Historic events this week from Eagles, Journey, George Harrison, Def Leppard and Prince
JULY 31, 1980: EAGLES BREAK UP
Due to a pre-show argument, a couple of the Eagles spent an entire show threatening to beat each other up after they got off stage.
The group, essentially, broke up after the gig. Glenn Frey and Don Henley both released their first albums apart from one another in 1982.
They reunited 14 years later for the massively successful Hell Freezes Over Tour.
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JULY 31, 1981: JOURNEY RELEASES E5C4P3
Journey’s Escape was a massive album for the band.
The classic album features the hits “Who’s Crying Now”, “Open Arms” and “Don’t Stop Believin’”.
It remains, by far, Journey’s biggest album with 10 million sold in the US.
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AUGUST 1, 1971: THE CONCERT FOR BANGLADESH
The concert featured Harrison, Clapton, Dylan, Badfinger, Leon Russell and more coming together to raise money for the starving and homeless people of Bengal.
“An enormous amount of money was collected and this could never have been achieved without the help of dear George.” – Ravi Shankar (2005)
The concert album won a Grammy for Album of the Year; beating out Don McLean’s American Pie and Harry Nilsson’s Nilsson Schmilsson.
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AUGUST 3, 1987: DEF LEPPARD RELEASE HYSTERIA
All 7 singles from Def Leppard’s fourth album went Top 10:
“Hysteria” (#9), “Women” (#7), “Animal” (#5), “Rocket” (#5), “Armageddon It” (#3), “Pour Some Sugar on Me” (#2), “Love Bites” (#1)
Hysteria has sold over 12 million copies in the US alone.
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AUGUST 4, 1984: PURPLE RAIN IS #1
A little over a month after its release, Purple Rain made its way to #1 on the Billboard 200.
Featuring the #1 hits “When Doves Cry” and “Let’s Go Crazy”, the classic album would spend an astounding 22 straight weeks at #1.
The landmark album earned Prince & the Revolution two Grammys, and an Oscar for Best Original Song Score for Prince.
