December 8

Births

1925: Sammy Davis, Jr.(Singer / Performer)

1939: Jerry Butler (Singer in The Impressions)

1939: James Galway (Irish Flute Player)

1941: Bobby Elliott (Drummer for The Hollies)

1943: Jim Morrison (Singer in The Doors)

1947: Gregg Allman (Singer & Keyboards for The Allman Brothers Band & Solo)

1950: Dan Hartman (Singer / Producer)

1953: Phil Collen (Guitarist for Def Leppard)

1953: Sam Kinison (Comedian)

1959: Paul Rutherford (Frankie Goes To Hollywood)

1962: Marty Friedman (Guitar for Megadeth)

1966: Sinead O'Connor (Singer / Songwriter)

1973: Alice Deejay (Vocals for Alice Deejay)

1973: Number 8 (Corey Taylor) (Singer for Slipknot)

1974: Nick Zinner (Guitar for Yeah Yeah Yeahs)

1982: Nicki Minaj (R&B / Hip-Hop Artist)

Events

1960: Teen idol Fabian visits Elvis Presley at his Graceland mansion in Memphis. Elvis rips his pants demonstrating his new passion, karate, and Fabian lends him his pair.

1962: Legendary DJ and promoter Alan Freed appears at his payola trial in New York City and testifies to receiving money from labels to play their records on the air. He is found guilty, fined $300, and given six months probation, but the irreparable damage to his career has been done.

1963: Frank Sinatra, Jr. is kidnapped in Lake Tahoe, NV, and freed three days later after his famous father pays the $240,000 ransom. The three men responsible are eventually caught and incarcerated.

1969: In a Toronto, Canada courtroom, Jimi Hendrix testifies in his trial for possession of hashish and heroin. Claiming to have "outgrown" drugs, the guitarist gives a very detailed history of his drug use. After eight hours, the jury returns a verdict of not guilty.

1975: The benefit concert "A Night of the Hurricane" is held at Madison Square Garden. The last date on Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour, the show features many non-musical celebrities and raises over $100,000 for the release of wrongly imprisoned boxer "Hurricane" Carter and his alleged accomplice. Carter himself calls the stage from jail.

1975: Gary Thain bass player with Uriah Heep died of a drug overdose aged 28. Had a hit with ‘Easy Livin' from the 1972 album Demons and Wizards.

1976: The Carpenters' Very First Special, featuring guest star John Denver, airs on ABC.

1977: Four people were arrested after a riot broke out when Blondie didn't arrive for a gig in Brisbane. Over 1,000 Australian fans had waited over an hour for the group to appear on stage, but the gig was cancelled due to singer Debbie Harry being unwell.

1979: Styx went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Babe', the group's only US No.1.

1980: At 10:50 PM EST, former Beatle John Lennon is murdered in New York by a deranged fan just outside the Dakota Hotel, New York City. Lennon was shot in his chest, back and left arm and was pronounced dead at 11:07 PM. Earlier that day, the killer had met Lennon outside the Dakota and had him sign a copy of his latest album, Double Fantasy.

1982: Marty Robbins dies of a heart attack, just two months after his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Beginning in 1952, he spun love songs, pop crossover hits and Western story songs, including "El Paso".

1984: Vince Neil from Motley Crue was involved in a car accident in Redondo Beach, Ca, which killed Nick Dingley from Hanoi Rocks and injured two other passengers. Neil was jailed for 20 days and paid $2.6 million in compensation.

1995: Four months after the death of founding member Jerry Garcia, the Grateful Dead officially announce their breakup.

1998: The FBI opens its 1,300 page file on Frank Sinatra to the public.

2003: Ozzy Osbourne suffers several fractures in his upper body in an ATV accident.

2004: Former Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell was one of five people killed after a man stormed the stage during a Damageplan show at the Alrosa Villa Club in Columbus. Nathan Gale, aged 25, began firing at the band and crowd, was then shot and killed by a police officer who arrived shortly after the first shots were fired.

December 7

Births

1910: Louis Prima (Big Band Singer)

1942: Harry Chapin (Singer / Songwriter)

1949: Tom Waits (Singer / Songwriter)

1958: Tim Butler (Bass for The Psychedelic Furs)

1973: Damien Rice (Singer / Songwriter)

Events

1963: The Beatles appear as panelists on the BBC show Juke Box Jury to rate records. Elvis' new single, "Kiss Me Quick," is declared a "hit."

