Today in rock history: On this date in 1975, Elton John, at the height of his popularity, became the first recording artist to ever have an album debut at No. 1 on Billboard's album sales chart, where it would remain for seven straight weeks. John's ninth solo album, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy already had enough pre-release orders from record shops across the country to have it achieve gold sales status (marking sales of 500,000 copies) before it had even been released. The album became one of Elton's best-selling records and contained the hit single "Someone Saved My Life Tonight." It is often regarded as his strongest and most consistent record. Elton John's farewell tour comes to Tampa's Amalie Arena on November 28.
GOODBYE, YELLOW BRICK ROAD
Elton John's three-year, 300-date farewell tour is coming to Tampa — here's how to get tickets
Today in rock history: On this date in 1969, the newly formed supergroup Blind Faith played its very first live concert. A free performance at London's Hyde Park saw the group, featuring Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton, play to thousands of fans. Clapton was allegedly not happy with the performance as he felt the band should have rehearsed more before playing in public. The band released only one album, the 1969 self-titled record that included the hit "Can't Find My Way Home" and topped sales charts in both England and America. The record was met with controversy, however, as the original cover artwork featured a topless, teenage girl on its cover. An alternate sleeve was quickly issued that featured a band shot on the front cover.
Today in rock history: On this date in 2004, Australian hard rock giants AC/DC became only the sixth recording artists to be awarded a double diamond sales award in the United States. Diamond awards are presented to albums that sell over 10 million copies in America alone; the double diamond commemorates sales topping 20 million copies sold which, in itself, is an amazing feat. The band's 1980 blockbuster album, Back in Black, was the recipient of the award and, to this day, the album continues to sell briskly, almost 40 years after its release.
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A Questlove-curated, symphonic Prince tribute is headed to Tampa's Sun Dome arena
Today in rock history: On this date in 1993, on his 35th birthday, legendary performer Prince changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol. Referred to as the "love symbol," the glyph became a headache for writers and reporters who were unable to find a comparable symbol to type when writing about the profound artist but, nonetheless, the always-unpredictable singer, who said the move was motivated by his unhappiness with his then current record label and its weak efforts to promote his new recordings, remained a hot topic in music publications all over the world. A Questlove-curated symphonic tribute to Prince is headed to Tampa on October 5.
This article appears in Jun 7-14, 2018.