April 24, 1975: Pete Ham, the lead singer of the British rock band Badfinger, commits suicide. Like a few other rock stars, he was dead at the age of 27.
Badfinger were formed in Swansea, Wales in 1961, when the members were in their early teens. They were comprised of Ham, bass guitarist Tom Evans, rhythm guitarist Joey Molland, and drummer Mike Gibbins. Ham and Evans wrote most of the group's hits.
In 1970, Badfinger had their 1st hit, "Come and Get It," which Beatle Paul McCartney had written for the film The Magic Christian." Later in the year, the band released their album No Dice. It contained the hit "No Matter What," and a song that would later be a Number 1 hit for Harry Nilsson, and again 20 years later for Mariah Carey: "Without You."
Their next album, Straight Up, in 1971, produced the big hit ballad "Day After Day." After a dispute with the Beatles' Apple Records, their last album with them, in 1973, was titled Ass, and featured a donkey on the cover. It contained the cheekily-titled single "The Apple of My Eye." The band then signed with Warner Brothers Records.
Depressed over money troubles, Ham hanged himself in his studio in Woking, Surrey, England. He was 3 days short of turning 28, and thus, at the very least, avoiding the "27 Club." Evans, who fell out with Molland over the group's royalties, also hanged himself, in his garden in London in 1983. Gibbins died of a brain aneurysm in 2005. As of April 24, 2022, Molland is the last survivor.
UPDATE: Molland died on March 1, 2025, of diabetes, in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park, Minnesota. He was 77, and had moved to the Twin Cities after marrying an area native.
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April 24, 1975 was a Thursday. These 7 games were played in Major League Baseball:
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves, 11-3 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Jack Billingham outpitched Phil Niekro. Pete Rose went 1-for-5. Johnny Bench went 2-for-5 with 3 RBIs.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Steve Stone outpitched Jim Lonborg. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-4.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Rod Carew did not play.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the Houston Astros, 6-5 at the Astrodome in Houston.
* The Texas Rangers beat the California Angels, 5-0 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Jackie Brown pitched a 5-hit shutout, outpitching Nolan Ryan, who struck out 8 and walked 4. In other words, a typical game for Ryan.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres, 11-6 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Dave Winfield went 4-for-5 with a home run and 5 RBIs.
* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. Reggie Jackson went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Harmon Killebrew, playing out the string with the Royals, went 0-for-3 with a walk. George Brett went 1-for-4.
Football was out of season. There were 2 games in the NBA Playoffs. The Boston Celtics beat the Houston Rockets, 128-115 at the Boston Garden. And the Golden State Warriors beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 105-96 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.
And there was 1 game in the ABA Playoffs: The Indiana Pacers beat the Denver Nuggets, 118-112 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. George McGinnis had 33 points and 21 rebounds.
There was one game in the NHL's Stanley Cup Playoffs: The New York Islanders beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-1 at the Nassau Coliseum.
And there was one game in the World Hockey Association's Playoffs: The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the Quebec Nordiques, 5-3 at Le Colisée de Québec.
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