This Day in Rock History: April 15

Breakthrough Hits and Milestones

• 1957: Jerry Lee Lewis' first major charting single, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," was released by Sun Records. It eventually peaked at No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and topped both Country and R&B charts.
• 1974: Lynyrd Skynyrd released their second album, Second Helping, which was a commercial success and eventually became Platinum. The album featured the song "Sweet Home Alabama," a tune that's now considered the group's signature.
• 1989: Roy Orbison's "You Got It" became a posthumous hit for the artist when it reached the US Billboard Hot 100 Top 10, peaking at No. 9. The song had been released earlier that year following Orbison's passing in December 1988, and was produced by his longtime friends and collaborators Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty.

Cultural Milestones

• 1968: Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien was born in Oxford, England. He met his future bandmates while attending a private school and signed their first major deal with EMI Records in 1991.
• 1971: "Let It Be" by The Beatles earned the band their only Oscar. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score, and Quincy Jones accepted the award on the band's behalf.
• 1978: Chris Stapleton was born in Lexington, Kentucky. His musical style blends blues and rock 'n' roll with country and bluegrass, with his most famous single, "Tennessee Whiskey," being certified as Double Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling over 20 million copies.
• 1996: The remaining ashes of Jerry Garcia were scattered in California near the Golden Gate Bridge almost a year after his death. Just 11 days earlier, the first part of Garcia's ashes were spread over the Ganges River in India.

Notable Recordings and Performances

• 1966: The Rolling Stones released their fourth studio album, Aftermath, via Decca Records. It includes their classic single "Paint It Black" and topped the charts in several countries, including Canada, Germany, and the UK, while peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
• 1997: The Australian group INXS released their 10th studio album, Elegantly Wasted. This was the band's last album with cofounding member and lead singer Michael Hutchence, who died in November 1997.
• 2015: Kicking off the spring run of their 50th anniversary tour, The Who played the first show at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. The tour made 20 stops on the East Coast, ending the set in May, and resumed shows on the West Coast and in Canada in the fall.

Industry Changes and Challenges

• 1982: While driving in Long Island, New York, Billy Joel suffered serious injuries to his hands and wrists when a car ran a red light, causing him to crash his motorcycle. He spent a month in the hospital recovering, playing the piano as part of his rehab.
• 2001: Joey Ross Hyman, better known as Joey Ramone of the Ramones, died after a long battle with lymphoma just before his 50th birthday. The Ramones were legendary pioneers in the punk rock genre.
• 2015: It was reported that the digital music market rose to $6.9 billion in revenue, matching the physical sales market represented by CDs, vinyls, and other physical formats for the first time ever. Streaming has since overtaken physical formats.