January 31

Births

1921: Mario Lanza (Italian Singer)

1946: Terry Kath (Guitar for Chicago)

1951: KC (Harry Wayne Casey) (Singer for KC and the Sunshine Band)

1951: Phil Manzanera (Guitar for Roxy Music)

1954: Adrian Vandenburg (Guitar for Whitesnake)

1956: Johnny Rotten (Johnny Lydon) (Singer for The Sex Pistols & Public Image Ltd.)

1961: Lloyd Cole (Singer / Songwriter)

1964: Jeff Hanneman (Guitar for Slayer)

1967: Chad Channing (Nirvana 1^st Drummer)

1981: Justin Timberlake (Singer in ‘N Sync & Solo)

Events

1959: Just three days before their death in a plane crash, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper play the Armory in Duluth, MN. In attendance: a seventeen-year-old Robert Zimmerman, who would be inspired to become a musician by this performance. We now know him as Bob Dylan.

1961: NBC airs the Bobby Darin And Friends television special, originally meant as a pilot for a weekly variety series.

1963: A seventeen-year-old Neil Young makes his stage debut at a country club in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

1969: Bobby Darin walked off the set of the "Jackie Gleason Show" when he was not allowed to sing "Long Line Rider."

1970: In New Orleans, LA, the Greatful Dead were busted for possession of LSD and barbituates. The event was alleged to be the inspiration for the song "Truckin."

1970: The Jackson Five went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'I Want You Back'. The song was originally written for Gladys Knight & The Pips and was the first of four No.1's for the group.

1978: Greg Herbert, saxophone player with Blood Sweat & Tears, died of an accidental drug overdose in Amsterdam, Holland aged 30.

1979: Bo Diddley opens up for punk band The Clash at the beginning of their first US tour.

1988: Herb Alpert performs the national anthem at Superbowl XXII in San Diego, CA. (Chubby Checker performs at the halftime show.)

1985: Creedence Clearwater Revival's John Fogerty gives his first live performance in fourteen years at the Chaplin Stage in Hollywood, CA.

1998: The Bruce Springsteen "Come Together" benefit concert, organized for the family of a New Jersey police officer killed in the line of duty, turns into an impromptu E Street Band reunion that also features Southside Johnny and other Jersey musicians.

2001 - It was announced that Peter Criss was leaving KISS (again) and that he would be replaced by Eric Singer for the remainder of dates of the farewell tour. Criss' last show was on October 7, 2000.

2010: Beyoncé set a Grammy record for females when she won six. The six awards were Song Of The Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance, Best R&B Song, and Best Contemporary R&B Album. 

January 30

Births

1938: Norma Jean (Country Singer)

1942: Marty Balin (Singer for Jefferson Airplane & Starship)

1947: Steve Marriott (Guitar for Humble Pie & Small Faces)

1949: William King (Trumpet for The Commodores)

1951: Phil Collins (Drummer & Vocals for Genesis & Solo)

1959: Jody Watley (Singer in Shalamar & Solo)

Events

1961: The Shirelles became the first girl group to have the number one song on the US chart when 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow?' reached the top.

1969: The Beatles give their last public live performance on the roof of their own Apple Studios, 3 Savile Row, London. The band had come up with the idea of a rooftop performance a few days earlier, but the roof had to be shored up first in order to handle the weight of the group's equipment. The concert, which lasts 42 minutes, comes to an abrupt end when police, tipped off by the complaints of a nearby shop owner, shut the concert down.

1973: KISS play their first concert, at Popcorn (The Coventry Club) in Queens, New York. They wear makeup onstage, but not the look they would become known for.

1974: Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer is arrested for swimming nude in a hotel pool in Salt Lake City, NV. The pool was clearly visible from the street.

1982: American blues guitarist, singer Sam Lightnin Hopkins died of cancer at age 70.

1988: INXS had their first US No.1 hit single with 'Need You Tonight'.

1990: Unhappy with the re-issue of the bands early single 'Sally Cinnaman' The Stone Roses trashed their former record company Revolver FM's offices and threw paint over cars. The band were arrested and charged with criminal damage.

