March 27th: The Biggest Music Headlines

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

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U2 Halt LA Traffic With a Rooftop Video Shoot

On this day in music, March 27, 1987, Irish rockers U2 shot the video for their single “Where The Streets Have No Name” on a liquor store roof in downtown Los Angeles. Mirroring The Beatles’ rooftop concert nearly 20 years earlier, the event attracted thousands of spectators to the corner of Seventh and Main Street and brought traffic to a standstill. Despite police interference (as documented in the visual), the shoot was allowed to continue. The video eventually earned the group a Grammy Award.

In 2008, X Factor winner Leona Lewis’ second single, “Bleeding Love,” reached the summit of the Billboard Hot 100, making her the first British woman to reach No.1 on the American charts since Kim Wilde in 1987. The song debuted at No.1 in the UK chart, staying there for seven weeks.

In 2020, the influential Jamaican reggae vocalist and songwriter Bob Andy died of cancer, aged 75. He is best remembered for his partnership with singer Marcia Griffiths – as Bob & Marcia – which resulted in a Top 10 UK reggae version of Nina Simone’s “Young, Gifted & Black” in 1970.

In 2012, David Bowie‘s landmark album The Rise Of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars was celebrated with a blue plaque in central London. It was unveiled by Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp at Heddon Street, the location where the album’s iconic cover photo was taken.

In 2000, 57-year-old singer, songwriter, poet, and actor, Ian Dury, died. The British artist was best known as the leader of Ian Dury & The Blockheads, who topped the UK pop charts in 1978 with “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick.”

In 1965, The Supremes topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the fourth time with “Stop! In The Name Of Love.” In 2004, the Holland-Dozier-Holland song was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll” list.

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BORN ON MARCH 27:

1939: Bo Winberg (The Spotnicks)
1950: Tony Banks (Genesis)
1957: Billy MacKenzie (Associates)
1959: Andrew Farriss (INXS)
1965: Johnny April (Staind)
1970: Mariah Carey
1975: Fergie (Black Eyed Peas)
1988: Jessie J
1990: Kimbra

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Keep scrolling for all of our March 27 birthdays.

