17 JANUARY
Featured Events
2008 Gene Simmons is the third contestant fired by Donald Trump on Season 7 of The Celebrity Apprentice.More
2000 Garth Brooks is named the 1990s' Artist of the Decade at the American Music Awards, having sold more than 95 million albums, more than any other American recording artist.
1996 David Bowie, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Jefferson Airplane, Little Willie John, Pink Floyd, The Shirelles, and The Velvet Underground are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
1993 Aretha Franklin, Michael Bolton, Tony Bennett, Bob Dylan, and Diana Ross perform at President Bill Clinton's inauguration ceremonies.
1992 The movie Juice opens in theaters, starring Tupac Shakur, Queen Latifah and Cindy Herron of En Vogue.
1967 London's Daily Mail newspaper carries an article about potholes in Blackburn, Lancashire, inspiring John Lennon to mention it in "A Day In The Life."
1959 Susanna Hoffs is born in Los Angeles, California. She forms the Bangles after answering an ad placed by the sisters Debbi and Vicki Peterson.
17 JANUARY
In Music History
2015 Police are called to the Cromwell Hotel in Las Vegas in the wee hours of the morning, where a fight involving The Weeknd is raging. The R&B singer is arrested after allegedly punching a cop who tries to intervene.
2012 Johnny Otis, the bandleader and talent scout who discovered Etta James, dies at age 90.
2011 Don Kirshner (promoter behind The Monkees, The Archies) dies of heart failure at age 76.
2008 After stopping off at a local shop in London on her way home from visiting her husband, who remains in prison, Amy Winehouse blows off some steam and attacks a photographer, which leads to the singer being escorted away by the police.
2006 Kristen Hall announces she is leaving Sugarland. According to a statement by fellow bandmates, Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush, Hall chose to quit so she could "stay home and write songs."
2001 After failing to convince his bandmates to take a year off so they can all pursue side projects, bass player Jason Newsted leaves Metallica. He is eventually replaced by Robert Trujillo.
1992 Mick Jagger attends the premiere of his film Freejack at Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
1990 The Fifth Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies are held in New York City. Inductees include Hank Ballard, Bobby Darin, The Four Seasons, The Four Tops, The Kinks, The Platters, Simon & Garfunkel, and The Who.
1986 Olivia Newton-John gives birth to her daughter, Chloe. The father is her husband Matt Lattanzi, who co-starred with Olivia in Xanadu.
1976 Earth, Wind and Fire's album Gratitude hits #1 in America.
1974 Singer Dino Martin (not to be confused with his more famous father, Dean) is arrested on suspicion of possession and sale of firearms. He is arraigned and released the next day on $5,000 bail.
1972 Highway 51 South in Memphis, Tennessee, is renamed "Elvis Presley Blvd."
1971 Kid Rock is born Robert James Ritchie in Romeo, Michigan.
1971 Halftime entertainment at Super Bowl V in Miami comes courtesy of the Southeast Missouri State Marching Band. Marvin Gaye does the national anthem.
1970 Nina Simone's "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" peaks at #76, where it will stay for one week.
Manilow Hits #1 With "I Write The Songs"
1976Barry Manilow's "I Write The Songs," written by Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys, hits #1 in America. It goes on to win the Grammy Award for Song of the Year.
According to the lyrics, Manilow not only writes "the songs that make the whole world sing" but he's the very essence of music itself, an assertion he found egomaniacal and almost kept him from recording the tune. The song was long rumored to be inspired by Johnston's bandmate Brian Wilson, who authored many of the Beach Boys' hits and is widely considered one of the most innovative songwriters of all time. Not so, Johnston tells Songfacts: "The Captain & Tennille were the first artists to record my song 'I Write The Songs.' I never wrote 'I Write The Songs' about Brian Wilson. I wrote it about 'where music comes from' (for me, music comes only from God). My song has nothing to do with Brian! I admire Brian Wilson's great melodies and, as a member of the Beach Boys, I'm singing these fantastic songs in concert year after year." Aside from hitting #1, "I Write The Songs" is named Song of the Year, making Johnston the first Beach Boy to take home a Grammy.
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