January 9 – Mick Jagger's request for a Japanese visa is rejected on account of a 1969 drug conviction, putting an abrupt end to The Rolling Stones' plans to perform in Japan during their forthcoming tour.
January 13 - The Sweet release "Block Buster!", their only number one hit in the UK. It stays at the top of the charts for 5 weeks. This is one of the first Glam hits of the decade. The Sweet follow this up with 3 straight number 2 singles:[2] "Hell Raiser", "The Ballroom Blitz" and "Teenage Rampage".
March 5 – Jimi Hendrix's former personal manager, Michael Jeffery, is killed in a plane crash while travelling from Majorca to England; no passengers survive.
March 6 – The New York Office of the US Immigration Department cancels John Lennon's visa extension five days after granting it.
April 8 – Opening of the first La Rochelle Festival of Contemporary Music, under the direction of Claude Samuel. Featured composers include Karlheinz Stockhausen and Iannis Xenakis
April 18 – Violinist Jascha Heifetz deposits parts from his prized Guarnerius violin in the newly poured wet concrete of the foundation for the new Virginia Ramo Hall of Music, under construction at the University of Southern California, United States, in order to ensure the building will be "in tune", and to bring luck.
May–August
May 4 – July 29 – Led Zeppelin embarks on a tour of the United States, during which they set the record for highest attendance for a concert, 56,800, at the Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The record was previously held by The Beatles. Performances for the movie The Song Remains the Same are also filmed.
May 13 – Daniel Barenboim collapses with a gastric upset during a concert at the Brighton Festival in England, but later had sufficiently recovered to be driven home.
June 1 - Robert Wyatt falls three storeys from a London apartment block, becoming paralized from the waist down. After a six-month stay in hospital, where he composes the material for his Rock Bottom album, he continues his musical career using a wheelchair.
June 4 – Ronnie Lane plays his last show with Faces at the Edmonton Sundown in London. Lane had informed the band three weeks earlier that he was quitting.
June 29 – The Scorpions play their first gig with Uli Roth at a festival in Vechta, Germany. Roth was originally intended as a temporary replacement for Michael Schenker, who had just been snapped up by U.F.O. earlier in the month.
July 1 – Slade play a sell-out Earls Court in London after two number one singles this year.
July 3 – David Bowie 'retires' his stage persona Ziggy Stardust in front of a shocked audience at the Hammersmith Odeon in London at the end of his British tour.
July 4 – Slade drummer Don Powell is critically injured in a car crash in Wolverhampton; his 20-year-old girlfriend is killed. With his life in danger, the band's future is left in the balance. Powell recovers after surgery, and is able to join the band ten weeks later in New York, to record "Merry Xmas Everybody".
July 15 – Ray Davies of The Kinks makes an emotional outburst during a performance at White City Stadium in London, announcing he is quitting the group. He later recants the statement.
October 13 – Family play their last concert at De Montfort Hall at Leicester Polytechnic (now De Montfort University) before splitting up for good. A farewell party at a local Holiday Inn after the show ends in a good-natured melée, with people jumping in or pushed into the motel pool.
October 17 – The 1973 oil crisis begins, causing shortages of the vinyl needed to manufacture records. A number of new albums are either delayed or only available in limited quantities until after the holiday season.
Two friends of the recently deceased Gram Parsons hand themselves in to police and confess to having carried out an impromptu cremation of the singer's body at the Joshua Tree National Monument.[14]
November 7 – Harold Holt Ltd., agent for Jacqueline du Pré, deny newspaper reports that she will never perform again, while at the same time confirming she has been diagnosed with "a mild case of multiple sclerosis" and has no definite plans for future performances.[15]
Donald Martino – Notturno, for piccolo/flute/alto flute, clarinet/bass clarinet, violin, viola, 'cello, piano, and percussion (awarded the 1974 Pulitzer Prize in Music)
^Anon., "Pipe Down, Rail Chiefs Tell Major", The Times issue 58676 (January 9, 1973)
^"SWEET | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
^TV.com. "The Midnight Special". TV.com. Archived from the original on August 12, 2011. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
^Harry, Bill (2002). The Paul McCartney Encyclopedia. Virgin. pp. 300–307. ISBN 978-0-7535-0716-2.
^Anon., "Russia Lets Conductor Take Post in Sweden", The Times, issue 58848 (July 31, 1973): 5 col G.
