This Day in Rock History: February 26
In 1965, Feb. 26 was the day sales of 45 rpm singles outperformed sales of 78 rpm record version for the first time. The smaller 45s were introduced in 1949, and the interest continued to grow. Did the growing popularity of rock music have anything to do with this change in preference? We’d like to think so. Let’s discover more rock history trivia from Feb. 26 that has left its impact on the industry.
Breakthrough Hits and Milestones
Several rock bands had breakthrough hits and milestones on Feb. 26, and these are a couple you might find interesting:
- 1966: “These Boots Are Made for Walkin'” by Nancy Sinatra climbed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Since its release, the song has been covered by several bands and featured in many movies.
- 1977: From their fifth studio album, Hotel California, the Eagles hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with “New Kid in Town.” This was the band’s third No. 1 hit in the U.S.
Cultural Milestones
Over the years, these cultural milestones that happened on Feb. 26 have influenced rock music:
- 1980: After watching U2 perform at Dublin’s National Boxing Stadium on Feb. 26, Rob Partridge and Bill Stewart from Island Records decided to offer the Irish rock band a contract. The group signed the contract within a month, released their first single by May, and debuted their first album in October.
- 1987: For the first time, The Beatles released albums on CD. Four of their albums came out on Feb. 26 — Please Please Me, With The Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night, and Beatles for Sale — but the albums were only released in mono.
Notable Recordings and Performances
Your favorite music genre had these notable recordings and performances on Feb. 26:
- 1979: The Sex Pistols released their album The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle. It would later become the soundtrack to a movie of the same name about the band.
- 1995: To promote their reunion album No Quarter, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin launched their world tour, playing the first show of the tour in Pensacola, Florida.
Industry Changes and Challenges
It took these rock industry changes and challenges occurring on Feb. 26 to get this popular genre to where it is today:
- 1991: The nonfiction interview show Rockline premiered on MTV. The 30-minute show included interviews with a wide range of musicians and rock stars.
- 1998: Just hours after Tommy Lee of Motley Crue was arrested on domestic abuse charges, his wife Pamela Anderson filed for divorce for the second time. She cited the reason for the divorce as having irreconcilable differences with Lee.
As the rock music landscape continues to evolve, you can be sure that the past events of Feb. 26 played a part in shaping the genre’s future. Without the breakthrough hits, milestones, cultural changes, notable recordings, and challenges that occurred on this day in rock history, we wouldn’t know rock music as it is today.