1998: Elton John recieved a knighthood in British Prime Minister Tony Blair's first New Year's Eve Honours List.

2007:  R&B Singer Brandy (Brandy Norwood) was sued for wrongful-death by the parents of a woman that was killed in a car crash involving Brandy on Decenber 30, 2006.

January 29

Births:

1952: Tommy Ramone (Thomas Erdelyi) (Drummer for The Ramones)

1961: Eddie Jackson (Bass for Queensryche)

1981: Jonny Lang (Blues Singer & Guitarist)

1982: Adam Lambert (Singer)

Events:

1961: After performing in New York, Bob Dylan visits the home of a friend in East Orange, NJ, and meets his idol, Woody Guthrie.

1967: Jimi Hendrix makes his UK stage debut, performing at London's Saville Theatre. In the audience is a young Brian May, future guitarist for Queen.

1968: The Doors appeared at The Pussy Cat A Go Go, Las Vegas. 
After the show singer Jim Morrison taunts a security guard in the parking lot by pretending to smoke a joint, resulting in a fight. The police arrive who arrest Morrison and charge him with vagrancy, public drunkenness, and failure to possess sufficient identification.

1972: Smokey Robinson left The Miracles.

1975: After girlfriend Linda Thompson wakes up and finds him struggling to catch his breath, Elvis Presley is admitted to Memphis' Baptist Hospital for "a liver problem," which in reality is an attempt by Presley's personal physician "Dr. Nick" to curtail his growing addiction to prescription medication.

1979: Emerson, Lake and Palmer announce their breakup, the first of many.

1979: 16-year-old Brenda Spencer killed two people and wounded nine others when she fired from her house across the street onto the entrance of San Diego's Grover Cleveland Elementary School. Spencer fired the shot's from a .22-caliber rifle her father had given her for Christmas. When asked why she did it, she answered 'I don't like Mondays.' The Boomtown Rats went on to write and recorded a song based on the event.

1980: Jimmy Durante died of pneumonia at age 86.

1983: Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks marries Warner Brothers promo man Kim Anderson in Los Angeles. The marriage would last just over a year.

1992: Willie Dixon died of heart failure in Burbank, California at age 76.

1994: Tragedy strikes Mary Wilson of the Supremes when her Jeep hits the curb near Los Angeles and flips, injuring her and killing her 14-year-old son.

1996: Garth Brooks refused to accept his American Music Award for Favorite Overall Artist. Brooks said that Hootie and the Blowfish had done more for music that year than he did.

2001: A court rules the P-Funk mastermind George Clinton is not eligible for royalties on songs sampled by rappers, George having sold the rights to the songs off years before.

2004: Claiming bigamy on her part, James Brown annuls his marriage to third wife Tommie Rae Brown.

2010: Sly Stone sues former manager Jerry Goldstein for $50 million dollars in what he claims are unpaid royalties.

January 28

Births

1945: Robert Wyatt (Drums & Vocals for Soft Machine)

1951: William Nelson (Bass for Funkadelic)

1959: Dave Sharpe (Guitar for The Alarm)

1963: Danny Spitz (Guitar for Anthrax)

1968: DJ Muggs (DJ for Cypress Hill)

1968: Sarah McLachlan (Singer / Songwriter)

1968: Rakim (William Michael Griffin Jr.) (Rapper)

1977: Joseph Fatone (Singer in N’Sync)

1980: Nick Carter (Singer in Backstreet Boys)

Events

1956: Elvis Presley makes his television debut on CBS' Dorsey Brothers Stage Show. Backed by the house band, he sings "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Heartbreak Hotel." The national furor over Presley would not erupt, however, until subsequent appearances on Milton Berle and Steve Allen's shows.

1965: The Who make their first UK television appearance on BBC's Ready Steady Go!, which helps place their debut single "I Can't Explain" in the British Top Ten.

1968: During their tour in Australia, members of The Who and the Small Faces, among others, are escorted off their flight from Adelaide to Essendon for drinking beer on the plane, being rowdy, and using "very bad language." Two of the flight's four attendants are said to be in tears.

