Today in Music History for Sept. 2:
In 1651, Martin Boutet was appointed director of the children's choir in the parish church at Quebec City. He was the first choirmaster in the new colony.
In 1924, Rudolf Friml's operetta "Rose Marie" opened on Broadway. Set in Canada, the operetta helped perpetuate the American view of Canada as a land of Mounties, mountains and snow. Friml composed 33 operettas, most of them fairy-tale-like stories, some of which were made into movies.
In 1934, Canadian jazz saxophonist Lee Gagnon was born in Matane, Que. His quartet -- later a quintet -- was the most popular jazz group in the province in the late 1960s. In 1972, Gagnon disbanded his jazz group to work as a studio arranger and composer.
In 1934, singer Russ Columbo, who rivalled Bing Crosby and Rudy Vallee in popularity, was killed in a freak shooting accident. A friend struck a match on the barrel of an antique French pistol and the flame somehow set off a long-forgotten charge still in the gun. The bullet ricocheted off a table and struck Columbo in the forehead, killing him almost instantly. He was 26. Columbo's career lasted less than four years. His theme song and one of his biggest hits was "You Call It Madness."
In 1943, "Meet the Navy," a Royal Canadian Navy musical revue, was premiered for servicemen at the Victoria Theatre in Toronto. It opened to the public two days later. During a year-long national tour, "Meet the Navy" entertained more than half a million Canadians. It also played in Europe, including occupied Germany.
In 1970, drummer Phil Collins spotted an ad in the British music magazine "Melody Maker" that led him to join the art-rock band "Genesis." Collins would become the band's lead singer in 1975 following the departure of Peter Gabriel.
In 1975, the Great American Music Fair ended violently in Syracuse, N.Y., when a crowd of 500, armed with rocks and bottles, stormed the gate in an attempt to get in without paying. Police arrested 60. The fair featured performances by "Jefferson Starship" and the "Doobie Brothers."
In 1977, two original members of "The Guess Who" -- Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman -- performed together at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto. "The Guess Who," fronted by Cummings, had played its final concert in September 1975.
In 1977, "Les Joyeux Troubadors," a half-hour program of songs and comedy skits in French, was broadcast for the last time on the CBC radio network. The program, patterned after the English-language "Happy Gang" show, had run five days a week without interruption since 1941. The longevity of "Les Joyeux Troubadours" is regarded as a record for a Canadian radio program of this kind.
In 1978, soul singer Teddy Pendergrass held the first of his "For Women Only" concerts in New York. His band was called "The Teddy Bear Orchestra," and the women in the audience were given white chocolate lollipops in the shape of teddy bears.
In 1978, Gloria and Emilio Estefan of the "Miami Sound Machine" were married. Also tying the knot that day were George Harrison and Olivia Arias -- the ex-Beatle's second wife.
In 1989, Ozzy Osbourne was arrested for allegedly trying to kill his wife, Sharon, after a drinking binge. The case was dropped after he went into rehab and the couple reconciled.
In 1986, MusiquePlus, the French-language equivalent of MuchMusic, was launched in Quebec.
In 1987, one of Atlantic Canada's most influential old-time fiddlers, Winston Scotty Fitzgerald, died in Sydney, N.S., after a lengthy illness. He was 73. Fitzgerald made more than a dozen LPs during his 60-year career. His recordings of "McNabb's Hornpipe" and "Farmer's Daughter" are considered Canadian fiddling classics.
In 1988, the second Amnesty International tour for human rights opened with a concert in London's Wembley Stadium before 72,000 people. The show's opening number, Bob Marley's "Get Up, Stand Up (For Your Rights)," featured the tour's five stars -- Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman and Youssou N'Dour. The world tour included stops in Toronto and Montreal.
In 1989, Paula Abdul's "Old Hearted" became the first 'B' side of a former No. 1 hit to later reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on its own. "Old Hearted" was the flip side of "Straight Up" which topped the chart earlier the same year.
In 1989, the Los Angeles-based female pop band the "Bangles" played their final concert in Santa Clara, Calif. The group announced its breakup a month later. They have since reunited.
In 1989, the Canadian production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "Cats," the most successful Canadian stage production ever, closed in Toronto after a four-and-a-half-year run, which included performances in Montreal and Western Canada. More than two million people saw the show, which took in $78 million at the box office.
In 1992, Newfoundland fiddling legend Emile Benoit died in Stephenville at age 79. Benoit composed more than 200 fiddle tunes and was considered a vital link to the cultural past for the province's several thousand francophones.
In 1993, Seattle grunge band "Pearl Jam" dominated the 10th annual MTV Music Video Awards. Their teen suicide lament "Jeremy" won Best Video and three other awards. k.d. lang's "Constant Craving" won the Best Female Video trophy.
In 1994, country-rock singer Steve Earle, known for his hit songs "Guitar Town" and "Copperhead Road," was sentenced in Nashville to a year in jail for possessing a small amount of heroin.
In 1995, the long-awaited Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opened in Cleveland. The first members were inducted into the hall in 1986, but it had no home until the $92 million glass-and-steel shrine opened on the Lake Erie shore. The opening day featured a seven-hour concert before about 57,000 fans at Cleveland Stadium. Millions more watched live on cable TV as such rock legends as Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Bob Dylan and "The Allman Brothers Band" took the stage. Chuck Berry and Bruce Springsteen opened the show with "Johnny B. Goode" and closed it in the early hours of Sunday morning with another Berry classic, "Rock 'N' Roll Music."
In 1997, Sir Rudoph Bing, the impresario who ran the Metropolitan Opera for 22 years, died in New York at age 95. Bing suffered from Alzheimer's disease and there were court battles over his care. He became general manager of the Met in 1950 and during his tenure, the Met played to 97 per cent of capacity.
In 2000, Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell married Leighanne Wallace in Atlanta.
In 2005, rapper Kanye West went off the script during an NBC telethon to raise money for victims of hurricane Katrina. He said, among other things, "George Bush doesn't care about black people."
In 2008, London's Victoria and Albert Museum announced that it bought the original artwork for "The Rolling Stones'" famous "lips" logo, inspired by the Mick Jagger's mouth, for US$92,500.
In 2008, Arne Domnerus, one of Sweden's most influential jazz musicians, died. He was 83.
In 2008, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered a concert promoter to pay R&B singer-songwriter Ne-Yo $700,000. Ne-Yo (real name Shaffer Smith) was dropped from R. Kelly's 2007 tour after two shows and sued the tour's promoter Rowe Entertainment Inc.
In 2008, the rock band "Great White," whose pyrotechnics sparked a nightclub fire that killed 100 people, agreed to pay US$1 million to survivors and victims.
In 2009, Madonna's world-wide "Sticky and Sweet Tour" came to an end in Tel Aviv. The tour began in August 2008 and raked in US$408 million, breaking the record for the most successful tour by a solo artist previously held by ... Madonna, and her "Confessions" tour of 2006.
In 2010, country music stars "Brooks & Dunn" wrapped up their farewell tour at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. It was a benefit concert for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The duo closed out a 20-year career with their 1991 debut single, "Brand New Man," during the encore. Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn were struggling solo artists when Arista's Tim DuBois urged them to join forces in 1990. Together they've scored 23 No. 1 hits, sold over 30 million albums and won more than 80 major industry awards.
In 2012, Mark Abrahamian, the lead guitarist for the rock bank "Starship," died of a heart attack after a concert in Norfolk, Neb. He was 46. He joined "Starship" in 2001. Its history goes back to the 1960s with "Jefferson Airplane" and in 1980s "Jefferson Starship."
In 2012, rap group "Run-D.M.C." performed for the first time in over a decade at the Made in America festival in Philadelphia, paying tribute to the band's longtime DJ, Jam Master Jay, who was fatally shot in 2002.
In 2015, Canadian music stars Avril Lavigne and Chad Kroeger announced their separation after two years of marriage.
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The Canadian Press