John Lennon was the founder & leader of the world's #1 rock group...The Beatles. Lennon formed the Quarrymen in the mid-1950's in Liverpool, England. The Quarrymen evolved into Johnny & the Moondogs, the Silver Beatles, and finally the Beatles in 1960.
The early Beatles consisted of Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stu Sutcliffe, and Pete Best. Sutcliffe left the group in 1961 and Best was replaced by Ringo Starr in 1962.

In 1962, Lennon married Cynthia Powell and had a son Julian the following year.

In 1963, the Beatles were the most popular rock group in Europe.  The Beatles were scheduled for a 3-city U.S. and 3 appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on CBS television in February, 1964. By that time, "I Want To Hold Your Hand" was the #1 song in America. "Beatlemania" had been launched worldwide afterwards.

Between 1964-1970, the Beatles had a total of 20 #1 singles in America. On top of writing & singing songs, the Beatles did some acting in the movies: "A Hard Day's Night" (1964), "Help" (1965), "Magical Mystery Tour" (1967) and "Let It Be" (1970) as well as the voices for the "Yellow Submarine" cartoon (1968.)

During the height of Beatlemania in 1964, John Lennon published a collection of his writings called "In His Own Write" and followed up with "A Spaniard in the Works" (1965.) In 1966, he appeared in Dick Lester's comedy-movie "How I Won the War."  In 1968, Lennon recorded an experimental noise collage "Unfinished Music, No. 1: Two Virgins" with his new lover, avant-garde artist Yoko Ono. Two Virgins caused considerable controversy, both because of its content and its cover art, which featured a nude photograph of Lennon and Ono. The couple married in Gibraltar in March 20, 1969. For their honeymoon, the pair staged the first of many political demonstrations with their "Bed-In for Peace" at the Amsterdam Hilton. Several months later, the avant garde records "Unfinished Music, No. 2: Life with the Lions" and "The Wedding
Album" were released, as was the single "Give Peace a Chance," which was recorded during the Bed-In.

In September of 1969, Lennon returned to live performances (for the first time since the Beatles' 1966 North American tour) with a concert at a Toronto rock & roll festival. He was supported by the Plastic Ono Band, which featured Ono, guitarist Eric Clapton, bassist Klaus Voormann and drummer Alan White.

The following month, Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band released "Cold Turkey," which was about his battle with heroin addiction. When the single failed to make the Top Ten in Britain and America, Lennon sent his MBE (that the Queen awarded to the Beatles in 1965) back to the Queen, protesting Britain's involvement in Biafra, America's involvement in Vietnam and the poor chart performence of "Cold Turkey."

Lennon and Ono continued with their campaign for peace, spreading billboards with the slogan "War Is Over! (If You Want It)" in 12 separate cities. In February of 1970, he wrote, recorded and released the single "Instant Karma" within the span of the week. The single became a major hit, reaching the Top Ten in both the U.K. and the U.S. Two months after "Instant Karma" In April of 1970, Paul McCartney announced that the Beatles were splitting up, provoking the anger of Lennon. Much of this anger was vented on his first full-fledged solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, a scathingly honest confessional work inspired by his and Ono's primal scream therapy. Lennon supported the album with an extensive interview with Rolling Stone, where he debunked many of the myths surrounding the Beatles.

Early in 1971, he released another protest single, "Power to the People," before moving to New York. That fall, he released the "Imagine" LP, which featured the Top Ten title track. By the time Imagine became a hit album, Lennon and Ono had returned to political activism, publically supporting American radicals like Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and John Sinclair. Their increased political involvement resulted in the double-album "Sometime in New York City", which was released in the summer of 1972. Recorded with the New York hippie band Elephant's Memory, "Sometime in New York City" consisted entirely of political songs, many of which were criticized for their simplicity. Consequently, the album sold poorly and tarnished Lennon's reputation.

