18 JANUARY
Featured Events
2016 Glenn Frey dies at age 67. Years in the fast lane took a toll on Frey, who suffered from a host of ailments. Frey founded the Eagles, and along with Don Henley, led the group throughout their career. He had a successful solo career while the group was on hiatus, reaching #2 with "The Heat Is On" in 1985.
2015 John Legend and Common perform "Glory" (from the movie Selma) at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, to celebrate Martin Luther King Day and honor the march King led from the bridge to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965.
1996 Lisa Marie Presley files for divorce from Michael Jackson.
1989 The Fourth Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies are held in New York City. Inductees include Dion, Otis Redding, The Rolling Stones, The Temptations, and Stevie Wonder.
1974 Free's Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke, Mott The Hoople's Mick Ralphs, and King Crimson's Boz Burrell unite to form the band Bad Company.
1971 The McCann-Erickson advertising agency takes a meeting with British songwriters Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway to record a Coca-Cola commercial with the group the New Seekers, which becomes "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing."More
1968 At a White House luncheon to discuss the rise in urban crime, Eartha Kitt gets into a notorious spat with First Lady Claudia Taylor "Lady Bird" Johnson, declaring, "Vietnam is the main reason we are having trouble with the youth of America. It is a war without explanation or reason." Although accounts of the entire argument differ, Kitt is subsequently blackballed in America.
18 JANUARY
In Music History
2015 Dallas Taylor, former Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young drummer, dies of complications from pneumonia and kidney disease in Los Angeles, California, at age 66.
2008 Amid casting sessions for American Idol, Clay Aiken makes his Broadway debut in New York City in Monty Python's Spamalot.
1991 Three teenagers are killed at an AC/DC concert at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah when they are crushed in the crowd. The band learns of the tragedy a few songs later; they complete the show at the request of the fire marshal.
1990 Eric Clapton plays the first of an 18-night concert run at Royal Albert Hall in London.
1987 Steve Winwood marries Eugenia Grafton.
1985 USA Today readers select Cleveland, Ohio, as their choice for the permanent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
1983 Samantha Mumba, known for her hit debut single "Gotta Tell You" (2000), is born in Dublin, Ireland.
1980 Famous Southern-rock record label Capricorn files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
1980 Studio 54 owners Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager are sentenced to 3 ½ years in jail on charges of tax evasion, which soon brings the legendary disco to an end.
1978 Warren Zevon releases his most popular album, Excitable Boy, filled with outlandish story songs like "Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner" and "Werewolves Of London." It's co-produced by Jackson Browne.
1978 Neil Sedaka is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1977 President Jimmy Carter's Inaugural Concert takes place the night before the swearing-in, featuring performances by Linda Ronstadt and Aretha Franklin, among others. John Lennon and Paul Simon are among those spotted in the crowd.
1977 Michael Tierney is born in Sydney, Australia. He and his brother, Andrew, along with next-door neighbor schoolmates Phil Burton and Toby Allen form the Australian boy band Human Nature while they are students at Hurlstone Agricultural High School in Sydney.
1975 Barry Manilow's "Mandy" hits #1 in America. The song was written as "Brandy" but changed to avoid confusion with the Looking Glass hit "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)."
1975 Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago officially declares today Bobby Vinton Day as a tribute to the artist.
"We Are One" Concert Celebrates Obama's Inauguration
2009A wide range of top musicians including Mary J. Blige, U2, Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen, Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, will.i.am, James Taylor, John Legend, John Mellencamp, Pete Seeger, Shakira, Usher and Stevie Wonder, perform at a concert in Washington, DC, to celebrate the upcoming inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States of America.
Over 400,000 people flock to the Lincoln Memorial and the National Mall to honor the United States' newest president, Barack Obama, at the We Are One concert celebration. Guest performers choose songs that hail Obama's election as a positive turning point that will restore a nation crippled by war and financial instability. Bruce Springsteen and the Joyce Garrett Singers sing "The Rising," the Boss's post-9/11 anthem about a heroic firefighter. Mary J. Blige sings the Bill Withers classic "Lean On Me." Bettye LaVette and Jon Bon Jovi duet with Sam Cooke's civil-rights proclamation "A Change Is Gonna Come," and Garth Brooks offers a trio of hits: Don McLean's "American Pie," The Isley Brothers' "Shout," and Brooks' own "We Shall Be Free." U2 also takes the stage with "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" and "City Of Blinding Lights." In between the musical entertainment, actors give readings from historical passages, like Franklin D. Roosevelt's famous "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" speech read by Laura Linney and a portion of historian Aaron Copland's Lincoln Portrait read by Tom Hanks. Shortly after Obama's speech "Voices Calling for Change," that promises hope against the hard times ahead as long as the American people stick together, Beyonce closes the ceremony with a rendition of "America The Beautiful." The concert is broadcast across the globe, with HBO airing it for free in the US, and is screened at the official inauguration ceremony two days later.
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