January 28

Births

1941: King Tubby (Osbourne Ruddock) (Reggae Producer)

1943: Dick Taylor (Bass for The Pretty Things)

1945: Robert Wyatt (Drums & Vocals for Soft Machine)

1951: Billy Base Nelson (William Nelson) (Bass for Funkadelic)

1959: Dave Sharp (Guitar for The Alarm)

1963: Dan Spitz (Guitar for Anthrax)

1968: DJ Muggs (Lawrence Muggerud) (DJ for Cypress Hill)

1968: Sarah McLachlan (Singer / Songwriter)

1968: Rakim (William Michael Griffin Jr.) (Rapper)

1971: Anthony Hamilton (R&B Singer)

1976: Rick Ross (William Leonard Roberts II) (Rapper)

1977: Joey Fatone (Singer in N’Sync)

1980: Nick Carter (Singer in Backstreet Boys)

1985: J. Cole (Jermaine Lamarr Cole) (Rapper / R&B Singer)

Events

1956: Elvis Presley makes his television debut on CBS' Dorsey Brothers Stage Show. Backed by the house band, he sings "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Heartbreak Hotel." The national furor over Presley would not erupt, however, until subsequent appearances on Milton Berle and Steve Allen's shows.

1965: The Who make their first UK television appearance on BBC's Ready Steady Go!, which helps place their debut single "I Can't Explain" in the British Top Ten.

1968: During their tour in Australia, members of The Who and the Small Faces, among others, are escorted off their flight from Adelaide to Essendon for drinking beer on the plane, being rowdy, and using "very bad language." Two of the flight's four attendants are said to be in tears.

1968: Jim Morrison of The Doors was arrested and charged with public drunkenness after harassing a security guard at a Las Vegas adult movie theatre.

1978: The Doobie Brothers guest star on an episode of ABC's What's Happening!

1978: By request, Ted Nugent carves his autograph into the arm of a fan using his bowie knife.

1982: Jackson Browne and his second wife, Lynne Sweeney, become the proud parents of their first child, Ryan Daniel.

1984: Backstage after a Motley Crue show in Buffalo, New York, Tommy Lee found out that his girlfriend has posed for the current issue of Penthouse magazine without his knowledge, after a fan passes comment on the pictures. Tommy punched the fan unconscious with one hit, Motleys manager Doug Thaler convinced the fan not to press any charges.

1985: The recording took place for We Are The World, the US equivalent of Band Aid, at A&M Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, the all star cast included Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan (who contributed four lines to the charity single), Ray Charles, Daryl Hall, John Oates, Cyndi Lauper, Steve Perry and Bob Geldof. The session was produced by Quincy Jones.

1995: TLC started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Creep' the group's first US No.1, it made No.6 in the UK the following year.

2003: H-Town singer Keven Conner was killed in a car crash in Houston aged 28. Conner died when an SUV ran a red light and crashed into the car he was a passenger in, which had just picked him up from the recording studio.

2004: James Brown is arrested on charges of domestic violence in Beech Island, SC.

2005: Traffic Drummer and singer/songwriter Jim Capaldi died of stomach cancer aged 60.

January 27

Births

1756: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer)

1918: Elmore James (Blues Guitarist & Singer / Songwriter)

1919: David Seville (Ross" Bagdasarian)(The Chipmunks)

1930: Bobby "Blue" Bland (R&B & Blues Singer)

1944: Nick Mason (Drummer for Pink Floyd)

1946: Nedra Talley (Singer in The Ronettes)

1951: Brian Downey (Drummer for Thin Lizzy)

1961: Gillian Gilbert (Keyboards for New Order)

1961: Margo Timmins (Lead Vocals for Cowboy Junkies)

1968: Tricky (Adrian Nicholas Matthews Thaws) (Producer & Rapper)

1968: Mike Patton (Singer for Faith no More & Solo)

1968: Tracy Lawrence (Country Artist)

1969: Michael Kulas (Singer / Songwriter for James)

Events

1958: Following a harrowing near-fatal plane ride, Little Richard gives up rock and roll and enrolls in Oakwood College in Huntsville, AL, a school for African-Americans run by the Seventh Day Adventist Church, so he can get a degree in divinity.

1961: Frank Sinatra played a benefit show at Carnegie Hall in New York City for Martin Luther King.

1964: The Rolling Stones appear on the BBC's Juke Box Jury show as panelists. Their impolite behavior -- including referring to Elvis' latest single as "dated" -- causes a furor in the British press.

1968: The Bee Gees make their US debut at the Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. They earn top dollar -- $50,000 -- for their appearance but head straight back to their Australian home as soon as the concert is over.

1971: David Bowie arrives for his first visit to the US. The press in Louisiana and Texas takes note of his penchant for wearing dresses in public.

1972: Gospel Singer Mahalia Jackson died of heart failure and diabetes complications.

1984: During filming of a television ad for Pepsi cola, Michael Jackson's hair catches fire due to a pyrotechnic display gone awry. Jackson is hospitalized for a few days, inspiring fans from around the world to send their best wishes.

1998: James Brown was charged with possession of marijuana and unlawful use of a firearm after police were called to his South Carolina home. Brown later claimed the drugs were used to help his eyesight.