Shortly before the album's release, John Lennon began his long, involved battle with US Immigration, who refused to give him a green card due to a conviction for marijuna possession in 1968. In 1973, he was ordered to leave America by Immigration, and he launched a full-scale battle against the department, frequently attacking them in public. Mind Games was released in late 1973 to mixed reviews; its title track became a moderate hit. The following year, he and Ono separated, and he moved out to Los Angeles, beginning his year-and-a-half long "lost weekend." During 1974 and 1975, Lennon lived a life of debauchery in Los Angeles, partying hard with such celebrities as Elton John, Harry Nilsson, Keith Moon, David Bowie and Ringo Starr. Walls and Bridges appeared in November of 1974, and it became a hit due to the inclusion of "Whatever Gets You Through the Night," a song he wrote with Elton John. At the end of the year, John helped reunite Lennon and Ono, convincing the ex-Beatle to appear during one of his concerts; it would be Lennon's last performance.

Rock & Roll, a collection of rock oldies recorded during the lost weekend, was released in the spring of 1975. A few months before its official release, a bootleg of the album called Roots was released by Morris Levy, who Lennon later sued successfully. Lennon's immigration battle neared its completion on October 7, 1975, when the US court of appeals overturned his deportation order.

In the summer of 1976, he was finally granted his green card. After he appeared on David Bowie's Young Americans LP, co-writing the hit song "Fame," Lennon quietly retired from music, choosing to become a house-husband following the October birth of his son, Sean Lennon.

During the summer of 1980, Lennon returned to recording, signing a new contract with Geffen Records. Comprised equally of material by Lennon and Ono, the LP Double Fantasy was released in November to positive reviews. The album and its accompanying single, "(Just Like) Starting Over," were climbing the charts in late 1980.

On the night of December 8, 1980, John Lennon & Yoko Ono were coming home from a recording session in New York City when Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman. Lennon's death inspired deep grief from the entire world. Double Fantasy and "(Just Like) Starting Over" both became the #1 album and #1 single respectively in the week following his death. John Lennon was 40.

Bonham played for his first band, Terry Web and the Spiders, in the 1960s. He moved around from group to group, gaining experience and polishing his own style of playing. By 1968 he had won a noteworthy reputation that had several groups making him offers of membership. One was a heavy rock band called The New Yardbirds.

The Yardbirds were a popular British group in the 1960's whose biggest hits in the U.S. were "For Your Love" (#6-1965) and "Heart Full Of Soul" (#9-1965.)  The Yardbirds had 3 different lead guitarist who would go on to Superstardom: Eric Clapton (1963-1964), Jeff Beck (1965-1966), and Jimmy Page (1967-1968.)  In 1968, the Yardbirds broke up but still had several concert commitments to owe up to.  Lead guitarist Jimmy Page formed The New Yardbirds with new lead singer Robert Plant, Bonham, and new bassist John Paul Jones.

Keith Moon, drummer for the Who, made a joke that The New Yardbirds would go over like a "Lead Zeppelin." Thus, they changed the name of the group to Led Zeppelin and the rest is all album rock history. Led Zeppelin released their debut album in 1969 on Atlantic Records.

Led Zeppelin was the definitive heavy metal band. It wasn't just their crushingly loud interpretation of the blues -- it was how they (most notably world music and British folk) -- into their sound. Led Zeppelin had mystique. They rarely gave interviews, since the  music press detested the band. Consequently, the only connection the audience had with the band was through the records and the concerts. More than any other band, Led
Zeppelin established the concept of album-oriented rock, refusing to release popular songs from their albums as singles. For example, Their most famous recording "Stairway to Heaven" (from the 1971 LP "Led Zeppelin IV") was never released as a single, but was voted by many FM-Rock stations as the best song of the 1970's. In doing so, they established the dominant format for heavy metal, as well as the genre's actual sound.

 Led Zeppelin's popularity grew during the 1970's.  Their 1973 U.S. tour broke many box office records (originally held by the Beatles.) In 1974, Led Zeppelin formed their own label "Swan Song" records.

