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.

January 24

Births

1939: Ray Stevens (Country Singer)

1941: Aaron Neville (Singer in The Neville Brothers & Solo)

1941: Neil Diamond (Pop Singer)

1947: Warren Zevon (Singer / Songwriter)

1949: John Belushi (Actor & Jake Blues from The Blues Brothers)

1953: Nigel Glockler (Drummer for Saxon & GTR)

1958: Jools Holland (Keyboards for Squeeze)

1967: John Myung (Bass for Dream Theater)

1974: Chris Hesse (Drums for Hoobastank)

1979: Tatyana Ali (R&B Singer & Actress)

Events

1957: Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock" enters the UK charts at Number One, the first single to ever do so.

1962: The Beatles sign their first and only management contract with Brian Epstein at the manager's offices at 12 Whitechapel St. in Liverpool. Epstein is to receive a full one-quarter of the band's earnings, yet to prove his worth, he does not sign the contract until the following October.

1962: Today, at the very height of the dance craze, four of Billboard's Top Ten albums belong to Chubby Checker: For Twisters Only, Let's Twist Again, Your Twist Party, and Bobby Rydell / Chubby Checker.

1969: Jethro Tull play their first American show, opening for Blood, Sweat and Tears at New York's Fillmore East.

1970: Dr. Robert Moog unveils the "minimoog" synthesizer, one of the first portable synth keyboards, at a price of $2,000. The American Federation of Musicians at first opposes the instrument, fearing its "realistic" settings will put horn and string sections out of work. The minimoog becomes the first synth to go on tour with rock bands.

1979: The Clash released their first single in the US, 'I Fought The Law' (written by Sonny Curtis of Buddy Holly's Crickets).

1980: Pink Floyd advertise their upcoming four-city world tour to promote their album The Wall with a special billboard on Los Angeles' Sunset Strip that was gradually covered up each day with a brick until an entire wall was built over it.

1981: Singer Steve Tyler of Aerosmith was hospitalized after being involved in a crash on his motorcycle.

1982: Diana Ross sings the US National Anthem at Superbowl XVI in Pontiac, MI.

2005: Country-pop singer Lynn Anderson is arrested for stealing a Harry Potter DVD from a supermarket in Taos, NM, and then, allegedly, punching the arresting officer in the stomach.

January 23

Births:

1910: Django Reinhardt (Jazz Guitarist)

1948: Anita Pointer (R&B Singer in The Pointer Sisters)

1950: Danny Federici (Organ and Keyboard player for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band)

1953: Robin Zander (Vocals & Rhythm Guitar for Cheap Trick)

1973: Marc Nelson (Singer in Boyz II Men)

1974: Tiffani Amber Thiessen (Actress)

1975: Nick Harmer (Bass Guitar for Death Cab for Cutie)

Events:

1956: Rock 'n' Roll fans in Cleveland under 18 years old were banned from dancing in public (unless accompanied by an adult) after Ohio Police introduced a law dating back to 1931.

1965: Petula Clark becomes the first female Brit to hit the top of the American charts, with her smash "Downtown."

1977: Singer Patti Smith broke her vertebra when she fell off the stage at a gig in Tampa, Florida.

1978: Terry Kath, guitarist with Chicago, accidentally shot himself dead while cleaning (with what he believed) was an unloaded gun. Kath's last words were "Don't worry it's not loaded" as he put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. He was killed instantly at 32 years old.

1979: Beach Boy Brian Wilson and his wife Marilyn were divorced.

1986: Ray Charles was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the first induction dinner, held in New York City.

1990: Allen Collins, guitarist from Lynyrd Skynyrd, died of pneumonia after being ill for several months. Collins who was one of the founding members also co-wrote most of the band's songs (including Free Bird), with late front man Ronnie Van Zant. He survived a plane crash in 1977 that killed two other band members. Collins was behind the wheel in a car accident in 1986 that killed his girlfriend and left him paralyzed from the waist down. He later pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter as well as driving under the influence of alcohol.

2000: Heart's Nancy Wilson and her husband, famed rock scribe Cameron Crowe, are the proud parents of their first and only children, twins named William and Curtis.

2003: R. Kelly was arrested on new child pornography charges. The singer was detained in Miami after police said digital sex pictures were discovered at his home in Florida last June. The singer was already facing 21 charges relating to producing child pornography and appearing in a video having sex with an underage girl. He was charged with a further 12 counts of possession of child pornography.

2011: Ringo Starr attempts to register the word "Ringo" as a trademark in the US.