Births
1929: Berry Gordy, Jr. (Founder of Motown Records)
1943: Randy Newman (Singer / Songwriter)
1949: Paul Shaffer (Dave Letterman Band Leader)
1962: Matt Cameron (Drums for Soundgarden)
1968: Dawn Robinson (Singer for En Vogue)
1979: Chamillionaire (Hakeem Seriki) (Rapper)
1984: Trey Songz (R&B / Hip-Hop Artist)
Events
1964: Willie Nelson makes his Grand Ole Opry debut.
1968: John Lennon and Yoko Ono appear at the Marylebone Magistrates' Court, London, to answer charges of cannabis resin possession. John pleads guilty and is fined $300.
1974: John Lennon appears onstage with Elton John at Madison Square Garden, honoring a promise he made that he'd appear if their duet, "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night," hit #1. The duo sing their hit as well as the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There." Backstage, wife Yoko Ono meets John, ending John's 18-month separation from her, known as the "Lost Weekend." This was to be John's last appearance on stage, anywhere.
1979: Ringo Starr's home in Los Angeles home burns down.
1987: REM had their first entry in the Top 10 on the US singles chart with ‘The One I Love.’
1990: In Los Angeles, law enforcement officials announced that there was not enough evidence to prosecute Axl Rose for assault on his neighbor. The charge was the Rose had hit her over the head with a wine bottle.
1991: Nirvana recorded a performance for BBC TV music show Top Of The Pops in London. When asked to lip-sync ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ to a pre-recorded tape Kurt Cobain protests by singing in a low-pitched funny voice with the rest of the band not even trying to mime in-time to the track.
1992: HBO airs Neil Diamond's Christmas Special.
1992: Whitney Houston started a record-breaking fourteen-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'I Will Always Love You', taken from the 'Bodyguard' soundtrack. The song was written by Dolly Parton.
1993: Steppenwolf drummer Jerry Edmonton was killed in a car crash not far from his Santa Barbara, California home, he was 47.
2001: Aretha Franklin sues a tabloid for $50 million after it claimed the singer had a drinking problem.
2006: US actress Pamela Anderson filed for divorce from rapper Kid Rock after just four months of marriage. In a statement on her website the 39-year-old confirmed she had split from Rock.
2007: Kanye West and stuntman Evel Knievel settled a copyright dispute over West's use of the name "Evel Kanyevel" in a music video. The 69-year-old daredevil had claimed his image was tarnished by the video’s "vulgar, sexual nature." The clip for Touch The Sky, showed the rap star cavorting with Pamela Anderson and trying to jump a rocket-powered motorcycle over a canyon.