John Bonham had a reputation for being one of best (if not the best) drummers on the rock-and-roll scene. Bonham was also a heavy drinker.

On September 24, 1980, Bonham had 40 shots of vodka over a four hour period. Afterwards, he went to Jimmy Page's country home in England to rehearse for Led Zeppelin's up-coming U.S. tour. Bonham passed out during rehearsal and he was put to bed in Page's country home. During the night, John Bonham vomitted while unconscious, and choked on his vomit. The next morning (September 25th), Bassist John Paul Jones found John Bonham dead. He was 32 years old. Led Zeppelin cancelled their 1980 U.S. tour as a result. The surviving members of Led Zeppelin didn't recover from Bonham's death and broke up in December, 1980.

More important from a music lover's perspective, however, are his remarkable artistic achievements. Presley was not the very first White man to sing rhythm and blues; Bill Haley predated him in that regard, and there may have been others as well. Elvis was
certainly the first, however, to assertively fuse country and blues music into the style known as rockabilly. While rockabilly arrangements were the foundations of his  first (and possibly best) recordings, Presley could not have become a mainstream superstar without a much more varied palette that also incorporated pop, gospel, and even some bits of bluegrass and operatic schmaltz here and there. His 1950s recordings established the basic language of rock and roll; his explosive and sexual stage presence set standards for the music's visual image; his vocals were incredibly powerful and versatile.

Unfortunately, to much of the public, Elvis is more icon than artist. Innumerable bad Hollywood movies, increasingly caricatured records and mannerisms, and a personal life that became steadily more sheltered from real-world concerns (and steadily more bizarre) gave his story a somewhat mythic status. By the time of his death, he'd become more a symbol of gross Americana than of cultural innovation. The continued speculation about his incredible career has sustained interest in his life, and supported a large tourist/entertainment industry, that may last indefinitely, even if the
fascination is fueled more by his celebrity than his music.

Born to a poor Mississippi family in the heart of Depression, Elvis had moved to Memphis by his teens, where he absorbed the vibrant melting pot of Southern popular music in the form of blues, country, bluegrass, and gospel. After graduating from high school, he became a truck driver, rarely if ever singing in public. Some 1953 and 1954 demos, recorded at the emerging Sun label in Memphis primarily for Elvis' own pleasure, helped stir interest on the part of Sun owner Sam Phillips. In mid-1954, Phillips, looking for a White singer with a Black feel, teamed Presley with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black. Almost by accident, apparently, the trio hit upon a
version of an Arthur Crudup blues tune, "That's All Right Mama," that became Elvis' first single.

Elvis' five Sun singles pioneered the blend of R&B and C&W that would characterize rockabilly music. For quite a few scholars, they remain not only Elvis' best singles, but the best rock and roll ever recorded. Claiming that Elvis made blues acceptable for the White market is not the whole picture; the singles usually teamed blues covers with country and pop ones, all made into rock and roll (at this point a term that barely existed) with the pulsing beat, slap-back echo, and Elvis' soaring, frenetic vocals. "That's All Right Mama," "Blue Moon of Kentucky," "Good Rockin' Tonight," "Baby Let's Play House," and "Mystery Train" remain core early rock classics.

The singles sold well in the Memphis area immediately, and by 1955 were starting to sell well to country audiences throughout the South. Presley, Moore, and Black hit the road with a stage show that grew ever wilder and more provocative, Elvis' swiveling hips causing enormous controversy. The move to all-out rock was hastened by the addition of drums. The last Sun single, "I Forgot to Remember Forget"/"Mystery Train," hit #1 on the national country charts in late 1955. Presley was obviously a performer with superstar potential, attracting the interest of bigger labels and Colonel Tom Parker, who became Elvis' manager. In need of capital to expand the Sun label, Sam Phillips
sold Presley's contract to RCA in late 1955 for $35, 000 -- a bargain, when viewed in hindsight, but an astronomical sum at the time.

