15 JANUARY
In Music History
1964 The King and I soundtrack album is certified gold.
1958 Elvis Presley records "Hard Headed Woman," "Trouble," "New Orleans," "King Creole," and "Crawfish."
1952 Cellist Melvyn Gale (of Electric Light Orchestra) is born in London, England.
1948 Ronnie Van Zant (Lynyrd Skynyrd vocalist, guitarist, and driving force) is born in Jacksonville, Florida.
1942 The Glen Gray Orchestra records "It's the Talk of the Town."
1941 Captain Beefheart is born Don Vliet in Glendale, California.
1936 Edward "Sonny" Bivins of The Manhattans is born in Macon, Georgia.
1930 Blues guitarist Earl Hooker is born in Quitman County, Mississippi.
1909 Jazz drummer Gene Krupa is born in Chicago, Illinois.
Stevie Wonder Rallies For MLK Day
1981Stevie Wonder leads a rally in Washington to get Martin Luther King's birthday declared an official holiday. He performs his song "Happy Birthday," written for King, which becomes a rallying call for the movement.
Read more15 JANUARY
Featured Events
2018 Cranberries lead singer Dolores O'Riordan dies in London at 46 years old.More
1994 Counting Crows are the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, performing "Mr. Jones" and "Round Here." The appearance sparks sales of their debut album and sends radio stations scrambling to add the songs to their playlists. Despite this breakthrough appearance, the band is never asked back for the show.
1991 On the United Nations deadline for Iraq to remove troops from Kuwait, a new version of "Give Peace A Chance" is released, with contributions from Iggy Pop, Tom Petty, LL Cool J and dozens of others.More
1981 Phil Collins plays "In The Air Tonight" on Top of the Pops with a paint can and brush nearby as props, seemingly a reference to the painter with whom his first wife cheated on him.More
1972 Don McLean's "American Pie" hits #1 US for the first of four weeks. The single runs 8:36 - you have to flip the 45 over to hear all of it.
1967 Mick Jagger does as he's told and sings "let's spend the night together" as "let's spend some time together" when The Rolling Stones appear on the Ed Sullivan Show. Jagger rolls his eyes derisively when he sings the altered line.More
1961 The Supremes sign with Motown Records. Along with Mary Wilson, Diana Ross and Florence Ballard, there is a fourth member, Barbara Martin, who leaves a year later. All except Martin are under 18 (Ross is 16) and need parental consent, which is granted after label boss Berry Gordy and his sister, Esther, win over their parents.
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