September 18

 

Guitar's greatest innovator left this world at 12:45 pm on September 18, 1970, when 27-year-old Jimi Hendrix was pronounced dead at St Mary Abbot's Hospital in London, ending the brief but revolutionary career that had redefined what the electric guitar could achieve…

 

Rock theater reached a watershed moment on this day in 1983 when Kiss appeared on MTV for the first time publicly without their iconic makeup, revealing the human faces behind the larger-than-life personas that had defined heavy metal spectacle…

 

Pop culture's most scrutinized romance began today in 2004 when Britney Spears married backup dancer Kevin Federline in a private Los Angeles ceremony, launching a union that would become tabloid fodder and significantly impact the pop star's career trajectory…

 

Teen idol perfection was born on this day in 1939 when Frankie Avalon entered the world, the Philadelphia singer whose clean-cut image and beach party movies with Annette Funicello epitomized innocent 1950s pop culture…

 

Hollywood's golden couple united today in 1955 when singer Eddie Fisher married actress Debbie Reynolds, beginning a fairy-tale romance that would later be shattered by Elizabeth Taylor's intervention in one of entertainment's most famous love triangles…

 

Progressive rock's spiritual architect Kerry Livgren was born on this day in 1949, the Kansas founding member whose philosophical lyrics and complex compositions on songs like "Carry On Wayward Son" brought intellectual depth to arena rock…

 

Jump blues lost its smooth operator on this day in 1997 when Jimmy Witherspoon died of throat cancer at 77, silencing the vocalist whose sophisticated style bridged jazz and R&B throughout his five-decade career…

 

We remember Dee Dee Ramone on his birthday today in 1952, born Douglas Colvin, the bassist whose manic energy and songwriting helped create punk rock's three-chord blueprint before his tragic overdose death in 2002…

 

Gospel blues lost its most haunting voice on this day in 1945 when Blind Willie Johnson died in poverty and obscurity, though his spiritual slide guitar work would later be launched into space on the Voyager spacecraft as humanity's musical ambassador…

 

Jazz royalty received postal recognition today in 1994 when the United States Postal Service issued the Billie Holiday stamp, honoring the late singer whose "Strange Fruit" had made her both an artistic icon and civil rights pioneer…

 

Heavy metal's blueprint was forged today in 1970 with the release of Black Sabbath's 'Paranoid,' the album featuring the title track and "Iron Man" that established the dark, heavy sound that would spawn an entire genre.