October 29th: The Biggest Music Headlines

Scroll down the page to see all the music headlines, stories and events for October 29 throughout music history

Photo by Don Paulsen/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Duane Allman’s Tragic Death At 24

In 1971, 24-year-old singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Duane Allman, was tragically killed in a motorcycle crash. The co-founder and frontman of The Allman Brothers Band was a seminal figure in the Southern rock explosion of the early 70s. Revered for his expressive guitar playing and inspired improvisations, Allman was also a sought-after session musician, who performed alongside such stars as King Curtis, Aretha Franklin, Herbie Mann, Wilson Pickett, and Boz Scaggs. Just months before Allman’s death, the band released their breakthrough album, At Fillmore East, which many consider to be one of the best live LPs of all time.

In 2016, Bob Dylan accepted the Nobel Prize in Literature. As the first songwriter to win the prestigious award, Dylan was honored “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition,” according to the organization. Dylan was the first American to receive the award since 1993, following novelist Toni Morrison.

In 1965, The Who released “My Generation” in the UK. A rebellious anthem for ‘60s youth, “My Generation” became a signature hit for the band, peaking at No.2 in their native England. The highly-regarded track has since been included on numerous high-profile rankings, including Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. It has also been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

In 1983, Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon celebrated its 491st week on the Billboard album chart in the US, surpassing the previous record holder, Johnny Mathis, with Johnny’s Greatest Hits.

In 1983, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers earned the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Islands In The Stream,” a track originally written by the Bee Gees.

In 2000, The Spice Girls became the first female group to earn nine chart toppers in the UK, thanks to the success of the double A-side, “Let Love Lead The Way/Holler.”

In 1988, Enya’s “Orinoco Flow (Sail Away)” began a three-week run at the top of the UK pop chart. Across the Atlantic, the Irish artist received two Grammy Award nods for the soothing tune.

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Keep scrolling for all of the headlines for October 29.

BORN ON OCTOBER 29:

1944: Denny Laine (Moody Blues, Wings)
1946: Peter Green (Fleetwood Mac)
1955: Roger O’Donnell (The Cure)
1955: Kevin DuBrow (Quiet Riot)
1965: Peter Timmins (Cowboy Junkies)
1984: Chris Baio (Vampire Weekend)

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Keep scrolling for all of our October 29 birthdays.

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October 29th

On this day in music

29 Oct 2022 Taylor Swift overtook Madonna by setting a new chart record for the quickest succession of nine UK No.1 albums by a female artist after her 10th album, Midnights, topped the UK chart. The album also became the fastest-selling record of 2022.
29 Oct 2019 Ed Sheeran became the UK’s richest star under 30 according to the annual Rich List of Britain’s wealthiest young stars with an estimated fortune of £170million - almost double his worth last year. Coming in second was Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe with £90million and former One Direction singer Harry Styles was placed at number three.
29 Oct 2018 Singer, songwriter and musician James Edwin Farrar died due to heart failure, at the age of 67. He was the original lead singer of the Raw Energy band and the second lead singer of the American Southern Rock band Molly Hatchet from 1980 to 1982, and in more recent years, Gator Country.
29 Oct 2016 Bob Dylan said he accepted his Nobel Prize in literature, ending a silence since being awarded the prize earlier this month. He said the honour had left him "speechless". The foundation said it had not yet been decided if the singer would attend the awards ceremony in December.
29 Oct 2014 Phil Collins handed over his large collection of Alamo memorabilia to a Texas museum, calling the donation the end of a six-decade "journey". "I'm 64," he said of his fascination with the 1836 battle. "When I was five or six years old, this thing began." Collins' collection included a fringed leather pouch used by Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie's legendary knife.
29 Oct 2013 Hundreds of viewers complained about Lady Gaga's recent UK performance on The X Factor according to Ofcom. Around 200 people contacted the broadcasting watchdog about her outfit of shells and flesh-coloured underwear. Another 60 viewers complained directly to ITV about the singer's appearance, before the 9pm watershed.
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29 Oct 2013 John Lennon's first home, in Liverpool, was sold for £480,000 at an auction held at The Cavern Club. The red brick terrace at 9 Newcastle Road, Wavertree, was where the member of The Beatles lived from birth, in 1940, until he was five. The property has a rear yard and is a few streets away from Penny Lane, made famous by The Beatles.
29 Oct 2009 Forbes Magazine reported that Michael Jackson had earned about 72 million dollars since his death on June 25th. That was good enough for third place on their list of dead celebrities making the most money. Fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent came in first at $350 million, songwriters Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein were second with $235 million and Elvis Presley was fourth, earning $55 million.
29 Oct 2007 Kylie Minogue was honoured with the Music Industry Trust prize for her 20-year career and status as an "icon of pop and style" at a London ceremony. The first time in the event's 16-year history that the award has gone to a woman, past winners included Sir Elton John and Peter Gabriel.
29 Oct 2007 Walk the Line, the film about the life of singer Johnny Cash was voted the greatest music biopic in a poll. The film starred Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon as Cash and his wife June Carter as the country stars and won the actress an Oscar in 2006. It was followed by rapper Eminem's 8 Mile, with Mozart's life story Amadeus next and Ray, starring Jamie Foxx as musician Ray Charles, at number four. The most recent film in the top 10 was Joy Division biopic Control.
29 Oct 2006 McFly scored their 6th UK No.1 single with 'Star Girl'. The song was played in space to wake up the astronauts on the space station, after a successful twitter campaign asking NASA to play the song started by band member Tom Fletcher.
29 Oct 2005 A set of waxwork heads of The Beatles from their Sgt. Pepper's album cover sold for £81,500. The "pepperheads" were auctioned off after recently being discovered in a back room at London's Madame Tussauds. They were used in 1967 by artist Sir Peter Blake in the backdrop of the "Lonely Hearts Club Band" album with the actual Beatles posing at the front.
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29 Oct 2003 Research in the US found that songs get stuck in our heads because they create a 'brain itch' that can only be scratched by repeating a tune over and over. Songs such as the Village People's 'YMCA' and the Baha Men's 'Who Let The Dogs Out' owe their success to their ability to create a 'cognitive itch', according to Professor James Kellaris, of the University of Cincinnati College of Business Administration.
29 Oct 2003 P Diddy promised to investigate claims that his clothing company used a sweatshop factory in Honduras. An American organisation campaigning for workers' rights, said conditions at the factory were wholly unacceptable claiming workers were paid less than a dollar an hour, forced to work overtime, subjected to body searches and dismissed if they got pregnant.
29 Oct 2001 Winners at this years 'Q' awards included, Ash, best single for 'Burn Baby Burn', Starsailor won best new act, Travis won best album for 'The Invisible Band', Manic Street Preachers won best live act and John Lydon won the Inspiration award.
29 Oct 2000 The Spice Girls went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Holler / Let Love Lead The Way'. The group made musical history by scoring their ninth No.1 making them joint fourth in the list of acts that have had nine UK No.1 singles.
29 Oct 1996 Manchester band The Stone Roses split up. Singer Ian Brown said 'having spent the last ten years in the filthiest business in the universe, it's a pleasure to announce the end of The Stone Roses.'
29 Oct 1994 UK reggae/rap performer Pato Banton (with Robin & Ali Campbell from UB40), started a four week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with his version of the 1968 Eddy Grant song and Equals hit 'Baby Come Back.'
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29 Oct 1988 Enya started a three week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Orinoco Flow.' Originally with family act, Clannad, Enya went solo and specialised in Celtic and New Age recordings.
29 Oct 1987 David Bowie played the first night of his 15 date Glass Spider Tour in Australia and New Zealand at the Boondall Entertainment Centre in Brisbane.
29 Oct 1987 'Decades' Rolling Stones Ronnie Wood's first ever British art exhibition opened in London, featuring portraits of friends and rock stars from the past 20 years.
29 Oct 1984 American drummer Wells Kelly who was a member of Orleans and worked with Meat Loaf died aged 45 after choking to death on his vomit. Had the 1976 US hit singles with Orleans, 'Still The One' and 'Dance with Me.'
29 Oct 1983 Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon marked its 491st week on the Billboard album chart in the US, surpassing the previous record holder, 'Johnny's Greatest Hits' by Johnny Mathis. When it finally fell off of list in October 1988, 'Dark Side' had set a record of 741 weeks on the chart.
29 Oct 1983 'Islands In The Stream', gave Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers a No.1 on the US singles chart. The song was written by The Bee Gees and co-produced by Barry Gibb.
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29 Oct 1977 The Belgian travel service issued a summons against the Sex Pistols claiming the sleeve to the bands single 'Holidays In The Sun' infringed copyright of one of its brochures.
29 Oct 1971 Duane Allman of The Allman Brothers Band was killed when he lost control of his motorcycle on a Macon, Georgia street while trying to swerve to avoid a tractor-trailer and was thrown from the motorcycle. The motorcycle bounced into the air, landed on Allman and skidded another 90 feet with Allman pinned underneath. He was three weeks shy of his 25th birthday.
29 Oct 1967 Cream played two shows at the Saville Theatre in London, England, billed as "Sundays At The Saville", The Bee Gees were appearing the following week.
29 Oct 1966 ? & the Mysterians went to No.1 on the US singles chart with '96 Tears'. Although he closely guarded his true identity at the time, the man known as Question Mark turned out to be Rudy Martinez, from Saginaw Valley, Michigan. The song was later a UK hit in the UK for The Stranglers in 1990.
29 Oct 1965 The Who released the single 'My Generation' in the UK. The song was named the 11th greatest song by Rolling Stone on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and 13th on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Songs of Rock & Roll. It reached No. 2 in the UK, the Who's highest charting single in their home country but only No. 74 in America.
29 Oct 1963 The Everly Brothers, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Mickie Most, The Rolling Stones, Julie Grant and The Flintstones all appeared at The Goumont Theatre, St Albans, England.
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29 Oct 1962 The Beatles made their second appearance on the Granada TV program ‘People and Places.’ Filmed in Manchester, they performed two songs, 'Love Me Do' and ‘A Taste of Honey’.

Born on this day in music

29 Oct 1984 American musician, Chris Baio from Vampire Weekend. 2010 US & UK No.1 album, ‘Contra’ and the 2013 US No.1 album 'Modern Vampires of the City'.
29 Oct 1976 Irish musician Mark Sheehan. From 1996 to 2001, he was a member of the boy band Mytown. In 2001, he co-founded alternative rock band the Script. Sheehan died in hospital on 14 April 2023 at the age of 46 following a brief, undisclosed illness.
29 Oct 1970 Toby Smith, keyboards, with Jamiroquai who had the 1993 UK No.1 album Emergency on Planet Earth and the 1998 UK No.1 single 'Deeper Underground'. Smith died on 11 April 2017 aged 46 after he had been diagnosed with cancer six years earlier.
29 Oct 1969 Roni Size, DJ, producer, 1997 Mercury Music Prize-winner.
29 Oct 1965 Peter Timmins, with Canadian alternative country/blues/folk rock band, Cowboy Junkies.
29 Oct 1962 Einar Orn, vocals, The Sugarcubes, (1992 UK No.17 single 'Hit').
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29 Oct 1955 Kevin DuBrow, singer, Quiet Riot, (1983 US No.1 album, 'Metal Health'). Found dead in his Las Vegas home at the age of 52 on 25th Nov 2007. The band's biggest hit was Cum on Feel the Noize, a cover of the Slade song which they are said to have grudgingly recorded in just one take.
29 Oct 1955 Roger O'Donnell, keyboardist with English rock band The Cure who had the 1989 US No.2 single 'Love Song', the 1992 UK No.6 single 'Friday I'm In Love', plus over 20 other UK Top 40 singles. He has also worked with the Psychedelic Furs, the Thompson Twins and Berlin.
29 Oct 1954 Steve Luscombe, from English synth-pop band Blancmange, who had the 1982 UK No.7 single 'Living On The Ceiling'.
29 Oct 1951 Scottish bassist, guitarist and singer David Paton who with Pilot had the 1975 UK No.1 single 'January'. He also worked with Camel, Elton John, Fish and Rick Wakeman.
29 Oct 1948 Ricky Reynolds, from American Southern rock band Black Oak Arkansas, known for their 70s US No.1 radio hit single 'Jim Dandy To The Rescue'. He died on 5 September 2021 age 72.
29 Oct 1946 Rob Van Leeuwen, Shocking Blue, (1970 US No.1 & UK No.8 single 'Venus').
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29 Oct 1946 English guitarist, singer, songwriter Peter Green the founder of Fleetwood Mac. Was a member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, (replaced Eric Clapton), and Fleetwood Mac scored the 1969 UK No.1 single 'Albatross' and other hits include 'Black Magic Woman', 'Oh Well' and 'Man of the World'. He left Fleetwood Mac in 1970. Green died in his sleep age 73 on 26 Jul 2020.
29 Oct 1944 English musician, singer, songwriter Denny Laine who with The Moody Blues, had the 1965 UK No.1 & US No.10 single 'Go Now'. Laine was a constant member of Wings for their entire run from 1971 to 1981, playing guitar, bass, keyboards, singing backing and lead vocals, and co-writing songs with Paul McCartney including the 1977 hit 'Mull of Kintyre'. Laine died from interstitial lung disease in Naples, Florida, on 5 December 2023, at the age of 79.