11 DECEMBER
In Music History
1973 Bobby Darin has an operation to repair his artificial heart valves at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles. He dies nine days later at age 37.
1973 The Carpenters' "Top Of The World" is certified Gold.
1972 Genesis play their first-ever US show at Massachusetts' Brandeis University.
1970 John Lennon releases his debut solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.
1967 NBC airs the Nancy Sinatra television special Movin' With Nancy.
1966 Elton John's band, Bluesology, opens for Little Richard at a show in London. Elton later says: "When I saw Little Richard standing on top of the piano, all lights, sequins and energy, I decided there and then that I was going to be a rock and roll piano player."
1965 The Velvet Underground play their first show: opening for a group called The Myddle Class in the auditorium of Summit High School in New Jersey. They play three songs: "There She Goes Again," "Heroin" and "Venus In Furs."
1964 Justin Currie (bassist, vocalist for Del Amitri) is born in Glasgow, Scotland.
1961 Elvis Presley's Blue Hawaii hits #1.
1958 Nikki Sixx (bassist for Mötley Crüe) is born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr. in San Jose, California.
1957 Mike Mesaros (bassist, vocalist for The Smithereens) is born in Carteret, New Jersey.
1954 Jermaine Jackson is born fourth in line (after Rebbie, Jackie and Tito) in the Jackson family clan in Gary, Indiana.
1946 Tony Brown (of J.D. Sumner and the Stamps Quartet) is born in Greensboro, North Carolina. Known for his session work on the piano with Emmylou Harris and his production work for Vince Gill, Reba McEntire and George Strait.
1944 Brenda Lee is born Brenda Mae Tarpley in Atlanta, Georgia. Her small stature and big voice inspire the nickname "Little Miss Dynamite," which she lives up to by blowing up the charts with rockabilly bops ("Sweet Nothin's"), pop ballads ("I'm Sorry"), and Christmas tunes ("Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree") throughout the '60s.
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1941 J. Frank Wilson (of J. Frank Wilson & the Cavaliers) is born in Lufkin, Texas.
Rolling Stones Rock The Big Top
1968The Rolling Stones record their Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus TV special - and then bury it for nearly 30 years.
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Featured Events
2010 The Billboard Social 50 chart debuts, ranking artists by popularity on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Vevo, Myspace, and iLike. Rihanna comes in at #1, followed by Justin Bieber and Eminem.
1995 Atlantic Records posts "Caught A Lite Sneeze," the first single from Tori Amos' album Boys For Pele, on their website in RealAudio format, marking the first time a full track by a major artist has been made available for download before its official release.
1964 Sam Cooke is killed at age 33 when the manager of the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles (where rooms cost $3 a night) shoots him three times. The manager claims that Cooke assaulted her and that he tried to rape his companion. The incident was ruled a justifiable homicide.
1961 Motown Records scores their first #1 on the Hot 100 when The Marvelettes' "Please Mr. Postman" tops the chart.
1960 Aretha Franklin plays her first concert, performing at the Village Vanguard in New York City.
1957 In what remains one of the most shocking celebrity scandals, Jerry Lee Lewis marries 13-year-old Myra Gale Brown, who was the daughter of his cousin (and bass player), J.W. Brown. The marriage lasts 14 years but seriously damages Lewis' career.More
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