This Day in Rock History: May 27

1948

English musician Pete Sears, best known for being the bassist for Rod Stewart and Jefferson Starship, was born in Bromley, England. He played on several of Stewarts albums, including songs Maggie May and Reason to Believe. He joined Jefferson Starship in 1974, remaining with the band after it became Starship, finally departing in 1987. Happy 77th birthday, Pete!

1957

Buddy Holly and the Crickets‘ That’ll Be the Day was released. It was their only single to top the charts at No. 1.

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Canadian keyboardist Eddie Harsch, formerly of the Black Crowes, was born in Toronto, ON. He played with the Black Crowes from 1991 to 2006. He died at 59 on Nov. 4, 2016, in Toronto.

1958

New Zealand musician Neil Finn, lead singer of Crowded House, was born in Te Awamutu, New Zealand. He joined Split Enz with his brother, Tim Finn, in 1977. The band broke up in 1984. In 1985, he co-founded Crowded House, which later broke up in 1996. The band reformed in 2006, going on hiatus after 2011. The band fully reformed again in 2019. Happy 67th birthday, Neil!

1977

The Sex Pistols‘ version of God Save the Queen was released. The BBC almost immediately banned the song over “treasonous sentiments.” Despite the controversy, the song managed to reach No. 2 on the U.K. charts.

1978

The Rolling Stones released their dance-disco hit Miss You, the first single from their record, Some Girls.

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1987

U2‘s concert in Rome set off earthquake alarms due to the sheer volume of the show.

1994

Eagles reunited for the first time since 1980 at a show in Burbank, CA. They launched their “Hell Freezes Over Tour” right after, which set the precedent for tours where many tickets went on sale at over $100 each.

1995

Hootie & the Blowfish‘s Cracked Rear View, the band’s debut record, reached No. 1 in the U.S.

2017

Gregg Allman, founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, died at the age of 69 at his home in Savannah, GA. The musician died of liver cancer. He was the band’s primary songwriter early in their career, known for writing songs like Dreams and Whipping Post.