^Edwards, Gavin. "I heard that Stevie Wonder lost his sense of smell. Is that true?". Rule Forty Two. Archived from the original on January 6, 2009. Retrieved October 22, 2008.
^"Birthplace of Hip Hop". History Detectives. PBS. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
^Rock Movers & Shakers. Billboard Publications, Incorporated. 1989. p. 12. ISBN 9780823076086.
^"Rock group killed". The Michigan Daily. (Ann Arbor). Associated Press. September 22, 1973. p. 2.
^Current Biography Yearbook. H.W. Wilson Company. 1988. p. 587.
^O'Connor, John J. " 'In Concert' man gathers Stones for new series", The New York Times, September 27, 1973, p. 78
^Anon., "Brass Band Champions", The Times issue 58907 (October 8, 1973): 2 col. G.
^Anon., "Miss du Pré is Forced by Illness to Retire", The Times issue 58931 (November 6, 1973): 1 col. A.
^"Gram Parsons Project, interview with Phil Kaufman". Gramparsonsproject.com. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
^Tim Devlin, "Miss du Pré 'Very Ill' Report Denied", The Times, issue 58932 (November 7, 1973): 5 col C.
^"RIAA".
^Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. p. 170. ISBN 9780862415419.
^"BPI".
^Unterberger, Richie (2011). Won't Get Fooled Again: The Who from Lifehouse to Quadrophenia. Jawbone Press. p. 232. ISBN 978-1-906002-75-6.
^"BPI".
^"BPI".
^Daniel Stolper, Tom Stacy, Ned Rorem and a New Concerto[permanent dead link], The Double Reed, Vol. 17, No. 2, 1992
^Nathan Hurwitz (2016). Songwriters of the American Musical Theatre: A Style Guide for Singers. Taylor & Francis. p. 263. ISBN 9781317428336.
^"Hande Yener". Türk Telekom Müzik. Archived from the original on January 3, 2017. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
^"Akon – Music Producer, Songwriter, Singer – Biography.com". Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
^"Bradley Curtis Martin 1973 - 2022 Obituary". murrayfettro.com. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
^"37". franhealy.com. Archived from the original on July 25, 2010. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
^Sen, Sushmita (July 30, 2015). "Happy Birthday Sonu Nigam: Lesser Known Facts and Popular Tracks of the Singing Sensation". International Business Times, India Edition. Archived from the original on June 4, 2016. Retrieved May 14, 2016.
^U.S. Public Records Index, Vol 1 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010.
^Sanneh, Kelefa (December 5, 2007). "Pimp C, Southern Hip-Hop Rapper, Dies at 33". New York Times.
^"Social Security Death Index". Baltimore, Maryland: Social Security Administration. 1954–1955. 182-30-7100. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Location 31996). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
^"Obituary: Sir Noel Coward", The Times, 27 March 1973, p. 18
^Rubert, Juan Andrés (August 3, 2019). "Nino Bravo: una voz inolvidable y eterna". Cadena COPE (in Spanish). Retrieved August 4, 2019.
^"Obituary for István Kertész," The Musical Times 114, No. 1564 (1973), p. 632.
^Evelyn Mack Truitt (1977). Who was who on screen. Bowker. p. 49. ISBN 9780835209144.
^"Malay movie idol Ramlee dies after heart attack". The Straits Times. May 30, 2010. p. 17. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
^GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 1973 5b 1627 HAMMERSMITH, DoB = 30 January 1935
^Page, Tim (November 24, 1986). "Music: Prism Orchestra in Barraqué Premiere". The New York Times. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
^The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars: Heroin, Handguns, and Ham Sandwiches By Jeremy Simmonds p. 66
^NTSB Identification: FTW74AF017; 14 CFR Part 135 Nonscheduled operation of ROBERT AIRWAYS; Aircraft: BEECH E18S, registration: N50JR (Report). NTSB.gov. September 20, 1973. Archived from the original on December 8, 2011.
^"Rosetta Nubin (Sister) Tharpe". The Black Perspective in Music. 2 (2): 227. 1974. ISSN 0090-7790. JSTOR 1214272.
^"Bobby Darin, Pop Singer, Dies at 37". The New York Times. December 21, 1973. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
^The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (2012). The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Oxford University Press. p. 623. ISBN 9780199920839.
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