'Heartbreak Hotel," his first single, rose to #1 and, aided by some national television appearances, helped make Elvis an instant superstar. "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" was a #1 follow-up; the double-sided monster "Hound Dog"/"Don't Be Cruel" was one of the bigest-selling singles the industry had ever experienced up to that point. Albums and EPs were also chart-toppers, not just in the U.S., but throughout the world. The 1956 RCA recordings were among the best and most influential recordings of early rock and roll.

Elvis' (and Colonel Parker's) aspirations were too big to be limited to records and live appearances. By late 1956, his first Hollywood movie, Love Me Tender, had been released; other screen vehicles would follow in the next few years, Jailhouse Rock being the best. The hits continued unabated, several of them ("Jailhouse Rock," "All Shook Up," "Too Much") excellent, and often benefiting from the efforts of top early rock songwriter Otis Blackwell, as well as the emerging team of Jerry Leiber-Mike Stoller. The Jordanaires added both pop and gospel elements with their smooth backup vocals.

Presley's recording and movie careers were interrupted by his induction into the Army in early  1958. There was enough material in the can to flood the charts throughout his two-year absence (during which he largely served in Germany). When he re-entered civilian life in 1960, his popularity, remarkably, was at just as high a level as when he left.

Shortly after leaving the Army, in fact, Presley gave up live performing altogether for nearly a decade to concentrate on movie-making. The films, in turn, would serve as vehicles to both promote his records and to generate maximum revenue with minimal effort. For the rest of the '60s, Presley ground out two or three movies a year that, while mostly profitable, had little going for them in the way of story, acting, or social value.

There were some good Elvis singles in the early '60s, like "Return to Sender"; once in a while there was even a flash of superb, tough rock, like "Little Sister," or "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame." But by 1963 or so there was little to get excited about, although he continued to sell in large quantities.

The Beatles, all big Elvis fans, displaced Presley as the biggest rock act in the world in 1964. What's more, they did so by writing their own material and playing their own instruments -- something Elvis had never been capable of, or particularly aspired to. They, and the British and American groups the Beatles influenced, were not shy about expressing their opinions, experimenting musically, and taking the reins of their artistic direction into their own hands. The net effect was to make Elvis Presley, still churning out movies in Hollywood as psychedelia and soul music became the rage, seem irrelevant, even as he managed to squeeze out an obscure Dylan cover ("Tomorrow is a Long Time") on a 1966 soundtrack album.

By 1967 and 1968, there were slight stirrings of an artistic reawakening by Elvis. Singles like "Guitar Man," "Big Boss Man," and "U.S. Male," though hardly classics, were at least genuine rock and roll that sounded better than much of what he'd been turning out for years. A 1968 NBC television special gave Presley the opportunity he needed to reinvent himself as an all-out leather-coated rocker, still capable of magnetizing an audience, and eager to revisit his blues and country roots.

The 1968 album Elvis In Memphis was the first LP in nearly a decade in which Presley seemed cognizant of current trends, as he updated his sounds with contemporary compositions and touches of soul to create some reasonably gutsy late '60s pop-rock. This material, and 1969 hits like "Suspicious Minds" and "In the Ghetto," returned him to the top of the charts.

Elvis returned to live performing in 1969, breaking in with weeks of shows in Las Vegas. This was followed by national tours that proved him to still be an excellent live entertainer, even if the exercises often reeked of show-biz extravaganza. (Elvis never did play outside of North America and Hawaii, possibly because Colonel Parker, it was later revealed, was an illegal alien who could have faced serious problems if he traveled abroad.) Hollywood was history, but studio and live albums were generated at a rapid pace, usually selling reasonably well, although Presley never had a Top Ten hit after 1972's "Burning Love."

Presley's 1970s recordings, like most of his '60s work, are the focus of divergent critical opinion. Some declare them to be, when Elvis was on, the equal of anything he did, especially in terms of artistic diversity. It's true that the material was pretty eclectic, running from country to blues to all-out rock to gospel.

During the 70's, Elvis' behavior was becoming increasingly instable. His weight fluctuated wildly; his marriage broke up; he became dependent upon a variety of prescription drugs. Worst of all, he became isolated from the outside world except for professional purposes (he continued to tour until the end), rarely venturing outside of his Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee.

On August 16, 1977, Elvis Presley was found dead in Graceland at the age of 42. Apparently, Elvis dead of a heart attack. However, the cause of death remains a subject of widespread speculation.
 

BRIAN COLE

1942-1972

Brian Cole was the bassist for the popular 1960's Los Angeles pop-group
The Association. The Association's smooth harmonies and pop-oriented sound made them regular occupants on the pop charts and AM Radio playlists from 1966 through 1969. Their biggest hits included "Along Comes Mary" (#7 single in 1966); "Cherish" (#1 single in 1966); "Windy" (#1 single in 1967) and "Never My Love" (#2 single in 1967.) Cole died in Los Angeles on August 2, 1972 of a Drug Overdose. He was 29.

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Jim Morrison

(1943-1971)

Unlike other psychedelic artists, who tended to favor whimsy or mysticism, Morrison saw expansion of consciousness as a way of gaining access to the subconscious
mind's dark, unacknowledged desires; his rampaging id dominated his songs with a lust for violence, sex, alcohol, drugs, self-destruction, anything forbidden for any reason by the authority of conservative middle America, and he tried to live out
that lifestyle as best he could. Morrison's ideas have achieved a lasting resonance with
 newer generations as well as his initial fans, and his best material remains some of the most original and visionary rock music ever recorded.

James Douglas Morrison was born on December 8, 1943, in Melbourne, Florida. His father was a rear admiral in the U.S. Navy, and the family thus moved around a great deal. A strict authoritarian, Morrison's father was probably a major source of the outlandish rebellion that his son later acted out on stage; when Morrison began his climb to stardom, he would falsely claim that both of his parents were dead.

After attending St. Petersburg Junior College and Florida State University for a year apiece, Morrison moved to the West Coast to study film and theater at UCLA in 1964. He
became infatuated with the poetry of William Blake and the writings of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, and he gradually drifted away from school to work on his poetry and experiment with drugs, particularly LSD.

In 1965, Morrison so greatly impressed film-school classmate Ray Manzarek (a classically trained keyboardist and member of a local blues band) with his early  attempts at lyric writing that the two decided to form a band. Robbie Krieger and John Densmore were soon recruited from the Psychedelic Rangers, and the Doors were born; the name was Morrison's idea, taken from The Doors of Perception, Aldous Huxley's book on mescaline, and its introductory William Blake quote.

Morrison was a tentative frontman at first, avoiding eye contact with the audience and sometimes even singing with his back to them, but he soon came out of his shell, flinging his mike stand around and using it as a phallic symbol. As the Doors rose to stardom with their 1967 debut (which featured the #1 single "Light My Fire") and struggled to maintain that status, Morrison's ever-increasing withdrawal and simultaneous indulgence in hedonistic excess threatened the band's stability. He destroyed some of the band's studio equipment in a drunken outburst of temper, and he designed his ever more erratic concert behavior -- miming sex, barrages of profanity, and similar antics -- to provoke intense, frenzied audience reactions.

This did not go unnoticed by law enforcement officials in the locales where Morrison performed; he was maced by police in New Haven, Connecticut who caught him backstage with a female fan, and after taking the stage and baiting the officers, he was arrested on obscenity charges, of which he was later acquitted.

Venues in Phoenix and Long Island subsequently banned the Doors after Morrison
allegedly incited audience riots; the whole mess finally boiled over in March 1969, when Morrison exposed himself to an audience in Miami and was arrested for displaying "lewd and lascivious behavior." After a two-month trial, he was found guilty, depleting the band financially and mentally and nearly causing their breakup.

The Doors retreated to the studio, where they sounded musically rejuvenated on the hard-rocking Morrison Hotel (1970) and L.A. Woman (1971). Supporting tours were marked by continued police harassment, and afterwards, a depressed Morrison left the
country with his wife Pamela, eventually settling in Paris to unwind and write poetry (he had had his first collection of poems, "The Lord and the Creatures", published in 1970).

