February 27th: The Biggest Music Headlines

Scroll down the page to see all the music headlines, stories, and events for February 27 throughout music history

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Whitney Houston’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ Makes History

On this day in music, February 27, 1993, Whitney Houston’s moving rendition of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” became the longest US No.1 hit to date, breaking a record previously held by Boyz II Men’s “End Of The Road.” Recorded by Houston for the soundtrack to her film debut, The Bodyguard, the song spent 14 weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and quickly became one of the world’s best-selling singles of all time.

In 1999, Britney Spears’ debut single, “…Baby One More Time,” began a two-week run at the top of the UK pop chart. The song, which also hit No.1 in more than 20 countries, including the US, Australia, Canada, and across Europe, broke first-week sales records in the UK for a female act. In the US, it became the second-highest-selling single of the year (behind Lou Bega’s “Mambo #5”), while today, it remains one of the best-selling singles of all time, worldwide.

In 1971, five months after her untimely death, Janis Joplin began a nine-week run at the top of the US album chart with Pearl. Released on January 11, 1971, the title marked Joplin’s second and final solo studio album.

In 1964, Cavern Club cloakroom attendant Cilla Black hit No.1 on the UK singles chart with her cover of “Anyone Who Had A Heart.” While the song was written months earlier by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Dionne Warwick, Black’s rendition found greater success in the UK, where it remained at the top of the chart for three weeks and eventually became the fourth best-selling single of 1964. Warwick’s original recording, however, was more popular in the US, Canada, South Africa, Spain, and Australia, among other territories.

In 1993, Marlena Davis of The Orlons died at age 48 after battling lung cancer. The Orlons had five US Top 20 hits in the 1960s, and the quartet’s first hit, “The Wah-Watusi,” peaked at No.2 on the US pop chart.

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BORN ON FEBRUARY 27:

1910: Winifred Atwell
1927: Guy Mitchell
1954: Neal Schon (Journey)
1957: Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden)
1960: Johnny Roy Van Zant (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
1971: Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas (TLC)
1981: Josh Groban

