Music Events

In 1860, Blind Tom performed at the White House before President James Buchanan.

Tom Wiggins' piano pieces “Oliver Galop” and “Virginia Polka” were published in 1860.

"TOM' the MUSICAL WONDER. We enjoyed an opportunity last night to hear the performance of the blind negro boy 'TOM' at Carrol Hall, and though prepared for something uncommon, all expectat..." —The Baltimore Sun

Battle of Manassas was written by Thomas Wiggins (aka "Blind Tom") at the age of 12. It is a programmatic work which describes the first major battle of the Civil War. As with many of his...

A letter written in 1862 by a soldier in North Carolina described some of Tom's eccentric capabilities: "One of his most remarkable feats was the performance of three pieces of music at o...

"Why is Tom compelled to support Bethune and his two able-bodied sons who, fresh from the ranks of treason, are making the tour of the North with abundant leisure and purses well filled by..." —Cincinnati Enquirer

In 1866 Tom began his European tour. At one concert, Tom listened to two pianos hammered nosily and simultaneously while a run of 20 notes was played on a third piano. Tom's ability to di...

"Some archangel, cast out of upper Heaven like another Satan, inhabits this coarse casket; and he comforts himself and makes his prison beautiful with thoughts and dreams and memories of a..." —Mark Twain

On July 25, 1870, John Bethune had himself appointed Tom's legal guardian in a Virginia Probate Court, thereby negating the 1865 Indentureship Agreement. By now the Bethunes were realizin...

The Marvelous musical prodigy, Blind Tom,: the Negro boy pianist, whose performances at the great St. James and Egyptian halls, London, and Salle Hertz, Paris, have created such a profo...

General Bethune transferred management of Blind Tom's professional affairs to his son John Bethune, who accompanied Tom on tour around the U.S. for the next eight years. Beginning in 1875...

On July 30, 1887, a federal court ordered General Bethune to surrender Tom at Arlington, Virginia into the hands of Charity and his former daughter-in-law Eliza Bethune. Newspapers report...

Tom was on tour in western Pennsylvania in May 1889 on the day of the Johnstown Flood, and rumor spread that he was among the casualties. Despite his continued appearances on the U.S. con...

After being dogged by incessant legal challenges to her custodianship of Tom, Eliza Stutzbach took Blind Tom Wiggins off the concert circuit around 1893.

The "Maple Leaf Rag" (copyright registered September 18, 1899) is an early ragtime composition for piano by Scott Joplin. It was one of Joplin's early works, and is one of the most famous...

Prof. Southall reports that Tom's last public appearances appear to have been those of April 17-22, 1905 in Boston. She adds that the Boston Evening Transcript left no doubt in its subse...

Tom died at age fifty-nine on June 13, 1908 at Eliza's home in Hoboken. A few days later The New York Times headline read "BLIND TOM, PIANIST, DIES OF A STROKE -- A CHILD ALL HIS LIFE." N...

BLIND TOM, PIANIST, DIES OF A STROKE Old Negro with Strange Mastery of Music Ends His Days in Hoboken. A CHILD ALL HIS LIFE Cared for in His Declining Years by the Daughter of His Old ...

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977; middle name sometimes spelled Aron)a was an American singer and actor. A cultural icon, he is commonly known simply as Elvis and is...

Lee "Scratch" Perry (born Rainford Hugh Perry, on March 20, 1936, in Kendal, Jamaica) is a reggae and dub artist, who has been highly influential in the development and acceptance of regg...

Sky "Sunlight" Saxon (August 20, 1937 – June 25, 2009) was an American rock and roll musician who was best known as the leader and singer of the 1960s Los Angeles garage rock band The Seeds.

John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English rock musician, singer, songwriter, and peace activist who gained worldwide fame as one of the founding membe...

In September 1942, Presley entered first grade at Lawhon School in Tupelo. He was considered a "well-mannered and quiet child", but sometimes classmates threw "things at him — rotten frui...

James Marshall Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is widely considered to be the greatest gui...

