12 OCTOBER
Featured Events
2013 Lorde, 16, becomes the youngest solo artist to write and record a Hot 100 #1 hit when "Royals" claims the top spot.
1997 John Denver, an avid amateur pilot who loves flying experimental aircraft, dies at 53 when the plane he is flying crashes into the Pacific Ocean.More
1996 One of these things is not like the other. Here's what the US albums chart looks like: #1 Celine Dion - Falling Into You #2 Kenny G - The Moment #3 Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar
1991 Mariah Carey hits #1 in America with "Emotions," the title track to her second album. Her first four singles also hit the top spot, making Carey the first artist to hit #1 with their first five singles (overtaking The Jackson 5).
1979 Fleetwood Mac release Tusk, their first album since the wildly successful Rumours in 1977. A double album with less commercial appeal, Mick Fleetwood credits it with keeping the band together, as the band members were free to experiment.
1978 Sid Vicious of The Sex Pistols is arrested for the murder of his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, who he found dead in the bathroom of their hotel room with a stab wound to her abdomen. Vicious dies of a heroin overdose before he can be tried for the murder.
12 OCTOBER
In Music History
2018 The biographical film First Man, inspired by the life of astronaut Neil Armstrong, debuts in US theaters. R&B singer Leon Bridges appears as jazz musician Gil Scott-Heron, reciting the poem "Whitey On The Moon."
2013 Pharrell Williams marries the model Helen Lasichanh. She inspires several tracks on his 2014 album, G I R L, including the song "It Girl."
2011 Joel 'Taz' DiGregorio, keyboard player in the Charlie Daniels Band, is killed in a car accident before the band's gig at the Cumming Country Fair in Tennessee. DiGregorio, who was 67 at the time of his death, co-wrote many songs with the group, including "The Devil Went Down To Georgia."
2011 Paul Leka, songwriter, pianist, arranger and orchestrator, dies of lung cancer in Sharon, Connecticut, at age 68. Co-wrote the '60s hits "Green Tambourine" and "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye."
2009 Justin Bieber, 16, meets 14-year-old fan Hailey Baldwin (daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin) backstage at the Today show. Years later they start dating, and in 2018 they get married.
2009 Blue Cheer singer/bassist Dickie Peterson dies from liver cancer at the age of 63, in Erkelenz, Germany.
2009 Michael Jackson's from-the-vaults track "This Is It" is released as a promotional single to accompany the concert documentary of the same name. It's the first release since his death in June.More
2003 The blind Puerto Rican singer Jose Feliciano performs the "The Star Spangled Banner" for the first time since his flavorful rendition at a Tigers/Cardinals World Series game in 1968. His performance in Miami at the Marlins/Cubs playoff goes off without incident.
2003 Rapper 50 Cent takes home all five trophies for which he is nominated at the World Music Awards, held in Monaco. Russian teen duo t.A.T.u. picks up three awards, while Norah Jones and Eminem win two.
2002 Faith Hill is the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, hosted by Sarah Michelle Gellar, and performs "Cry" and "Free."
2002 Court-TV's crime documentary series Forensic Files depicts the murder of Walter Scott, lead singer of the '60s rock 'n' roll band Bob Kuban & the In-Men. Scott disappeared in 1983 and his body was found hidden in a cistern four years later, leading to the arrest of his widow's new husband.
2002 Bandleader/arranger Ray Conniff dies after he slips in his bathtub in Escondido, California, at age 85.
2001 Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland quits the band. A post on the group's website states, "Limp Bizkit and Wes Borland have amicably decided to part ways. Both Limp Bizkit and Borland will continue to pursue their respective musical careers." He returns in 2009.
1999 David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young (Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young) appear at New York's Madison Square Garden to announce their forthcoming album and CSNY2K tour.
1999 Frank Frost, Delta blues harmonica player, dies of a cardiac arrest in Helena, Arkansas, at age 63.
Jesus Christ Superstar Makes Broadway Debut
1970Jesus Christ Superstar opens on Broadway, telling the story of the last seven days in the life of Jesus.
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice starting working on the show about six months after completing their original, 30-minute version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, also a Bible story. MCA Records insisted on a single before they would pay for an album and stage production, so the duo wrote "Superstar," which was recorded by Murray Head. Released in 1969, it did little damage in America or the UK, but sold well enough in Brazil and a few other countries to make the project viable. Webber and Rice had been working on the play and had the songs ready in early 1970, but they faced a daunting task. "We had the colossal job of actually getting people to sing on the album," Tim Rice said. "That almost took longer than writing it." Released in September 1970, Mary Magdalene's song about Jesus, "I Don't Know How To Love Him," sung by Yvonne Elliman, was a modest hit in the summer of 1971. The play opens at the Mark Hellinger Theatre amid protests from religious groups, but proves very successful. Elliman plays Mary Magdalene, with Ben Vereen as Judas and Jeff Fenholt as Jesus. In 1973, a film version is released with Ted Neeley as Jesus, Carl Anderson as Judas, and Elliman once again in the role of Mary Magdalene.
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