sleigh Ride” have been radio favorites every December since.
• 1947: Gene Autry releases “Here Comes Santa Claus.”
  The singing cowboy wrote it after riding in a Christmas parade and hearing children shout for Santa. Elvis Presley, Bing Crosby and many others later recorded it.

Born on This Day

• 2004: Hanni, Australian singer (NewJeans)
  Turns 22. Rose to fame with the K-pop group NewJeans, which reached the U.S. charts with “Super Shy.”
• 2000: Addison Rae, American singer
  Turns 26. Made the jump from social media fame to pop music with the single “Diet Pepsi” and her 2025 debut album, Addison.
• 1982: Will Butler, American musician (Arcade Fire)
  Turns 44. Spent nearly two decades as a multi-instrumentalist in the band, whose album The Suburbs won the Grammy for Album of the Year.
• 1966: Tommy Stinson, American bassist (The Replacements)
  Turns 60. A Minnesota native: born in Minneapolis, he joined the hometown band as a young teenager and later spent years playing bass in Guns N' Roses.
• 1964: Matthew Sweet, American singer-songwriter
  Turns 62. The Nebraska-born power-pop artist broke through in 1991 with the album Girlfriend and its title track.
• 1954: David Hidalgo, American singer and guitarist (Los Lobos)
  Turns 72. Sang lead on the band's number-one remake of “La Bamba” in 1987.
• 1951: Kevin Cronin, American singer (REO Speedwagon)
  Turns 75. Wrote and sang the chart-topping ballads “Keep On Loving You” and “Can't Fight This Feeling.”
• 1949: Thomas McClary, American guitarist (Commodores)
  Turns 77. A founding member alongside Lionel Richie, he played lead guitar on “Easy” and “Brick House.”
• 1949: Bobby Farrell, Aruban-born performer (Boney M.)
  The dancing frontman of the disco group behind “Rasputin” and “Rivers of Babylon.”
• 1947: Millie Small, Jamaican singer
  Best known for the 1964 ska smash “My Boy Lollipop,” a top-five hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
• 1820: Jenny Lind, Swedish soprano
  Nicknamed the Swedish Nightingale, she became a sensation in America on an 1850 concert tour promoted by P.T. Barnum.