11 DECEMBER
In Music History
1940 David Gates (co-lead singer of Bread) is born in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
1939 Marlene Dietrich records "Falling In Love Again" for her role as a cabaret singer in the movie The Blue Angel.
1935 Steel guitarist Tom Brumley (of Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, Stone Canyon Band) is born in Stella, Missouri.
1934 Bass baritone singer Curtis Williams (of The Penguins) is born in Los Angeles, California.
1931 Singer and actress Rita Moreno, known for her role as Anita in the Broadway smash and subsequent film West Side Story, is born Rosa Dolores Alverío in Humacao, Puerto Rico. She is raised in New York City.
1926 R&B singer Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton is born in Ariton, Alabama. She was the first to record "Hound Dog," made famous by Elvis Presley.
1916 Perez Prado, the "King of Mambo," is born in Matanzas, Cuba.
1803 Composer Louis-Hector Berlioz is born in Isere, France. Known for his Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts.
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.
Read more11 DECEMBER
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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