On this day in history, April 12, 1954, Bill Haley records 'Rock Around the Clock,' rock's first No. 1 hit
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Bill Haley and His Comets recorded "(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock" in New York City on this day in history, April 12, 1954. It became rock 'n' roll's first hit.
"Rock Around the Clock" topped the U.S. Billboard singles chart for an incredible eight straight weeks in the summer of 1955 and was a major hit in the United Kingdom earlier that year. "We put country & western together with rhythm & blues, and that was rock." — Bill Haley "I thought, ‘WOW this is great!!!! … The song just rocks." — Ringo Starr in 2021, of hearing "Rock Around the Clock" the first time "It was … a seismic event that kicked off the rock revolution." — David Deacon-Joyner, music scholar
"We premiered it," Haley told Rolling Stone Magazine in 1967.
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