This Day in Music: March 15th

Brought to you by ThisDayinMusic.com.

Born on this day:

1940, Phil Lesh, bass, The Grateful Dead
1941, Mike Love, vocals, The Beach Boys
1944, Sly Stone, vocals, organ, guitar, Sly and the Family Stone
1946, Howard E. Scott, guitar, War
1947, Ry Cooder, guitarist
1955, Dee Snider, vocals, Twisted Sister
1962, Terence Trent D’Arby, singer
1963, Bret Michaels, vocals, Poison
1968, Mark McGrath, vocals, Sugar Ray
1972, Mark Hoppus, bass, vocals, Blink-182
1975, Will.i.am, rapper, producer, Black Eyed Peas
1977, Joe Hahn, DJ, Linkin Park

1955, Elvis Presley signed a management contract with Colonel Tom Parker. Parker had previously managed the Great Parker Pony Circus with one of the acts being a troupe of dancing chickens.

1964, The Rolling Stones kicked off a 58-date U.K. tour at the Invicta Ballroom in Chatham, Kent. Half the dates saw the Stones playing two shows in one evening.

1973, Roberta Flack was at #1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Killing Me Softly with His Song” and Elton John had the #1 album with Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player.

1975, Led Zeppelin went to #1 on the U.K. chart with the double album Physical Graffiti, the first on their own Swan Song label. The album spent six weeks at #1 on the U.S. chart.

1977, Pink Floyd played the first of six sold-out nights at Empire Pool, Wembley, London, England.

1986, The Bangles were at #2 on the U.K. singles chart with “Manic Monday,” a song written by Prince under the pseudonym Christopher. It also made #2 in the U.S., held off #1 by Prince’s own “Kiss.”

1989, The Rolling Stones signed a $70 million (?40 million) contract to play 50 North American dates. It was the largest contract in rock history.

2002, Yoko Ono unveiled a seven-foot bronze statue of John Lennon overlooking the check-in hall of Liverpool’s John Lennon airport. The re-branding of the airport featured a sketch of Lennon's face with the words “Above Us Only Skies.” For more on this story, see This Day in Music Spotlight.

2004, Former Crazy Town guitarist Rust Epique died of heart failure from an apparent heart attack at his home in Las Vegas. Epique was 35. Crazy Town had the 1999 world-wide #1 single “Butterfly.”

View the original article here