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March 27th

On this day in music

27 Mar 2020 Jamaican reggae vocalist and songwriter Bob Andy died of cancer age 75. He was widely regarded as one of reggae's most influential songwriters and recorded with Marcia Griffiths as Bob and Marcia that had a major 1970 UK hit with 'Young, Gifted and Black'. The Jamaican government conferred the Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander on Andy in October 2006 for his contributions to the development of Jamaican music.
27 Mar 2019 Both members of Liverpool band Her’s died while on tour in the US travelling to a gig in California. Stephen Fitzpatrick and Audun Laading were travelling from Arizona to a gig in Santa Ana, when they were involved in a road accident. Their tour manager, Trevor Engelbrektson also died in the incident. Her’s released their debut album Invitation To Her’s in August 2018.
27 Mar 2019 Beatles' booking manager Joe Flannery, also known as "Secret Beatle", died aged 87. He was the band’s booking manager from 1962-63 and according to Flannery, members of The Beatles would often sleep at his flat and he would drive them home the next morning. He is also said to have given a young George Harrison driving lessons.
27 Mar 2019 Coldplay frontman Chris Martin had a restraining order granted against a deranged stalker. The woman who has visited the outside of his home numerous times claimed they had a romantic relationship. Martin stated that he feared for the safety of his family.
27 Mar 2015 Country singer Willie Nelson announced that he and his family were hard at work on a new brand of marijuana called Willie's Reserve. Stores of that same name were being planned and were to include his signature brand and other strains that would be grown to meet quality standards.
27 Mar 2012 David Bowie's landmark album Ziggy Stardust was celebrated with a blue plaque in central London. Spandau Ballet star Gary Kemp, unveiled a plaque at the spot where the cover of the 1972 release was shot. The location in Heddon Street, just off Regent Street, is now a pedestrianised area brimming with bars and restaurants.
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27 Mar 2008 X Factor winner Leona Lewis became the first British woman to top the US pop chart for more than 20 years with her single ‘Bleeding Love.’ Kim Wilde was the last UK female to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with her 1987 cover version of The Supremes hit ‘You Keep Me Hangin' On’. Petula Clark was the first, with her 1965 track ‘Downtown’, while Sheena Easton's ‘Morning Train’ - released in the UK as 9 To 5 followed in 1981.
27 Mar 2008 An inquest in Leeds, England heard the husband of UK singer Corinne Bailey Rae died from a suspected overdose. The body of saxophonist Jason Rae, 31, was found in a flat in the Hyde Park area of Leeds. A 32-year-old man arrested on suspicion of supplying controlled drugs was bailed pending further inquiries.
27 Mar 2007 The wife of Velvet Revolver singer Scott Weiland was arrested on suspicion of burning over $10,000 (£5,000) of his belongings outside their home after police in southern California found a bin of smouldering clothes. Earlier that day, the couple left two rooms vandalised after an argument at a luxury hotel.
27 Mar 2006 Former Village People policeman Victor Willis was arrested in San Francisco, California, after he disappeared from a drug and gun trial. Police had charged Willis with being in possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia in July 2005. He would later be sentenced to three years' probation after he agreed to enter a treatment program. Their 1978 hit Y.M.C.A is one of the best-selling singles of all time.
27 Mar 2004 Prince kicked off his Musicology tour in Reno, Nevada. The average ticket costs $61, which includes a copy of the Musicology album. These are counted as sales according to Billboard, so the album rises to #3 (his previous three albums failed to chart). The tour takes in $87.4 million from 77 shows in 52 cities across the United States and sells more than 1.4 million tickets making it the highest-grossing of 2004.
27 Mar 2000 Singer, songwriter, poet and actor, Ian Dury died after a long battle with cancer aged 57. Dury had been disabled by polio as a child, formed Kilburn and the High Roads during the 70s. His first album New Boot's And Panties became a punk classic spending 90 weeks on the UK chart.
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27 Mar 1996 American drummer Howard Wyeth died of cardiac arrest at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan aged 51. He worked with Bob Dylan, Don McLean, Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell.
27 Mar 1991 New Kids on the Block's Donnie Wahlberg was arrested after setting fire to carpets (using a bottle of vodka) at The Seelbach Hotel, Louisville. Wahlberg plea bargained the charge down to criminal mischief and was ordered to perform fire safety and anti-drug abuse promos.
27 Mar 1987 U2 performed from the roof of a store in downtown LA to make the video for 'Where The Streets Have No Name', attracting thousands of spectators and bringing traffic to a standstill. The police eventually stop the shoot.
27 Mar 1984 Bryan Adams went into Little Mountain Sound, Vancouver, Canada to record 'Run To You' for his fourth studio album, Reckless. It was the first single released from the album and gave Adam's his first UK hit peaking at No.11. The music video shot in London and Los Angeles was nominated for the 1985 MTV Video Music Awards in five different categories.
27 Mar 1979 Eric Clapton married Patti Harrison (the ex wife of George) at Temple Bethel, Tucson, Arizona. Patti applied for a divorce in 1988.
27 Mar 1976 Paul McCartney and Wings were forced to postpone forthcoming US tour for three weeks after guitarist Jimmy McCulloch fell in his hotel bathroom and broke a finger.
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27 Mar 1973 Rolling Stone magazine reported that after becoming a disciple of Sri Chinmoy, Carlos Santana had changed his name to 'Devadip', which means 'the lamp of the light of the Supreme'.
27 Mar 1972 Elvis Presley recorded what would be his last major hit, 'Burning Love,' which became a No.2 hit on the US chart. Written by Dennis Linde and originally recorded by country soul artist Arthur Alexander, who included it on his 1972 self-titled album. It was soon covered and brought to fame by Elvis, becoming his biggest hit single in the United States since 'Suspicious Minds' in 1969.
27 Mar 1971 Bruce Springsteen & Friendly Enemies opened for The Allman Brothers Band at the Sunshine In, Asbury Park in New Jersey, tickets cost $4.00. Springsteen had just disbanded his group Steel Mill and within a few weeks would form Dr Zoom & The Sonic Boom with Steve Van Zandt.
27 Mar 1971 New York radio station WNBC banned the song 'One Toke Over the Line' by Brewer & Shipley because of its alleged drug references. Other stations around the country followed.
27 Mar 1967 John Lennon and Paul McCartney were awarded the prestigious Ivor Novello award for 'Michelle', the most performed song in the UK in 1966.
27 Mar 1966 During an UK tour, Roy Orbison fell off a motorbike while scrambling at Hawkstone Park, Birmingham fracturing his foot. He played the remaining dates sat on a stool and walking on crutches.
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27 Mar 1965 The Supremes scored their fourth US No.1 single with 'Stop! In The Name Of Love.' The song was included on the Supremes' sixth album, More Hits by The Supremes, and was nominated for the 1966 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Rock & Roll Group Vocal Performance, losing to 'Flowers on the Wall' by the Statler Brothers. The song was also honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's permanent collection of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
27 Mar 1964 Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Andrew Oldham attended a Decca launch party at the Ex-Serviceman’s Club, Windsor, Berkshire for Oldham's protégé singer Adrienne Posta, whose debut single, 'Shang-A-Doo-Lang' was being released. Also at the party was 17 year-old Marianne Faithfull, with her boyfriend John Dunbar. This was the first time Mick Jagger met Marianne.

