12 DECEMBER
Featured Events
2011 The Jewish reggae star Matisyahu shaves his beard, which he has had for 16 years. He gets the shave at a Manhattan Supercuts, as he doesn't own a razor. Many of his fans are thrown for a loop, but he explains that losing the beard does not mean he is abandoning Judaism.
2007 Ike Turner dies of a cocaine overdose in San Marcos, California, at age 76. He was also struggling with emphysema and cardiovascular disease.
1998 Luciano Pavarotti becomes the first classical musician to perform on Saturday Night Live when he sings ''Adeste Fideles'' with Vanessa Williams.
1987 At Cobo Arena in Detroit, The Cars wrap up their Door To Door tour. It ends up being their last concert until they pick up the pieces in 2011 for another album and tour.
1976 At a show in Lakeland, Florida, Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley is nearly electrocuted when he grabs a metal railing on the poorly wired set, completing a circuit that sends current through his body.More
12 DECEMBER
In Music History
2020 Bad Bunny's El Último Tour Del Mundo hits #1 on the US albums chart, becoming the first album entirely in Spanish to top the tally.
2020 Country star Charley Pride dies at 86 after contracting coronavirus.
2020 El Ultimo Tour del Mundo by Bad Bunny becomes the first entirely Spanish-language album to top the Billboard 200 albums chart.
2015 Chance the Rapper becomes the first unsigned artist to perform as musical guest on Saturday Night Live.
2015 After going five years without releasing an album, Craig David continues his comeback with a performance at the X Factor finale alongside contestants Reggie 'N' Bollie and Ghanaian singer Fuse ODG. He sings his hit song "Re-Rewind" (originally produced by garage duo Artful Dodger) with a new rap verse.
2014 Nick Cannon files for divorce from Mariah Carey. The pair married in 2008 and had two children, twins Monroe and Moroccan.
2014 R&B singer Jeremih, along with two members of his entourage, is arrested for disorderly conduct at New Jersey's Newark Liberty international airport for forcing his way onto a flight after missing the final call.
2013 Someone forgot to invite Jesus to his own birthday party. The fifth-grade choir at Ralph J. Osgood Intermediate School in Long Island, New York receives a round of applause after performing "Silent Night" at a holiday concert, but not all crowdgoers are pleased with the secular rendition, which removes references to Jesus and his mother.More
2011 Two students at Evanston Township High School in Illinois orchestrate a fundraiser where "Baby" by Justin Bieber is played between classes until $1,000 is raised. The "Stop The Bieber" campaign ends two days later when the goal is met.
2002 After three months, Gordon Lightfoot leaves a Hamilton, Ontario, hospital, where he'd been sent for emergency surgery on his abdomen.
2001 The state of Nevada declares Frank Sinatra Day in honor of the the crooner.
1994 Beach Boys lead singer Mike Love is awarded songwriting credits on 35 Beach Boys songs, including "California Girls," "Good Vibrations," and "Wouldn't It Be Nice." Love claimed that Murry Wilson, the father of Beach Boys Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson, administered the publishing rights and left him uncredited for many songs for which he contributed lyrics.
1986 The Smiths play the Artists Against Apartheid benefit at Brixton Academy, which ends up being the last time they perform together as a group.
1985 After missing a bond revocation hearing in November, David Crosby turns himself in to the FBI and begins serving time for drug and firearms possession. Crosby considered fleeing the country to avoid jail time, but decided to bite the bullet and serve his sentence.
1985 Ian Stewart, the original keyboard player for The Rolling Stones, dies of a heart attack in London, England, at age 47. Stewart stepped down from the group because his image didn't suit them. He became the group's road manager and played on some of their songs.
Frank Sinatra Is Born
1915Frank Sinatra is born Francis Albert Sinatra in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Like most singers coming up in the swing era, Sinatra hones his vocal skill in front of an orchestra, touring with bandleaders Harry James and Tommy Dorsey. Prior to World War II, singers are typically used to draw attention to the bands, not the other way around. When the war breaks out, it becomes too costly to take full orchestras out on the road and, with Sinatra kept out of service due to a birth injury, the crooner's career explodes on the home front. "Frank contributed to the death knell of the big bands," explains Charles Pignone, Senior Vice President of Frank Sinatra Enterprises. "He was the first singer that really came out of the bands into prominence." Sinatra inks a deal with Columbia Records and becomes a huge idol among the teenage bobby soxers of the 1940's with a series of lush hits arranged by Axel Stordahl. A career lull in the early '50s necessitates a move to Las Vegas, where Sinatra and his Rat Pack pals take over the casino scene with their impromptu live shows. By 1953, the singer's career is officially revitalized on the big screen when he earns an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in From Here To Eternity. A new deal at Capitol Records pairs Sinatra with arranger Nelson Riddle results in a series of concept albums, starting with the introspective In The Wee Small Hours (1955) – often cited as one of the very first concept albums - that boasts the crooner's maturing sound and solidifies his reputation as a master interpreter. Shortly after the release of the chart-topping Nice 'N Easy in 1960, Sinatra starts his own label, Reprise Records, and over the next two decades releases some of the most enduring hits of his career, including "That's Life," "Strangers In The Night," "My Way," and "New York, New York." At the time of his death from a heart attack in 1998, Sinatra leaves a legacy of 59 studio albums, 2 live albums, 297 singles, and dozens of film roles. Artists from various genres cite the crooner as a major influence - from Motown stars Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight, country singers Willie Nelson and George Strait, rock icons Chrissie Hynde and Bono, rap moguls Jay-Z and Sean Combs, pop stars Robbie Williams and Lady Gaga, and modern-day contemporaries Michael Buble and Harry Connick, Jr. - proving his legacy knows no bounds.
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