December 10

Births

1941: Chad Stuart (Singer in Chad and Jeremy)

1946: Ace Kefford (Bass for The Move)

1952: Susan Dey (The Partridge Family)

1957: Paul Hardcastle (Producer & Keyboardist)

1965: J Mascis (Vocals & Guitar for Dinosaur Jr. & Solo)

1966: Timothy Christian Riley (Singer in Tony, Toni, Tone !)

1971: Scot Alexander (Bass for Dishwalla)

1972: Brian Molko (Guitar & Lead Vocal for Placebo)

1972: Donavon Frankenreiter (Singer / Songwriter)

1974: Meg White (Drums for The White Stripes)

Events

1927: Although the radio show known as the WSM Barn Dance had been broadcasting out of Nashville, TN, for some time, this is the first day on which the show is announced as "The Grand Ole Opry."

1949: Fats Domino cut eight tracks during his first recording session at Cosimo Matassa’s J&M Studios in New Orleans.

1959: The Platters' four male members are acquitted of charges made on August 10th in Cincinnati, OH, of "aiding and abetting prostitution, lewdness and assignation."

1963: Donny Osmond makes his debut with the Osmonds on NBC's The Andy Williams Show.

1965: The Grateful Dead perform their first concert in San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium (and only their second overall).

1967: The previously unknown San Francisco group The Steve Miller Blues Band signs to Capitol for an unprecedented $750,000, dropping "Blues" from their name in the process.

1967: Otis Redding and four members of his band, the Bar-Kays, are killed when their tour plane crashes into a frozen near Madison, WI. Three days earlier, Redding had recorded what was to be his breakthough pop hit, "Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay."  Otis was 26 years old.

1971: During a concert in London, Frank Zappa is thrown into the orchestra pit by a fan's jealous boyfriend, breaking his leg and ankle and fracturing his skull. Zappa takes months to recover.

1972: Roberta Flack and two members of her backup band are injured when her bass player totals her new Citroen near Manhattan.

1973: The CBGB (Country, BlueGrass, and Blues) Club opened in the lower eastside of New York City; it became the home of new bands such as Blondie, Television, Patti Smith and The Ramones.

1976: Billy Idol's new band Generation X made their live debut at The Central College Of Art, London.

1980: The body of John Lennon is cremated.

1995: Darren Robinson (The Human Beatbox) of The Fat Boys died of a heart attack, weighing 450 lb at the time.  He was 28 years old.

2003: Coldplay singer Chris Martin married actress Gwyneth Paltrow in Santa Barbara, California. The couple also announced that Paltrow was pregnant and the baby was due next summer.

2003: Bobby Brown was charged with battery three days after he allegedly hit his wife Whitney Houston.

2005: Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood marry at their home in Owasso, Oklahoma.

2007: Led Zeppelin played their first concert in 19 years, at London's 02 arena. Original band members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones were joined on stage by Jason Bonham, the son of their late drummer John Bonham. More than one million people had taken part in a ballot for the 20,000 tickets available for the show.

2008: DMX was back behind bars in Miami after he was arrested for allegedly missing a court appearance in Phoenix, Arizona. The rapper was arrested on a warrant issued by a judge after he failed to show in where he faced charges of drug possession, identity theft and animal cruelty.

December 9

Births

1922: Redd Foxx (John Elroy Sanford) (Comedian)

1934: Junior Wells (Blues Musician)

1941: Dan Hicks (Singer / Songwriter)

1950: Joan Armatrading (Singer / Songwriter)

1954: Jack Sonni (Guitar for Dire Straits)

1957: Donny Osmond (Singer in The Osmonds)

1958: Nick Seymour (Bass for Crowded House)

1958: Rikk Agnew (Guitar for The Adolescents & Christian Death)

1964: Paul H. Landers (Rhythm Guitar for Rammstein)

1966: Michael Foster (Drummer for Firehouse)

1968: Brian Bell (Rhythm Guitar for Weezer)

1969: Jakob Dylan (Singer / Songwriter & Guitar for The Wallflowers & Solo)

1971: Geoff Barrow (Producer & DJ for Portishead)

1972: Tre Cool (Frank Wright III) (Drummer for Green Day)

1974: Canibus (Germaine Williams) (Rapper)

Events

1955: Elvis Presley performs at the B&I Club in Swifton, AK, and introduces his new song, "Heartbreak Hotel," by claiming "It's gonna be my first hit."

1962: Bobby Darin appears as the "mystery guest" on CBS' What's My Line show.

1962: The Supreme’s debut album “Meet the Supremes” was released.

1964: John Coltrane recorded the album “A Love Supreme” in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. It is generally considered to be among Coltrane's greatest works.

1967: The Doors appeared at the New Haven Arena, New Haven, Connecticut. Before the show a policeman found singer Jim Morrison making out with an 18 year-old girl in a backstage shower and after an argument the policeman sprays mace in Morrison’s face. Once on stage Morrison tells the story of the backstage episode and starts taunting the police who drag him off the stage and arrest him. The crowd riots leaving the venue in disarray and many are arrested. Later over 100 protestors gathered at the police station in demonstration and more arrests were made.

1968: NBC airs the joint Supremes and Temptations television TCB (Takin' Care Of Business).

1972: An all-star orchestral version of The Who's Tommy opened at London's Rainbow Theatre. Advance tickets went for the then-princely sum of $50, but the show itself was a major disappointment, with most of the "actors" floundering (except Who singer Roger Daltrey and Steve Winwood as Tommy's father). Narrator Pete Townshend, for his part, was observed to be drunk. None of this stopped the cast recording from being recorded and eventually becoming a hit in '73.

1984: The Jacksons' five-month Victory tour -- Michael Jackson's last group tour -- ends after 55 performances in 19 cities.

1989: Garth Brooks nabs his first #1 country single: "If Tomorrow Never Comes".

1990: Paula Abdul was taken to North Hollywood Medical Centre after being involved in a car crash in Los Angeles.

1991: A long legal battle over the Bob Marley estate ends when the nearly $12 million estate is awarded to his widow, Rita, and her children. In honor of the verdict, son Ziggy names his daughter, who was born that day, Justice Marley.

1992: After more than thirty years, Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman quits the group.

2000: U2 made their first-ever appearance on the long-running NBC program 'Saturday Night Live.' The band played ‘Beautiful Day’ and ‘Elevation.’

2002: Stereolab singer Mary Hanson was killed in a cycling accident after colliding with a tipper truck in East London at 36 years old.

2006: Mariah Carey threatened legal action against porn star Mary Carey in an attempt to stop her trademarking her similar-sounding stage name. The singer believed fans could get the two performers confused if the adult film actress Mary Carey's trademark application was successful.

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)

1956: Warren Cuccurullo (Guitar for Missing Persons & Frank Zappa)

1962: Marty Friedman (Guitar for Megadeth)

1966: Sinead O'Connor (Singer / Songwriter)

1966: Bushwick Bill (Richard Shaw) (Rapper in The Geto Boys & Solo)

1973: Number 8 (Corey Taylor) (Singer for Slipknot & Stone Sour)

1973: Judith Pronk (DJ & Singer for Alice DeeJay)

1974: Nick Zinner (Guitar for Yeah Yeah Yeahs)

1982: Nicki Minaj (Onika Tanya Maraj ) (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.

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.

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.