Old is gold for Louis Armstrong
1994
Jazz legend Louis Armstrong scored a No.1 hit on the US singles chart with ‘Hello Dolly’, the title song from the Tony Award-winning 1964 musical, to become the oldest artist ever to hit the top of the charts at the age of 62.
However, in 2011, 85 year-old Tony Bennett broke this record when his ‘Duets’ album topped the US album charts.
Armstrong was one of the most influential solo artists and an innovator of the trumpet.
In 1968 he recorded the timeless classic ‘What A Wonderful World,’ a song that he is most associated with.
Mick Jagger helps Nicaraguan earthquake victims
1973
Mick Jagger, who had performed at a benefit concert for Nicaraguan earthquake victims earlier in the year added $150,000 of his own money to the $350,000 collected by The Rolling Stones, for the benefit of the people devastated by the calamity.
At the time Jagger was married to Bianca Perez-Mora Macias, who was of Nicaraguan descent. She was a social and human rights advocate and former actress. They divorced and Jagger married model Jerry Hall.
A rock 'n' roll pioneer passes away
2020
Little Richard, who arguably was one of the most influential artists from the 50s rock and roll scene, died of bone cancer at the age of 87.
A powerful and flamboyant performer, Richard was one of the handfuls of US acts that included Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley who mixed blues, R&B, boogie-woogie and gospel that would lead to the evolution of rock ‘n’ roll.
He sold more than 30 million records worldwide and his biggest hits included ‘Good Golly Miss Molly’, ‘Lucille’, ‘Tutti Frutti’ and ‘Long Tall Sally’.
His musical impact is hard to quantify but he had a major influences on some of music’s biggest names including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Same Cooke, Otis Redding, David Bowie and Bob Dylan.
May 9: Born This Day, That Year
The Piano Man, Billy Joel
New York city piano man Billy Joel who became one of the most popular singer/songwriters of the 70s.
Joel, who was a local welterweight boxing champion in the 60s, amassed an impressive string of multi-platinum albums and singes curing a glitter career that saw him inducted into the songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The 1977 album ‘The Stranger’, which yielded four Top 40 singles including the epic ‘Just The Way You Are,’ catapulted him into the limelight. Joel’s signature song also won him a Grammy in 1978 for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
His other big hits included the 1980 No.1 single ‘It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me’, and the 1983 No.1 hit ‘Uptown Girl’.
In 2001, Joel sold his mansion in Long Island’s popular seaside resort, The Hamptons, to American stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld for $32 million. However, Joel overlooked informing Seinfeld that the 12-acre estate, which included a 22-car garage, overlooked a nudist beach.
Joel bought the property in 2007 for $16.8 million.
