December 14

Births

1932: Charlie Rich (Country Singer)

1949: Cliff Williams (Bass player for AC/DC)

1964: C J Snare (Singer for Firehouse)

1966: Tim Skold (Bass for Marilyn Manson)

1970: Beth Orton (Singer / Songwriter)

1975: Brian Dalyrimple (Singer in Soul For Real)

1988: Vanessa Hudgens (Singer)

Events

1959: The Ohio State University Research Center issues a report showing that rock and roll is the overwhelming favorite music of people aged 14-18. However, most over the age of eighteen who were polled considered it their least favorite form of music.

1962: Bassist Bill Wyman made his live debut with The Rollin' Stones at the Ricky Tick Club, Star and Garter Hotel in Windsor, England. The group were know as The Rollin' Stones during this period.

1963: Early on the morning of December 14, 1963, Jazz singer Dinah Washington's eighth husband Lane went to sleep with his wife, and awoke later to find her slumped over and not responsive. Doctor B. C. Ross came to the scene to pronounce her dead. An autopsy later showed a lethal combination of secobarbital and amobarbital, which contributed to her death at the age of 39.

1966: Chad and Jeremy & Don Ho appear as special guest stars on today's episode of ABC's Batman show.

1967: Dick Clark announces that he's filming a movie about hippies, The Love Children, starring Jack Nicholson and Dean Stockwell and featuring the music of Strawberry Alarm Clock and the Seeds.

1967: Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones was rushed to St Georges hospital in London after collapsing. A doctor reported Jones was tired and suffering from over strain and was also recovering from having some teeth out.

1968: Marvin Gaye scored his first US No.1 single when 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine' started a five-week run at the top.

1969: John Lennon and Yoko Ono begin their "Bagism" project, arriving at London's Hyde Park inside a white bag located in a white Rolls Royce, and then giving a protest speech -- from inside the bag -- on behalf of executed prisoner James Hanratty. (The idea was that the press and skeptics would have to listen to their words without being distracted by celebrity.)

1972: The film Born To Boogie, a biopic of T. Rex's Marc Bolan directed by Ringo Starr, premieres in London.

1972: Alexander's department store in New York City stays open late so that Alice Cooper, who is wearing silver pants and a "Paul Lives" button, can do his Christmas shopping.

1977: The film Saturday Night Fever opens in New York City, singlehandedly reviving the dead "disco" fad and turning it into a genuine national obsession.

1980: At widow Yoko Ono's request, a ten-minute worldwide silent vigil is held at 2:00 PM EST for John Lennon, who had been shot down just six days earlier. Over 100,000 observe the vigil in New York's Central Park alone, while 30,000 observe the vigil in Liverpool.

1985: James Taylor marries actress Kathryn Walker.

1992: On the same day he files for bankruptcy, Merle Haggard becomes the father of a son, Binion Louis Haggard.

1995: ABC airs the Frank Sinatra tribute special Sinatra: 80 Years My Way, featuring performances by Little Richard, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, among others.

1995: The FBI, acting on a judge's order, releases most (but not all) of its documents revealing the organization's attempts to deport John Lennon.

1999: In a much-publicized show, Paul McCartney returns to play the Cavern Club in Liverpool for the first time since 1963. Joining him are Pink Floyd's David Gilmour and Deep Purple's Ian Paice.

2001: Billy Preston pleads guilty to insurance fraud in a Los Angeles court and agrees to testify against six other defendants in the same case.

2004: The funeral took place in Arlington, Texas for Damageplan and Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell. Eddie Van Halen placed Darrell’s original black and yellow stripes guitar into the Kiss Kasket he was buried in. Several thousand fans and friends gathered at the Arlington Convention Center in Arlington, to mourn the guitarist’s death. Darrell was shot five times in the back of the head during a gig at the Alrosa Villa Club in Columbus on  Dec 8th by a mentally ill former US Marine. Damageplan's drum technician, John Brooks, and tour manager, Chris Paluska, were both injured in the incident.

2005: Dierks Bentley marries his high school sweetheart, Cassidy Black, in Mexico.