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February 27th

On this day in music

27 Feb 2019 American singer Ariana Grande was at No.1 on the UK charts with her fifth studio album Thank U, Next. The album was preceded by two singles; the title track and '7 Rings', both of which debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming Grande's first two No.1 songs in the US.
27 Feb 2019 English drummer Doug Sandom died one day after his 89th birthday. He was the first drummer for the rock band The Who. No recordings with Sandom playing with the band were ever released.
27 Feb 2010 U2 raked in more money than any other music act in the US in 2009 making $109m (£71m) from touring, record sales and other royalties, almost twice as much as the second best, Bruce Springsteen who took home $58m (£38m), followed by Madonna with $47m (£31m) and AC/DC with $44m (£29m). Coldplay were the most successful British group, at number eight, with takings of $27m (£18m).
27 Feb 2007 Bobby Brown was sentenced to 30 days in jail over $19,000 (£9,670) in unpaid child support. An arrest warrant was issued in October 2006 after he failed to show up at a hearing on overdue child support for Kim Ward, the mother of two of his children.
27 Feb 2004 A worker in a supermarket in Aspen, Colorado alerted the police-after seeing a man shopping with his face covered by a mask. Police arrived on the scene and identified the man as Michael Jackson who was in town on holiday with his children.
27 Feb 2001 Carlos Santana returned to Autlan De Navarro the Mexican town where he grew up for the first time in 46 years. A statue honour of Carlos and his father, mariachi player Jose Santana was unveiled and Santana was presented with the "Keys to the City" and named the "Favorite Son of Autlan".
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27 Feb 1999 Britney Spears started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with '...Baby One More Time'. It became the biggest UK selling single of the year and also a No.1 in the US. It was originally written for TLC but the song was submitted after completion of their third record, FanMail.
27 Feb 1993 After 14 weeks at No.1 on the US singles chart, 'I Will Always Love You', gave Whitney Houston the longest ever US chart-topper, taking over from Boyz II Men's hit 'End Of The Road', and became the second biggest selling single in the US. Recorded by Houston for the soundtrack to her film debut, The Bodyguard, the song quickly became one of the world’s Best Selling Singles of all time.
27 Feb 1993 Marlena Davis of The Orlons lost a battle with lung cancer aged 48. The Orlons who formed in the late 1950s had five US Top 20 hits in the Sixties including ‘The Wah Watusi’, ‘Don't Hang Up’ and ‘South Street’. The Orlons provided back-up vocals on Dee Dee Sharp's 1962 hit ‘Mashed Potato Time’ and Dee Dee Sharp's second hit, ‘Gravy (For My Mashed Potatoes)’.
27 Feb 1991 James Brown was paroled after spending two years of a six-year prison sentence, imposed for resisting arrest after a car chase across two States.
27 Feb 1988 George Michael scored his sixth No.1 US single with 'Father Figure' a No. 11 hit in the UK - the first time Michael had failed to reach the top ten in his home country.
27 Feb 1981 The Who released 'You Better You Bet,' their first single since the death of their drummer, Keith Moon, in 1978, (Kenney Jones, formerly of The Faces had replaced Moon). The single peaked at No. 9 in the UK and No. 18 in the US. Upon the launch of MTV on 1 August 1981, it was the fourth video played.
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27 Feb 1980 Winners at the Grammy Awards included: song of the year, 'What A Fool Believes', The Doobie Brothers, album of the year, Billy Joel's '52nd St', best new artist, Rickie Lee Jones, best the disco record went to I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor.
27 Feb 1977 Keith Richards was arrested at Toronto’s Harbour Castle Hotel, after an ounce of heroin was found following a raid of his hotel room by 15 Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Richards, who was charged with possession with intent to traffic, faced seven years to life in prison. Bail was set at $25,000 (£14,705).
27 Feb 1972 Led Zeppelin appeared at Sydney Showgrounds, Sydney in Australia, over 25,000 fans attending the show. Jimmy Page appeared clean shaven having shaved of the beard he had grown since the summer of 1970.
27 Feb 1971 Five months after her death, Janis Joplin started a nine-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with her second and final solo studio album Pearl. Joplin sang on all tracks except 'Buried Alive in the Blues', which remained a Full Tilt Boogie instrumental because she died before adding her vocals.
27 Feb 1968 25 year old Frankie Lymon, lead singer of The Teenagers, died of a heroin overdose in his grandmother's New York home. Lymon was on leave from a Georgia Army post at the time and was scheduled to record for Roulette Records the next day. He first hit the national charts in 1956 when he was just 13 with 'Why Do Fools Fall in Love'.
27 Feb 1967 Pink Floyd continued working on their debut album The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn at Abbey Road Studios, London. With the exception of two group-composed instrumentals and one Roger Waters song, the album was written entirely by Syd Barrett.
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27 Feb 1964 The Rolling Stones made their second appearance on BBC TV show Top Of The Pops performing their latest single 'Not Fade Away'.
27 Feb 1964 21 year-old former hairdresser and cloakroom attendant at The Cavern Club, Cilla Black was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Anyone Who Had A Heart.' Written by Bacharach and David it was Black's first UK No.1. Also this week's UK Top Ten was the first ever to feature only UK acts.

