2008 Thanks to internet voting, Rick Astley wins Best Act Ever at the MTV Europe Music Awards. "We've been well and truly Rickrolled," the show's producer says.
2005 The Four Seasons musical Jersey Boys opens on Broadway to rave reviews.
1990 Madonna releases "Justify My Love," which stirs controversy when MTV bans the video. The brouhaha piques interest in the song, which becomes her ninth #1 hit in the US.More
1982 The Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes song "Up Where We Belong," from the film An Officer And A Gentleman, goes to #1 in America.
1976 Blue Öyster Cult land their biggest hit as "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" peaks at #12 in the US. The song is not about suicide, but about reuniting with loved ones in the afterlife.
1975 The Sex Pistols play their first-ever gig, opening for the band Bazooka Joe at St. Martin's School of Art in London. Bazooka Joe's lead singer is Stuart Goddard, who is so inspired by the set that he drops out of art school and takes the name Adam Ant.
1970 Aerosmith perform their first-ever gig when they play at Nipmuc Regional High School in Mendon, Massachusetts. They go on to become the best-selling American rock band of all time, selling over 150 million albums worldwide. They also hold the record for the most gold and multi-platinum albums by an American group.
1968 The Monkees movie Head is released. The studio that commissioned the film expected something light and funny, but got a trippy commentary on the manipulation of The Monkees, complete with a scene where the group jumps to their death off a bridge. The film bombs when it is released, but later becomes a cult classic.
2020 System Of A Down release two songs - "Protect The Land" and "Genocidal Humanoidz" - supporting their home country of Armenia in a war that has broken out in the region. It's the first new material from the band since their album Hypnotize in 2005.
2015 After visiting the Texas Capitol two days earlier, Ozzy Osbourne visits the Alamo in San Antonio, where he famously peed on a statue in 1982. Ozzy's road trip is part of a History Channel show he's working on with his son, Jack.
2014 John Fogerty, Common, Mary J. Blige and Willie Nelson are among the performers at a concert that takes place on the South Lawn of the White House hosted by President and Mrs. Obama. Later broadcast as A Salute to the Troops: In Performance at the White House, a highlight is Fogerty's performance of "Fortunate Son" - an antiwar song, but one that resonates with those who served.
2014 AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd is hit with charges of "attempting to procure murder" in a New Zealand court. The charges are dropped a short time later, but the media coverage causes a spike in downloads of the song "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap."
2012 Living up to their name, The Civil Wars cancel the rest of their tour dates after a performance in London, citing "internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition." They release one more album but never perform again.
2009 The Lee Daniels film Precious, starring Gabourey Sidibe as an abused teen, debuts in the US. It features supporting roles by Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz (the movie inspires his song "Push"), and the soundtrack spawns the single "I Can See In Color" by Mary J. Blige.
2007 Country singer Hank Thompson, whose life inspired the 1987 Thomas Cobb novel Crazy Heart and the 2009 Jeff Bridges film of the same name, dies of lung cancer at age 82.
2006 Singer Marianne Faithfull publicly announces that she has beaten her two-month fight with breast cancer.
2003 Justin Timberlake wins for Best Male Artist, Best Pop Act and Best Album (Justified) at the 10th annual MTV Europe Music Awards.
2002 Usher appears on the revived TV series The Twilight Zone, playing a police officer in the episode "To Protect and Serve."
2001 In an early effort at online try-before-you-buy, Virgin Records posts 90-second clips of the songs from Mick Jagger's upcoming album Goddess in the Doorway.
2000 Alejandro Sanz picks up two of the 14 music awards at the 47th Premios Ondas, presented in Barcelona. Sanz wins the album category for El Alma Al Aire, and the honor for best Spanish artist.
2000 Ricochet vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Eddie Kilgallon and his wife, Terry, welcome into the world Addison Marie Kilgallon, a baby daughter.
1999 Bill Miller takes home top honors at the second annual Native American Music Awards, presented at Popejoy Hall in Albuquerque. Miller wins five honors, including artist of the year, songwriter, male artist, and song ("Ghostdance").
1999 Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten), broadcasts one of the first online radio shows, which is called Rotten Radio. On the 4-hour webcast, Rotten allows callers and guests to say whatever they please free of censorship. The show lasts until August, 2000.
US President Barack Obama wins the election to serve a second term. The news is greeted enthusiastically by Lady Gaga, Snoop Dogg, Cher, and many others. However, notoriously conservative Ted Nugent rains on the parade, posting scathing comments on Twitter. Nugent unleashes a volley of insults against Obama supporters, calling them "pimps," "whores," welfare brats," "subhuman varmints," and even more derogatory terms.
Nugent gets things started before the results are in, tweeting: Vote for Obama & vote for US Constitution hating SCOTUS crazies After Obama wins, the vitriol begins flowing through his keyboard: What subhuman varmint believes others must pay for their obesity booze cellphones birthcontrol abortions & lives Followed by: Goodluk America u just voted for economic & spiritual suicide. Soulless fools Obama is much more concise, tweeting "Four more years" with a photo of him embracing the First Lady. Nugent, who once decried the "vile, evil, America-hating administration" and said he will "either be dead or in jail" if Obama is re-elected, makes it through the second term alive and unincarcerated, but continues to criticize the president in very harsh terms. Months after Donald Trump takes office in 2017, Nugent gets a personal tour of the White House.
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