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Click on a date below to find out what happened on that day in music history... |
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X-factor winner Shayne Ward tops the U.K. charts for a fourth week with his debut single "That's My Goal." The No. 1 album is James Blunt's Back to Bedlam disc.
Shayne Ward
James Blunt
James Lawrence, guitarist with Hope of the States, is found hanged at Peter Gabriel's Real World studios near Bath, where the UK art rockers were finishing work on their debut album. He was 26.
Peter Gabriel
Dancehall star Beenie Man, 30, breaks his ribs and his nose after his Hummer runs off a Kingston highway in Jamaica and flips over.
Beenie Man
Mystikal ("Shake Ya Ass') is sentenced to six years in prison after he is found guilty of sexual battery. The Louisiana rapper froced his hair stylist to perform sex acts after claiming she had stolen $80,000 from him.
Mystikal
Benjamin Brafman, the lawyer who defended P. Diddy against weapons possession charges, joins Michael Jackson's legal team. Jackson is accused of several counts of child molestation.
Michael Jackson
Diddy
Justin Timberlake plays an "intimate" gig for 1,800 fans at Glasgow Barrowlands, shortly after rocking 9000 Timberheads at the nearby SECC venue.
Justin Timberlake
The Brit awards committee announces that U2 will receive an Outstanding Contribution to Music award at the February 26 ceremony in London, despite actually coming from Ireland - not Britain.
U2
Four thousand people turn out for a Christina Aguilera in-store appearance in Illinois. The department store has to be evacuated due to over-crowding.
Christina Aguilera
Junior Wells, a blues harmonica blower with attitude, dies after suffering a heart attack. He can briefly be glimpsed in Blues Brothers 2000.
Junior Wells
Harry Nilsson, a pal of John Lennon's whose golden pipes appeared on classics like "Everybody's Talkin'" and "Without You," dies from heart disease in Agoura Hills, Calif.
Harry Nilsson
John Lennon
The great lyricist Sammy Cahn dies in Los Angeles aged 79. A favorite of Frank Sinatra's, he co-wrote "All the Way" and "Come Fly With Me."
Sammy Cahn
Frank Sinatra
Elton John's bassist Dee Murray dies of cancer in Nashville.
Elton John
Harry Wayne Casey, leader of KC & the Sunshine Band, is seriously injured in a head-on car crash near his Hialeah, Fla., home. He is temporarily paralyzed on the right side of his body and spends the next year recuperating.
K.C. & the Sunshine Band
Swedish group ABBA accomplishes a lockdown on the British album charts. Arrival is at No. 1, while Greatest Hits rests at No. 2. No wonder punk happened.
ABBA
The Rolling Stones announce a benefit concert for Managua, Nicaragua. The hometown of Bianca Jagger was recently devastated by an earthquake.
The Rolling Stones
Manager Peter Grant turns down an invitation for "Led Zeppelin and his musicians" to play in Cannes, France, by publishing the request in today's issue of Record Retailer.
Led Zeppelin
Bag One, an exhibition of John Lennon's lithographs, opens at the London Arts Gallery.
John Lennon
The Rolling Stones perform "Let's Spend the Night Together" on The Ed Sullivan Show. However, CBS' censors convince Mick Jagger he should sing the less salacious line "Let's spend some time together."
Mick Jagger
The Rolling Stones
Lisa Velez of Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam is born.
Lisa Lisa
The Beatles remain at No. 1 this week in the United States with "We Can Work It Out."
The Beatles
The Who release their single "I Can't Explain" in the U.K., where it goes to No. 8. The New Musical Express contains an interview with Murray the K, a New York DJ known as the fifth Beatle who says, "Outside of the Beatles, British bands can't carry a show by themselves." He hadn't seen the Who yet.
The Who
The Beatles
Bob Dylan completes the recording of Bringing It All Back Home. His magnum opus (so far) was laid down in two days.
Bob Dylan
Vee Jay Records sues Capitol and Swan Records over who owns the manufacturing and distribution rights to the Beatles recordings. The label released some of the Beatles' earlier singles in the United States, including "She Loves You." Capitol Records in turns obtains an injunction restraining Vee Jay from continuing to distribute their Beatles material. The Beatles themselves play their first French concert at Versailles' Cinema Cyrano.
The Beatles
Pete Trewavas, bassist with English '80s prog rockers Marillion, is born in Middlesborough.
Marillion
In today's issue of Billboard, the magazine reports "music with an R&B beat is no longer regarded as a passing phase by major recording firms." The evidence? Perry Como, the Crewcuts and Rosemary Clooney have all recorded pop versions of "Ko Ko Mo," an R&B smash for Gene & Eunice.
Perry Como
Gene & Eunice
The Crew-Cuts
Rosemary Clooney
Machinist Boris Blank of the Swiss electronica group Yello is born.
Yello
Martha Davis, lead singer with '80s new wavers the Motels, is born in Berkeley, Calif.
The Motels
Eddie "Sonny" Bivins of New Jersey R&B vocal group the Manhattans ("Kiss and Say Goodbye") is born.
The great Captain Beefheart is born in Glendale, Calif., as Don Van Vliet.
Captain Beefheart
According to bluesman Howlin' Wolf, today was the day he bought his first guitar. "Cost me only five dollars," he claimed.
Howlin' Wolf
Who's the better drummer, Gene Krupa or Buddy Rich? Well, if you're in the Krupa camp, then celebrate the great one's birthday today. He was born in Chicago.
Buddy Rich
Gene Krupa
 
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