1964: The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson suffers a nervous breakdown while on a flight from Los Angeles to Houston. He would stop touring with the group soon after.

1966: Nancy Sinatra guest-stars on the CBS TV special Frank Sinatra: A Man & His Music, Part II.

1967: In Britain's New Musical Express magazine, the Hollies' recently-departed Graham Nash announces the formation of Crosby, Stills, and Nash.

1967: Otis Redding went into the studio to record '(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay'. The song went on to be his biggest hit. Redding didn't see its release; he was killed three days later in a plane crash.

1968: The Animals' lead singer, Eric Burdon, announces that the group will officially disband after a December 22 concert at Newcastle City Hall. Eric would pursue an ill-fated acting career in California.

1973: Fleetwood Mac's then-manager, Clifford Davis, claims ownership of the band's name and assembles a fake version of the group for a national tour.

1974: Barry White was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'You're The First, The Last, My Everything', the singers first UK No.1. Originally written in the 1950's as a country song with the title 'You're My First, You're My Last, My In-Between.'

1984: In a $5 million plagiarism suit brought against him in Chicago, IL, Michael Jackson testifies that he did not steal his hit "The Girl Is Mine" from an Illinois man. He eventually wins the case.

1987: Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, and Judy Collins (among others) appear onstage at Carnegie Hall to pay tribute to Harry Chapin, who would have been celebrating his 45th birthday. That same day, Chapin recieved a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor (#111) for his work in fighting hunger.

1993: Guns N' Roses announced they would keep the tune written by Charles Manson "Look At Your Game, Girl" on their album, "The Spaghetti Incident?" The decision to keep the song came when the band learned that the royalties would go to the son of one of Manson's victims.

1996: Jerry Lewis' white and red pinstriped devil suit was stolen from his dressing room at Shea's Performing Arts Center in Buffalo. Lewis needed the costume, valued at $9,000, to play the role of Satan in the musical Damn Yankees. 

December 6

Births

1896: Ira Gershwin (Lyricist)

1920: Dave Brubeck (Jazz Pianist)

1943: Mike Smith (Singer & Keyboards for The Dave Clark 5)

1954: Chris Stamey (Singer / Songwriter in The DB’s)

1955: Rick Buckler (Drummer for The Jam)

1956: Peter Buck (Guitarist for R.E.M.)

1956: Randy Rhoads (Guitarist for Ozzy)

1961: David Lovering (Drummer for The Pixies, NItzer Ebb & Cracker)

1962: Ben Watt (Producer & Singer in Everything But The Girl)

1969: Mark Gardener (Singer & Guitar for Ride)

Events

1968: President Richard Nixon sends out 66,000 signed letters to potential administrative office holders, including Elvis Presley.

1969: Cab Calloway stars in NBC's "Hallmark Hall of Fame" presentation of The Littlest Angel.

1969: The infamous rock concert known as Altamont, featuring Jefferson Airplane, Santana, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and the Rolling Stones, takes place at the speedway of the same name in Altamont, CA. Headliners the Rolling Stones, who organized the show as a free "thank you" concert, hire Hell's Angels instead of cops for security, resulting in the deaths of four people in the crowd of 300,000 (including Meredith Hunter, stabbed to death by the Angels).

1969: Led Zeppelin made their debut on the singles chart with 'Whole Lotta Love', it went on to go to No.4 on the chart and was the first of six Top 40 singles for the group in the US. During the bands career, Zeppelin never released any singles in the UK.

1970: The Rolling Stones tour documentary Gimme Shelter, featuring footage of the infamous Altamont concert, opens in New York City.

1978: Sex Pistol Sid Vicious smashed a glass in the face of singer Patti Smith's brother Todd Smith during a fight at New York City club Hurrah. Vicious was out on bail after being charged with the murder of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen.

1980: John Lennon mixes Yoko Ono's "Walking On Thin Ice." It is the last time he would be in a studio.

1984: Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson record "Highwayman" at Nashville's Moman Studios. Among the musicians is guitarist Marty Stuart.

