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Today in rock history: On this date in 1992, Nevermind by Nirvana sailed into the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s pop charts, signaling a shift in musical trends. The band had just signed to the massive DGC Records after making its home on a small, independent imprint, Sub Pop, and its seemingly overnight rise to the top of the chart found Nirvana passing Michael Jackson’s Dangerous album. Fueled by the anthemic “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and, later, by follow-up singles like “Come As You Are”, “In Bloom” and “Lithium,” Nevermind singlehandedly changed the musical landscape of the early 1990s on the way to selling more than 30 million copies worldwide.
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Today in rock history: On this date in 1971, the queen of hip-hop-soul, Mary J. Blige, was born in Yonkers, New York. She broke into the soul, R&B and hip-hop scene with her 1992 debut album, What’s the 411?, and was quickly noticed for an honest style that seamlessly blended genres while appealing to listeners of many different ages and cultural backgrounds. Blige’s 1994 follow up, My Life, earned even more acclaim thanks to its soul-baring subject matter and put the songwriter at the forefront of a new genre she was seemingly creating. Since then, Blige has added actor and entrepreneur to her resume and collected countless accolades and awards (including nine Grammys). She remains active and vital in the music world and celebrates her 48th birthday today.
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Today in rock history: On this date in 1942, Clarence “Big Man” Clemons was born in Norfolk County, Virginia. The towering, 6-foot 5-inch saxophone player was an integral part of Bruce Springsteen’s mighty and powerful E Street Band and even appeared alongside Springsteen for the cover of The Boss’ classic, 1975 album Born to Run. Other tunes that utilized Clemons’ emotive playing were “Jungleland,” “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out” and “Sherry Darling.” He remained busy with solo album and session work for other artists like Aretha Franklin and Jackson Browne up until 2011 when he died at the age of 69. Gone but not forgotten, Clarence Clemons will always remain a part of Springsteen’s success story and the emergence of the E Street Band.
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Today in rock history: On this date in 1986, The Godfather of Soul, James Brown, saw “Living in America” enter Billboard’s singles sales chart. Brown’s first hit in more than a decade climbed as high as No. 4 on the pop charts where it lived for 11 weeks. The Grammy-winning, Dan Hartman-penned tune featured Stevie Ray Vaughn on lead guitar while the Uptown Horns supplied the brass. The last bona fide hit of Brown’s career (he died in 2006) was even featured in the fourth Rocky film.
