This Day in Rock History: September 6

Cultural Milestones

• 1943: Roger Waters, bass player and founding member of the legendary band Pink Floyd, was born on this day in Great Bookham, Surrey, England. Waters became the group's main songwriter after the departure of fellow founding member Syd Barrett in 1968 and has toured extensively as a solo act since 1999.
• 1969: After a performance in Memphis, Tennessee, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee James Brown, known as The Godfather of Soul, announced that he was going to retire from touring the following summer. However, he eventually changed his mind and continued to perform until shortly before his death in 2006.
• 1970: Jimi Hendrix gave his last concert at the Love and Peace Festival in Germany. Despite calls for the event's postponement due to bad weather and technical difficulties, Hendrix went on stage and performed as Saturday's headline act.

Notable Recordings and Performances

• 1968: Eric Clapton joined The Beatles at Abbey Road to record lead guitar on George Harrison's song "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Harrison was unhappy with his guitar solos and asked his friend Clapton to help him out, marking the first time a nonmember of The Beatles featured on one of their records.
• 1997: Elton John performed a rewritten version of his 1973 song "Candle in the Wind" at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. "Candle in the Wind 1997" was released as a charity single, and it became one of the best-selling singles in history.
• 2005: The Rolling Stones released A Bigger Bang, their 22nd studio album, on Virgin Records. The subsequent A Bigger Bang world tour became the highest-grossing tour of all time, until it was surpassed by U2's 360° Tour a few years later.