On July 3, 1971, Jim Morrison was found dead in his bathtub, the victim of an apparent heart attack. He was 27.

Jim Morrison was buried in the Poets' Corner of Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, an area shared by Balzac, Moliere, and Oscar Wilde.

Live recordings & greatest-hits collections of the Doors along with recordings and books of Jim Morrison's poetry have appeared frequently in the years since, and his legend has only grown with the passing of time.

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Jimi Hendrix

(1942-1970)

During the early and mid-'60s, he worked with such R&B/soul greats as Little Richard, the Isley Brothers, and King Curtis as a backup guitarist. Occasionally he recorded as a session man (like the Isley Brothers' 1964 single "Testify"). But the stars didn't  appreciate his show-stealing showmanship, and Hendrix was straightjacketed by sideman roles that didn't allow him to develop as a soloist.

The logical step was for Hendrix to go out on his own, which he did in New York in the mid-'60s, playing with various musicians in local clubs, and joining White blues-rock singer John Hammond, Jr.'s band for a while.

It was in a New York club that Hendrix was spotted by Animals bassist Chas Chandler. The first lineup of the Animals was about to split, and Chandler, looking to move into management, convinced Hendrix to move to London and record as a solo act in England. There a group was built around Jimi, also featuring Mitch Mitchell on drums and Noel Redding on bass, that was dubbed the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The trio became stars with astonishing speed in the U.K., where "Hey Joe," "Purple Haze," and "The Wind Cries Mary" all made the Top 10 in the first half of 1967.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience became a huge hit in the U.S. after Hendrix created a sensation at the Monterey Pop Festival in June of 1967.  They were last on the bill at Monterey following the Who (who destroyed their instruments on stage.)  To steal the show, Hendrix not only destroyed his guitar on stage, but set it on fire.

Their debut album "Are You Experienced?" (1967) was an astonishing debut, particularly from a young R&B veteran who had rarely sung, and apparently never written his own material, before the Experience formed. Are You Experienced? was psychedelia at its most eclectic, synthesizing mod pop, soul, R&B, Dylan, and the electric guitar innovations of British pioneers like Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend, and Eric Clapton.

Amazingly, Hendrix would only record three fully conceived studio albums in his lifetime. "Axis: Bold as Love" (1967) and the double-LP "Electric Ladyland" (1968) were more diffuse and experimental than "Are You Experienced?" On "Electric Ladyland" in particular, Hendrix pioneered the use of the studio itself as a recording instrument, manipulating electronics and devising overdub techniques (with the help of engineer Eddie Kramer in particular) to plot uncharted sonic territory.

The final two years of Hendrix's life were turbulent ones musically, financially, and personally. He was embroiled in enough complicated management and record company disputes (some dating from ill-advised contracts he'd signed before the Experience formed) to keep the lawyers busy for years.

He disbanded the Experience in 1969, forming the Band of Gypsies with drummer Buddy Miles and bassist Billy Cox to pursue funkier directions. He closed the Woodstock festival in August,1969 with a sprawling, shaky set, redeemed by his famous machine-gun interpretation of "The Star-Spangled Banner."  The Band of Gypsies recorded a live album of their New Years Eve 1969 concert at the Fillmore East.

The Band of Gypsies ultimately couldn't measure up to the same standard as the Jimi Hendrix Experience. In early 1970, the Experience re-formed again -- and disbanded again shortly afterwards. At the same time, Hendrix felt torn in many directions by various fellow musicians, record-company expectations, and management pressures, all of whom had their own ideas of what Hendrix should be doing.

Coming up on two years after Electric Ladyland, a new studio album had yet to appear, although Hendrix was recording constantly during the period. Hendrix was unable to form a permanent lineup of musicians, unable to decide what musical direction to pursue, unable to bring himself to complete another album despite jamming endlessly.
Jimi Hendrix had been working intermittently on a new album, tentatively titled First Ray of the New Rising Sun.

