Births
1925: Bill Haley (William John Clifton Haley) (Singer &
Guitarist)
1937: Gene Chandler (Eugene Dixon) (R&B Singer)
1949: Mike Shrieve (Drums for Santana)
1949:
Phyllis Hyman (Jazz Singer)
1952: Graham Oliver (Guitar for Saxon)
1953: Nanci Griffith (Singer / Songwriter)
1963: Tim Bricheno (Guitar for The Sisters Of Mercy)
1967: Heather Nova (Singer / Songwriter)
1970: Inspectah Deck (Rapper in The Wu-Tang Clan)
1975: 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) (Rapper)
1979: Nic Cester (Singer & Guitarist for Jet)
Events
1937: "Sing, Sing, Sing"
was recorded by Benny Goodman and his band.
1965: Rock
group "Jefferson Airplane" forms.
1967: Pink Floyd made their first appearance on BBC TV music
show Top Of The Pops to promote their new single ‘See Emily Play’. A badly damaged home video recording
recovered by the British Film Institute of this show was given a public
screening in London on 9th January 2010 at an event called "Missing
Believed Wiped" devoted to recovered TV shows. It was the first time any
footage was seen of the performance since its original broadcast.
1971: American jazz trumpeter, singer and bandleader, Louis
Armstrong died of a heart attack at 69 years old.
1973: Queen released their debut single ‘Keep Yourself Alive’
in the UK.
1975: Rolling Stone Keith Richards was arrested by the
highway patrol in Arkansas on charges of reckless driving and possessing an
offensive weapon, a seven-inch hunting knife.
1976: The Damned made their debut
performance at the 100 Club in London.
1992: David Gates from Gateshead, Northumberland was given
one year's probation after being convicted of stealing guitars from the back of
a van belonging to The Bay City Rollers.
1998: Roy Rogers dies of heart failure in Apple Valley,
California. The King of the Cowboys was the only performer elected twice to the
Country Music Hall of Fame--once as a solo artist, once as a member of The Sons
Of The Pioneers.
1999: Keyboard player with Third World Michael Wallace was
shot dead in Kingston Jamaica, aged 43.
2001: A pair of Sir Elton John's sandals were set to become
the most expensive shoes in history when they went under the hammer for
charity. Offers over $40,000 were invited for the Salvatore Ferragamo sandals
to raise funds for Elton's Aid Trust .
2002: George Harrison's widow Olivia put the couple's home up
for sale for $40m saying she couldn't bear to live with the memories of the
attack by schizophrenic Michael Abram who broke into the house in 1999.
2003: Skip Battin, bassist and songwriter with The Byrds,
died of complications from Alzheimer's disease. He also played with New Riders
Of The Purple Sage and The Flying Burrito Brothers.
2005: Grammy award winning Rap star Lil' Kim who was
convicted of perjury and conspiracy in March 2005, was sentenced to a year in
jail for lying to a grand jury to protect friends. Kim told the court "I
testified falsely to the grand jury and during the trial. At the time I thought
it was the right thing to do. Now I know it was wrong." Lil' Kim (real
name Kimberley Jones) was also fined $50,000. Charges were brought against her
after a gunfight erupted outside a New York radio station in 2001 as a rival
rap group was arriving.
2007: Avril Lavigne was facing legal action by members of
1970s rock band The Rubinoos, who claimed she had copied one of their songs.
Songwriters Tommy Dunbar and James Gangwer alleged Lavigne's hit ‘Girlfriend’
was lifted from their 1979 song ‘I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.’
2007: Britney Spears apologized for attacking a
photographer's car with an umbrella earlier this year. Pictures of the
25-year-old lashing out appeared in several newspapers shortly after photos
emerged of her shaving her head in a hair salon. In a message on her website,
she said: "I apologize to the pap for a stunt that was done four months
ago." She said she got "carried away" preparing for a film part
but added that she did not get the role.
2008: Kix Brooks runs with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.
2009: Lady Antebellum's Charles Kelley marries Nashville
publicist Cassie McConnell in the Bahamas.
