Who Was the First Michigander to Have a #1 Hit Record?

Not long ago, I was asked the question, “Who was the First Michigander to Have a #1 Hit Record?”

Well, only going back as far as to the beginning of the Rock ‘n Roll explosion in the 1950s, that wasn’t too hard to answer.

The first #1 song in the rock era by a Michigander is also the very first #1 Rock & Roll hit EVER. That distinction goes to a song you all know: Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley & His Comets.

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It was on July 9, 1955, that Rock Around the Clock became the very first Rock 'n Roll record to hit #1, three days after the 30th birthday of Bill Haley...quite a birthday present.

Haley was born in Highland Park on July 6, 1925. He worked as a radio deejay for a while in the 1940s but that changed in 1945 when he joined a group called The Downhomers. Whetting his appetite for more, Bill formed his own group, Bill Haley & The Four Aces of Western Swing. In 1950 he changed the band name to Bill Haley & The Saddlemen, and finally in 1952, they became Bill Haley & His Comets.

The group had a nice handful of Top 20 hits during the first half of the 1950s...but in July 1955, their next single not just went to #1, but it kicked off the whole Rock 'n Roll phenomenon, making it mainstream for the entire country. It cemented its legend after it was featured during the opening credits to the film Blackboard Jungle. The song stayed at the #1 position for eight straight weeks.

In the 1970s, Rock Around the Clock was introduced to a whole new generation when it became the opening theme to the TV show Happy Days. The record once again made the Top 40 charts, nineteen years after its first appearance.

FAST FACTS:
A) To date, the single has sold well over 30 million copies.
B) Bill Haley was nicknamed “The Father of Rock & Roll”
C) Bill was inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1987
D) Rock Around The Clock was inducted into the National Recording Registry, as a “culturally significant recording”.

Not a bad for a Michigander.
Bill Haley died in 1981 at the age of 55.