1986: Ringo becomes the first Beatle to use his name in an advertisement, for Sun Country wine cooler.

1988: Roy Orbison died of a heart attack at 52.

1993: At a video shoot for Travis Tritt's remake of the Eagles' "Take It Easy," the Eagles themselves reunite and decide to reform for new songs and a tour.

1995: Michael Jackson collapses in a New York theater during a rehearsal for an upcoming TV special and is hospitalized.

2003: Elvis Costello married jazz artist Diana Krall in a ceremony at Elton John's UK mansion. About 150 guests, including Sir Paul McCartney, attended the wedding. It was Costello's third marriage.

2006: Jazz artist Diana Krall gave birth to twins with her husband Elvis Costello.

December 5

Births

1901: Walt Disney

1931: Ike Turner (R&B Singer & Guitarist)

1932: Little Richard (Richard Penniman) (Pianist & Singer)

1938: JJ Cale (Singer / Songwriter)

1941: Art Garfunkel (Singer / Songwriter in Simon & Garfunkel & Solo)

1946: Gram Parsons (Guitar & Vocals for Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers & Solo)

1947: Peter Noone (Singer & Guitar for Herman's Hermits)

1947: Jim Messina (Singer / Songwriter for Poco, Buffalo Springfield, Loggins & Messina & Solo)

1947: Donnie McDougall (Guitar for The Guess Who)

1952: Bobby Barth (Guitar for Axe & Blackfoot)

1960: Jack Russell (Lead Singer for Great White)

1965: Johnny Rzeznik (Guitar & Vocals for The Goo Goo Dolls)

1967: Gary Allan (Country Artist)

Events

1960: Paul McCartney and Pete Best were arrested for pinning a condom to a brick wall and then igniting it. The two were told to leave Germany and The Beatles returned home, discouraged.

1961: Ray Charles was arrested in an Indianapolis hotel and charged with possession of drugs.

1967: Kenny Rogers and his group The First Edition make their television debut on CBS' Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.

1967: A passenger train derails at Hither Green near London, killing 49 people and injuring 78. Among the passengers who escaped with no injuries: the Bee Gees' Robin Gibb, who helps injured passengers from the car for three hours and is nevertheless taken to a nearby hospital in a state of shock.

1968: Peter Noone, lead singer of Herman's Hermits, marries Mireille Strasser at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Mayfair, London; the couple are still married.

1968: Graham Nash quit the Hollies. He announced the formation of Crosby, Stills and Nash three days later.

1970: Long since retired from touring with his group, Brian Wilson joins the Beach Boys on stage at the Whisky A Go-Go in Los Angeles only to suffer inner ear damage in his good ear from an excessively loud sound system. After losing his balance a few times, he is helped backstage.

1971: Two firsts at tonight's Elvis Presley show at the Metropolitan Sports Center in Minneapolis, MI: comic Jackie Kahane begins his lifelong stint as opening act, and Elvis ends the show with cape outstretched in a bizarrely Christlike pose -- another gimmick that will become a staple of Elvis' live act.

1972: The Jackson 5 Show, the group's second television special, airs on CBS.

1973: Who guitarist Pete Townshend storms off the stage at tonight's gig in Newcastle, England, after discovering that the backing track the band plays along to is running 15 seconds behind.

1978: The Charlie Daniels Band records "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" at Nashville's Woodland Sound Studios.

1979: Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones has his divorce from first wife Bianca Jagger finalized.

1982: Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys part ways on the orders of Wilson's new psychiatrist and caretaker, Dr. Eugene Landy.

1987: The Jesus And Mary Chain were banned from appearing on a US music TV show after complaints of blasphemy when the group's name was flashed across the screen. The CBS show asked the band to be called JANC but the group didn't agree.

1988: The Beach Boys set two records with their latest #1 hit, "Kokomo," which marks the group as having the longest gap between chart-toppers (21 years and ten months from 1966's "Good Vibrations") and the longest stretch of career #1s (dating back to their first, "I Get Around," 24 years and four months earlier).

1988: Kylie Minogue's version of "The Loco-Motion" hits #1 in the US, making it the first song to ever take the top spot three separate times in three different versions (the 1962 Little Eva original and the 1974 Grand Funk Railroad cover).

