4 JANUARY
In Music History
2020 Mariah Carey becomes the first artist to top the Hot 100 in four different decades when "All I Want For Christmas Is You" stays at #1 for a third week.
2013 Rob Caggiano, longtime lead guitarist for the band Anthrax, announces he's quitting the band. The split is affirmed by all members as amicable, with Caggiano hinting that he'd like to work on other projects.
2013 Sammy Johns, who wrote and recorded "Chevy Van," dies at age 66.
2012 Bryan Ferry, 66, marries Amanda Sheppard, 29. Sheppard dated Ferry's son Isaac for a short time.
2011 Grady Chapman of The Robins dies at age 81.
2010 After a concert in Paris, Marilyn Manson (40) proposes to his girlfriend, the actress Evan Rachel Wood (22). She accepts but they never get married and Wood later alleges abuse.
2007 Nikki Bacharach, daughter of popular composer Burt Bacharach and actress Angie Dickinson, commits suicide at age 40 after a lifelong battle with Asperger's syndrome. She was the inspiration for her dad's 1969 song "Nikki."
1979 Due to renewed interest in The Beatles, the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany, reopens to the public. The club had been an important stepping stone for the band, as they played a residency there early on.
1973 Neil Young kicks off his Time Fades Away tour in Madison, Wisconsin with Linda Ronstadt his opening act. Ronstadt is used to playing clubs, but wins over crowds at arenas throughout the tour with her mighty pipes. The following year, she releases her breakthrough album Heart Like A Wheel.
1973 The Allman Brothers Band publicly announce Lamar Williams as their replacement for recently deceased bassist Berry Oakley.
1972 Yes releases "Roundabout."
1968 Jimi Hendrix spends the night in a Swedish jail after trashing a hotel room, reportedly during a fight with his bandmate Noel Redding.
1966 Deana Carter is born in Nashville. Her dad is country guitarist Fred Carter, Jr.
1965 Leo Fender sells Fender Guitars to CBS for $13 million.
1965 Portishead lead singer Beth Gibbons is born in Devon, England.
Jimi Hendrix Goes Stone Free On Live TV, Is Banned By The BBC
1969Jimi Hendrix is banned from the BBC after going off-script when he and his band, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, appear on the show Happening for Lulu, hosted by the "To Sir With Love" singer Lulu.
Read more4 JANUARY
Featured Events
2011 Gerry Rafferty, who had a huge solo hit with "Baker Street" and was also a member of Stealers Wheel, dies at age 63.
1991 Nirvana sign with Geffen Records. In September, their album Nevermind is released.
1986 After a long battle with addiction, Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott dies at age 36.
1975 Elton John's "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" hits #1 in the US. The Beatles' original, released in 1967 on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, wasn't released as a single.
1970 The Who's Keith Moon accidentally runs over his chauffeur, Neil Boland, killing him. Apparently, Moon's car was under attack from some unruly teenagers, and when Boland jumped out to get them to move, Moon, in a panic, got behind the wheel to drive the car away himself. Unfortunately, the crowd had since pushed Boland under the car.
1967 The Doors break on through with their eponymous debut album. The Doors is a hit with listeners and critics alike and produces the single "Light My Fire," which quickly hits #1 in the US.
1960 R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe is born in Decatur, Georgia. In 1980, he befriends Peter Buck, a store clerk at Wuxtry Records in nearby Athens who shares his weird taste in music. They quickly bring Mike Mills and Bill Berry into the fold and just one year later release their debut single, "Radio Free Europe."
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