Today in History: Prince Harry weds Meghan Markle
Today is Monday, May 19, the 139th day of 2025. There are 226 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On May 19, 2018, Britain's Prince Harry wed American actor Meghan Markle in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.
Also on this date:
In 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England's King Henry VIII, was beheaded at the Tower of London after being convicted of adultery.
In 1883, William Cody held the first of his 'Buffalo Bill's Wild West' shows in Omaha, Nebraska.
In 1920, ten people were killed in a gun battle between coal miners, who were led by a local police chief, and a group of private security guards hired to evict them for joining a union in Matewan, West Virginia.
In 1921, President Warren G. Harding signed the Emergency Quota Act, which established national quotas for immigrants.
In 1943, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met with President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House, where the two leaders agreed on May 1, 1944, as the date for the D-Day invasion of France (expansion plans for the invasion caused the date of the landing to be delayed by a month).
In 1962, film star Marilyn Monroe sang 'Happy Birthday to You' to President John F. Kennedy during a Democratic fundraiser at New York's Madison Square Garden.
Today's Birthdays: TV personality David Hartman is 90. Musician-composer Pete Townshend (The Who) is 80. Singer-actor Grace Jones is 77. Former racing driver Dario Franchitti is 52. Basketball Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett is 49. Country musician-producer Shooter Jennings is 46. Comedian-actor Michael Che is 42. Singer Sam Smith is 33. Media personality-singer JoJo Siwa is 22.
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Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
Bruce Springsteen's Berlin concert echoes with history and a stark warning
Springsteen has made increasingly pointed and contentious public statements in recent concerts. He peppered Wednesday's performance with mentions of the American democracy's system of checks and balances designed to ward against authoritarianism. His short speeches — referencing recent headlines about immigration raids, the freezing of federal funds for universities and measles outbreaks — came between songs that were also captioned in German on large screens beside the stage. The set was flanked by an American flag on one side and a German flag on the other. Still, the Boss remained hopeful: 'The America that I've sung to you about for the past 50 years of my life is real. And regardless of its many faults, it's a great country with great people. And we will survive this moment.' Advertisement But last month in Manchester, he denounced Trump's politics during a concert, calling him an 'unfit president' leading a 'rogue government' of people who have 'no concern or idea for what it means to be deeply American.' Advertisement Springsteen is no stranger to Berlin. In July 1988, he became one of the first Western musicians to perform in East Germany, performing to a roaring crowd of 160,000 East Germans yearning for American rock 'n' roll and the freedom it represented to the youth living under the crumbling communist regime. 'I'm not here for or against any government. I've come to play rock 'n' roll for you in the hope that one day all the barriers will be torn down,' Springsteen said in German at the time, before launching into a cover of Bob Dylan's 'Chimes of Freedom.' An Associated Press news story from that period says 'fireworks streaked through the sky' and hundreds of people in the audience waved handmade American flags as they sang along to 'Born in the USA.' The Berlin Wall fell the following year, and some experts credit the concert for its part in fueling the protest movement that brought the end of the Communist government. Almost four decades later, Springsteen issued a stark warning: 'The America that I love, the America that I've sung to you about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration.' The rocker closed Wednesday's three-hour show with 'Chimes of Freedom.'
an hour ago
Two musical revolutionaries, Sly Stone and Brian Wilson, leave life's stage nearly simultaneously
Sometimes there are strange symmetries in death, as in life. The twin passings of Sly Stone and Brian Wilson this week brought that into sharp relief. Both were musical geniuses who paid a high price for their gifts. They burned bright, with art they created at their peaks that became more moving and meaningful with time, only to see their creative lights extinguished suddenly through mental health and addiction issues. Both were 82 when they died — Stone on Monday and Wilson on Wednesday. 'It's such an unsettling coincidence,' said Anthony DeCurtis, contributing editor at Rolling Stone. 'These two figures, they were very different and massively influential, and each ran into a wall of their own problems in many ways. As much as they achieved, it's hard not to think that they could have done more.' With his late brothers Carl and Dennis, Beach Boys co-founder Wilson was the architect of the California sound that captured surfing and sun, beaches and girls. Yet for all the 'Fun, Fun, Fun,' there was something much deeper and darker in Brian's abilities as a composer. It was more than disposable music for teen-agers. He had an unparalleled melodic sense, hearing sounds in his mind that others couldn't. He could worm his way into your head and then break your heart with songs like 'In My Room' and 'God Only Knows.' The tour de force 'Good Vibrations' —- had anyone ever heard of the theremin before he employed its unearthly wail? — is a symphony both complex and easily accessible. 'He was our American Mozart,' musician Sean Ono Lennon wrote on social media. The 1966 album 'Pet Sounds' was a peak. Wilson felt a keen sense of competition with the Beatles. But they had three writers, including Sean's dad, John Lennon. Wilson was largely alone, and he heard impatience and doubt from other Beach Boys, whose music he provided. He felt the pressure in trying to follow up 'Pet Sounds,' and 'Smile' became music's most famous unfinished album. Wilson, a damaged soul to begin with because of an abusive father, never reached the heights again. He descended into a well-chronicled period of darkness. Stone's skills came in creating a musical world that others only dreamed of at the time. The Family Stone was an integrated world — Black and white, men and women — and the music they created was a potent mixture of rock, soul and funk. It made you move, it made you think. For a period of time from 1967 to 1973, their music was inescapable — 'Dance to the Music,' 'Everybody is a Star,' 'Higher,' 'Hot Fun in the Summertime,' 'Sing a s Simple Song,' 'Family Affair,' 'Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).' Their performance at Woodstock was a milestone. 