Music
Throwback Thursday: Aaliyah Died 15 Years Ago Today
1949
KISS frontman Gene Simmons (birth name Chaim Witz) was born in Haifa, Israel. He co-founded KISS with Paul Stanley in the 1970s, after seeing The Beatles on TV.
1957
Canadian singer Paul Anka received his only No.1 on the UK singles chart for his song “Diana,” which was written about his brother’s baby-sitter.
1958
New York group, The Elegants, went to No.1 on the US singles chart with their one-hit-wonder version of the Mozart lullaby, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” re-titled “Little Star”.
1961
Billy Ray Cyrus was born in Flatwoods, Kentucky. He rose to fame after his single “Achy Breaky Heart” in 1992.
1964
The Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night” was certified gold.
1967
After a two-year hiatus, Brian Wilson returned to perform live with The Beach Boys in Honolulu. The group had just released “Heroes and Villains” in the US.
1979
The Charlie Daniels Band’s “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” became a No. 1 country single on the Billboard charts.
1986
Warner Bros. Records released Paul Simon’s seventh solo studio album, Graceland.
1998
Dolly Parton released the album Hungry Again – her 34th studio album. The album’s two singles, “Honky Tonk Songs” and “The Salt in My Tears” received little country airplay, but the album reached No. 23 on the country albums charts.
2001
While in the Bahamas filming her music video for “Rock the Boat” in 2001, R&B singer Aaliyah and eight others were killed when their plane crashed en route to Florida from The Bahamas.
The cause appeared to be engine failure due to the plane being overloaded.