This Day in Rock History: January 9
Jan. 9 has been a pretty busy day for rock acts and their fans over the years. It’s when Charlie Watts joined the Stones and when Van Halen released one…
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Jan. 9 has been a pretty busy day for rock acts and their fans over the years. It's when Charlie Watts joined the Stones and when Van Halen released one of their most successful albums. It's also Jimmy Page's birthday. Read about all of that and more in today's rundown of the most important events on this day in rock history.
Breakthrough Hits and Milestones
The day's top achievements include:
- 1965: Beatles '65, the U.S. and Canadian version of the band's fourth studio album, Beatles for Sale, made a huge jump from No. 98 to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in only its second week. It stayed at the top for nine consecutive weeks, demonstrating the group's domination of the North American charts.
- 1988: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Whitney Houston scored her sixth consecutive Billboard Hot 100 hit with "So Emotional." The achievement gave her the most consecutive No. 1 hits landed by a solo artist, surpassing Elvis and tying The Beatles and the Bee Gees, who she went on to beat with her seventh No. 1, "Where Do Broken Hearts Go."
Cultural Milestones
Jan. 9 has also seen some huge cultural moments, especially for Stones and Led Zep fans:
- 1944: Led Zeppelin founder, lead guitarist, and producer Jimmy Page was born in Heston, Middlesex, England. He made a name for himself on the London music scene in the early 1960s as a session musician, joined the Yardbirds in 1966, and founded Led Zeppelin in 1968.
- 1963: Drummer Charlie Watts officially joined the Rolling Stones. He played his first show with the band a few days later, on Jan. 12, and was a permanent member until his passing in 2021.
Notable Recordings and Performances
Some memorable performances and album releases took place on Jan. 9:
- 1984: Van Halen released their sixth studio album, 1984, via Warner Bros. Records. The record relied heavily on synthesizers and was a stylistic departure from their earlier work, which was more straight-up rock 'n' roll, but it was a huge success and achieved a Diamond certification in the U.S., selling over 10 million copies.
- 1997: A day after his 50th birthday, David Bowie hosted a star-studded concert to celebrate the occasion. The concert, a benefit for the charity Save the Children, featured many famous guests, including the Foo Fighters, Lou Reed, The Cure's Robert Smith, and Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan.
From record-breaking feats to memorable concerts, these are the biggest rock-related stories from Jan. 9. Visit this page again tomorrow to discover the most noteworthy events from that day in rock history.
