12 FEBRUARY
Featured Events
2017 Adele opens the Grammy Awards with a performance of "Hello," which wins for Song of the Year and Record of the Year. Later, she sings "Fastlove" in a tribute to George Michael, who passed away on Christmas day, 2016. Before she can finish the first chorus, she stops the song and starts over, saying, "I can't mess this up for him."More
1997 Snoop Doggy Dogg and Sean "Puffy" Combs hold a press conference where they call for an end to the East Coast-West Coast rap rivalry that has claimed the life of Tupac Shakur. "Kids around the world are watching," Long Beach rapper Snoop says. "By calling for a truce we're giving them something to live for." The detente fails to quell the violence: Less than a month later, The Notorious B.I.G. is killed in a shooting.
1981 Riding the (permanent) wave of their previous album, Rush release Moving Pictures. Featuring "Tom Sawyer," "Limelight" and "YYZ," it becomes the best-selling album in the Rush discography. "The Camera Eye" is the last 10-minute-long song Rush ever record in the studio.
1977 Barbra Streisand's soundtrack album A Star Is Born hits #1 in the US. Her fourth album to top the tally - following People (1964), Stoney End (1971), and The Way We Were (1974) - it features the #1 hit "Evergreen."
1976 Sal Mineo, an actor who starred alongside James Dean in the movies Giant and Rebel Without a Cause, is murdered by a deranged assailant. Mineo had several hits as a singer including "Start Movin' (In My Direction)," which reached #9 US in 1957.
1972 Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" hits #1 in the US. Eleven years later, Tina Turner revitalizes her career with a hit cover of the song.
1970 BBC's Top of the Pops broadcasts John Lennon's "Instant Karma!" performance clip, taped just the day before.
1937 On the Avenue, a musical starring Dick Powell and Alice Faye, debuts in movie theaters and introduces the holiday classic "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm."
12 FEBRUARY
In Music History
2023 De La Soul rapper Trugoy the Dove (David Jolicoeur) dies at 54.
2023 Performing on a suspended platform and on a stage with 80 dancers, Rihanna is the halftime entertainment at Super Bowl LVII, where the Chiefs beat the Eagles 38-35. After the performance she confirms she's pregnant with her second child.
2018 Judas Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton announces he will no longer tour with the band due to Parkinson's disease, which he was diagnosed with in 2008. Andy Sneap takes his place.
2017 Al Jarreau dies at age 76. At the Grammy Awards that night, Pentatonix acknowledge his passing, calling him a "voice for the ages." Jarreau won seven Grammy Awards.
2016 Ween play the first of three reunion shows in Broomfield, Colorado. Originally, only two shows are scheduled, (for February 12 and 13), but the demand for tickets is so high during the pre-sale period that a third show is added on February 14. This marks the official return of Ween after breaking up nearly four years before.
2016 Kanye West drops "Famous," with the lyric: I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex Why? I made that bitch famous West claims that he got Taylor Swift's blessing before releasing the song, but she clearly doesn't expect it. Her spokesperson says she was never told the actual lyric, and takes issue with it.
2015 "Weird Al" Yankovic becomes the first-ever guest editor at MAD magazine when it is announced that he will be assisting with issue #533.
2015 Laugh-In announcer Gary Owens dies of complications from type 1 diabetes at age 80 in Encino, California.
2013 The second single from Soundgarden's album King Animal, "By Crooked Steps," is released. Its video is directed by Dave Grohl.
2009 At the 40th NAACP Image Awards, will.i.am's pro-Obama anthem "Yes We Can" wins in the Best Music Video and Best Song categories while Jennifer Hudson takes home three Awards, including Best New Artist.
2009 Fans at Paul Simon's concert at the Beacon Theater in New York City are treated to a surprise appearance by Art Garfunkel, who sings three songs with Simon.
2006 Beyoncé becomes the first woman to star in a #1 movie while having a #1 hit at the same time when The Pink Panther tops the box office as "Check On It" (used in the end credits) remains at the top of the chart. She's the third person to do it, following Prince with Purple Rain and "When Doves Cry," and Eminem with 8 Mile and "Lose Yourself."
2005 Country music singer/songwriter Sammi Smith dies from unconfirmed circumstances at age 61 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
2000 The singer Oliver ("Good Morning Starshine," "Jean") dies of cancer at age 54.
2000 D'Angelo's Voodoo replaces Santana's Supernatural as the #1 album in America. It stays for two weeks before Supernatural returns to #1.
Jagger And Richards Busted In Raid
1967Police raid Keith Richards' Redlands estate, where they discover "various substances of a suspicious nature" and arrest him along with Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull. The whole thing is a setup.
British authorities - guardians of their longstanding monarchy - are uneasy with the Rolling Stones, who seem to be corrupting the youth. The UK weekly News of the World loves stories about rock star indiscretions, and sells a lot of papers with a story they run on February 5 under the headline "Pop Stars And Drugs – Facts That Will Shock You." The story recounts an encounter with Jagger where he pops pills and lures two young ladies back to his flat. Just one problem: it isn't Jagger but Brian Jones (whose claims of being the group's leader confuse folks who don't get that he isn't the lead singer). Jagger files a libel suit, so the paper steps up their efforts to get him busted by following his every move. The surveillance pays off when they spot him going to Redlands for a gathering where there is likely some illegal activity going on. They tip the police, who send over a squad (reported as high as 20 officers) to investigate. Jagger is charged with possession of methamphetamines (speed) without a prescription; Richards is busted for allowing his house to be used for the smoking of hashish. The arrests are made possible by sweeping drug laws enacted in 1964 and 1965 giving authorities a wide berth when it comes to cracking down on anything to do with drugs. Adding to the absurdity, Marianne Faithfull, the only woman in the house, is naked and wrapped in a rug when police arrive. At trial, the prosecutor brings this up, asking Richards if he thinks having a naked woman wrapped in a rug at his place is normal. "We are not old men," he replies. "We are not worried about petty morals." Richards is sentenced to a year in jail, and Jagger gets six months. It quickly becomes clear that public sentiment is on the side of the Stones, and the incident works wonders in building their legend. On appeal, Jagger's sentence is commuted and charges against Richards are dropped.
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