'His songs weren't just about fighting injustice, they were about transforming the self to transform the world,' musician and documentarian Questlove, who lovingly tended to Stone's legacy, wrote this week. 'He dared to be simple in the most complex ways — using childlike joy, wordless cries and nursery rhyme cadences to express adult truths. His work looked straight at the brightest and darkest parts of life and demanded we do the same.' From his peak, the fall was hard. Years of drug abuse took its toll. Periodic comeback attempts deepened a sense of bewilderment and pity. Music is littered with stories of sudden, untimely and early deaths. Yet until this week, both men lived on, somewhat improbably passing average life expectancies. Wilson, by many measures, achieved some level of peace late in life. He had a happy marriage. He was able to see how his music was revered and appreciated and spent several years performing it again with a younger band that clearly worshiped him. It was a postscript not many knew, said journalist Jason Fine, who befriended Wilson and made the 2021 documentary, 'Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road.' 'That sort of simple message he really wanted to give people through his music going back to the '60s — a sense of warmth, a sense that it's going to be OK in the same way that music lifted him up from his darkness, he'd try to do for other people,' Fine told The Associated Press in an interview then. 'I think now, more than earlier in his career, he accepts that he does that and that's a great comfort to him.' Stone emerged to write an autobiography in 2023. But less is known about his later years, whether he found peace or died without the full knowledge of what his music meant to others. 'Yes, Sly battled addiction,' Questlove wrote. 'Yes, he disappeared from the spotlight. But he lived long enough to outlast many of his disciples, to feel the ripples of his genius return through hip-hop samples, documentaries and his memoir. Still, none of that replaces the raw beauty of his original work.' Did Sly Stone and Brian Wilson live lives of tragedy or triumph? It's hard to say now. One suspects it will become easier with the passage of time, when only the work remains. That sometimes brings clarity. 'Millions of people had their lives changed by their music,' DeCurtis said. 'Not just enjoyed it, but had their lives transformed. That's quite an accomplishment.'
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
The Beach Boys pay tribute to Brian Wilson — the ‘soul' of their sound
The Beach Boys paid tribute to co-founder and musical genius Brian Wilson Wednesday after his family announced his death — calling him the 'soul' of their surf rock sound. 'The world mourns a genius today, and we grieve for the loss of our cousin, our friend, and our partner in a great musical adventure,' the Beach Boys wrote on their official Instagram account. 'Brian Wilson wasn't just the heart of The Beach Boys—he was the soul of our sound. The melodies he dreamed up and the emotions he poured into every note changed the course of music forever.' Wilson died at 82. His cause of death has not been revealed. 6 Brian Wilson performed in Las Vegas on July 10, 2015. MediaPunch/INSTARimages 'His unparalleled talent and unique spirit created the soundtrack of so many lives around the globe, including our own,' the post added. 'Together, we gave the world the American dream of optimism, joy, and a sense of freedom—music that made people feel good, made them believe in summer and endless possibilities.' Wilson's cousin and the group's co-founder, Mike Love, posted a video montage that featured the iconic hitmaker over the years. 'From the first time we sang together as kids in my living room, I knew there was something otherworldly in him,' Love wrote alongside the video. 'His musical gifts were unmatched. The melodies he dreamed up, the emotions he poured into every note—Brian changed the course of music forever.' Love ended the touching tribute, writing, 'Brian, you once asked, 'Wouldn't it be nice if we were older?' Now you are timeless. May you rest in the peace you so deeply deserve, surrounded by the heavenly music you helped create. May your spirit soar as high as your falsetto [and] may your wings spread in effortless flight.' Rhythm guitarist Al Jardine also remembered his former bandmate on Instagram. 6 The Beach Boys posed in front of an earlier group portrait during a trip to London in 1964. Getty Images 6 Wilson stopped touring with The Beach Boys in 1964 after he had a panic attack. REUTERS 'Brian Wilson, my friend, my classmate, my football teammate, my Beach Boy bandmate and my brother in spirit, I will always feel blessed that you were in our lives for as long as you were,' Jardine wrote. 'I think the most comforting thought right now is that you are reunited with Carl and Dennis, singing those beautiful harmonies again. You were a humble giant who always made me laugh and we will celebrate your music forever. Brian, I'll really miss you…still I have the warmth of the sun.' The group was founded in 1961 in Hawthorne, Calif., by brothers Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, their cousin Love, and school friend Jardine, according to the band's website. In 1964, Wilson stopped touring with the band after having a panic attack on a flight to Houston so he shifted his contributions to composing hits like 'Good Vibrations,' 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' and 'God Only Knows.' 6 Wilson is known for co-writing some of the group's most iconic hits like 'God Only Knows' and 'Good Vibrations.' Getty Images 6 Beach Boys members Brian Wilson, David Marks, Bruce Johnston, Al Jardine and Mike Love appeared together at Capitol Records in Los Angeles on June 13, 2006. REUTERS 6 Wilson performed with his daughter, Carnie, in Los Angeles on March 30, 2015. Getty Images He remained an on-and-off band member for decades and released his first solo album in 1988. Wilson had seven kids, including daughters Carnie and Wendy, who formed the four-time Grammy-nominated pop group Wilson Phillips. 'I have no words to express the sadness I feel right now,' his daughter Carnie Wilson wrote on Instagram. 'My Father @brianwilsonlive was every fiber of my body. He will be remembered by millions and millions until the world ends. I am lucky to have been his daughter and had a soul connection with him that will live on always. I've never felt this kind of pain before.'