Born on this day in music

27 Feb 1981 Josh Groban, US singer, who had the 2002 US No.7 & UK No.28 album ‘Josh Groban’ and the 2004 US No.1 album 'Closer'. Groban was America's top selling artist of 2007.
27 Feb 1973 Peter Andre, singer and former actor and reality TV star who had the 1996 UK No.1 single 'I Feel You', and the 1996 UK No. 1 album 'Natural'.
27 Feb 1971 Rozonda Thomas, Chilli, singer with American girl group TLC. They scored nine top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including four No.1 singles, 'Creep', 'Waterfalls', 'No Scrubs', and 'Unpretty'. Their 1999 US No.1 album Fanmail spent 57 weeks on the UK chart. Having sold over 65 million records worldwide, TLC is the best-selling American girl group.
27 Feb 1964 Derek McKenzie from British group The Shamen who had the 1992 UK No.1 single 'Ebeneezer Goode'.
27 Feb 1964 Ewan Venal, from Scottish group Deacon Blue who had the 1988 UK No.8 single 'Real Gone Kid' plus over 15 other UK Top 40 singles.
27 Feb 1960 Paul Humphreys, keyboards and vocals with Liverpool duo Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark who released their debut single, 'Electricity, in 1979, and gained popularity throughout Europe with the 1980 anti-war song 'Enola Gay'.
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27 Feb 1960 Johnny Roy Van Zant, American musician and the current lead vocalist of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He is the younger brother of the late Lynyrd Skynyrd co-founder and former lead vocalist Ronnie Van Zant and of the 38 Special founder Donnie Van Zant.
27 Feb 1957 Adrian Smith, guitarist with English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, who had the 1982 UK No.1 album The Number Of The Beast, and the 1991 UK No.1 single 'Bring Your Daughter ...To The Slaughter'. Iron Maiden have sold over 100 million copies of their albums worldwide.
27 Feb 1955 Gary Christian, singer with English group The Christians who had the 1988 UK No.8 single 'Harvest For The World'. The name of the band refers to the surname of the three brothers that were originally in the line-up.
27 Feb 1954 American rock guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist, Neal Schon with Journey who had the 1982 US No.2 single 'Open Arms'. Schon was also a member of Santana, who had the 1977 UK No.11 single 'She's Not There'.
27 Feb 1951 English singer and songwriter Steve Harley best known as the frontman with Cockney Rebel who had the 1975 UK No.1 single 'Make Me Smile, (Come Up And See Me') as well as hits with 'Mr Soft' and 'Judy Teen'. Harley has released over five solo albums and also worked as a radio presenter. In December 2023, Harley announced on his website that he was battling cancer, he died on 17 March 2024, aged 73.
27 Feb 1950 Robert Balderrama, from American group ? & The Mysterians who had the 1966 US No. 1 & UK No.37 single '96 Tears'. (which was also a UK No.17 hit for The Stranglers in 1990).
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27 Feb 1948 Eddie Gray from American rock band, Tommy James & The Shondells who had the 1966 US No.1 single 'Hanky Panky', the 1968 UK No.1 single 'Mony Mony' and the hit 'I Think We're Alone Now'.
27 Feb 1947 British musical arranger and keyboard player Louis Clark. He was the conductor of the orchestra and choir hired to back Electric Light Orchestra's sound, introduced on their album Eldorado in 1974. and arranged string arrangements for the studio albums Eldorado, Face the Music, A New World Record, Out of the Blue, Discovery and Xanadu. Clark died on 13 February 2021 in Elyria, Ohio, fourteen days short from his 74th birthday age 73.
27 Feb 1927 American singer Guy Mitchell. Successful in his homeland the UK and Australia he sold 44 million records, including six million-selling singles. His biggest hit, ‘Singing the Blues', was No.1 for 10 weeks in 1956. At age 11 Mitchell was signed by Warner Brothers Pictures, to be a child star, and performed on the radio on KFWB in Los Angeles, California. Mitchell died on July 1st 1999.
27 Feb 1910 Trinidadian pianist Winifred Atwell who enjoyed great popularity in Britain and Australia from the 1950s with a series of boogie-woogie and ragtime hits, selling over 20 million records. She was the first black person to have a No.1 hit in the UK Singles Chart (with the 1954 'Let's Have Another Party') and is still the only female instrumentalist to do so. She died on 28 February 1983 age 69.