December 20

Births

1944: Bobby Colomby (Drums for Blood, Sweat and Tears)

1945: Peter Criss (Drums for KISS)

1948: Alan Parsons (Keyboards & Vocals for The Alan Parsons Project)

1957: Anita Ward (Disco Singer)

1957: Billy Bragg (Singer & Guitarist)

1957: Mike Watt (Bass for Firehose, The reunited Stooges & Porno For Pyros)

1966: Chris Robinson (Singer for The Black Crowes)

1982: David Cook (American Idol Winner)

1990: JoJo (Joanna Noëlle Blagden Levesque) (Pop Singer)

Events

1957: Elvis Presley picks up his draft notice.

1967: The band Jethro Tull, named after the 18th-century inventor of the seed drill, is formed.

1967: Folk singer Joan Baez was sentenced to 45 days in prison after being arrested during an anti-war demonstration.

1973: After failing to take medication to protect his heart before a dental visit, Bobby Darin developed an overwhelming systemic infection, otherwise known as sepsis. This weakened his body and badly affected one of his heart valves. On December 11, Darin entered Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for surgery to repair two artificial heart valves he had received in the previous heart operation back in January 1971. On December 19, a five-man surgical team worked for over six hours to repair Darin's damaged heart. Darin died minutes afterward in the recovery room on December 20, 1973, at the age of 37.

1975: Former James Gang guitarist/vocalist and solo artist Joe Walsh joins the Eagles, replacing Bernie Leadon, who left after the band decided to pursue a more "rock" sound.

1980: Motorhead's Drummer Phil Taylor accidentally broke a bone in his neck when partying after a gig in Belfast.

1983: Johnny Cash checks into the Betty Ford Center to prevent an addiction to pain-killers administered during a recent hospital stay. He stays at the center for six weeks and is assigned to kitchen duty for three of them. Elizabeth Taylor is also in treatment.

1994: Beach Boys lead vocalist Mike Love publicly drops his lawsuit against the group. Love had claimed he was due partial royalties on 35 Beach Boys classics; the suit was settled out-of-court.

2001: Tommy Lee branded his ex-wife Pam Anderson an unfit mother. The drummer filed papers with the Los Angeles Superior Court alleging his son's tell him 'We hate Mommy' and his son Brandon had been using the F-word he learned from his mommy.

2006: Eminem and his high school sweetheart divorced for a second time, less than a year after they remarried. The couple agreed to share custody of their 10-year-old daughter, Hailie. The pair told a judge in Michigan they understood this time the divorce was final. The couple remarried in January. But the rapper filed for divorce less than three months later, saying there had been "a breakdown in the marriage relationship".

2009: Carrie Underwood gets engaged to Ottawa hockey player Mike Fisher at his home in Ontario.

December 19

Births

1915: Edith Piaf (French Singer)

1918: Professor Longhair (New Orleans Blues Singer & Harmonica Player)

1920: Little Jimmy Dickens (Country Singer)

1940: Phil Ochs (Folk Singer)

1941: Maurice White (Singer for Earth, Wind and Fire)

1944: Alvin Lee (Guitar & Vocals for Ten Years After)

1944: Zal Yanovsky (Lead Guitar for The Lovin' Spoonful)

1947: Jimmy Bain (Bass for Rainbow & Dio)

1958: Limahl (Chris Hamill) (Singer for Kajagoogoo & Solo)

1967: Chriss Angel (Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos) (Magician)

1972: Alyssa Milano (Just Because)

Events

1955: Carl Perkins records "Blue Suede Shoes" at the Sun Recording Studios in Memphis.

1956: Elvis Presley singles hold 10 chart positions on Billboard's Hot 100 chart today, a record for a single artist, which will stand until the Beatles up the ante to 14 simultaneous chart hits in 1964.

1957: Elvis Presley had his draft notice served on him for the US Army. He went on to join the 32nd Tank Battalion third Armor Corps based in Germany.

1962: With his romantic indecision having forced girlfriend Anita Wood to leave him this August, Elvis Presley makes his decision and invites Priscilla Beaulieu, a girl he met in Germany, to visit him in Memphis. Elvis meets Priscilla at his father Vernon's house, where she has driven in from New York City with Vernon and stepmother Dee. Priscilla is nervous and Elvis prescribes some sleeping pills which leave her asleep for the better part of two days.

