8 December

Pick a Day

8 DECEMBER

In Music History

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2022 Celine Dion reveals that she suffers from a rare neurological disease called Stiff Person Syndrome that can cause debilitating spasms. She's forced to cancel the rest of her tour.

2019 Juice WRLD, a 21-year-old rapper known for his hit "Lucid Dreams," dies after suffering a seizure onboard a private jet.

2017 Johnny Mathis releases The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection. The 68-disc box set includes 67 remastered albums, including two that have never been released in their entirety: I Love My Lady, a 1981 album written and produced by Chic founders Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, and The Island, a Brazilian-flavored album produced by Sérgio Mendes in 1989.

2016 Still fecund at 73, Mick Jagger welcomes his eighth child, a son named Deveraux. The mother is Jagger's girlfriend, Melanie Hamrick.

2013 Muscle Shoals alum John Wyker dies of congestive heart failure age 68. His band Sailcat had a huge hit in 1972 with "Motorcycle Mama."

2013 Metallica play Antarctica as part of a promotion sponsored by Coca-Cola Zero. A documentary and audio download of the event are later issued under the title Freeze 'Em All.

2011 Bob Burnett (of The Highwaymen) dies of brain cancer at age 71.

2011 In Las Vegas, Sinead O'Connor gets married for the fourth time, this time to a drug counselor named Barry Herridge. The couple split up a few weeks later.

2007 Thanks to an appearance on Oprah where she declares it one of her "favorite things," the Josh Groban Christmas album Noël goes to #1 in America, where it becomes the top-selling album of 2007.More

2003 Ozzy Osbourne suffers several fractures in his upper body in an ATV accident.

1998 Metallica release their live home video, Cunning Stunts, which was filmed at the Fort Worth Convention Center, in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 9-10, 1997.

1998 The FBI opens its 1,300 page file on Frank Sinatra to the public.

1998 Yoko Ono spreads some Christmas cheer via a billboard in New York's Times Square, reprising her 1969 campaign with the message "War is Over! If you want it. Happy Christmas from John & Yoko."

1984 Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley (of Hanoi Rocks) dies in a drunk-driving accident in Redondo Beach, California. The 24-year-old drummer is the passenger in a car driven by Motley Crue's inebriated frontman, Vince Neil.

1984 "Out Of Touch" hits the top spot, giving Hall & Oates their sixth and final #1 in America.

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Metal Guitar Icon Murdered At Concert

2004

Dimebag Darrell is shot dead on stage while performing with his band Damageplan at Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio. The murderer, Nathan Gale, kills three others before being shot dead by a police officer.


Dimebag Darrell and his elder brother Vinnie Paul looked unstoppable after forming their new project, Damageplan. Just one year after the bitter dissolution of their former band, Pantera, the brothers had formed a brand new act, released a new album, and embarked upon a heavy tour cycle which included several of the biggest US rock and metal festivals. Damageplan are 32 shows into their Devastation Across America tour when they arrive in Columbus, Ohio, on the 24th anniversary of John Lennon's death. Former US marine Nathan Gale is awaiting their arrival. After trying to board Pantera's bus unsuccessfully, he spends most of the evening loitering in the parking lot, leading security to assume he is just some fan without a ticket trying to meet his idols. As Damageplan's set begins, Gale jumps over a six-foot fence and hurries into the venue via a side door. Within moments he storms the stage and shoots Dimebag in the head at point blank range with a semi-automatic 9mm Beretta. Chaos unfolds as audience and staff rush to intervene or flee while the gunman continues firing. Damageplan head of security Jeffery Thompson and Alrosa Villa staffer Erin Halk are both killed attempting to disarm the gunman. Nathan Bray is also killed after rushing to perform CPR on Dimebag. Gale injures an additional four people, and attempts to use one person as a human shield. The scene ends with Gale getting killed by a single shotgun blast to the face, which is delivered by police officer James Niggemeyer - who had been just two miles from the club when reports of shooting had come in. At just 38 years of age, "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott had become a guitar hero. His blistering leads combined the soul of the blues with an uncompromising technical prowess, while his rhythm work centered upon a more minimalist appreciation for groove. Few metal musicians can rival Dimebag's impact and influence, with Pantera selling more than 7 million albums during their career. Their 1994 album, Far Beyond Driven, is required listening for metal fans. Nathan Gale had no prior history of violence, but had been discharged from the marines due to mental health problems and was later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Although it may never be clear exactly why Gale murdered Dimebag, several witnesses reported him yelling out, "You broke up Pantera" as the massacre began.

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