Born on this day in music

27 Mar 1990 Kimbra, (Kimbra Lee Johnson). She and Gotye won the Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance awards at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards for 'Somebody That I Used to Know', making her only the third New Zealand singer to win a Grammy Award in history.
27 Mar 1988 Jessie J, (Jessica Ellen Cornish), English singer-songwriter, who had the 2011 UK No.1 single 'Price Tag' and the 2012 UK No.1 'Domino.'
27 Mar 1975 Fergie, US R&B singer, songwriter, former member of Kids Incorporated, Wild Orchid, co-host of the TV show Great Pretenders, and vocalist of The Black Eyed Peas. 2003 US & UK No.1 single 'Where Is The Love', 2006 US No.1 solo single ‘London Bridge.’ 2007 world-wide No.1 single 'Big Girls Don't Cry.'
27 Mar 1970 American singer, songwriter, actress, record producer, and entrepreneur Mariah Carey. She became the first and only artist to have their first five singles reach No.1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. She is the third-best-selling female artist in the United States, with 64 million albums sold and over 220 million records sold worldwide. Carey holds the record for the most Billboard Hot 100 No.1 singles by a solo artist (19), a female songwriter (18), and a female producer (15), spending a record 93 weeks atop the chart. Carey is named after the song 'They Call The Wind Mariah' from the 1951 Broadway musical Paint Your Wagon.
27 Mar 1965 Johnny April, bassist with American rock band Staind who had the 2001 US No.1 album, Break The Cycle.
27 Mar 1964 English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer Clark Datchler, from British band Johnny Hates Jazz who had the 1987 UK No.5 single and international success with 'Shattered Dreams'.
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27 Mar 1962 Derrick McKenzie, drummer with Jamiroquai who had the 1993 UK No.1 album Emergency on Planet Earth and the 1998 UK No.1 single 'Deeper Underground'. Jamiroquai have sold more than 26 million albums worldwide and won a Grammy Award in 1998.
27 Mar 1959 Andrew Farriss, keyboards, from Australian rock band INXS, who had the 1988 UK No.2 & US No.1 single 'Need You Tonight'. Their 1987 album Kick has sold over 10m copies in the US alone and features four Top 10 singles; 'Need You Tonight,' 'Devil Inside', 'New Sensation,' and 'Never Tear Us Apart.' INXS has sold over 55 million records worldwide.
27 Mar 1957 Scottish singer Billy MacKenzie from The Associates who had the 1982 UK No.9 single 'Party Fears Two'. He was known for his distinctive high tenor voice and was the co-founder of post-punk and new wave band the Associates. On January 22, 1997, 39-year-old MacKenzie took his own life by overdosing on a combination of paracetamol and prescription medication in the garden shed of his father's house.
27 Mar 1956 British musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, Paul Wickens who has worked with Paul McCartney since 1989. Wickens has also worked with Styx, The Damned, Tim Finn, Paul Carrack, Nik Kershaw, Jim Diamond, Boy George, and David Gilmour.
27 Mar 1953 Walter Stocker, from the Australian soft rock band Air Supply who scored the 1980 UK No.11 single 'All Out Of Love' and the 1981 US No.1 single 'The One That You Love'. He has also worked with The Babys and Humble Pie.
27 Mar 1950 English musician, songwriter, singer and film composer Tony Banks. Known as the keyboardist and founding member of Genesis who had the 1986 US No.1 single 'Invisible Touch', 1992 UK No.7 single 'I Can't Dance' plus over 15 other UK Top 40 hit singles & 6 UK No.1 albums.
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27 Mar 1947 Andrew Brown, keyboards, vocals, and bass with English pop band The Herd, (with Peter Frampton), who had three UK top twenty hits in the late 1960s, including 'From the Underworld' and 'I Don't Want Our Loving to Die'. Brown started working with Status Quo in the mid-1970s.
27 Mar 1941 American R&B singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer Bunny Sigler. He did extensive work with the team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff and was instrumental in creating the "Philly Sound" in the early 1970s. He died on 6 October 2017 age 76.
27 Mar 1940 Jamaican musical artist Derrick Morgan who was popular in the 1960s and 1970s. He worked with Desmond Dekker, Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff in the rhythm and blues and ska genres, and he also performed rocksteady and skinhead reggae.
27 Mar 1939 Swedish singer and guitarist Bo Winberg. He was a member of The Spotnicks, who together with the Shadows and the Ventures are counted as one of the most famous instrumental bands during the 1960s. The Spotnicks were famous for wearing "space suit" costumes on stage, and for their innovative electronic guitar sound. Winberg died on 3 January 2020.
27 Mar 1932 American blues singer and harmonica player Junior Parker. He wrote ‘Mystery Train’, which was covered by Elvis Presley. He also worked with B.B. King and Howlin’ Wolf. Parker died on November 18th 1971.
27 Mar 1924 American jazz singer Sarah Vaughan. She had the 1954 US No.6 single 'Make Yourself Comfortable' and released over 50 albums. March 27, is "Sarah Lois Vaughan Day" in both San Francisco and Berkeley, California in honour of the singer. She died on the evening of 3 April 1990, while watching Laker Girls, a television movie featuring her daughter.
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