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Today in Music

April, 17

  • 2000 Tracy Lawrence hosts the sixth annual Tracy Lawrence Celebrity Gold Classic at Houston’s Tour 18 Golf Course. Lawrence and comedian Vic Henley performs the night before at a kick-off celebration in Westin Galleria’s Grand Ballroom. Proceeds from the amateur-only tournament benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Gulf Coast Chapter.
  • 1998 Linda McCartney, the rock photographer wife of Sir Paul McCartney and onetime member of the band Wings, dies of breast cancer in Santa Barbara, Calif. She is 56. McCartney, a keen vegetarian who marketed her own range of meat-free dishes, had been battling the disease for three years.
  • 1997 Country singer Toby Keith and his wife Tricia welcome new arrival Stelen Keith Covel to the family. The new baby joins older sisters Shelley and Krystal.
  • 1995 Courtney Love and her band Hole perform for the sixth season premiere of MTV’s “Unplugged.”
  • 1991 Lyricist Jack Yellen dies in Springville, N.Y. Age 97. He wrote the words for about 130 songs, including “Happy Days Are Here Again,” Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1932 campaign song.
  • 1983 Felix Pappalardi, producer for the group Cream, dies. Age 41.
  • 1980 Jamaican reggae star Bob Marley performs at the Independence Day celebration in Salisbury, Zimbabwe.
  • 1979 No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Knock on Wood,” Amii Stewart. The single is a disco rendition of Eddie Floyd’s song.
  • 1970 Johnny Cash performs at the White House. President Nixon requests “A Boy Named Sue.”
  • 1934 Rock promoter Don Kirshner is born.