1968: Jim Morrison of The Doors was arrested and charged with public drunkenness after harassing a security guard at a Las Vegas adult movie theatre.

1978: The Doobie Brothers guest star on an episode of ABC's What's Happening!

1978: By request, Ted Nugent carves his autograph into the arm of a fan using his bowie knife.

1982: Jackson Browne and his second wife, Lynne Sweeney, become the proud parents of their first child, Ryan Daniel.

1984: Backstage after a Motley Crue show in Buffalo, New York, Tommy Lee found out that his girlfriend has posed for the current issue of Penthouse magazine without his knowledge, after a fan passes comment on the pictures. Tommy punched the fan unconscious with one hit, Motleys manager Doug Thaler convinced the fan not to press any charges.

1985: The recording took place for We Are The World the US equivalent of Band Aid at A&M Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie the all star cast included Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, (who contributed four lines to the charity single), Ray Charles, Daryl Hall, John Oates, Cyndi Lauper, Steve Perry and Bob Geldof. The session was produced by Quincy Jones.

2003: H-Town singer Keven Conner was killed in a car crash in Houston aged 28. Conner died when an SUV ran a red light and crashed into the car he was a passenger in, which had just picked him up from the recording studio.

2004: James Brown is arrested on charges of domestic violence in Beech Island, SC.

2005: Traffic Drummer and singer/songwriter Jim Capaldi died of stomach cancer aged 60.

January 27

Births

1756: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer)

1918: Elmore James (Blues Singer & Guitarist)

1919: David Seville (Rostom Sipan "Ross" Bagdasarian) (The Chipmunks)

1930: Bobby "Blue" Bland (Blues & R&B Singer)

1944: Nick Mason (Drummer in Pink Floyd)

1951: Brian Downey (Drummer for Thin Lizzy)

1951: Seth Justman (Keyboards for The J. Geils Band)

1957: Janick Gers (Guitar for Iron Maiden)

1961: Gillian Gilbert (Keyboards for New Order)

1961: Margo Timmins (Singer for The Cowboy Junkies)

1968: Tricky (Adrian Thawes) (Musician & Producer)

1968: Mike Patton (Singer for Faith No More & Mr. Bungle)

1968: Tracy Lawrence (Country Singer)

1970: Mark Trojanowski (Drummer for Sister Hazel)

Events

1958: Following a harrowing near-fatal plane ride, Little Richard gives up rock and roll and enrolls in Oakwood College in Huntsville, AL, a school for African-Americans run by the Seventh Day Adventist Church, so he can get a degree in divinity.

1961: Frank Sinatra played a benefit show at Carnegie Hall in New York City for Martin Luther King.

1968: The Bee Gees make their US debut at the Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. They earn top dollar -- $50,000 -- for their appearance but head straight back to their Australian home as soon as the concert is over.

1971: David Bowie arrives for his first visit to the US. The press in Louisiana and Texas takes note of his penchant for wearing dresses in public.

1972: Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson died of heart failure and diabetes complications at age 60.

1984: During filming of a television ad for Pepsi cola, Michael Jackson's hair catches fire due to a pyrotechnic display gone awry. Jackson is hospitalized for a few days, inspiring fans from around the world to send their best wishes.

1998: James Brown was charged with possession of marijuana and unlawful use of a firearm after police were called to his South Carolina home. Brown later clamed the drugs were used to help his 'eyesight.'

2000: Noel Gallagher of Oasis became a dad when Meg Matthew's gave birth to a girl, Anais at Portland Hospital, London.

2002: Blues singer Koko Taylor collapses during a private function at her club, Koko Taylor's Celebrity, in Chicago, IL, after failing to take her diabetic medication. Doctors discover arterial blockage in her heart, as well.

2004: R&B singer Faith Evans and her husband were charged with possession of cocaine and marijuana after being arrested in Atlanta, Georgia. Police pulled them over for a suspected license plate offence.

