Pick a Day

20 JANUARY

In Music History

1998 With the release of their debut single, "I Want You Back," *NSYNC emerges as a rival to Backstreet Boys, who are taking America by storm.

1998 Bob McBride (lead singer for Lighthouse) dies of heart failure at age 51.

1998 Dawson's Creek, a coming-of-age drama following a group of North Carolina teens, debuts on The WB with Paula Cole's hit "I Don't Want To Wait" as its theme song.More

1997 French electronic duo Daft Punk release their debut album, Homework in the UK (it is released in America on March 25). The record is a big hit in Europe but only reaches #150 in the USA. Both members, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, are music producers who use recording technology to combine house music with synthpop.

1996 Tori Amos makes her Saturday Night Live debut, performing "Caught A Lite Sneeze" and "Hey Jupiter" from her third album, Boys For Pele.

1988 The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Drifters, Bob Dylan, and The Supremes are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the third class. Mike Love of The Beach Boys gives a Ricky Gervais-at-the-Golden Globes-style speech, insulting many in attendance. Diana Ross skips the ceremony over a spat with fellow Supreme Mary Wilson.

1985 Country singer Brantley Gilbert is born in Jefferson, Georgia.

1984 Metallica's second single, "Jump in the Fire," is released.

1983 Kenny Loggins falls off the stage while making his entrance at a concert in Provo, Utah. The house lights are dimmed, so the crowd doesn't see it. The audience is stunned to learn that Loggins is being taken to the hospital, where he is treated for broken ribs. The show is rescheduled, and while recovering, Loggins writes the song "Footloose" with Dean Pitchford, providing the title track for the movie.

1983 Def Leppard release their third album, Pyromania. Like their previous effort, High 'n' Dry, it's produced by Mutt Lange, who does the Gunter Glieben Glauten Globen on "Rock of Ages."More

1979 Rob Bourdon (Linkin Park drummer) is born in Calabasas, California.

1975 Bob Dylan releases Blood on the Tracks, which contains the tracks "Tangled Up In Blue" and "Idiot Wind."

1973 Jerry Lee Lewis makes his first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry, telling the crowd at the end of his set: "Let me tell ya somethin' about Jerry Lee Lewis, ladies and gentlemen; I am a rock 'n' rollin', country-and-western, rhythm 'n' blues-singin' mothaf---er."

1971 The Roots drummer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson is born in Philadelphia. He takes on projects as a music historian, winning an Oscar for his 2021 documentary Summer Of Soul.

1971 Diana Ross marries Bob Silberstein (Robert Ellis Silberstein) at a ceremony in Las Vegas. It's the first marriage for Ross, who dated Motown chief Berry Gordy for years. One of the first high-profile interracial couples, they get divorced in 1976 after having three children together, including Tracee Ellis Ross, star of the TV series Black-ish.