Music History on May 4

Tolomeo, re di Egitto

1728 George Frideric Handel's opera "Tolomeo, re di Egitto" premieres in London

  • 1895 Wilhelm Kienzl's opera "Der Evangelimann" (The Evangelist), 1st performed at the Neues Königliches Opernhaus in Berlin, Germany
  • 1957 Alan Freed hosts "Rock n' Roll Show" 1st prime-time network rock show, cancelled after 4 episodes
  • 1973 Wings release "Red Rose Speedway" in UK

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

1976 Leonard Bernstein and Alan Jay Lerner's musical "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" opens at Mark Hellinger, NYC; runs for 7 performances

  • 1985 30th Eurovision Song Contest: Bobbysocks! for Norway wins singing "La det swinge" in Gothenburg

Music History

1990 Angela Bowie reveals that ex-husband David Bowie slept with Mick Jagger

  • 1991 36th Eurovision Song Contest: Carola for Sweden wins singing "Fangad av en stormvind" in Rome

Doctorate of Music

1991 Phil Collins, Al Jarreau, Ikutaro Kakehashi and Joe Zawinul receive honorary doctorate degrees from the Berklee College of Music in Boston [1]

  • 1992 "I Saw the Light" single released by Wynonna (Billboard Song of the Year, 1992)
  • 1993 "Angels in America - Millennium Approaches" opens at Kerr for 367 performances

Music History

1994 Singer Courtney Love cleared of drug charges

  • 1998 The Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre, designed by Renzo Piano to celebrate indigenous Kanak culture, is inaugurated near Nouméa, New Caledonia [1]

Ed Sheeran Cleared of Copyright Infringement

2023 Ed Sheeran found not guilty of copying Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On" for his 2014 single “Thinking Out Loud" by a Manhattan federal jury; copyright infringement suit was filed by the heirs of Gaye's co-writer Ed Townsend [1]