1992: Tom Jones guest stars on tonight's "Marge Gets a Job" episode of FOX-TV's The Simpsons, a move that revived his dormant career.

1993: Co-founder of Gin Blossoms Doug Hopkins died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds age 32. The guitarist and songwriter was in a detox unit of Phoenix's St. Luke's Hospital, Phoenix, Arizona when he snuck out and bought a .38 caliber pistol. The next day Hopkins committed suicide.

1995: A charity performance of The Wizard Of Oz is staged at New York's Lincoln Center, featuring Jewel (Dorothy), Jackson Browne (The Scarecrow), Roger Daltrey (The Tin Man), and Nathan Lane (The Cowardly Lion).

2000: The Who guest star on tonight's "A Tale of Two Springfields" episode of FOX-TV's The Simpsons.

2005: Beach Boys singer Mike Love sues former leader Brian Wilson for using his likeness and the band trademark in his promotion of the SMiLE project, a reconstructed release of the band's legendary "lost" 1967 album.

2005: Guitarist Link Wray died of heart failure at 76.

December 2

Births

1960: Rick Savage (Bass for Def Leppard)

1968: Nate Mendel (Bass for Foo Fighters)

1978: Nelly Furtado (Singer)

1978: Brian Chase (Drums for Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs)

1981: Britney Spears (Singer)

Events

1959: Bobby Darin is the subject of this week's episode of NBC'S This Is Your Life.

1964: Ringo Starr checks into the University College Hospital in London to have his tonsils removed.

1967: Jimmie Rodgers is found with a fractured skull in his car on the San Diego Freeway, the result of a "mysterious assualt." He recovers fully, but his career never does.

1969: In Bristol, England, George Harrison joins the Delaney and Bonnie and Friends tour as a guitarist, making this the first tour of a Beatle since 1966.

1969: Cindy Birdsong of the Supremes is kidnapped by a maintenance worker in her Hollywood apartment, who, while holding a knife to her throat, forces her to tie up her two visiting friends. He then forces her into a car and drives toward Long Beach, but the singer jumps from the car and escapes. The kidnapper was arrested in Las Vegas four days later.

1971: Taj Mahal performs for the men on death row at Wilmington State Penitentiary.

1973: The Who and their companions are jailed overnight in Montreal following $6000 worth of hotel destruction inflicted after their show at the Forum.

1979: Singers Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge are granted a divorce.

1979: Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand's ‘You Don't Bring Me Flowers’ was at No.1 on the US singles chart. A radio station engineer had spliced together Neil's version with Barbra's version and got such good response, the station added it to their play list. When Neil Diamond was told about it, he decided to re-record the song with Streisand herself.

1983: MTV aired the full 14-minute version of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' video for the first time.

1986: Jerry Lee Lewis checks into the Betty Ford Clinic for addiction to painkillers.

1988: Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, and Willie Nelson appeared on "Geraldo" to discuss "Sex on the Road."

1991: The US Supreme Court rules that the Shirelles, Gene Pitney and B.J. Thomas are owed $1.2 million in unpaid royalties.

1996: Adam Duritz (Singer for Counting Crows) severed a ligament and tore cartilage in his knee after he fell during a concert at the Beacon Theatre in New York. Duritz underwent orthoscopic surgery during the band's Christmas break.

2000: Thieves broke into the London home Madonna shares with Guy Ritchie. The raiders forced their way in through a basement door then took a set of car keys before loading up Guy Ritchie's car with some of the couple's possessions and driving off.

2002: Oasis singer Liam Gallagher was arrested and charged with assault after he Kung-Fu kicked a police officer. The incident happened at the Bayerischer hotel in Munich, the singer lost his two front teeth in the brawl and an Oasis minder was knocked out cold. 

December 1

Births

1934: Billy Paul (R&B Singer)

1933: Lou Rawls (R&B Singer)

1944: Eric Bloom (Vocals for Blue Oyster Cult)

1944: John Densmore (Drums for The Doors)

1945: Bette Midler (Singer)

1946: Gilbert O'Sullivan (Pop Singer)

1951: Jaco Pastorius (Jazz bassist)

1971: Greg Upchurch (Drummer for 3 Doors Down)

1977: Brad Delson (Lead Guitar for Linkin Park)

Events

1957: Three acts make their national TV debut on one episode of CBS' Ed Sullivan Show: Buddy Holly and the Crickets (performing "That'll Be The Day"), Sam Cooke (performing "You Send Me"), and the Rays (performing "Silhouettes").

