The album that established Bruce Springsteen as a household name dropped on this day in 1975. Springsteen's third album took more than a year for him and the E Street Band to complete. The title track was released to select album rock radio stations well in advance of the album. David Sancious and Ernest Carter, the piano player and drummer on the song would get replaced by Roy Bittan and Max Weinberg by the time the album finally got its release, but strong airplay of the single stoked high expectations. Born to Run rapidly eclipsed the combined sales of Springsteen's first two albums and lodged itself in the top 10 for much of the remainder of 1975. With that success came the opportunity for the band to play more prestigious venues and develop a hard earned reputation for being one of the most dynamic live bands in history.
1947 King Crimson keyboard collaborator Keith Tippett born.
1949 Henry Paul of the Outlaws born.
1950 KISS bassist / singer born.
1950 Willie DeVille born.
1951 Judas Priest lead singer Rob Halford born.
1952 Yes, Asia, Buggles keyboardist Geoff Downes born.
1954 Elvis Costello born.
1962 Def Leppard and Dio guitarist Vivian Campbell born.
1970 Elton John makes US debut at the Troubadour in LA.
1970 Electric Ladyland studios open in New York City.
1970 Emerson, Lake and Palmer make live debut in Plymouth, England.
1973 Butch Trucks of the Allman Brothers Band breaks leg in a car wreck in Macon, GA.
1982 Alice Cooper releases Zipper Catches Skin.
1986 Paul Simon releases Graceland.
1987 Motley Crue's Vince Neil severs nerves when he smashes a jar of mustard in Rochester, NY.
1988 Metallica releases And Justice For All. 1990 Alice Cooper gets star on Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1990 Bill Wyman does his last concert as a member of the Rolling Stones when the band plays Wembley Stadium.
1994 Jimmy Buffett ditches plane in Atlantic after taking off from Nantucket.
1994 Jimmy Page & Robert Plant do MTV Unplugged session in London.
1995 Billy Joel band bassist Doug Stegmeyer commits suicide.
1996 David Byrne takes legal action to block other Talking Heads members from touring as "The Heads".
2009 Cheap Trick releases Sgt. Pepper covers album.
2010 Jimi Hendrix exhibit opens in the London building he lived in at the time of his death.
2018 Neil Young marries actress Daryl Hannah in a small, private ceremony in southern California. Couple doesn't announce they married until weeks later.
