TCNJ

25 SPRING 2023 Bonnie Raitt Spring 1975 • Kendall Hall Raitt came prepared: She brought with her two legends — blues guitarist Buddy Guy and Hoodoo harmonica player Junior Wells. A handful of years earlier, Raitt was at Radcliffe College, studying social relations and African studies. 1971 Debut album Bonnie Raitt 1989 Nick of Time charts #1 on Hot 200 and wins Grammy Album of the Year. 13 Grammys 2000 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2022 Lifetime Achievement Grammy 2022 At 73, Bonnie Raitt releases her 21st album, Just Like That…, which lands on six Billboard charts its first week. Raitt had a Stella guitar handed to her at age 8 in California. That's a far throw from her Scottish ancestors who, in the 12th century, built a castle whose ruins still exist. Cheap Trick Fall 1985 • Recreation Center An alumni favorite, it took hair metal band Cheap Trick 31 years after coming to campus to score the coveted Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction. But in terms of sales, they're beyond golden. (See sales key below.) 1977 Debut album Cheap Trick 1988 "The Flame" reaches #1 on Hot 100, their only time at the top. Violent Femmes Spring 1992 • Recreation Center Students repurposing the stage's security area into a mosh pit got some 30 concertgoers bounced. The Signal pointed a finger at "high school and Rider students." 1983 Debut album Violent Femmes 1991 That alt-rock album goes platinum and charts eight years after its release — the only album in Billboard history to do so. 2013 Reunion at Coachella 1991 Their third album, Why Do Birds Sing?, introduces fan favorite "American Music." 1981 The Pretenders discovered the local trio while they busked outside Milwaukee's Oriental Theater, where Chrissie Hynde and her band were to perform that evening. B.B. King Spring 2005 • Kendall Hall "With his magical riffs and wry humor, all of Kendall Hall was laughing and singing along. I don't think I'm alone in saying that TCNJ loves B.B. King!" — Christine Pennachio '07, The Signal, 4/13/05 letter 1956 Debut album Singin' the Blues 1990 Star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame 15 Grammys 1980 Blues Hall of Fame 1987 Lifetime Achievement Grammy, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 1995 Kennedy Center Honors 2006 Presidential Medal of Freedom Sales key: Gold = 500,000 copies; Platinum = 1 million copies; Multiplatinum = 2 million copies or more; Diamond = 10 million copies 1978 While recording Cheap Trick at Budokan, 12,000 Japanese fans almost outscreamed the band. The album would go 3x platinum in 1986. 2016 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame A librarian who knew band leader Rick Nielsen's family successfully petitioned the Library of Congress to add Cheap Trick at Budokan to its highly selective National Recording Registry.

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