On This Day in Music History - 4/28/2025
- 17GEN4
- Apr 28
- 3 min read
1865: Giacomo Meyerbeer’s opera L’Africaine premieres in Paris, marking a notable moment in 19th-century opera history.
1892: Antonín Dvořák’s Carnival Overture is performed for the first time, showcasing his orchestral prowess.
1940: Glenn Miller records “Pennsylvania 6-5000” in New York City, a jazz standard that became one of his signature hits.
1943: Marc Blitzstein’s Freedom Morning is performed for the first time, contributing to the era’s politically charged music.
1960: The musical Christine, by Webster and Fain, opens at the 46th St Theater in NYC, though it runs for only 12 performances.
1965: Luciano Pavarotti makes his debut at La Scala in Milan, performing in Franco Zeffirelli’s production of La bohème alongside Mirella Freni, a pivotal moment in his rise to operatic fame.
1965: Barbra Streisand’s first television special, My Name Is Barbra, airs on CBS, earning five Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award, cementing her status as a multifaceted star.
1966: A string ensemble records George Martin’s score for The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” at EMI Studios, a landmark in pop music for its classical instrumentation.
1973: Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon reaches #1 on the Billboard Albums chart, beginning its record-breaking run of over 880 non-consecutive weeks on the chart.
1975: Ringo Starr appears on The Smothers Brothers Show performing “No No Song,” while John Lennon gives his final TV interview on Tom Snyder’s Tomorrow program, both on NBC.
1987: Tony Bennett’s The Art of Excellence becomes the first album initially released on CD rather than vinyl, signaling the music industry’s shift to digital formats.
1988: The musical Chess by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, and Tim Rice opens at the Imperial Theater in NYC, running for 68 performances.
1990: Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses marries Erin Everly in Las Vegas, a short-lived union lasting nine months.
1991: The revival of Gypsy, starring Tyne Daly, reopens at the Marquis Theater in NYC for an additional 105 performances.
1997: Ringo Starr’s fourth All-Starr Band, featuring Peter Frampton, Jack Bruce, Gary Brooker, Simon Kirke, and Mark Rivera, debuts in concert.
1998: The Dave Matthews Band’s Before These Crowded Streets debuts at #1 on the US albums chart, displacing the Titanic soundtrack and showcasing the band’s darker, moodier side with the single “Don’t Drink The Water.”
2001: Dido’s “Thank You” climbs to #3 in the US after Eminem samples it in his hit “Stan,” boosting her mainstream success.
2003: Apple launches the iTunes Store, revolutionizing the music industry as the first widely successful legal music download platform, initially for Mac users with AAC-encoded files. By 2010, it becomes the world’s largest music vendor.
2005: Jazz bassist Percy Heath dies of bone cancer at age 81, and Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry injures his wrist after falling during a performance in Asheville, North Carolina.
2006: ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus is accused by the Swedish government of $12 million in back tax delinquency, a notable financial scandal in music.
2013: Lonnie Turner, founding bassist of The Steve Miller Band, dies of lung cancer at age 66.
2016: George Wolfe’s musical Shuffle Along, Or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed, featuring Audra McDonald and Billy Porter, opens at the Music Box Theatre in NYC for 100 performances.
2017: Brad Paisley releases the first visual album in country music, a special edition of Love and War with videos for all 16 tracks. Soundgarden also begins their final tour with Chris Cornell at WXTB Rockfest in Tampa, Florida, before his death on May 17.
2018: Justin Timberlake performs at the Los Angeles Forum during his The Man of the Woods Tour, and Bad Bunny takes the stage in Miami for his La Nueva Religión Tour, reflecting their rising prominence in pop and Latin music.
2023: Taylor Swift performs at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta as part of her record-breaking The Eras Tour, which grossed over $1 billion, solidifying her as a global pop culture phenomenon.
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