5 JANUARY
Featured Events
1998 Sonny Bono (of Sonny & Cher) dies in a skiing accident in Nevada, near South Lake Tahoe, California, at age 62. An advanced skier, he goes off course to do some "tree skiing" when he crashes and dies. His wife and two children are with him on the slopes, but don't witness the accident.
1998 In the Ally McBeal episode "Cro-Magnon," a thirty-something Ally is reminded of her ticking biological clock when she hallucinates a baby dancing to the tune of Blue Swede's "Hooked On A Feeling." By the end of the episode, Ally relents and grooves along with the tot.More
1997 Johnny Cash plays Coyote, Homer Simpson's imaginary guru, on The Simpsons. Coyote tells Homer to buy more material possessions.
1976 Former Beatles road manager Mal Evans is shot and killed by police in Los Angeles after he brandishes an unloaded rifle (some claim it was an air gun) after becoming despondent.
1975 The Wiz premieres at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway. An adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with an all-black cast, it stars future disco diva Stephanie Mills ("Never Knew Love") as Dorothy. In 1978, the production is turned into a movie starring Michael Jackson and Diana Ross.
1973 With a boulder on his shoulder, feelin' kinda older, 23-year-old Bruce Springsteen releases his first album, Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.More
1969 Marilyn Manson is born Brian Hugh Warner in Canton, Ohio. Contrary to the urban myth, Warner does not start his entertainment career playing Paul on The Wonder Years (that would be Josh Saviano). After a stint as a music journalist, he teams up with guitarist Scott "Daisy Berkowitz" Putesky and reinvents himself as Marilyn Manson in 1989.
5 JANUARY
In Music History
2023 Cage The Elephant lead singer Matt Shultz, who has been suffering from psychosis for years and has started carrying guns, is arrested in his New York City hotel room for possession of illegal firearms. He's hospitalized for two months, and learns that his ADHD medication has been causing his psychotic breaks. Shultz credits the arrest for saving his life; much of band's 2024 album Neon Pill is about his ordeal.
2019 The Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne marries Katy Weaver in his hometown of Oklahoma City. The wedding itself takes place inside a plastic bubble like the one Coyne uses to surf crowds.
2017 Babymetal guitarist Mikio Fujioka dies from injuries resulting from a December 30 fall from an observation deck.
2016 Guns N' Roses confirm that Slash and Duff McKagan, who have not performed with the band since 1993, will join them for their headline set at Coachella. They later announce a full tour with Slash and McKagan.
2015 Good Charlotte's Benji Madden marries actress Cameron Diaz. Nicole Richie and Drew Barrymore are among the bridesmaids.
2010 Record producer Willie Mitchell, who ran Royal Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, dies of a cardiac arrest at age 81.
2009 Sam "The Bluzman" Taylor dies of complications from heart disease in Islandia, New York, at age 74.
2005 Amerie releases "1 Thing."
2005 Danny Sugerman, second manager for The Doors who wrote a number of books about the band, dies of lung cancer at age 50.
2004 Ray Davies of The Kinks is shot in the leg when he pursues two men who snatched his girlfriend's purse. He sings about it on his 2018 track "The Big Guy."
2003 Avril Lavigne's debut album, Let Go, hits #1 in the UK, making her, at 18, the youngest female artist to top the chart with her debut. Kylie Minogue, whose album Kylie topped the chart in 1988, was the previous record holder.
2003 Little Richard guest stars on the "Special Edna" episode of The Simpsons.
2003 Green Day lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong is arrested for drunk driving in Berkeley, California, after he is caught speeding in his BMW convertible and blows a .18.More
2002 With the Pittsburgh Steelers down 24-7 in a playoff game against the Cleveland Browns, they play "Renegade" by Styx, which fires up the crowd and impels them to a comeback win. The song becomes a regular feature at Steelers home games, played in the second half when the team needs a boost.
1998 Ken Forssi (original bassist for Love) dies of a brain tumor in Tallahassee, Florida, at age 54.
Disco Rules With The Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack
1979The double-album soundtrack to the film Saturday Night Fever reaches sales of 25 million worldwide, making it the best-selling LP in history.
Before John Travolta strutted across the screen in Saturday Night Fever in 1977, disco was a uniquely American phenomenon. But the soundtrack's mix of existing disco hits and new additions from the Bee Gees, like "Stayin' Alive," "More Than A Woman," and "How Deep Is Your Love," has music fans across the pond itching to put on their boogie shoes. The album dominates the UK charts for 18 consecutive weeks, and a groovy 24 weeks in the US. Five of the soundtrack's singles reach #1, and it earns five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year (the only disco album, and the first soundtrack album, to do so). By the time this fever has subsided, the soundtrack is the best-selling album in history. Saturday Night Fever is also unique for being the first example of cross-media marketing, with the soundtrack released a month ahead of the film to promote the movie, and the movie in turn helping boost the popularity of the soundtrack - a trick another popular Travolta film, Grease, successfully pulls off a year later.
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