1956
Doris Day released the single “Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera).” The song was introduced in the Alfred Hitchcock film, “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” starring Day and James Stewart, which had premiered in New York City five days earlier.
While Doris Day was a heterosexual, her movies with Rock Hudson as well as Annie Get Your Gun, along with her support of Gays and Lesbians last century place her in queer cinema history
May 21, 1959
The musical “Gypsy,” based on the life of stripper Gypsy Rose Lee and starring Ethel Merman and Jack Klugman, opened at New York’s Broadway Theater for 702 performances.
1966
On the USA LP Charts: Color Me Barbra from Streisand was #6,
1979
Elton John started a tour of Russia, when he played the first of eight concerts making him the first Western star ever to do so. He was currently enjoying chart success back in the USA with “Mama Can’t Buy You Love”, his first Top 10 hit in 2 1/2 years.
Donna Summer released the single “Bad Girls”.
1982
The Hacienda Club was opened in Manchester, England. Madonna made her UK TV debut at the club when C4 music show The Tube was broadcast live.
1983
David Bowie topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the second time with “Let’s Dance”. It was also a #1 in the UK. It was Bowie’s first single to reach number one on both sides of the Atlantic. The music video was made by David Mallet on location in Australia including a bar in Carinda in New South Wales, featured Bowie playing with his band while impassively watching an Aboriginal couple’s struggles against metaphors of Western cultural imperialism.
1992
Icon Johnny Carson chose Bette Midler to be the one and only guest and his final guest of The Tonight Show on NBC-TV. Carson then bid farewell to his million of fans the following night with just him on stage and clips of The Tonight Show highlights.
2000
Whitney Houston led the way on the U.K. Album chart with her Greatest Hits package.
2006
Madonna played the first of three sold out nights at The Los Angeles Forum in California, the first dates on her Confessions Tour. The 60-date tour grossed over $260 million, becoming the highest grossing tour ever for a female artist
2018
Rock ‘n’ roll legend Little Richard dies at 87
Little Richard, flamboyant rock ‘n’ roll pioneer, dead at 87, pastor says.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Little Richard, the self-proclaimed “architect of rock ‘n’ roll” whose piercing wail, pounding piano and towering pompadour irrevocably …
Remembering Little Richard, a pop star like no other in the early days of rock and roll
Obituary: Little Richard, flamboyant singer who was a rock’n’roll legend
Richard Wayne Penniman, singer, songwriter, and musician. Born: 5 December 1932 in Macon, Georgia, United States. Died: 9 May 2020 in Tullahoma, …
From 1994: Little Richard looks back on his early career in Houston
This Houston Chronicle interview with Little Richard was originally published on March 26, 1994. The rock legend died today, May 9, at the age of 87. Rock ‘n’ …
Little Richard: Sexual Shaman and Embodiment of Rock ‘n’ Roll at Its Most Incendiary
Like Buddy Holly, who gets an unforgettable sex scene in Charles White’s biography ‘The Life and Times of Little Richard,’ Richard Penniman was a skyrocket.
Local fans of Little Richard share photos of the rock ‘n’ roll legend’s 2008 Avila Beach performance
Nineties Dyke 