January 26

Births

1948: Corky Laing (Drummer for Mountain)

1951: David Briggs (Guitar for The Little River Band)

1951: Andy Hummell (Bass for Big Star)

1953: Lucinda Williams (Singer)

1955: Eddie Van Halen (Guitar for Van Halen)

1958: Anita Baker (R&B Singer)

1960: Charlie Gillingham (Keyboards for Counting Crows)

1961: Tom Keifer (Singer for Cinderella)

1963: Andrew Ridgeley (Singer & Guitarist for Wham)

1963: Jazzie B (Soul II Soul)

1970: Kirk Franklin (Gospel Singer)

1976: Willie Adler (Rhythm Guitar for Lamb Of God)

1986: Matt Heafy (Lead Vocal & Lead Guitar for Trivium)

Events

1934: The Apollo Theatre opens in Harlem, New York City, as a vaudeville theatre.

1957: Buddy Holly and the Crickets make their second appearance on CBS' Ed Sullivan Show. Before the show Sullivan, who considered Holly's hit "Oh, Boy!" too "raunchy," forbids him from singing it on tonight's show. Holly refuses, causing Sullivan to limit Buddy to one song instead of two, sabotage him with bad lighting and sound, and mispronounce his name. Holly is visibly upset on the stage.

1962: Buffalo, New York Catholic Church Bishop Joseph A. Burke bans the Twist from being heard or danced in any area Catholic school or event.

1965: 'Downtown' by Petula Clark was at No. 1 on the US singles chart. A young Jimmy Page had played as a session guitarist on the track, giving him his first US No.1 hit at 21 years old.

1970: John Lennon writes "Instant Karma!" in the morning and records it the same afternoon with producer Phil Spector and a backing "choir" assembled from pubcrawlers at London's Hatchetts Club. The single is mixed the same day and released just ten days later (hence the song's name). It ranks as one of the fastest-released songs in pop music history.

1972: Elvis Presley begins wearing one-piece jumpsuits during his gigs at the International Hotel, Las Vegas.

1972: Sean Combs (Puff Daddy) father Melvin was shot dead in his car in a Manhattan park aged thirty-three. Sean was aged 2 at the time.

1977: Original Fleetwood Mac lead guitarist Peter Green is committed to a psychiatric facility in his native England for firing a pistol at a delivery boy who was attempting to deliver a royalty check.

1977: After removing the diamond from his famous "TCB" ring, Elvis Presley has it placed in an engagement ring for girlfriend Ginger Alden. Elvis proposes to her in the bathroom at Graceland.

1980: Prince made his TV debut on the US show American Bandstand.

1999: The National Transportation Safety Board determines the cause of John Denver's fatal 1997 airplane crash: Denver neglected to fill his main tank with enough fuel, and in the process of switching over to his backup tank inadvertently put the plane into a deadly roll.

January 25

Births

1938: Etta James (Jazz & R&B Singer)

1956: Andy Cox (Guitar for The English beat)

1981: Alicia Keys (R&B Singer / Songwriter)

Events

1858 - Mendelssohn’s "Wedding March" was presented for the first time, as the daughter of Queen Victoria married the Crown Prince of Prussia.

1958: Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock" enters the UK pop charts at Number One, the first single to ever do so in the country.

1967: Jefferson Airplane's Grace Slick and Paul Kantner become the proud parents of a baby girl they name "God." (Her name is later changed to "China.")

1978: Joy Division made their live debut when they played Pips in Manchester, England.

1980: Paul McCartney is released from a Tokyo jail after nine days. He had been incarcerated after Japanese customs officials found half a pound of marijuana in his luggage. McCartney flies to Amsterdam to meet with his family.

1984: John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, donates $375,000 to Liverpool's Strawberry Field, an orphanage which served as the inspiration for the Beatles song "Strawberry Fields Forever."

1989: Madonna started divorce proceedings for the second time from Sean Penn at Los Angeles County Court and moved into a new three-bedroom house in Hollywood Hills.

1991: Paul McCartney appears on MTV's Unplugged.

2003: Billy Joel escapes relatively unharmed when he totals his Mercedes on a highway in his native Long Island, NY.