Robert "Bob" Nesta Marley (February 6, 1945 – May 11, 1981) was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for the ska, rocksteady and reg...

On October 3, 1945, he made his first public performance in a singing contest at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show at the suggestion of his teacher, Mrs. J.C. Grimes. Dressed as...

For his eleventh birthday, Presley received his first guitar. He had wanted a rifle but his parents could only afford a guitar. Over the following year, Vernon's brother, Vester, gave Elv...

Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara) (5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British musician, best known as the frontman of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for hi...

David Bowie born David Robert Hayward-Jones; 8 January 1947) is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. Active in five decades of popular music and frequently reinventin...

In September 1948, the Presley family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, allegedly because Vernon—in addition to needing work—had to escape the law for transporting bootleg liquor. They found a...

In September 1950, Presley occasionally worked evenings as an usher at Loew's State Theater—his first job—to boost the family income, but his mother made him quit as she feared it was aff...

Neil Peart (pronounced /ˈpɪərt/) OC, (born September 12, 1952) is a Canadian musician and author. He is the drummer and lyricist for the rock band Rush. Peart grew up in Port Dalhousie...

David Bowie was born David Robert Hayward-Jones in Brixton, London to parents who were married in September 1947 shortly after his birth. His mother Margaret Mary "Peggy" (née Burns), of ...

On July 18, 1953, Presley went to Sun Records' Memphis Recording Service to record "My Happiness" with "That's When Your Heartaches Begin," supposedly as a present for his mother although...

Geddy Lee, OC (born Gary Lee Weinrib; July 29, 1953) is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush. Lee joined Rush in...

Alex Lifeson, OC (born Aleksandar Živojinović; August 27, 1953) is a Canadian musician, best known for his work as the guitarist of the Canadian rock band Rush. In the summer of 1968, Lif...

The inscription of the Blind Tom historical marker reads: "BLIND TOM" 200 feet east is the grave of Thomas Wiggins (1843-1908) As "Blind Tom" he thrilled audiences here and in Eur...

On January 4, 1954, he cut a second acetate demo recording of "I'll Never Stand In Your Way" and "It Wouldn't Be The Same Without You". At the time, Sun Records boss Sam Phillips was on t...

She called him on June 26, 1954. However, Presley was not able to do justice to the song. Phillips would later recall that "Elvis was probably as nervous as anybody, black or white, that ...

On August 15, 1955, "Colonel" Tom Parker became Presley's manager, signing him to a one year contract, plus renewals. Several record labels had shown interest in signing Presley and, by t...

Elvis Presley was the name of Elvis Presley's debut LP. It was released on RCA Victor, in mono, catalogue number LPM 1254, in March 1956. The recording sessions took place on January 10 a...

Country vocalists The Jordanaires accompanied Presley on The Steve Allen Show and their first recording session together produced "Any Way You Want Me", "Don't Be Cruel" and "Hound Dog". ...

Elvis is the second album by Elvis Presley, released on RCA Victor Records in mono, LPM 1382, in October 1956. Recording sessions took place on September 1, September 2, and September 3 a...

In March 1957 John Lennon formed a skiffle group called The Quarrymen. McCartney met Lennon on 6 July 1957, and agreed to join the group a few days later.

The first "official" public, albeit unsuccessful, performance by The Quarry Men - they failed to impress when they auditioned before the promoter Carroll Levis who was looking for new tal...

Elvis' Christmas Album is the fourth album by Elvis Presley on RCA Victor Records, LPM 1951, released in October 1957, and recorded at Radio Recorders in Hollywood. It has been reissued i...

According to George Harrison, the first time he saw the Quarry Men was at the Wilson Hall, opposite the bus depot in Garston, Liverpool. According to Beatles scholar Mark Lewisohn, the da...

Michael Joseph Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana (an industrial suburb of Chicago, Illinois) to a working-class family on August 29, 1958. The son of Joseph Walter "Joe" and Katherine Est...

Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) died in a plane crash in Iowa. Don McClean called this "The Day the Music Died" in his 1971 song "American Pie."