August 29, 1980 – Eddie Van Halen meets his future wife Valerie Bertinelli for the first time at a Van Halen concert in Shreveport, LA. Her brother had dragged her to the show, even though she didn’t want to go. They would marry eight months later.
August 29, 1977 – Three men are arrested and charged with trying to steal Elvis Presley’s body from Forest Hill Cemetery, leading to the dead singer’s remains later being moved to the Graceland mansion. The thieves’ plan was to ransom the corpse for $10 million, but the plot was foiled when one of the crooks, an FBI informant named Ronnie Lee Adkins, tipped Memphis police and a TV reporter to the scheme.
Classic Rock Birthdays
August 29, 1963 – Greg Steele, guitar (Faster Pussycat)
August 29, 1945 – Chris Copping, organ, bass (Procol Harum)
August 29, 1953 – Rick Downey, drums (Blue Oyster Cult)
August 29, 1958 – Michael Jackson, vocals (The Jackson 5, solo) (d. 2009)
August 29, 1960 – Tony MacAlpine, guitar
August 29, 1943 – Richard Halligan, trombone, woodwinds, piano (Blood, Sweat & Tears) (d. 2022)
August 29, 1942 – Sterling Morrison (born Holmes Sterling Morrison, Jr.), guitar (Velvet Underground) (d. 1995)
Backstage Access:
Sun Chips, Gummy Bears, and the Blue Oyster Cult!
Rock Remembrances
August 29, 2021 – Ron Bushy, drummer of Iron Butterfly, dies in Santa Monica, CA of esophageal cancer. He was 79. Bushy was the drum soloist on the band’s iconic 17 minute plus song “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” and the only member of the group to appear on all six of its studio albums.
August 29, 1976 – Jimmy Reed (born Mathis James Reed), blues musician, dies in San Francisco from an epileptic seizure. He was 50. Reed was a major influence on the Rolling Stones and had his songs covered by artists such as The Yardbirds, Van Morrison, The Grateful Dead, Elvis Presley, the Steve Miller Band, and many more. In 1991, Reed was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
