Births
1925: Bill Haley (William John Clifton Haley) (Singer & Guitarist)
1937: Gene Chandler, (Eugene Dixon) (R&B Singer)
1939: Jet Harris (Bass for The Drifters)
1945: Rik Elswit (Guitar for Dr Hook)
1949: Mike Shrieve (Drums for Santana)
1950: Phyllis Hyman (Jazz Singer)
1952: Graham Oliver (Guitar for Saxon)
1954: Nanci Griffith (Singer / Songwriter)
1959: John Keeble (Drums for Spandau Ballet)
1961: Robert Heaton (Drummer for New Model Army)
1963: Tim Bricheno (Guitar for The Sisters Of Mercy)
1969: Michael Grant (Keyboards for Musical Youth)
1975: 50 Cent, (Curtis Jackson) (Rapper)
1979: Nic Cester (Singer & Guitarist for Jet)
1987: Kate Nash (Singer / Songwriter)
Events
1937: "Sing, Sing, Sing" was recorded by Benny Goodman and his band.
1957: John Lennon and Paul McCartney met for the first time at The Woolton Church Parish Fete where The Quarry Men were appearing. As The Quarry Men were setting up for their evening performance, McCartney eager to impress Lennon picked up a guitar and played ‘Twenty Flight Rock’ (Eddie Cochran) and ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’ (Gene Vincent). Lennon was impressed, and even more so when McCartney showed Lennon and Eric Griffiths how to tune their guitars, something they'd been paying someone else to do for them.
1963: James Brown went to No.2 on the US album chart with 'Live At The Apollo'. The album spent a total of 33 weeks on the chart.
1964: The Beatles film 'A Hard Days Night' premiered at The Pavilion in London.
1965: Rock group "Jefferson Airplane" forms
1967: Pink Floyd made their first appearance on BBC TV music show Top Of The Pops to promote their new single ‘See Emily Play’. A badly damaged home video recording recovered by the British Film Institute of this show was given a public screening in London on 9th January 2010 at an event called "Missing Believed Wiped" devoted to recovered TV shows. It was the first time any footage was seen of the performance since its original broadcast.
1971: American jazz trumpeter, singer and bandleader, Louis Armstrong died of a heart attack at 69 years old.
1973: Queen released their debut single ‘Keep Yourself Alive’ in the UK.
1975: Rolling Stone Keith Richards was arrested by the highway patrol in Arkansas on charges of reckless driving and possessing an offensive weapon, a seven-inch hunting knife.
1976: The Damned made their debut performance at the 100 Club in London.
1979: American singer, producer songwriter, Van McCoy died from a heart attack in Englewood, New Jersey. Van McCoy and the Soul City had the US No.1 single 'The Hustle'. Worked with Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Stylistics, Aretha Franklin and David Ruffin.
1992: David Gates from Gateshead, Northumberland was given one year's probation after being convicted of stealing guitars from the back of a van belonging to The Bay City Rollers.
1999: Keyboard player with Third World Michael Wallace was shot dead in Kingston Jamaica, aged 43.
2001: A pair of Sir Elton John's sandals was set to become the most expensive shoes in history when they went under the hammer for charity. Offers over $40,000 were invited for the Salvatore Ferragamo sandals to raise funds for Elton's Aid Trust .
2002: George Harrison's widow Olivia put the couple's home up for sale for $40m saying she couldn't bear to live with the memories of the attack by schizophrenic Michael Abram who broke into the house in 1999.
2003: Skip Battin, bassist and songwriter with The Byrds, died of complications from Alzheimer's disease. He also played with New Riders Of The Purple Sage and The Flying Burrito Brothers.
2005: Grammy award winning Rap star Lil' Kim who was convicted of perjury and conspiracy in March 2005, was sentenced to a year in jail for lying to a grand jury to protect friends. Kim told the court "I testified falsely to the grand jury and during the trial. At the time I thought it was the right thing to do. Now I know it was wrong." Lil' Kim, (real name Kimberley Jones), was also fined $50,000. Charges were brought against her after a gunfight erupted outside a New York radio station in 2001 as a rival rap group was arriving.
2007: Avril Lavigne was facing legal action by members of 1970s rock band The Rubinoos, who claimed she had copied one of their songs. Songwriters Tommy Dunbar and James Gangwer alleged Lavigne's hit ‘Girlfriend’ was lifted from their 1979 song ‘I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.’
2007: Britney Spears apologised for attacking a photographer's car with an umbrella earlier this year. Pictures of the 25-year-old lashing out appeared in several newspapers shortly after photos emerged of her shaving her head in a hair salon. In a message on her website, she said: "I apologize to the pap for a stunt that was done four months ago." She said she got "carried away" preparing for a film part but added that she did not get the role.
