This Day in Rock History: February 2

Breakthrough Hits and Milestones

• 1959: The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, hosted the Winter Dance Party tour, where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson all performed. Sadly, it was their last-ever performance, as they all passed away in a plane crash a day later, in an event commonly referred to as "the day the music died."
• 1962: The Beatles played their first professional show outside Liverpool, at the Oasis Club in Manchester. Around 300 people witnessed the performance, which featured the band's original drummer, Pete Best.

Cultural Milestones

• 1942: Singer and songwriter Graham Nash was born in Salford, Lancashire, England. He co-founded the Hollies in the early 1960s and, after meeting Stephen Stills and David Crosby in 1966, he eventually became a part of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
• 1979: Sex Pistols' bass player Sid Vicious passed away aged only 21. Despite being part of the band, his inexperience and lack of skill meant that guitarist Steve Jones had to fill in on bass on their only album, Never Mind the B******s, Here's the Sex Pistols.

Notable Recordings and Performances

• 1963: The Beatles, this time with Ringo Starr on drums, started their first nationwide tour of the UK. The tour started with back-to-back performances at the Gaumont Cinema in Bradford, Yorkshire, where they played their early hits, including the freshly released "Please Please Me."
• 1968: Simon & Garfunkel completed recording the final version of their iconic hit, "Mrs. Robinson," at New York City's Columbia Studio A. It became the band's second number 1 hit, getting to the top of the US Billboard Hot 100 in June of that year and spending three weeks there.