Also in 1983, one of the greatest-ever blues singers, Muddy Waters, died in Chicago of a heart attack. He was 68. His rough, direct urban blues were an immense influence on many of the 1960’s British groups, including The Rolling Stones, who took their name from one of his songs. The Stones also included “I Can’t Be Satisfied,” a 1948 Waters hit, on their second album. The success of Waters’ records in the late ’40s and early ’50s helped make Chicago’s Chess label into a major independent record company. The firm became even bigger later in the decade with the records of Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley.

In 1988, Montreal native Celine Dion sang the winning entry for Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin. She performed the ballad “Don’t Leave Without Me (Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi).”

In 1993, Guns N’ Roses rhythm guitarist Gilby Clarke broke his wrist in a motorcycle accident in Castaic Lake, California. Clark was practising for a celebrity charity race. The injury forced the band to cancel four U-S shows. Former band member Izzy Stradlin filled in for several European dates.