12 JANUARY
Featured Events
2010 Vampire Weekend release their second album, Contra, which goes to #1 in America. The cover girl is an unwilling subject, leading to a lawsuit.More
2003 While awaiting emergency surgery for a strangulated intestine, Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees dies unexpectedly of a heart attack at age 53.More
1999 Britney Spears releases her first album, ...Baby One More Time.More
1998 The 13th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies are held in New York. Inductees include the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, The Mamas & The Papas, Lloyd Price, Santana, and Gene Vincent.
1991 "I Touch Myself" by Australian new wave girl group Divinyls hits #1 on the Australian ARIA chart, #4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and #10 on the UK charts. This is a landmark event, as the song deals very frankly with female libido and sexual desire - not just as the passive object of a male.
1974 Steve Miller's "The Joker" hits #1 in the US, leaving many to wonder what exactly is the "pompatus of love."
1959 Berry Gordy, who had a hit as a songwriter with "Lonely Teardrops," launches the Tamla Record Company with $800 he borrowed from his family. A year later, he changes the label's name to Motown Records.
12 JANUARY
In Music History
2023 Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis, dies of cardiac arrest at 54.
2018 The movie Proud Mary opens in theaters with the tagline, "killing for the Man every night and day." John Fogerty is not pleased, tweeting his disapproval.More
2014 Beautiful: The Carole King Musical opens on Broadway. It wins a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album and is nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical.
2013 The 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow used by Freddie Mercury until his death in November 1991 is sold at an auction for £74,000 to a Russian businessman. It comes with a box of Kleenex Mansize tissues left in the car by the Queen frontman.
2013 Black Sabbath, complete with their newly reunited original frontman Ozzy Osbourne, announce the upcoming release of the album 13, the first Black Sabbath album in 18 years (since 1995's Forbidden).
2012 Lou Reed and John Cale of The Velvet Underground sue the Andy Warhol Foundation for licensing the iconic banana logo Warhol created for the band to third parties.
2004 Randy VanWarmer, who had a hit in 1979 with "Just When I Needed You Most," dies of leukemia at age 48.
2002 Saturday Night Live skewers the uproar over the rumor that 'N Sync will be appearing in the latest installment of the Star Wars franchise, Attack of the Clones. The skit features an over-the-top cameo by the boy band, including Jimmy Fallon as Justin Timberlake, singing their hit "Bye Bye Bye" and a Star Wars-themed ballad about being a "Jedi knight in these Jedi days."
2002 Adam Ant, suffering from manic depression, is arrested after bringing a starter pistol to a London pub and threatening to shoot customers. He left to get the pistol after some patrons were poking fun at him for his clothing.
1995 The 10th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies are held in New York. Inductees include The Allman Brothers Band, Al Green, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Martha and the Vandellas, Neil Young, and Frank Zappa.
1993 Zayn Malik, the first One Direction member to go solo, is born in East Bowling, Bradford, England.
1992 The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger and wife Jerry Hall have their third child, Georgia May Ayeesha.
1990 Bob Dylan plays the longest show of his career, performing 50 songs over four hours and 20 minutes at the club Toad's Place in New Haven, Connecticut. One of the songs in his set is "Dancing In The Dark," the only time Dylan covers a Bruce Springsteen song.
1981 The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) donates several rock albums to the Library of Congress, including Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde and KISS' Alive!
1977 Stephen Stills and Neil Young's album Long May You Run is certified Gold.
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Inducts Cream, Etta James
1993At the eighth annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Cream, Ruth Brown, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Doors, Frankie Lymon & the teenagers, Etta James, Van Morrison, and Sly & the Family Stone are welcomed into the hall. Cream reunite on stage, but Morrison skips the ceremony, becoming the first living inductee to do so.
It's a ceremony of firsts for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: It's the first induction ceremony to be held in Los Angeles, so it's only fitting that the event is hosted by actor Billy Crystal (whose uncle was record producer Milt Gabler). It's the first time younger musicians are enlisted to perform hits from the inductees, with Boyz II Men performing "Why Do Fools Fall In Love?" ala Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers; Eddie Vedder steps in for the late Jim Morrison, performing "Roadhouse Blues," "Break On Through (To The Other Side)" and "Light My Fire" with The Doors; and Counting Crows performing Van Morrison's "Caravan" (though honoree Morrison is absent). It's a special performance for the Crows who haven't even released their debut LP yet. It's also the first time Cream has performed together in 23 years, playing an updated rendition of "Sunshine Of Your Love." Another band makes an effort of reuniting: Creedence Clearwater Revival's surviving members make an appearance despite their longstanding animosities. The crowdgoers aren't the only ones expecting a CCR reunion: The late Tom Fogerty's wife, Tricia, brings the rhythm guitarist's ashes in anticipation of the guys getting the band back together. But John Fogerty refuses to perform with former bandmates Doug Clifford and Stu Cook. Etta James is also present for her induction into the hall, where she sings her signature smoldering ballad "At Last." It's a banner year for the legendary soul singer, who will also record the Billie Holiday tribute album, Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday, that will earn her her very first Grammy Award.
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