2003 – British singer Robert Palmer, best known for his dapper dressing style and his iconic videos in the 1980s for songs like “Addicted to Love,” dies. He is 54. Palmer, who had lived in Switzerland for the previous 16 years, dies in Paris after a quiet dinner and a movie.
2003 – R.E.M. play the last show in their European tour in Nyon, Switzerland. The set includes rarities like “Permanent Vacation.”
2000 – Oasis are forced off stage at Switzerland’s Paleo Festival after being pelted with bottles and cans. A promoter says, “The arrogant, provocative attitude of Liam Gallagher is doubtless not unconnected to the reaction of the audience.”
1998 – The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band starts a run of 12 European dates in London. Stops include Helsinki, Brussels, Paris, and Munich, as well as shows July 7 and 8 at the Montreux (Switzerland) Jazz Festival.
1996 – Icelandic performer Bjork along with Kent Nagado make a surprise performance at the Verbier Festival & Academy in Switzerland. The duo performs several songs from their “Pierrot Lunaire” collaboration.
1995 – R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry undergoes successful brain surgery. Berry collapsed due to a brain aneurysm during a concert in Switzerland.
1992 – Bryan Adams helps two motorists whose car struck his on a highway in St. Gellen, Switzerland. Adams was traveling from Zurich to Vienna as part of a concert tour when the other car skidded out of control, grazed his car and hit an embankment.
1992 – After determining that the vows they traded in Switzerland did not constitute a legal marriage, David Bowie and his supermodel spouse, Iman, repeat their wedding ceremony in Florence, Italy.
1992 – In Switzerland, David Bowie marries his second wife, Iman.
1975 – Sean Lennon is born this day in rock history! Sean Taro Ono Lennon (aka Sean Ono Lennon, born 9 October 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He is the son of musicians and peace activists John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Biography Early life and education Sean Lennon was born in […]
1972 – Led Zeppelin play a second night at the casino in Montreux, Switzerland. Melody Maker writes about the gigs, “They will reshape your values about what is genuine and what isn’t. They just have to be the best heavy band this country has produced.” We presume the reporter doesn’t mean Switzerland.
1971 – Montreux Casino in Switzerland burns down during a Frank Zappa gig. Ian Gillan, vocalist of Deep Purple, who was recording in close proximity, is inspired to write the classic “Smoke On The Water” about the incident.
