23 DECEMBER
In Music History
1949 Adrian Belew is born Robert Steven Belew in Covington, Kentucky. The guitarist plays with Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, King Crimson, Paul Simon, Nine Inch Nails, Primus, and William Shatner.
1947 Three scientists at Bell Labs in New Jersey demonstrate the transistor, which leads to the invention of small, portable "transistor" radios. The scientists win the 1956 Nobel Prize for their work.
1947 Graham Bonnet is born in Skegness, England. He'll go on to front the rock bands Alcatrazz and Rainbow.
1946 Singer-songwriter Robbie Dupree, known for the 1980 hit "Steal Away," is born Robert Dupuis in Brooklyn, New York.
1946 Ariel Bender (guitarist for Mott the Hoople) is born Luther James Grosvenor in Evesham, Worcestershire, England.
1945 Ron Bushy (drummer for Iron Butterfly) is born in Washington, DC.
1943 Harry Shearer (aka Derek Smalls of Spinal Tap) is born in Los Angeles, California. Shearer is also known for voicing a number of characters on The Simpsons, including Principal Skinner and Ned Flanders.
1941 Folk musician Tim Hardin is born James Timothy Hardin in Eugene, Oregon. Wrote the '60s hit "If I Were A Carpenter."
1940 The Chi-Lites lead singer and primary songwriter Eugene Record is born in Chicago, Illinois.
1940 Jorma Kaukonen (guitarist for Jefferson Airplane) is born in Washington, DC.
1935 Johnny Kidd (of Johnny Kidd & the Pirates) is born Frederick Albert Heath in Willesden, North London, England.
1935 R&B/jazz singer "Little" Esther Phillips is born Esther Mae Jones in Galveston, Texas. At age 14 she's discovered by Johnny Otis, a musician and talent scout, and soon lands her first hit with "Double Crossing Blues."
1929 Jazz singer/trumpeter Chet Baker is born Chesney Henry Baker Jr. in Yale, Oklahoma. He hits his stride in the '50s when he joins the Gerry Mulligan Quartet and releases his signature hit "My Funny Valentine."
1926 Harold Dorman, known for the 1960 hit "Mountain of Love," is born in Drew, Mississippi.
1689 Baroque composer Joseph Bodin de Boismortier is born in Thionville, France.
Cat Stevens Becomes Yusuf Islam
1977Cat Stevens converts to Islam and changes his name to Yusuf Islam.
Read more23 DECEMBER
Featured Events
1999 Cristin Keleher, an unemployed musician in Hawaii, breaks into George Harrison's Maui home and makes herself at home, ordering pizza, drinking root beer, doing laundry, and calling her mother before authorities arrive to arrest her. She is eventually charged with breaking and entering and theft, and serves four months. "I thought I had a psychic connection with George," she says.
1996 Two weeks after his divorce from Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt is finalized, Mötley Crüe bass player Nikki Sixx marries Baywatch star Donna D'Errico.
1964 Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam frontman) is born Edward Louis Severson III in Evanston, Illinois. The surname Vedder comes from his mom's maiden name.
1964 After appearing on the TV show Shindig! where they perform their Christmas hit "Little Saint Nick," The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson has a nervous breakdown on a flight to Houston, where they begin a two-week tour. Wilson decides to stop performing, and Glen Campbell replaces him on the tour.
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