Today in Music History: Saluting Billie Holiday
July 17, 2014

History Highlight:
Today in 1959, Billie Holiday died at 43-years old in a New York City hospital from cirrhosis of the liver due to years of alcohol abuse. Nicknamed "Lady Day", Holiday pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. Music critic Robert Christgau called her "uncoverable, possibly the greatest singer of the century".
Also, Today In:
1967 - The Beatles single "All You Need Is Love / Baby You're A Rich Man" was released in the US.
1967 - American jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane died from liver cancer at Huntington Hospital in Long Island, New York. He was 40-years old.
1972 - While touring in Montreal, a bomb went off under one of The Rolling Stones' trucks. There were no injuries, and the show went on as planned.
1979 - Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore left the band in the middle of a U.S. tour and was replaced by Midge Ure.
Birthdays:
Lou Barlow, Dinosaur Jr., is 48 today.
Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler is 65.
Ron Asheton, guitarist for The Stooges, would have turned 65 today (died at 60-years old in 2009).
