Births
1946 Terry Kath, guitarist with Chicago, (1976 UK & US No.1 single with 'If You Leave Me Now'). Kath accidentally shot himself dead on January 23rd 1978. Kath's last words were "Don't worry it's not loaded" as he put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. The guitarist and singer was killed instantly.
1951 Harry Wayne Casey, KC and the Sunshine Band, (1975 US No.1 single 'That's The Way, I Like It', 1983 UK No.1 single 'Give It Up').
1951 Phil Manzanera, guitar, Roxy Music, (1972 UK No.4 single 'Virginia Plain' plus 15 other UK Top 40 singles).
1952 Curley Smith, drums, Jo Jo Gunne, (1972 UK No.6 & US No. 27 single 'Run Run Run.)'
1954 Adrian Vandenburg, guitar, Whitesnake, (1987 US No.1 & UK No.9 single 'Here I Go Again').
1956 John Lydon, (Johnny Rotten,) singer, *** Pistols, (1977 UK No.2 single 'God Save The Queen' and 1977 UK No.1 album 'Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The *** Pistols'). Public Image Ltd, (1983 UK No.5 single 'This Is Not A Love Song').
1961 Lloyd Cole, vocals, guitar, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, (1985 UK No.19 single 'Brand New Friend', solo, 1995 UK No.24 'Like Lovers Do').
1964 Jeff Hanneman, guitar, Slayer, (1995 UK No.50 single 'Serenity In Murder').
1966 Al Jaworski, bass, Jesus Jones, (1991 UK No.7 single 'International Bright Young Thing').
1967 Chad Channing, Nirvana's first drummer, left the band in 1990. Has since worked with The Methodists, East of the Equator and Redband.
1970 Minnie Driver, actress, singer, songwriter, 2004 album 'Everything I've Got In My Pocket', was once a member of UK band Puff, Rocks and Brown who were signed to Island records.
1981 Justin Timberlake, singer, *NSYNC, (2000 US No.1 single 'It's Gonna Be Me', 1999 UK No.5 single 'I Want You Back'). Solo, (2003 UK No.2 & US No.3 single 'Cry Me A River'). His second solo album 'FutureSex/LoveSounds' was released in 2006 with the U.S. number-one hit singles 'SexyBack', 'My Love' and 'What Goes Around... Comes Around.' With his first two albums, Timberlake has sold over fourteen million albums worldwide. Has his own record label called Tennman Records.
Deaths
1970 Blues musician Slim Harpo died of a heart attack while recording in London aged 46. 1966 US No.16 single 'Baby Scratch My Back'.
1978 Greg Herbert saxophone player with Blood Sweat & Tears died of a accidental drug overdose in Amsterdam during the band's European tour. He was 30 years old.
2002 Paul Baloff singer with US thrash metal band Exodus died of a fatal stroke.
Events
1953 Perry Como was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes'.
1957 Decca Records announced that Bill Haley & His Comets, 'Rock Around The Clock' had sold over a million copies in the UK, mostly on 10inch 78's.
1961 The "Bobby Darin and Friends" TV special aired on NBC-TV.
1963 The Beach Boys recorded "Surfin' U.S.A." and "Shutdown."
1963 Jet Harris and Tony Meehan were at No.1 on the UK single charts with 'Diamonds'.
1967 The Beatles spent a second day at Knole Park, Sevenoaks, Kent, England to complete filming for the 'Strawberry Fields Forever' promotional video. The film was shot in colour, for the benefit of the US market, since UK television was still broadcasting only in black and white. Taking time out from filming John Lennon bought a 1843 poster from an antiques shop in Surrey which provided him with most the lyrics for The Beatles song 'Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite'.
1968 Love Affair were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Everlasting Love'.
1969 Bobby Darin walked off the set of the "Jackie Gleason Show" when he was not allowed to sing "Long Line Rider."
1970 In New Orleans, LA, the Greatful Dead were busted for possession of LSD and barbituates. The event was alleged to be the inspiration for the song "Truckin."
