20 FEBRUARY
In Music History
1975 "Johnny Cash Day" is declared in Los Angeles.
1974 Cher files for divorce from Sonny. The famous pair had been putting on a happy front for the public for the past two years until Sonny finally filed for a separation, citing "irreconcilable differences." A week later, Cher files for divorce, claiming "involuntary servitude" due to Sonny allegedly withholding her earnings.
1969 Ringo Starr's X-rated film, Candy, premieres in London.
1963 Ian Brown (lead singer of The Stone Roses) is born in Warrington, England.
1961 Australian-born composer Percy Grainger dies at age 78.
1951 Kathie Baillie, lead singer and guitarist of the country band Baillie & the Boys, is born in Morristown, New Jersey.
1951 Randy California of the band Spirit is born in Los Angeles. Born Randy Craig Wolfe, he writes and performs the guitar instrumental "Taurus," which becomes the subject of a lawsuit claiming Led Zeppelin incorporated it into the intro of "Stairway To Heaven."
1950 Walter Becker, co-founder of Steely Dan, is born in Queens, New York City. He meets bandmate and songwriting partner Donald Fagen while attending Bard College.
1949 Rick Nelson joins the cast of his parents' radio show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, which will make the leap to television in 1952.
1946 John Geils (founder of The J. Geils Band) is born in New York City, but grows up in Far Hills, New Jersey.
1944 Jazz trumpeter Lew Soloff (of Blood, Sweat & Tears) is born in Brooklyn, New York.
1895 Scott Joplin's "Please Say You Will" is copyrighted.
1816 Gioachino Rossini's opera "The Barber of Seville" premiers in Rome with disastrous results. A guitar string snaps, a cat walks on stage and there are protestations by rival composer Giovanni Paisiello. The audience hiss and jeer throughout the performance.
Public Enemy and Sinead O'Connor Skip The Grammys
1991Public Enemy and Sinead O'Connor are nominated for Grammy Awards, but skip the ceremony: PE has beef because the rap award isn't televised; Sinead says they "respect mostly material gain." She wins anyway, taking the trophy for Best Alternative Music Performance for her album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got.
Read more20 FEBRUARY
Featured Events
2009 The White Stripes, favorites of the host, play "We're Going To Be Friends" on the final episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. It ends up being the last performance by the group, which splits up two years later.
2003 A fire breaks out at a Great White concert in Rhode Island, killing 100 people, including the band's guitarist, Ty Longley.More
1996 Snoop Doggy Dogg is acquitted of murder, ending an ordeal that started in 1993 when his bodyguard shot and killed a rival gang member from the Jeep Snoop was driving.More
1988 "What Have I Done To Deserve This?" by Pet Shop Boys climbs to #2 in America, behind Tiffany's "Could've Been." The song features Dusty Springfield, marking her first big hit since 1969.
1988 Rihanna is born Robyn Rihanna Fenty in Saint Michael, Barbados. At 16, she's discovered by Evan Rogers of the group Rythm Syndicate, who brings her to America and helps her land a deal with Jay-Z's label, Def Jam.
1967 Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain is born in Aberdeen, Washington. He gets his first guitar on his 14th birthday and works on mastering Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven."
1941 Singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie is born. According to her birth certificate, she's born Beverly Jean Santamaria in Stoneham, Massachusetts, but she claims to be Native-Canadian, born Beverly Sainte-Marie in Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan and adopted by a couple in Stoneham.More
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