I was living in Scottsdale on April 22, 2004, and it was like the entire city had the wind knocked out of it as the news spread across the radio. Pat Tillman, the ASU and Arizona Cardinal great had been killed in Afghanistan. Tillman had given up the life of a successful professional athlete join the Army after 9/11. He became an Army Ranger and was killed by friendly fire in the hellish mountains of Afghanistan. Tillman’s legacy became complicated in the near term after his death in a way that would have pissed him off to no end. He was a man who followed the voice in his head no matter what, and that’s a brave thing to do.

It was today in 2000 that federal agents stormed a home in Miami to seize 6-year old Elian Gonzalez and returned him to Cuba to live with his father. Gonzalez had been living with relatives in Miami. He turns 20 later this year and is in the Cuban Army.

Prince released his follow up to “Purple Rain” today in 1985, “Around the World in a Day.” Though it was no “Purple Rain,” it was still fantastic, with “Raspberry Beret,” “Paisley Park,” “Pop Life,” “Around the World in a Day,” and “America.”

Happy 76th to Jack Nicholson and 77th to Glen Campbell.

Nicholson:

1. A Few Good Men (the scene is court gets all the attention… this one might be better)
2. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
3. As Good As It Gets
4. Chinatown
5. Terms of Endearment

Campbell:

1. Rhinestone Cowboy
2. Gentle on My Mind
3. I’d Build a Bridge
4. Sunflower
5. Galveston
6. Wichita Lineman
7. A Better Place (off his last album, after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, he sings beautifully about moving on)

— Bill Hubbell