December 20

Births

1944: Bobby Colomby (Drums for Blood, Sweat and Tears)

1945: Peter Criss (Drums for KISS)

1948: Alan Parsons (Keyboards & Vocals for The Alan Parsons Project)

1957: Anita Ward (Disco Singer)

1957: Billy Bragg (Singer & Guitarist)

1957: Mike Watt (Bass for Firehose, The reunited Stooges & Porno For Pyros)

1966: Chris Robinson (Singer for The Black Crowes)

1982: David Cook (American Idol Winner)

1990: JoJo (Joanna Noëlle Blagden Levesque) (Pop Singer)

Events

1957: Elvis Presley picks up his draft notice.

1967: The band Jethro Tull, named after the 18th-century inventor of the seed drill, is formed.

1967: Folk singer Joan Baez was sentenced to 45 days in prison after being arrested during an anti-war demonstration.

1973: After failing to take medication to protect his heart before a dental visit, Bobby Darin developed an overwhelming systemic infection, otherwise known as sepsis. This weakened his body and badly affected one of his heart valves. On December 11, Darin entered Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for surgery to repair two artificial heart valves he had received in the previous heart operation back in January 1971. On December 19, a five-man surgical team worked for over six hours to repair Darin's damaged heart. Darin died minutes afterward in the recovery room on December 20, 1973, at the age of 37.

1975: Former James Gang guitarist/vocalist and solo artist Joe Walsh joins the Eagles, replacing Bernie Leadon, who left after the band decided to pursue a more "rock" sound.

1980: Motorhead's Drummer Phil Taylor accidentally broke a bone in his neck when partying after a gig in Belfast.

1983: Johnny Cash checks into the Betty Ford Center to prevent an addiction to pain-killers administered during a recent hospital stay. He stays at the center for six weeks and is assigned to kitchen duty for three of them. Elizabeth Taylor is also in treatment.

1994: Beach Boys lead vocalist Mike Love publicly drops his lawsuit against the group. Love had claimed he was due partial royalties on 35 Beach Boys classics; the suit was settled out-of-court.

2001: Tommy Lee branded his ex-wife Pam Anderson an unfit mother. The drummer filed papers with the Los Angeles Superior Court alleging his son's tell him 'We hate Mommy' and his son Brandon had been using the F-word he learned from his mommy.

2006: Eminem and his high school sweetheart divorced for a second time, less than a year after they remarried. The couple agreed to share custody of their 10-year-old daughter, Hailie. The pair told a judge in Michigan they understood this time the divorce was final. The couple remarried in January. But the rapper filed for divorce less than three months later, saying there had been "a breakdown in the marriage relationship".

2009: Carrie Underwood gets engaged to Ottawa hockey player Mike Fisher at his home in Ontario.