This Day in Rock History: April 9

Breakthrough Hits and Milestones

• 1966: "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration" by the Righteous Brothers went to No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart. This was the duo's second No. 1 hit song, after "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" hit No. 1 in February 1965.
• 1977: ABBA was at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Dancing Queen." This was the group's only No. 1 song in the U.S., although they would have other top 10 hits.
• 1983: David Bowie's hit single "Let's Dance" reached the top of the UK singles chart, where it spent three consecutive weeks. The song, which features guitar work by blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughan, also topped the US charts later that year.
• 1994: Pink Floyd's fourteenth studio album, The Division Bell, entered the UK album charts straight at No. 1, which was the band's fourth chart-topper. It also reached the top spot in multiple other countries, including Australia, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, and Italy, selling over 7 million copies worldwide.
• 2020: Bob Dylan got his first-ever US No. 1 single when "Murder Most Foul" topped the US Billboard Rock Digital Song Sales. The 16-minute epic is largely about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, but also references several other pop culture elements.

Cultural Milestones

• 1977: Gerard Way was born in Summit, New Jersey. He's best known as the co-founder and lead singer of My Chemical Romance, but he also wrote the comic book series, The Umbrella Academy, that was adapted into a Netflix series.
• 1997: After more than a decade, Soundgarden announced it was breaking up. The announcement came just months after their final show, and the band cited exhaustion from touring as one reason for the breakup.

Notable Recordings and Performances

• 1967: The Doors and Jefferson Airplane played a show at the Cheetah, Santa Monica Pier, Venice, California. There were over 3,000 people in the crowd, making it the biggest show that the Doors had performed up to that point.
• 1969: Bob Dylan released his ninth studio album, Nashville Skyline, via Columbia Records. It was a departure from his usual sound, as he heavily focused on country music, but it was a commercial success, earning Platinum status in the US.
• 1973: Queen played their first show under the EMI record label at the Marquee Club in London. They had played their last show at the venue on Dec. 20 of the previous year.
• 1984: R.E.M. released their second studio album, Reckoning, through I.R.S. Records. It was recorded in just 16 days, as producers Mitch Easter and Don Dixon wanted to capture the raw, unpolished sound of the band's live performances.
• 1994: When Pantera's debut album, Far Beyond Driven, went straight to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, it became the heaviest album to debut in that position. This marked a significant shift in music taste for the industry.

Industry Changes and Challenges

• 1860: French inventor Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville recorded what's widely believed to be the world's oldest recording of a human voice. He used a device called a phonautograph, which used a vibrating membrane to capture the sound and recorded it on soot-coated paper.
• 1965: After briefly filling in for Brian Wilson on tour with the Beach Boys, Bruce Johnston officially joined the band as a touring member. He stayed with the band until 1972, when he embarked on a brief solo career before rejoining them in 1978.
• 2018: Rolling Stone announced that Fleetwood Mac wouldn't perform with Lindsey Buckingham on their upcoming tour. Buckingham joined the band with Stevie Nicks in 1974, and although he left for over a decade in 1987, he had played with the iconic group for many years.