1985: Johnny Paycheck shoots Larry Wise at the North High Lounge in Hillsboro, Ohio, after Wise asked if he'd ever eaten turtle meat.

1970: Elton John's first US hit, ‘Your Song’ entered the Billboard Hot 100, where it went on to reach number eight. The Hollies had been offered the song and Three Dog Night had already recorded a version which was included on their ‘It Ain't Easy’ album.

1978: ABC-TV airs the seasonal variety special The Carpenters: A Christmas Portrait, also starring Gene Kelly, Georgia Engel, and Kristy & Jimmy McNichol.

1979: Dr. George "Dr. Nick" Nichopoulos, Elvis Presley's personal physician, is charged with prescribing over 12,000 doses of amphetamines, barbiturates, and painkillers for the King in the two years leading up to his death in August 1977. Though Nichopoulos was actually instrumental in trying to wean Elvis off of his pharmaceutical addiction, and acquitted on this charge, he was nonetheless eventually stripped of his license in 1995, after three more Presley-related lawsuits.

1988: Johnny Cash has open heart surgery at Nashville's Baptist Hospital, one week after Waylon Jennings had similar surgery at the same location.

1993: Michael Clarke (Drummer for The Byrds) died at age 47, from liver failure, a direct result of more than three decades of heavy alcohol consumption.

1996: Buddy Holly's hometown of Lubbock, TX, renames Avenue H as Buddy Holly Avenue in honor of its native son.

2000: Pops Staples (Singer / Songwriter & Guitarist for The Staple Singers) died after suffering a concussion in a fall at his home, just a few days short of his 86th birthday.

2000: 10,000 Maniacs guitarist Robert Buck died of liver failure aged 42.

2000: Wu-Tang Clan rapper Ol Dirty Bastard was returned to New York from Philadelphia in police custody, in order to face outstanding drug charges for possessing crack cocaine.

2001: Scott Weiland (Singer for Stone Temple Pilots) pled guilty to domestic battery case that arose after fighting with his wife at a Hard Rock hotel on November 19. The judge approved a plea bargain in which the case would be dismissed if Weiland had no more problems for the next six months and he completed 26 counseling sessions.

2005: Elton John turns down an offer of nearly six million dollars for the rights to broadcast his civil union to David Furnish on a US television station.

December 18

Births

1941: Sam Andrew (Guitar for Big Brother and the Holding Company)

1943: Keith Richards (Guitar for The Rolling Stones)

1953: Elliot Easton (Guitar for The Cars)

1958: Geordie (Kevin Walker) (Guitar for Killing Joke)

1959: Daddy G (Grant Marshall) (Singer in Massive Attack)

1968: Alejandro Sanz (Spanish Singer / Songwriter)

1970: DMX (Earl Simmons) (Rapper)

1972: DJ Lethal (Leor Dimant) (DJ for Limp Bizkit)

1980: Christina Aguilera (Singer)

Events

1892: Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker Suite" publicly premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia.

1964: Sam Cooke's funeral brings 200,000 fans to the A.R. Leak Funeral Home in Chicago, so many fans that the crush breaks the glass front doors of the parlor. James Brown, there to pay his respects, is forced to leave in order to avoid the grieving mob. Ray Charles, who makes it in, sings a stirring version of "Angels Keep Watching Over Me" for his friend.

1966: Tara Browne, heir to the Guinness fortune, collides with a bus while driving his sports car in London's South Kensington district. Reading about the coroner's report a few days later, John Lennon incorporates the incident into the first and second verses of his new song, "A Day In The Life."

1968: In San Francisco, Janis Joplin begins to rehearse with her new group, The Kozmic Blues Band.

1969: The New York Times reports that a full three-quarters of the billion-dollar music industry's revenue is generated by American youth.

1971: Jerry Lee Lewis divorces his wife Myra Gale Brown, whom he infamously married when she was 13.

1975: Rod Stewart officially leaves the Faces to begin a solo career on Atlantic Records.

1982: When their latest single, "Maneater," hits #1, Hall and Oates officially surpass the Everly Brothers as the biggest duo of all time.

1983: On his 40th birthday, and with Mick Jagger serving as best man, Keith Richards marries his longtime girlfriend, model Patti Hansen, in Mexico's Cabo San Lucas.

1984: Madonna's "Like a Virgin was the No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit. The song was Madonna's first No. 1 hit.

1988: Mike Peters of The Alarm was rushed to hospital after having his eyes burnt by spotlights during a gig in Chester, causing the remaining dates on their UK tour to be cancelled.

1991: In a move that would have widespread implications for the rap industry, Gilbert O'Sullivan is awarded an injunction against rapper Biz Markie for an unlicensed sample of Gilbert's "Alone Again (Naturally)" used in Biz's own "Alone Again."

2003: In Los Angeles, Michael Jackson is officially charged with seven counts of lewd and lascivious acts upon a minor for alleged incidents earlier that year at Jackson's Neverland Ranch. He is also charged with two counts of administering an "intoxicating agent."

2003: President George W. Bush awards James Brown and Loretta Lynn with Kennedy Center Honors in Washington DC.

2008: Paul Simon is made a member of the Board of Trustees at the prestigious Berklee College of Music.

December 17

Births

1939: Eddie Kendricks (Vocals for The Temptations)

1942: Paul Butterfield (Vocals & Harmonica for Paul Butterfield Blues Band)

1949: Paul Rodgers (Vocals for Free, Bad Company & Queen)

1950: Carly Barrett (Drummer for The Wailers)

1958: Mike Mills (Bass for R.E.M.)

1959: Bob Stinson (Lead Guitar for The Replacements)

1961: Sara Dallin (Vocals for Banarama)

1966: Tracy Byrd (Country Artist)

1970: DJ Homicide (DJ for Sugar Ray)

1975: Milla Jovovich (Singer)

1979: Ryan Key (Lead Guitar & Vocals for Yellowcard)

1989: Taylor York (Guitar for Paramore)

Events

1954: The first rock and roll single to hits the British charts does so today: Bill Haley and his Comets' "Shake, Rattle, and Roll."

1955: Carl Perkins writes "Blue Suede Shoes," and, within 48 hours, will record it.

1965: Judy Garland and The Supremes perform at the grand opening of the new Houston Astrodome.

1967: The Beatles' John Lennon and George Harrison throw a party in London for the area secretaries of their official Fan Club. The film Magical Mystery Tour is screened here for the first time.

1969: Tiny Tim marries Miss Vicki Budinger on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. The program receives the second largest ratings of any show up to that time.

1970: The Beach Boys play a Royal Command Performance for Princess Margaret at London's Royal Albert Hall.

1977: Elvis Costello and the Attractions appear on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" in place of the Sex Pistols. The Sex Pistols could not get visas to enter the U.S.

1982: The Who play what was supposed to be their "farewell" concert at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens. The show is filmed and taped for an HBO special and the album Who's Last.

1986: The Doobie Brothers reunite for a benefit concert in Palo Alto, CA, which eventually leads to a reunion tour and album.

1986: Paul & Linda McCartney's limo caught fire en route to a TV taping in Newcastle, England. They are both unharmed.

1986: Wayne Newton wins a $19.2 million suit against NBC News, which had erroneously linked the singer to organized crime.

1993: Sting's wife Trudie Styler gave birth to a son, Giacomo Luke, at a London hospital.

1994: Celine Dion married her manager Rene Angelil at the Notre Dame Basilica, Montreal.

1995: A statue of the late Frank Zappa was unveiled in Vilnius, the capital of the Republic Of Lithuania. It had been organised by Zappa fan club President Saulius Pauksty.

1996: Three members of The Charlie Daniels Band undergo surgery on the same day at Nashville's Baptist Hospital. Charlie Daniels has knee surgery, drummer Jack Gavin has a shoulder operation, and bass player Charlie Hayward has a tonsillectomy.

1999: The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards steals a guitar from a fan outside Richards' birthday party at New York's Russian Tea Room. The fan never presses charges, explaining: "It's Keith, man."

1999: While waiting in the green room after taping four songs for The Saturday Early Show, at CBS Studios in New York City, Grover Washington, Jr. collapsed. He was taken to St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at about 7:30 p.m. He was 56 years old. His doctors determined that he had suffered a massive heart attack.

2010: Captain Beefheart died at age 69 from complications from multiple sclerosis.