Births
1939 Joseph Russell, The Persuasions, acappella group, worked with Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, Don McLean.
1943 Gary Alexander guitar, vocals, The Association, (1967 US No.1 single 'Windy').
1943 John Locke, Spirit, (1969 US No.25 single 'I Got A Line On You').
1945 Onnie Mcintyre, Average White Band, (1975 US No.1 & UK No.6 single 'Pick Up The Pieces').
1946 Bryan MacLean, guitar, vocals, Love, (1966 US No.33 single '7 And 7 Is', 1968 UK No.24 album 'Forever Changes'). He died of a heart attack on 25th December 1998.
1946 Jerry Penrod, bass player, Iron Butterfly. The 17-minute 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida', the title track of their 1968 album, became a Top Thirty hit in the US.
1947 John Fiddler, Medicine Head, (1973 UK No.3 single 'One And One Is One').
1955 Steve Severin, bass, Siouxsie and the Banshees, (1983 UK No.3 single 'Dear Prudence').
1955 Zucchero, (Adelmo Fornaciari), Italian singer, (1991 UK No. 4 with Paul Young, 'Senza Una Donna').
1968 Will Smith, actor, singer, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, (1993 UK No.1 single 'Boom! Shake The Room'). Solo (1997 UK No.1 single 'Men In Black').
1974 Richie Edwards, bass, The Darkness, replacing Frankie Poullain in June 2005. Edwards had worked as a guitar technician for the band and was also once a member of Onion Trump.
1975 Declan Donnelly, P.J. & Duncan, actor, singer, 1994 UK No.9 single 'Lets Get Ready To Rhumble'). TV presenter.
1980 Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (T.I. and also by his alter ego T.I.P.) American Grammy Award-winning rapper, songwriter, actor. (2007 US No.1 album T.I. vs T.I.P.).
Deaths
1980 John "Bonzo" Bonham, of Led Zeppelin, died of asphyxiation on his own vomit due to consumption of alcohol. The group decided to disband when they determine that their drummer cannot be replaced.
1999 Stephen Canaday from The Ozark Mountain Daredevils was killed in a plane crash. Had the 1975 US No.3 single 'Jackie Blue.'
Events
1934 Henry Busse recorded "Hot Lips" with his orchestra.
1953 Liberace made his debut at Carnegie Hall for a sellout crowd.
1954 Elvis Presley released his second single on Sun Records, 'Good Rockin' Tonight,' a song made popular in 1948 by Wynonie Harris.
1964 Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager, turned down an offer of 3 1/2 million pound offer to sell his management contract.
1964 The Temptations begin recording 'My Girl' which went on to be their first US number one and the first of fifteen US Top Ten hits.
1965 During a UK tour Bo Diddley appeared live at The Imperial Theatre, Nelson in Lancashire.
1965 The Beatles cartoon series premiered on ABC TV in the US. The first story was titled 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' and had the group exploring the ocean floor in a diving bell where they met a lovesick octopus.
1965 The half hour Saturday morning cartoon "The Beatles" premiered on ABC-TV. The show ran until September 7, 1969.
1967 The Beatles record "Fool On The Hill" in London at Abbey Road Studios.
1968 Welsh singer Mary Hopkin was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Those Were The Days'. Hopkins had signed to The Beatles Apple label after appearing on UK TV talent show Opportunity Knocks.
1969 John Lennon recorded "Cold Turkey." The backing band included Eric Clapton, Yoko Ono, Ringo Starr and Klaus Voorman.
1970 Ringo Starr released "Beaucoups of Blues."
1970 The first episode of The Partridge Family was shown on US TV, featuring Shirley Jones, David Cassidy, Susan Dey and Danny Bonaduce.
1971 Deep Purple went to No.1 on the UK chart with their third album 'Fireball'.
1971 "Peace Train" by Cat Stevens was released.
1975 Jackie Wilson collapsed while performing "Lonely Teardrops" at the Latino Casino in Cherry Hill, NJ. He had suffered a heart attack that caused brain damage. He was 41 years old. He died in 1984 after spending the rest of his life in hospitals.
1976 The Wings play a benefit show to raise money for the restoration of water-damaged art treasures in St. Marks Square in Venice.
1979 The LP "The Long Run" was released by the Eagles.
1979 The musical "Evita" opened on Broadway. The work was the third collaboration of Tim Rice and Andre Lloyd Weber.
1979 The single "I'm The Man" was released by Joe Jackson.
1981 A concert by the Rolling Stones was recorded at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. The footage from the tour was later released as "Lets Spend the Night Together."
1982 Queen made a guest appearance on US TV's Saturday Night Live, where they performed 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' and 'Under Pressure'.
1990 Little Richard Boulevard is named for the star in Macon, GA.
1990 Dave Grohl, formerly with Washington DC's Scream, joined Nirvana.
1992 Two fans were stabbed and 20 arrests were made after trouble broke out at a Ozzy Osbourne gig in Oklahoma City. The sale of alcohol at the concert was blamed for the incident.
1993 Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince started a two week run at No.1 in the UK with the single 'Boom! Shake The Room'.
1993 Nirvana went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'In Utero' the bands first UK No.1 album.
1993 The Spin Doctors kicked off a 4-date UK tour at the Manchester Academy.
1994 The Offspring made their live UK debut at The Charlotte, Leicester.
1995 Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" became only the second single to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The first artist to accomplish this feat was Michael Jackson with "You Are Not Alone."
1995 Courtney Love was given a one-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, fined $1000 and ordered to attend a anger management course after being found guilty of assaulting Bikini Kill singer Kathleen Hanna.
1996 Charlie Watts became the second Rolling Stone to become a grandfather when his daughter Seraphina gave birth to a baby girl.
1999 Oasis singer, Liam Gallagher was stopped by customs officials at Heathrow airport and made to pay Ł1300 after not declaring a fur coat he had bought in America.
2000 LL Cool J went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'G.O.A.T.'
2000 Ozzy Osbourne formally requested that Black Sabbath be removed from the nomination list for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Calling the inclusion "meaningless", Osbourne went on to say "Let's face it. Black Sabbath have never been media darlings. We're a people's band and that suits us just fine."
2006 'I Don't Feel Like Dancin' by the Scissor Sisters was at No.1 on the UK singles chart, 'Sexy Back' by Justin Timberlake was at No.1 on the US charts and Sandi Thom had the Australian No.1 single with 'I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (with Flowers in My Hair).