1970 Creedence Clearwater Revial (CCR) filmed a television special.
1970 The Jackson Five went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'I Want You Back'. The song was originally written for Gladys Knight & The Pips and was the first of four No.1's for the group. It made No.2 in the UK.
1972 Aretha Franklin sang at Mahalia Jackson's funeral.
1976 Abba knocked Queen from the UK No.1 position on the UK singles chart with 'Mamma Mia.' Queen's single 'Bohemian Rhapsody' had enjoyed a nine week run at the top of the charts, by coincidence, Abba's single contains the famous "mamma mia, mamma mia, mamma mia let me go" line.
1976 Appearing on UK television pop show Supersonic, Alan Price, Sailor, Roy Wood and Chris Spedding.
1976 UK Music weekly Sounds readers Poll Winners included; best album 'A Night At The Opera', by Queen, best single 'Bohemian Rhapsody', Queen, best band Queen, musician Mike Oldfield, female singer Maddy Prior, Steeleye, Span, new band Rainbow, bore of the year The Bay City Rollers.
1976 'The Best Of Roy Orbison' went to No.1 on the UK album chart.
1976 The Ohio Players went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Love Rollercoaster' the groups second US No.1.
1978 Talking Heads made their UK TV debut on the 'The Old Grey Whistle Test'.
1979 The Clash began their first U.S. tour with Bo Diddley as their opening act.
1981 Blondie went to No.1 on the US singles hart with 'The Tide Is High', the groups third US No.1, also a No.1 in the UK.
1983 The Maisonettes had the No. 1 UK indie single with 'Heartache Avenue'.
1986 "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" opened co-starring Little Richard.
1987 Paul Simon went back to No. 1 on the UK album chart with 'Graceland', the album stayed on the chart for 101 weeks.
1988 Appearing at The Mean Fiddler, London, England, Red Hot Chili Peppers.
1988 Janet Jackson started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Together Again'.
1988 Herb Alpert performed the U.S. national anthem at Super Bowl XXII.
1990 The Stone Roses were granted conditional bail by Wolverhampton Magistrates court after the band had trashed their record company's offices.
1998 Usher went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'You Make Me Wanna'.
1998 The "Come Together" benefit concert was held in New Jersey. The benefit was for the family of Sgt. Patrick King, a police officer in Long Branch, NJ, who was killed in the line of duty in 1997.
1998 The Presidents of the United States of America played their final show in Seattle, WA. The show benefited the Chicken Soup Brigade.
1998 Yanni set the gross revenue record for the MCI Center in Washington, DC, with $860,300. His record was broken by Janet Jackson on July 9, 1998.
1999 Cher sang the U.S. national anthem at Super Bowl XXXIII.
1999 Armand Van Helden went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'You Don't Know Me'. Helden also had a No.1 with the remix of the Tori Amos track 'Professional Widow'.
2000 The Strokes played their first ever UK show when they appeared at The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth.
2001 It was announced that Peter Criss was leaving KISS and that he would be replaced by Eric Singer for the remainder of dates of the farewell tour. Criss' last show was on October 7, 2000.
2003 Robbie Williams topped a chart based on UK album sales from the past 5 years. The ex Take That singer had sold 9.7 million albums in Britain, an average of more than 5,000 every day. The Corrs were in second place with 5.8m sales, Westlife in third with 5.1, Madonna in fourth with 5m and The Beatles in fifth with 4.7m.
2007 Jim Morrison was enlisted to help fight global warming more than 35 years after his death. 'Woman in the Window', a previously unreleased poem written and recorded by The Doors frontman shortly before he died in 1971 was being set to music and used to publicise the Global Cool campaign.
2008 Natasha Bedingfield entered the US chart at number three with her album Pocketful of Sunshine, equaling the record set by soul singer Sade in having the highest-ever US chart debut for a UK-signed female. The British singer sold 50,000 copies of the record in its first week of release.
