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Les Paul invents the first solid-body electric guitar and names it the "Les Paul," for the Gibson Guitar Company -
Buddy Holly had his first official recording session. It was held in Nashville at producer Owen Bradley's Barn Studio. He defined the traditional Rock and Roll lineup of two guitars, bass, and drums. -
Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode becomes one of the anthems of Rock and Roll. He refined and developed different rhythms and blues into the major elements that made Rock and Roll distinctive. -
The Beatles assemble at EMI Studios in London to record their first album. -
Louis Armstrong drops his single "Hello, Dolly!" It climbed to number one and made him the oldest person, at age 63, to top the billboard singles chart at the time. -
The Beatles arrived in America for the first time for a few performances on The Ed Sullivan Show. Their arrival would be known as "Beatlemania." -
The Woodstock Festival, held in Bethel, New York, draws a crowd of 400,000. The Woodstock Festival was a chance for people to escape into music and spread a message of peace and unity. -
The Beatles break up for good. The break up of the biggest band the world has seen shocks millions of fans. -
The Eagles begin to record their first album. They helped establish country rock as a mainstream music genre. -
Jimi Hendrix dies of an overdose. Jimi created a new style of playing guitar, and with that, a new musical form. He is, arguably, the creator of the modern electric guitar sound. -
Janis Joplin unfortunately dies of an overdose. She was dubbed the first queen of rock and roll. Her voice was singular and carried inspiring vocals. -
MTV quickly became the main platform for artists to release new music. It allowed the broadcast of new media forms, such as music videos -
Kurt Cobain was found dead in his greenhouse. Kurt was lead singer of the rock band Nirvana. His deep lyrics and new sound widely popularized grunge music.
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