1960: Bobby Darin marries Sandra Dee at Don Kirshner's apartment in New Jersey.

1968: Janis Joplin makes her final appearance with her band, Big Brother and the Holding Company.

1972: Martha and the Vandellas give their farewell performance in Detroit, MI.

1975: On her thirtieth birthday, Bette Midler undergoes emergency surgery to remove her appendix.

1982: Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' album was released. It spent 190 weeks on the album chart became the biggest selling pop album of all time, with sales over 50 million copies.

1983: Neil Young was sued by Geffen Records because his new music for the label was “not commercial in nature and musically uncharacteristic of his previous albums.”

1989: Sly Stone is sentenced to 55 days in jail for driving while under the influence of cocaine.

1990: C.C. Deville guitar player with Poison spent six hours in jail in Louisville, after being arrested for public drunkenness and criminal mischief after a concert in the town that night.

1994: Tupac Shakur was convicted on charges of sexually abusing a woman in a hotel room. He was recovering from gunshot wounds he had suffered the day before.

1995: An auction of Frank Sinatra memorabilia nets the singer over two million dollars.

1997: Kenny G set a new world record when he held a note on his saxophone for 45 minutes and 47 seconds. (The record has since been broken by Geovanny Escalante, who held a note for 1 hour, 30 minutes and 45 seconds, using a technique that allows him to blow and breathe at the same time).

1999: Jay-Z stabbed Lance Rivera at a party at Manhattan's Kit Kat Klub. Jay-Z pled guilty to misdemeanor assault and was sentenced to three years probation on September 17, 2001.

November 30

Births

1915: Brownie McGhee (Blues Singer)

1929: Dick Clark (DJ)

1944: Rob Grill (Lead Singer for The Grass Roots)

1945: Roger Glover (Bass for Deep Purple)

1953: Shuggie Otis (Singer / Songwriter)

1955: Billy Idol (William Broad) (Singer in Generation X & Solo)

1957: John Ashton (Guitar for The Psychedelic Furs)

1973: John Moyer (Bass for Disturbed)

1975: Mindy McCready (Country Singer)

1978: Clay Aiken (Singer)

Events

1940: Desi Arnaz marries Lucille Ball.

1954: Nat "King" Cole begins a six-night run at Harlem's Apollo theater.

1959: In a Billboard article, DJ Alan Freed claims that his career has gone "down the drain" due to the recent "payola" scandal.

1963: The Beatles second album 'With The Beatles' became the first million selling album by a group in the UK.

1969: NBC airs Simon and Garfunkel's Songs Of America special, even after sponsor AT&T backs out over the show's plan to show footage of the Bobby Kennedy funeral and the Vietnam war.

1977: David Bowie appears on Bing Crosby's 42nd (and last) Christmas special on CBS. The two sing a medley of "Little Drummer Boy" and "Peace On Earth."

1988: LL Cool J performed the first rap concert held in Africa.

1991: Milli Vanilli singer Rob Pilatus attempted suicide while staying at The Mondrain Hotel, Los Angeles by taking an overdose of sleeping pills and slashing his wrists.

1994: Tupac Shakur was shot five times during a robbery outside a New York City recording studio.

1996: While playing at a Gala Benefit at The Woman's Club of Minneapolis, Tiny Tim had a heart attack and died.

1997: Chumbawamba's Danbert Nobacon was arrested by Italian police for wearing a skirt and was detained in police cells overnight.

2003: A block of East 2nd Street in New York City was officially renamed Joey Ramone Place. It is the block where Joey once lived with band mate Dee Dee Ramone, and is near the music club CBGB, where the Ramones played their first gigs.

2005: Police were investigating claims that Michael Jackson was trafficking drugs to feed his 40 pills-a-day habit. The singer was suspected of flying antidepressants and painkillers from the US to his current home in Bahrain.