2002: Koko Taylor collapses during a private function at her club, Koko Taylor's Celebrity, in Chicago, IL, after failing to take her diabetic medication. Doctors discover arterial blockage in her heart, as well.

2004: R&B singer Faith Evans and her husband were charged with possession of cocaine and marijuana after being arrested in Atlanta, Georgia. Police pulled them over for a suspected licence plate offence.

January 26

Births

1943: Jean Knight (R&B Singer)

1948: Corky Laing (Drummer for Mountain)

1951: David Briggs (Guitar for The Little River Band)

1951: Andy Hummel (Bass for Big Star)

1953: Lucinda Williams (Singer / Songwriter)

1955: Eddie Van Halen (Guitar for Van Halen)

1958: Anita Baker (R&B Singer)

1961: Tom Keifer (Guitar & Vocals for Cinderella)

1963: Andrew Ridgeley (The other guy in  Wham!)

1963: Jazzie B (Trevor Beresford Romeo) (DJ in Soul II Soul)

1970: Kirk Franklin (Gospel Singer)

1976: Willie Adler (Guitar for Lamb Of God)

1986: Matt Heafy (Lead Guitar & Vocals for Trivium)

Events

1934: The Apollo Theatre opens in Harlem, New York City, as a "Negro vaudeville theatre."

1957: Buddy Holly and the Crickets make their second appearance on CBS' Ed Sullivan Show. Before the show Sullivan, who considered Holly's hit "Oh, Boy!" too "raunchy," forbids him from singing it on tonight's show. Holly refuses, causing Sullivan to limit Buddy to one song instead of two, sabotage him with bad lighting and sound, and mispronounce his name. Holly is visibly upset on the stage.

1962: Buffalo, New York Catholic Church Bishop Joseph A. Burke bans the Twist from being heard or danced in any area Catholic school or event.

1969: The Beatles, recording the Get Back (later Let It Be) album and film at Apple Corps headquarters, decide to stage a concert on the roof (although it wouldn't happen on this day). Ringo writes "Octopus's Garden" today, as well.

1970: John Lennon writes "Instant Karma!" in the morning and records it the same afternoon with producer Phil Spector and a backing "choir" assembled from pubcrawlers at London's Hatchetts Club. The single is mixed the same day and released just ten days later (hence the song's name).

1970: Elvis Presley introduces "An American Trilogy" into his performances at the Las Vegas Hilton.

1972: Elvis Presley begins wearing one-piece jumpsuits during his gigs at the International Hotel, Las Vegas.

1972: Sean Combs (Puff Daddy) father Melvin was shot dead in his car in a Manhattan park aged thirty-three. Sean was aged 2 at the time.

1977: Original Fleetwood Mac lead guitarist Peter Green is committed to a psychiatric facility in his native England for firing a pistol at a delivery boy who was attempting to deliver a royalty check.

1977: After removing the diamond from his famous "TCB" ring, Elvis Presley has it placed in an engagement ring for girlfriend Ginger Alden. Elvis proposes to her in the bathroom at Graceland.

1980: Prince made his TV debut on the US show American Bandstand.

1986: Allen Collins, guitarist from Lynyrd Skynyrd crashed his car, paralyzing him from the waist down and killing his girlfriend Debra Jean Watts. Collins had survived a plane crash in 1977 that killed two other band members.

1997: ZZ Top, James Brown, and the "Blues Brothers" perform at the Super Bowl XXXI halftime show in New Orleans.

1999: The National Transportation Safety Board determines the cause of John Denver's fatal 1997 airplane crash: Denver neglected to fill his main tank with enough fuel, and in the process of switching over to his backup tank inadvertently put the plane into a deadly roll.

January 25

Births

1938: Etta James (Jazz & R&B Singer)

1956: Andy Cox (Guitar for The English Beat & Fine Young Cannibals)

1981: Alicia Keys (R&B Singer / Songwriter)

Events

1858: Mendelssohn’s "Wedding March" was presented for the first time, as the daughter of Queen Victoria married the Crown Prince of Prussia.

1958: Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock" enters the UK pop charts at Number One, the first single to ever do so in the country.

1967: Jefferson Airplane's Grace Slick and Paul Kantner become the proud parents of a baby girl they name "God." (Her name is later changed to "China.")

1978: Joy Division made their live debut when they played Pips in Manchester, England.

1980: Paul McCartney is released from a Tokyo jail after nine days. He had been incarcerated after Japanese customs officials found half a pound of marijuana in his luggage. McCartney flies to Amsterdam to meet with his family.

1983: The Allman Brothers bassist Lamar Williams died of lung cancer age 34. He joined the band in 1972 after the death of original bassist Berry Oakley.

1984: John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, donates $375,000 to Liverpool's Strawberry Field, an orphanage which served as the inspiration for the Beatles song "Strawberry Fields Forever."

1989: Madonna started divorce proceedings for the second time from Sean Penn at Los Angeles County Court and moved into a new three-bedroom house in Hollywood Hills.

1991: Paul McCartney appears on MTV's Unplugged.

2003: Billy Joel escapes relatively unharmed when he totals his Mercedes on a highway in his native Long Island, NY.

2010: KISS rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange.