January 19, 1994 – The Ninth Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies are held in New York City. Inductees include The Animals, The Band, Duane Eddy, The Grateful Dead, Elton John, John Lennon, Bob Marley, and Rod Stewart. Stewart can’t make it there due to the massive earthquake that hit LA that week, and Jerry Garcia and Eric Burdon are also no-shows. Axl Rose inducts Elton John, and then performs “Come Together” with Bruce Springsteen in honor of Lennon.
January 19, 1978 – Johnny Rotten is fired from the Sex Pistols for “not being weird enough anymore.”
Classic Rock Birthdays
January 19, 1954 – Francis Buchholz, bass (Scorpions)
January 19, 1943 – Janis Joplin, vocals (d. 1970)
January 19, 1949 – Robert Palmer, vocals (d. 2003)
January 19, 1952 – Dewey Bunnell (born Lee Martin Bunnell), vocals, guitar (America)
January 19, 1968 – Whitfield Crane (born William Whitfield Crane IV), vocals (Ugly Kid Joe)
January 19, 1939 – Phil Everly, vocals (The Everly Brothers) (d. 2014)
11 Badass Women Who Changed the Face of Rock Music
Rock Remembrances
January 19, 2013 – Steve Knight dies in New York of complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was 77. Knight was the keyboardist for Mountain and enjoyed much success with them in the 70s. After Mountain, he returned to specialty engineering and also served two terms in his hometown of Woodstock, NY on the Woodstock Town Board.
January 19, 2008 – John Stewart dies after he suffering a massive stroke or brain aneurysm in San Diego. He was 68. Stewart was a member of the folk group The Kingston Trio and went on to record more than 45 solo albums. He wrote the Monkees hit “Daydream Believer,” along with many other songs for artists like Fleetwood Mac, Roseanne Cash and Joan Baez. He was married to fellow folk singer Buffy Ford.
January 19, 1998 – Carl Perkins dies from throat cancer after suffering several strokes. He was 65. Called “the King of Rockabilly,” Perkins’ most famous song was “Blue Suede Shoes,” the first record on the Sun label to sell a million copies. Paul McCartney even claimed that “if there were no Carl Perkins, there would be no Beatles.” Perkins had many friends and they all recorded his songs – Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis were just a few.
January 19, 2006 – Wilson Pickett dies of a heart attack in Virginia. He was 64. Pickett was a revered soul singer who recorded the classics “Mustang Sally”, “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love” and “In The Midnight Hour.” He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. He also had a troubled personal life, racking up several arrests and drug charges prior to his imprisonment in 1993 for drunk driving, which resulted in the death of a pedestrian Pickett hit.
January 19, 2007 – Denny Doherty dies in Ontario, Canada from a second abdominal aortic aneurysm after going to get the first one repaired. He was 66. The Canadian-born Doherty was a founding member of the Mamas & the Papas and had carried on an illicit affair with Michelle Phillips, which caused Phillips to be briefly fired from the band. Later, Mama Cass asked Doherty to marry her, but he declined.
