Today In Rock History Oct 20
 

Tom Petty is born. (1953)

Elvis Presley's "Love Me Tender," is now the first song to the pop chart at #2. It also makes it to the Country & Western chart, the R&B chart and the top One Hundred. (1956)

The Four Seasons' "Big Girls Don't Cry" is released. (1962)

The Who open a six night stand at New York's Fillmore East, with the two hour-plus show centered on "Tommy." (1969)

Further signs of problems among the Beatles: John Lennon releases his second solo album, "Cold Turkey," against under the name Plastic Ono Band. The tune, which deals with drug use, was rejected by the group. It reaches no higher than #30 in the U.S. and only #18 in the U.K. When Lennon returns his Member of the Order of the British Empire medal to the Queen later the year, he wryly cites the 45's poor chart showing as one of his grievances. (1969) 10/20 1973 1 The Steve Miller Band's "The Joker" is released. (1973)

The Rolling Stones have their first Number One ballad, "Angie," a song that sparks rumor that it's a love song from Jagger to David Bowie's wife, Angela. (1973)

Ex-Animal Eric Burdon and his wife Rose, have a baby girl in Palm Springs, California and name her Mirage. (1974)

Led Zeppelin's film, "The Song Remains the Same," is a mixture of concert footage and fantasy sequences, premieres in London. (1976)

"Devil Woman," the first U.S. hit for Cliff Richard enters the pop chart. "Devil Woman" is there for 22-weeks, peaking at number six. (1976)

Three days after the release of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Street Survivors," an LP whose cover depicts the band standing among flames, Lynyrd Skynyrd vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, his sister Cindy and a freelance singer touring with the group are killed with their rented single engine plane crashes in the swamps of Gillsburg, Mississippi. The deaths mean the end of Lynyrd Skynyrd whose "Free Bird" and "Sweet Home Alabama" are pop Top Twenty songs. (1977) 10/20 1979 2 Bob Dylan introduces his born-again gospel-rock to the nation as he performs "Serve Somebody" on NBC's on "Saturday Night Live." (1979)

Madonna releases her Erotica album. (1992)

Top stars from the music, film and political world assembled at Madison Square Garden for VH1's Concert For New York. The event, which featured performances from The Who, David Bowie, Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, Bon Jovi, Elton John and many, many more, would go down in history as one of the most successful benefits and one of the most-watched cable shows of all time. The concert raised more than $30 million for the Robin Hood Relief fund, which supported victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks. (2001)

Tom Petty:

Tom Petty - I Won't Back Down - YouTube