This Day in Rock History: April 21

Breakthrough Hits and Milestones

• 1970: Elton John made his debut as a solo performer at The Roundhouse in London. He opened for T. Rex and mostly played songs from his self-titled second album, which had been recently released.
• 1984: Phil Collins got his first US No. 1 single, when "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for three straight weeks. He went on to have six more No. 1 singles in the US.

Cultural Milestones

• 1947: Iggy Pop was born in Muskegon, Michigan. Widely regarded as "The Godfather of Punk," he has had a long and successful career starting from the mid-1960s, both as a solo performer and as a member of the Stooges, which also earned him a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2010.
• 1959: The Cure frontman Robert Smith was born in Blackpool, England. He formed the band in 1976 and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame alongside his bandmates in 2019.
• 1981: Comedian "Weird Al" Yankovic made his debut television performance on The Tomorrow Show, where he performed "Another One Rides the Bus." The song parodied Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust."

Notable Recordings and Performances

• 1967: The Beatles completed recording on their iconic album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, at EMI Studios in London. It's widely considered to be one of the most iconic and influential albums in music history, as well as one of the most commercially successful of all time, with over 32 million copies sold.
• 1969: Janis Joplin had her only headline solo concert in England, at London's Royal Albert Hall. Prog rockers Yes were the opening act.
• 1990: Paul McCartney set a new world record for the largest paid stadium audience when he took to the stage in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, playing to more than 180,000 people. The show almost had to be canceled due to a hurricane that flooded the venue, but the rain stopped, and the show went on.
• 1998: Former Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant released a reunion album, Walking Into Clarksdale, almost 20 years after last working together. This was their only album together, and it reached No. 3 on the U.K. chart.

Industry Changes and Challenges

• 2001: Peter Buck, guitarist for R.E.M., was arrested at Heathrow Airport in London after an alleged incident on a flight from Seattle. He was charged with being drunk and assaulting two crew members, but the musician was cleared because at the time, he was taking medication that reacted badly with alcohol.
• 2016: At only 57 years of age, legendary artist Prince died of an accidental drug overdose at his Paisley Park estate in Minnesota, a week after his final show on April 14 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta.