October 4th: The Biggest Music Headlines

Scroll down the page to see all the music headlines, stories and events for October 4 throughout music history

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The Tragic Death Of Janis Joplin

On October 4, 1970, the music world lost one of its most electrifying talents, Janis Joplin, when she died of an accidental overdose. At the time, the 27-year-old artist was in the middle of finishing her second solo album, Pearl. It was would be released three months after her death and become her biggest commercial success. While Joplin’s career was relatively short (including two albums with Big Brother and the Holding Company and one solo album, I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!), she left behind a highly-influential legacy, including her powerful and emotive bluesy vocals, which can be heard on hits like “Piece of My Heart” and “Me and Bobby McGee.”

In 1982, The Smiths made their live debut at The Ritz in Manchester, supporting Blue Rondo à la Turk at a fashion show. They performed three songs: “The Hand That Rocks The Cradle,” “Suffer Little Children,” and “Handsome Devil.”

In 1969, The Beatles’ Abbey Road went to No.1 on the UK album chart. Exactly 50 years later, in 2019, it topped the chart once again – this time as an anniversary edition – setting the chart’s record for the longest gap for an album to return to No.1.

In 1969, Creedence Clearwater Revival scored their first No.1 album in the US with Green River. The LP, which would hold its spot for four weeks, was one of three albums that the California band released that year.

In 2007, The Rolling Stones set a new record for the top-grossing tour of all time with their A Bigger Bang tour, which took them on the road from late 2005 through August 2007. It earned the band £247m ($437m).

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BORN ON OCTOBER 4:

1947: Jim Fielder (Blood, Sweat & Tears)
1959: Chris Lowe (Pet Shop Boys)
1961: Jon Secada
1963: Lena Zavaroni
1977: Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire)
1984: Lena Katina (t.A.T.u.)

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October 4th

On this day in music

4 Oct 2023 A US judge ruled that Lady Gaga would not have to pay a $500,000 (£410,000) reward to a woman who returned her dogs after they were stolen in 2021. Jennifer McBride previously sued the star for the "no questions asked" reward, plus $1.5m (£1.2m) in damages. But the judge said Ms McBride couldn't claim the money because her role in returning the star's dogs had led to a conviction of receiving stolen goods.
4 Oct 2022 American country music singer and songwriter Loretta Lynn died at the age of 90. She was the first woman to be named Country Music Artist Entertainer Of The Year. Since her first No.1 'Fist City', in 1967 she has scored another 16 chart toppers. Lynn wrote more than 160 songs and released 60 albums and won three Grammy Awards. Her best-selling 1976 autobiography was made into an Academy Award-winning film, Coal Miner's Daughter, starring Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones in 1980.
4 Oct 2019 The Beatles' Abbey Road returned to No.1 in the UK, 50 years after it first topped the album charts after the release of an expanded anniversary edition. The feat also sees the album set a record - the gap of 49 years and 252 days since its initial chart-topping run ended in early 1970 is the longest gap before returning to No.1.
4 Oct 2014 Paul Revere, organist and leader of Paul Revere And The Raiders died following a battle with cancer. Between 1961 and 1971, the band placed 15 songs on Billboard's Top 40, including the US Top 10 hits 'Kicks', 'Hungry', 'Good Thing' and 'Him Or Me - What's It Gonna Be?'
4 Oct 2008 Darius Rucker former singer with Hootie & the Blowfish went to No.1 on the US Country chart with his first country single, 'Don't Think I Don't Think About It,' making him the first African American singer to top the chart since 1985, when Ray Charles hit the top with 'Seven Spanish Angels,' a duet with Willie Nelson.
4 Oct 2007 Producer Phil Spector was set to be retried for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson following the collapse of the first trial in Sept of this year. The first trial ended with the jury deadlocked 10-2 favouring conviction. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler set another hearing for the case on 23 October.
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4 Oct 2007 The Rolling Stones set a new record for the top grossing tour of all time with their A Bigger Bang tour. The tour which ran from late 2005 to August 2007, earned the band £247m, ($437m) with The Stones playing to over 3.5 million people at 113 shows. The previous high was set by U2's Vertigo tour, which took place in 2005 and 2006, earning £220m, ($389m).
4 Oct 2006 Former R Kelly employee (who claimed to have been a ‘mentor and guide’ to Kelly since he was a teenager) Henry Vaughn filed a lawsuit against the singer accusing him of assault, false imprisonment, and a breach of contract that defrauded him of songwriting royalties. Vaughn also claimed that Kelly and his associates dragged him to the basement at Kelly’s Olympia Fields home and ‘repeatedly struck him about the face and body with his fists.
4 Oct 2005 Mike Gibbins drummer with Badfinger died in his sleep at his Florida home aged 56. Badfinger had the 1970 UK No.4 & US No.7 single 'Come And Get It'. He had also been a member of The Iveys during the 60’s.
4 Oct 2000 UK R&B vocalist Craig David won a record three MasterCard Music of Black Origin (MOBO) Awards at London's Alexandra Palace. He was named Best UK Newcomer and won awards for Best R&B Act and Best UK Single for 'Fill Me In.'
4 Oct 1999 It was reported that the sister of Jimi Hendrix was planning to exhume her brothers body and move it to a pay-to view mausoleum. Other plans for the new site included a chance for fans to buy one of burial plots around the guitarist's new resting-place.
4 Oct 1982 The Smiths made their live debut at the Ritz in Manchester, England, supporting Blue Rondo A La Turk.
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4 Oct 1980 Winners in the Melody Makers readers poll included, Kate Bush who won Best Female Singer, Peter Gabriel won Best Male Singer, Best Guitarist went to Ritchie Blackmore, Phil Collins won Best Drummer, Genesis won Band of the Year, Best Single went to Pink Floyd for 'Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)' and Saxon won Brightest Hope.
4 Oct 1980 Queen started a three-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Another One Bites The Dust.' Written by bassist John Deacon, the song was featured on the group's eighth studio album The Game (1980). The song spent 15 weeks in the Billboard top 10 (the longest-running top ten song of 1980) and is credited as Queen's best-selling single, with sales of over 7 million copies.
4 Oct 1978 Country singer Tammy Wynette was abducted, beaten and held in her car for two hours by a kidnapper wearing a ski mask. He held a gun on her and forced her to drive 90 miles from Nashville, Tennessee. She was later released and the kidnapper escaped.
4 Oct 1975 Pink Floyd went to No.1 on the UK album chart with Wish You Were Here. The album featured a tribute to ex band member Syd Barrett, 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond'. Also No.1 in the US. For one of the shots on the album's cover, two stuntmen were used, Danny Rogers and Ronnie Rondell, who was dressed in a fire-retardant suit covered by a business suit. Initially the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, and the flames were forced into Rondell's face, burning his moustache. The two stuntmen changed positions, and the image was later reversed.
4 Oct 1970 US singer Janis Joplin was found dead at the Landmark Hotel Hollywood after an accidental heroin overdose. Joplin had the posthumous 1971 US No.1 single 'Me And Bobby McGee', and the 1971 US No.1 album 'Pearl'. She was known as "The Queen of Psychedelic Soul" and as "Pearl" to her friends, Joplin remains one of the top-selling musicians in the United States, with over 15.5 million albums sold in the USA.
4 Oct 1969 The Beatles Abbey Road album went to No.1 on the UK chart. The final studio recordings from the group supposedly contained clues adding to the ‘Paul Is Dead’ phenomenon: Paul is barefoot and the car number plate ‘LMW 281F’ supposedly referred to the fact that McCartney would be 28 years old if he was still alive. ‘LMW’ was said to stand for ‘Linda McCartney Weeps.’ And the four Beatles, represent; the priest (John, dressed in white), the Undertaker (Ringo in a black suit), the Corpse (Paul, in a suit but barefoot), and the Gravedigger (George, in jeans and a denim work shirt).
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4 Oct 1969 Creedence Clearwater Revival started a four week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Green River', the group's first US chart topper.
4 Oct 1968 On the first night of a UK club tour Led Zeppelin (billed as The Yardbirds featuring Jimmy Page) appeared at the Mayfair Ballroom, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, supported by Terry Reid's Fantasia, tickets cost 10/6. The Mayfair was a regular venue for up and coming acts, Pink Floyd Mott the Hoople, Def Leppard and AC/DC had all appeared at the club which was demolished in 2000.
4 Oct 1963 The Beatles made their first appearance on the UK ITV pop show 'Ready Steady Go!'
4 Oct 1962 The Tornadoes were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with the instrumental, 'Telstar', (named after a communication satellite). The track went on to be the first major hit from a UK act on the American chart also reaching No.1.
4 Oct 1961 Bob Dylan played a showcase at New York's Carnegie Hall to 53 people.
4 Oct 1957 Winners at this years Annual NME readers poll included Pat Boone who was voted the world's No.1 singer, with Elvis Presley voted second. The top two UK group's were The King Brothers and The Stargazers.
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Born on this day in music

4 Oct 1991 English singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock. She rose to prominence as a member of the girl group Little Mix, which was formed and won the eighth series of, The X Factor UK. As part of the group, she won three Brit Awards and achieved 19 top-ten singles and five No.1 hits on the UK Singles Chart.
4 Oct 1985 Barbadian singer and songwriter Shontelle Layne, known professionally as Shontelle, who had the 2009 UK top 10 single ‘T-Shirt’. Shontelle was also Beyoncé's opening act for her I Am... World Tour 2009 our during the British leg.
4 Oct 1984 Katina Sergeevna, singer, with the Russian music duo Tatu, who scored the 2003 UK No.1 single 'All The Things She Said'. The duo represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song 'Ne Ver', Ne Boysia', finishing third.
4 Oct 1977 Richard Reed Parry, Canadian multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, best known as a core member of the Grammy Award-winning indie rock band Arcade Fire who had the 2005 album Funeral, and 2017 US No.1 album Everything Now.
4 Oct 1973 American singer-songwriter, M. Ward. He has released 10 studio albums since 1999, and in addition to his solo work, he is a member of indie pop duo She & Him and folk-rock supergroup Monsters of Folk. She & Him's second album, Volume Two, (2010) peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard chart.
4 Oct 1971 Australian musician Darren Middleton best known as the lead guitarist and songwriter for alternative rock band Powderfinger. The group's third studio album, Internationalist peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart in September 1998.
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4 Oct 1965 Neil Sims, drummer with English alternative rock band Catherine Wheel. The band was active from 1990 to 2000, releasing five full-length albums in their career.
4 Oct 1963 Scottish singer Lena Zavaroni, who had the 1974 UK No.10 single 'Ma He's Making Eyes At Me'. She was discovered on the UK TV talent show Opportunity Knocks and at the age of 10, with her debut album Ma! (He's Making Eyes at Me), She was the youngest person to have had an album in the top 10 of the UK Albums Chart. Later, she starred in her own television series. From age 13, Zavaroni suffered from anorexia nervosa, and she developed clinical depression when she was 15. Following an operation to cure her depression, Zavaroni died at the age of 35 from pneumonia on 1 October 1999.
4 Oct 1961 Cuban-born American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer Jon Secada. In 1991, Secada co-wrote and was a backup singer for 'Coming Out of the Dark', a No.1 hit song inspired by a tour-bus accident involving Gloria Estefan in 1990, in which her back was broken. In 1992, he released his self-titled debut album, which sold 7 million copies.
4 Oct 1959 English musician, songwriter, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Neil Tennant in 1981. They had the 1986 UK & US No.1 single 'West End Girls', plus three other UK No.1 singles. They have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and have achieved 42 top 30 singles, including 22 top-10 hits on the UK singles chart. In 2024, they were awarded the Pop Pioneers award at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
4 Oct 1957 American singer-songwriter Barbara Kooyman from the American rock band Timbuk 3. With her then-husband Pat MacDonald, and a drum machine, Timbuk 3, whose 1986 signature song was 'The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades'.
4 Oct 1952 American musician and producer Jody Stephens who has played drums in American rock band Big Star (with Alex Chilton of the Box Tops). Three of Big Star's studio albums are included in Rolling Stone's lists of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". She also worked with Golden Smog (with members of the Jayhawks, and Wilco).
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4 Oct 1948 American guitarist and singer Duke Robillard. He founded the band Roomful of Blues and was a member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, from 1990 to replace Jimmie Vaughan. He also worked with Bob Dylan.
4 Oct 1947 Jim Fielder, bassist, from jazz-rock American group Blood Sweat & Tears. They scored the 1969 US No.2 single 'Spinning Wheel', and the 1969 US No.12 single 'You've Made Me So Very Happy'. They had a US No.1 with their second album Blood, Sweat & Tears in 1968. Fielder was also the rhythm guitarist for Frank Zappa's band The Mothers of Invention in 1966 and also worked with Buffalo Springfield and Tim Buckley.
4 Oct 1937 American steel guitarist Lloyd Green. He is noted for his extensive country music recording session career in Nashville, performing on 116 No.1 country hits, including Tammy Wynette's 'D-I-V-O-R-C-E' (1968), Charlie Rich's 'Behind Closed Doors' (1973), The Oak Ridge Boys’ 'Elvira (1981), and Alan Jackson's 'Remember When' (2003). Green was one of an inner circle of elite recording studio musicians known colloquially as the Nashville A-Team. In a career beginning in the mid-1960s Green has performed on more than 5000 recordings.
4 Oct 1929 American country music and honky-tonk singer and guitarist Leroy Van Dyke. In 1961 he had a No.1 US country hit and No.5 pop hit with 'Walk On By'. He had two other top-ten country hits, 'Auctioneer' and 'If A Woman Answers'.