1985 Luciano Pavarotti's 1976 Christmas album 0 Holy Night becomes the first classical album certified Platinum, with sales of over a million copies in America.
1983 Halestorm frontwoman Lzzy Hale is born Elizabeth Hale in Red Lion, Pennsylvania. She takes the name Lzzy as an homage to Ozzy Osbourne.
1979 R&B singer Mya is born Mya Marie Harrison in Washington, DC. Her parents chose her name to honor the poet Maya Angelou.
1979 Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley declares "Fleetwood Mac Day," and the group receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6608 Hollywood Boulevard. Two days later the album Tusk is released, the highly anticipated follow-up to Rumours.
1975 The only Deep Purple studio album to feature guitarist Tommy Bolin, Come Taste the Band, is released. The album also features a pre-Whitesnake David Coverdale on vocals.
1972 Vinnie Tattanelli (drummer for Nine Days) is born in Brooklyn, New York.
1970 The head of the FCC issues a statement in rebuttal to Vice President Spiro Agnew's complaint that radio stations were playing too many songs about drugs. The statement reads: "If we really want to do something about drugs, let's do something about life... The song writers are trying to help us understand our plight and deal with it. It's about the only leadership we're getting. They're not really urging you to adopt a heroin distribution program, Mr. Vice President."
1970 The first issue of the legendary UK rock newspaper Sounds is published.
1970 Neil Diamond's "Cracklin' Rosie" hits #1, where it will stay for one week.
1969 King Crimson releases In the Court of the Crimson King, which is considered by many as the first Progressive Rock album.
1967 Mike Malinin (drummer for The Goo Goo Dolls) is born in Washington, DC.
1964 Dance music singer-songwriter Crystal Waters ("Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)") is born in Philadelphia.
1964 "Leader Of The Pack," a song by the girl group Shangri-Las about a dreamy boy who dies in a motorcycle accident, enters the chart at #86. Despite the bleak subject matter, it rises to #1 at the end of November.
1964 The Olympic Games open in Tokyo, inspiring the song "Tokyo Melody."
1963 Elvis Presley records "Once Is Enough," "Catchin' On Fast," "Anyone," "Smokey Mountain Boy," "There's Gold In The Mountains," "One Boy, Two Little Girls," "Kissin' Cousins," "Barefoot Ballad," and "Tender Feeling."
1972James Brown alienates much of his audience by meeting with President Richard Nixon in the White House and endorsing him in his bid for re-election.
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2007 Radiohead takes an innovative approach with the release of their seventh studio album, In Rainbows, by offering it as a pay-what-you-want download. Most people pay nothing for the download, but the album still fares well - better, in fact, than the previous Hail to the Thief album - through pre-sales for "discbox" editions.More
2002 Jay-Z releases "'03 Bonnie And Clyde," featuring Beyoncé in her first solo appearance since the breakup of Destiny's Child. It's the first hint the couple are dating, as Jay declares them "the new Bobby and Whitney" on the track.
2001 Embracing the Internet at a time when broadband is rare, U2 webcasts a concert from their Elevation tour in South Bend, Indiana, for free on U2.com.
1995 No Doubt release their breakthrough album Tragic Kingdom, with the hits "Just a Girl" and "Don't Speak." It sells an amazing 10 million copies in America and catapults lead singer Gwen Stefani to stardom.
1992 Country music is all the rage in America, as The Chase by Garth Brooks debuts at #1 on the albums chart, supplanting Some Gave All by Billy Ray Cyrus, which has held the top spot for 17 weeks.
1977 An audience member throws an M-80 firecracker on stage at an Aerosmith show at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. The explosion injures lead singer Steven Tyler's cornea and guitarist Joe Perry's hand. The next year, Tyler is hit in the face with a bottle when they play the arena.
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