The week in music history brought to you by MusicGoldmine.com.
OCT 6: Sadly, Ginger Baker has passed away today. 😢He had been ill and in late September his family reported that he was critically ill in the hospital. The drummer was co-founder of Cream and he became one of rock music's first superstar drummers. Baker also was briefly involved with Blind Faith before leading Ginger Baker's Air Force. His drumming style would influence some of the best drummers in the world, including John Bonham, Stewart Copeland, Alex Van Halen, Peter Criss, and Nick Mason. RIP😢
OCT 6: Larry Junstrom of Lynyrd Skynyrd and .38 Special has passed away. 😢 He was Lynyrd Skynyrd's bass player from their beginning in 1964 until 1971. In 1974, Donnie Van Zant formed .38 Special, which Junstrom joined in 1977. He was with .38 Special until 2014 when he retired due to a hand injury. He was 70 years old. RIP😢
OCT 7: Happy birthday to John Mellencamp, born today in 1951!🎂🎤🎸 The singer-songwriter and musician formed his first band in his teens. After completing a degree Broadcast Producton Technology, he decided to move to NYC to pursue a music career. It was in NYC that Mellencamp found someone that liked his music, but not his name - said it was too difficult to market and convinced him to change it to Johnny Cougar. He reluctantly took on the stage name. His first two albums had minor hits, but it was his 1982 release, American Fool, that put him on the map. This success allowed him the power to get his record label to bill him as John Cougar Mellencamp (he would lose the Cougar alltogether in 1991 ). In addition to his successful recording career, he organized Farm Aid and has raised over $53 million since it began in 1985. He continues to record and tour!
OCT 8: Today in 1988, Def Leppard was at #1 with "Love Bites". The power ballad has been the band's only time at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 to date.
OCT 9: Happy birthday to Jackson Browne, born today in 1948!🎂🎤🎸 The singer-songwriter and musician joined the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band after he graduated from high school. In 1971, he signed his own recording contract and released his first album in 1972. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, he continued to release successful albums with his most successful being 1977's Running on Empty. His best performing single was "Somebody's Baby", which was featured in the popular movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High. In 2004, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He continues to record and tour.
OCT 10: Happy birthday to Tanya Tucker, born today in 1958!🎂🎤 She had her first hit at age 13 with "Delta Dawn". Tucker would have a string of hit throughout the 70s. The popularity of her music declined the the late 70s and early 80s. Her career was revitalized in the late 80s and took on a more country-pop sound. In 2002, Tucker founded her own label, Tuckertime Records, which enabled her to have more control over her music. She just completed a new album that is due out soon.
OCT 11: Happy birthday to Daryl Hall, born today in 1946!🎂🎤🎸 He began recording music in high school and majored in music at Temple University. In 1967, he met John Oates, who was also a student at Temple. Hall & Oates signed their first contract in 1972. Hall has also done some solo work and has a popular television series, Live from Daryl's House, along with a restaurant bar. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004 and Hall & Oates was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.
OCT 12: Today in 1997, John Denver perished when his plane crashed into Monterey Bay in California. He was the only person in the aircraft. Denver had over 2,700 hours of flying experience, but was not permitted to fly at the time of the crash due to a number of drunk driving arrests. He had no alcohol or drugs in his system when he died.
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