26 JANUARY
In Music History
2004 Britney Spears, Pink and Beyoncé star as Roman gladiators sent to fight to the death by emperor Enrique Iglesias in a lavish Pepsi commercial. Instead of fighting, they sing "We Will Rock You" and drink soda.
1998 Edwin McCain releases "I'll Be."
1998 In a big surprise upset at the American Music Awards, rapper Puff Daddy loses in all five categories in which he is nominated for an award.
1997 ZZ Top, James Brown and The Blues Brothers perform at the Super Bowl XXXI halftime show in New Orleans.
1986 Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Allen Collins is left paralyzed from a car accident that kills his female companion. He can't play with the re-formed band the next year, but chooses his replacement: Randall Hall.
1980 Prince performs on American Bandstand, where he's interviewed on national TV for the first time. Host Dick Clark has a hard time getting more than a few words out of him. When he asks how many instruments Prince plays, he pauses before answering, "a thousand."
1977 Ginger Alden, who was Elvis Presley's fiancée at the time of his death, claims that Elvis proposed to her on this day.
1977 Opening for Bob Seger at a show in Tampa, Florida, Patti Smith falls off the stage, tumbling into the orchestra pit 15 feet below. She suffers a head injury and breaks her back, leaving her in traction. During her extensive rehab, she starts working on her next album, Easter.
1977 Original Fleetwood Mac lead guitarist Peter Green is committed to a mental hospital after threatening an accountant with an air rifle. The accountant was trying to deliver a royalty check, which Green insisted he didn't want.
1975 The BBC airs the David Bowie documentary Cracked Actor. At the time of filming, Bowie was addicted to cocaine and the footage shows Bowie's fragile mental state.
1974 Ringo Starr's "You're Sixteen" hits #1 in America.
1974 The Doobie Brothers begin their first European tour with a show at the Rainbow Theatre in London.
1970 The Ourimbah rock festival, Australia's first, opens to an audience of 11,000. The festival results in 26 arrests.
1970 Gospel musician Kirk Franklin is born in Fort Worth, Texas.
1966 Eric Burdon of The Animals handles lead vocals at Manfred Mann's London concert, filling in for Paul Jones, who is recovering from a car accident.
Bridge Over Troubled Water Released
1970The Simon & Garfunkel album Bridge Over Troubled Water is released, with the title track simultaneously issued as a single.
Read more26 JANUARY
Featured Events
2020 Billie Eilish, 18, wins big at the Grammys as the death of Kobe Bryant and an internal scandal cast a cloud on the ceremony.More
2006 Garth Brooks' Double Live album, released in 1998, becomes the first live album certified Double Diamond by the RIAA for sales of over 20 million in America.
1992 Presidential candidate Bill Clinton appears on the news program 60 Minutes with his wife, Hillary, who in response to a discussion about her husband's infidelity, says, "I'm not sitting here – some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette."More
1991 At the second Rock in Rio festival, Norwegian pop trio a-ha draw a crowd of 198,000, breaking the world record for paid attendance at a rock concert - and is snubbed by the press.More
1988 Andrew Lloyd Webber's blockbuster musical The Phantom of the Opera debuts on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre two years after a successful run on London's West End.More
1973 Elton John issues his sixth studio album, Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only The Piano Player, in America. It features two of his most popular songs: the '50s flashback "Crocodile Rock" (Elton's first #1 hit in America) and the Vietnam War-inspired "Daniel."More
1970 John Lennon writes and records "Instant Karma" all in one day, calling in Phil Spector to produce the song.
1968 At the University of Southampton, Pink Floyd play their first gig without founding member Syd Barrett, who never returns to the band. The 22-year-old Barrett is an early acid casualty, no longer able to contribute to the group.
1955 Eddie Van Halen is born in Amsterdam. His family eventually settles in Pasadena, California, where he forms Van Halen with his brother, Alex, and quickly becomes one of the most acclaimed and influential guitarists in rock history.
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