On This Day in Music History - 4/22/2025
- Thump Music
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
1804: Gioachino Rossini, aged 12, performed as a singer in Imola, Italy, showcasing his early talent as a composer and performer who would later create iconic operas like The Barber of Seville.
1876: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky completed his ballet Swan Lake, a masterpiece that became one of the most celebrated works in classical music and ballet history.
1927: Roger Sessions’ First Symphony in E premiered with Serge Koussevitzky conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra, marking a significant moment in American classical music.
1966: The Troggs released their cover of Wild Thing in the U.S., a garage rock anthem that hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and influenced punk and rock genres.
1970: The musical Park by Lance Mulcahy and Paul Cherry opened at the John Golden Theater in NYC, though it ran for only five performances.
1978: John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd debuted as the Blues Brothers on Saturday Night Live with Steve Martin as host, launching an iconic musical and comedic act.
1978: Bob Marley performed at the One Love Peace Concert in Kingston, Jamaica, his first show in the country since surviving an assassination attempt in 1976. During Jammin’, he united political rivals Michael Manley and Edward Seaga on stage, a historic moment for Jamaican unity.
1978: Izhar Cohen and Alphabeta won the 23rd Eurovision Song Contest for Israel with A-Ba-Ni-Bi in Paris, marking Israel’s first Eurovision victory.
1979: The Rolling Stones played two benefit concerts for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind in Oshawa, Ontario, as part of Keith Richards’ sentence for a heroin conviction.
1981: Eric Clapton was hospitalized in Seattle after a car accident, just days after treatment for bleeding ulcers in St. Paul, Minnesota, highlighting a challenging period for the rock legend.
1989: Madonna’s Like a Prayer album and its title track both hit No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard charts, with the album staying atop for six weeks and the single for three, cementing her pop dominance.
1989: The musical Welcome to the Club closed at the Music Box Theater in NYC after 12 performances, a short-lived Broadway production.
1993: Pete Townshend’s rock musical The Who’s Tommy opened at St. James Theater in NYC, running for 899 performances and winning five Tony Awards and a Grammy.
1998: Faith No More announced their breakup, ending the influential alternative metal band’s run.
2000: N.W.A.’s reunion single Chin Check debuted at #71 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, notable for being their only single without DJ Yella and Eazy-E, and the first with Ice Cube since 1989.
2003: The White Stripes began a week-long stint as musical guests on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, a favorite of the host, who later had them perform on the show’s final episode in 2009.
2010: Bret Michaels, lead singer of Poison, suffered a brain hemorrhage, hospitalizing him in critical condition; he later linked it to a 2009 stage accident.
2011: LeAnn Rimes married actor Eddie Cibrian in a surprise wedding disguised as an engagement party, following a controversial affair that began during a 2009 TV movie.
2011: Bryan Adams became a father at 51 with the birth of his daughter Mirabella Bunny, a personal milestone for the rock star.
2013: Richie Havens, the folk-soul singer who opened Woodstock in 1969, died of a heart attack at age 72.
2020: At the Jersey 4 Jersey virtual benefit concert, Fountains of Wayne reunited with Sharon Van Etten to honor Adam Schlesinger, who died of COVID-19. Bruce Springsteen performed, and Bon Jovi debuted Do What You Can, raising nearly $6 million for coronavirus relief.
Notable Births on April 22:
1922: Charles Mingus, influential jazz bassist and composer.
1936: Glen Campbell, country and pop singer-songwriter.
1937: Jack Nitzsche, producer and songwriter.
1950: Peter Frampton, rock guitarist and singer.
1951: Paul Carrack, singer for Ace and Squeeze.
1974: Shavo Odadjian, bassist for System of a Down.
1990: Machine Gun Kelly (Colson Baker), rapper and actor.
Notable Deaths on April 22:
2003: Felice Bryant, songwriter of hits like The Everly Brothers’ All I Have to Do Is Dream, died of cancer at 77.
2011: Hazel Dickens, bluegrass singer-songwriter known for pro-union and feminist anthems, died at 75 from pneumonia complications.
2013: Richie Havens, Woodstock’s opening act, died at 72.
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