Births
1929: Berry
Gordy, Jr. (Producer / Founder of Motown Records)
1943: Randy
Newman (Singer / Songwriter)
1949: Paul Shaffer (Dave Letterman Band Leader)
1962: Matt Cameron (Drums for Pearl Jam & Soundgarden)
1974: apl.de.ap (Allan Pineda) (Singer in The Black Eyed Peas)
1974: Styles P (David
Styles) (Rapper in The Lox & Solo)
1979: Chamillionaire (Hakeem Seriki) (Rapper)
1984: Trey Songz (Tremaine Neverson )(R&B / Hip-Hop Artist)
Events
1925: "The WSM
Barn Dance" begins broadcasting in Nashville, with a one-hour performance
by Uncle Jimmy Thompson. It's later renamed the Grand Ole Opry.
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.
