Eagle Classic Hitstory August 9 on birminghamseagle.com

On This Day in Eagle Classic Hitstory...

August 9/u>

1946
Rinus Gerritsen, bass player and keyboardist for Golden Earring, is born.
Golden Earring "Twilight Zone"

1955
Cars bassist and sometimes vocalist, Benjamin Orr, is born.
Benjamin Orr 1984

1959
Pioneer of the rap genre, Kurtis Blow, is born Curtis Walker in New York.

1963
Singer Whitney Houston is born in New Jersey, the daughter of singer Cissy Houston and cousin of Dionne Warwick. Her first seven solo singles go top five on the Hot 100.
Whitney Houston "The Star-Spangled Banner" Super Bowl XXV

1963
The BBC's rock & roll television show, Ready! Steady! Go! debuts.

1965
No. 1 Hit: "I Got You Babe," Sonny & Cher. The song, which sells more than 1 million copies, is the duo's only No. 1 hit.
Sonny & Cher "I Got You Babe" 1965

1967
While performing at the Sunberry Jazz and Blues Festival in England, Jerry Lee Lewis gets the crowd going in such a frenzy that festival officials halt his show and ask him to leave the stage.
Jerry Lee Lewis "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On"

1972
Gilbert O'Sullivan receives a gold record for "Alone Again Naturally." It's Number One for six weeks in the summer.
Gilbert O"Sullivan "Alone Again (Naturally)"

1975
The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium is the site of the first annual Rock Music Award Show. The Don Kirshner produced broadcast on CBS proves to be an alternative to the Grammys. Those taking home awards: Bad Company, the Eagles, Roger Daltrey, Joan Baez, and Stevie Wonder.

1978
No. 1 Hit: "Three Times a Lady," Commodores. Band member Lionel Richie was inspired to write the song at a 37th anniversary party for his parents.
The Commodores "Three Times a Lady"

1978
Blues legend Muddy Waters performs at a White House picnic for President Jimmy Carter.

1982
Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger," which is the theme song for the hit movie Rocky III, goes gold.
Survivor "Eye of the Tiger"

1991
Singer Rick James pleads innocent to charges he imprisoned, tortured, and sexually assaulted a woman in his California home.

1995
Grateful Dead singer, guitarist, and spiritual leader Jerry Garcia dies of a heart attack while undergoing drug rehabilitation. He is 53.
Jerry Garcia's Death 1995

1999
Bob Herbert, who formed the Spice Girls and teen group Five, dies in a car accident in London. He is 57.

2006
At a press conference at the United Nations Def Jam president Jay-Z announces that he will trek to several countries plagued by the world's water crisis for the MTV documentary Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life.

August 9 Birthdays