Bob Kevoian, who co-hosted “The Bob & Tom Show” for 32 years, died Friday, April 17 [2026], the show announced. Kevoian, who had been battling cancer for the past three years, died peacefully at home Friday afternoon, the show said. He was 75 years old.
Posted in Because I Can, Humor, Music
Chuck Negron, one of the three founding members of Three Dog Night, has died. He was 83.
In 1967, singer Danny Hutton invited Negron to join him and Cory Wells to found the band Three Dog Night. The group became one of the most successful bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s, selling approximately 60 million records and earning gold records for singles that featured Negron as lead vocalist, including “One”, “Easy to Be Hard”, “Joy to the World”, “An Old Fashioned Love Song”, “Pieces of April”, “The Show Must Go On”, and “Til the World Ends”.
Three Dog Night was known for the strength of their three lead singers: Negron, Danny Hutton and Cory Wells.
Back L–R: Joe Schermie, Floyd Sneed, Michael Allsup and Jimmy Greenspoon.
Front L–R: Danny Hutton, Cory Wells and Chuck Negron
And then there was… ahem, One:
Danny, it’s all up to you…
Posted in Because I Can, Music, News
On February 3, 1959, rising American rock stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson are killed when their chartered Beechcraft Bonanza plane crashes in Iowa a few minutes after takeoff from Mason City on a flight headed for Moorhead, Minnesota. Investigators blamed the crash on bad weather and pilot error. Holly and his band, the Crickets, had just scored a No. 1 hit with “That’ll Be the Day.”
After mechanical difficulties with the tour bus, Holly had chartered a plane for his band to fly between stops on the Winter Dance Party Tour. However, Richardson, who had the flu, convinced Holly’s band member Waylon Jennings to give up his seat, and Ritchie Valens won a coin toss for another seat on the plane.
Holly, born Charles Holley in Lubbock, Texas, and just 22 when he died, began singing country music with high school friends before switching to rock and roll after opening for various performers, including Elvis Presley. By the mid-1950s, Holly and his band had a regular radio show and toured internationally, playing hits like “Peggy Sue,” “Oh, Boy!,” “Maybe Baby” and “Early in the Morning.” Holly wrote all his own songs, many of which were released after his death and influenced such artists as Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney.
Another crash victim, J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, 28, started out as a disk jockey in Texas and later began writing songs. Richardson’s most famous recording was the rockabilly “Chantilly Lace,” which made the Top 10. He developed a stage show based on his radio persona, “The Big Bopper.”
The third crash victim was Ritchie Valens, born Richard Valenzuela in a suburb of Los Angeles, who was only 17 when the plane went down but had already scored hits with “Come On, Let’s Go,” “Donna” and “La Bamba,” an upbeat number based on a traditional Mexican wedding song (though Valens barely spoke Spanish). In 1987, Valens’ life was portrayed in the movie La Bamba, and the title song, performed by Los Lobos, became a No. 1 hit. Valens was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.
Singer Don McLean memorialized Holly, Valens and Richardson in the 1972 No. 1 hit “American Pie,” which refers to February 3, 1959 as “the day the music died.”
Posted in Anniversary, Because I Can, Music
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), also known mononymously as Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as the “King of Rock and Roll” or simply “the King”.
Posted in Anniversary, Because I Can, Music, The Big Screen
Posted in Anniversary, Because I Can, Humor, Literary, Music, The Little Screen (Television)
Billy Joel’s 1989 song “We Didn’t Start the Fire” contains lengthy lists of people and major events from 1949, when Joel was born, until 1989. It’s an anthem of Baby Boomer popular culture mixed with the politics of the United States during the Cold War.
Only three people listed in the song are still alive: Bob Dylan, Chubby Checker, and Bernhard Goetz.
Posted in Because I Can, Events, Music
Paul Daniel “Ace” Frehley, co-founder and lead guitarist of the legendary rock band Kiss and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has died following injuries suffered during a fall last month, according to a statement from his family. He was 74.
Frehley’s family wrote in the statement: “We are completely devastated and heartbroken. In his last moments, we were fortunate enough to have been able to surround him with loving, caring, peaceful words, thoughts, prayers and intentions as he left this earth. We cherish all of his finest memories, his laughter, and celebrate his strengths and kindness that he bestowed upon others. The magnitude of his passing is of epic proportions, and beyond comprehension. Reflecting on all of his incredible life achievements, Ace’s memory will continue to live on forever!”
Posted in Because I Can, Music, News
From American Bandstand. October 13, 1964. Bobby “Boris” Pickett.
Posted in Anniversary, Because I Can, Humor, Music