A few months into 1970, Mitchell -- Hendrix's most valuable musical collaborator -- came back into the fold, replacing Miles in the drum chair, although Cox stayed in place. It was this trio that toured the world during Hendrix's final months.

On September 18, 1970, Jimi Hendrix died in London from from choking on his vomit after taking sleeping pills and drinking wine. He was 27.

After Hendrix's death, the material recorded for First Ray of the New Rising Sun were released for the albums "The Cry of Love" & the "Rainbow Bridge" soundtrack of a film of Jimi Hendrix's 1970 concert at Rainbow Bridge, Hawaii.

Jimi Hendrix recorded a massive amount of unreleased studio material during his lifetime. Much of this (as well as entire live concerts) was issued posthumously; several of the live concerts were excellent, but the studio tapes have been the focus of enormous controversy for over 20 years.

Alan Freed was the radio Disc Jockey who coined the phrase "Rock & Roll." "Rock & Roll" refered to a new kind of popular music in the mid-1950's that was mostly  rhythm-and-blues with a little bit country & Gospel.

Freed started his broadcasting career at WKST (New Castle, PA) in 1942. He took a sportscasting position at WKBN (Youngstown, OH) the following year. In 1945 he moved to WAKR (Akron, OH) and became a local favorite, playing hot jazz and pop recordings.

In 1949 Freed moved to WXEL-TV in Cleveland. Record store owner Leo Mintz convinced him to emcee a program of rhythm & blues records over WJW radio. On July 11, 1951, Alan Freed went on the air and started calling himself the "Moondog." At his "Moondog Coronation Ball" at the 10,000-capacity Cleveland Arena in March 1952, upwards of 20,000 fans (almost all black) crashed the gates, causing the dance to be
cancelled. This is considered to be the first "rock" concert. It also marked the point at which Freed's audience began to include an increasing number of whites — who subsequently heard Freed refer to rhythm & blues as "rock & roll."

In September 1954, Freed was hired by WINS radio in New York. The following            January, he held a landmark dance there, promoting black performers as rock & roll artists. Within a month, the music industry was advertising "rock & roll" records in the trade papers.

Freed also emceed a string of legendary stage shows at the Brooklyn and New York Paramount Theatres; was heard nationally via CBS radio; and starred in several rock & roll movies.

In 1957 ABC-TV gave Freed his own nationally-televised rock & roll show, but an episode on which Frankie Lymon (a popular black singer from the late 1950's) danced with a white girl enraged ABC's Southern affiliates and the show was cancelled. When violence occurred outside the Boston Arena after a Freed stage show in the spring of 1958, local authorities indicted him for inciting to riot. The charges were eventually dropped, but WINS failed to renew Freed's contract.

Freed moved to WABC radio in New York City, and also hosted a locally televised
dance show. When the broadcasting payola scandal erupted in November 1959, Freed
claimed payments he'd received from record companies were for "consultation," not as an inducement to play their records. He was fired from his radio and television programs.

Freed was hired by Los Angeles' KDAY radio (owned by the same company that owned WINS) in 1960. When the management refused to let him promote live rock & roll shows, Freed left the station and returned to Manhattan to emcee a live twist revue.
When the twist craze cooled he hooked on as a disc jockey at WQAM (Miami, FL). Realizing that his dream of returning to New York radio was just that, Freed's drinking increased. The Miami job lasted only two months.

In December 1962, in New York, Freed pleaded guilty to two counts of commercial bribery and was fined $300. Alan Freed, the one-time "king of rock & roll", was a broken man. Freed moved to Palm Springs, California and was drinking heavily.

Alan Freed died in Palm Springs on January 20, 1965, of bleeding esophageal
varices and cirrhosis of the liver. Those closest to him swear he died of a broken heart. He was 43.

In 1986 Freed was among the first inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. In 1991, Freed received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.