January 14, 1970 At the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, The Supremes play their last concert with Diana Ross, who introduces her replacement, Jean Terrell. Ross performs with the group just once more: at the Motown 25 TV special in 1983.
January 12, 1970 Zack de la Rocha, the lead singer and lyricist of Rage Against The Machine, is born in Long Beach, California. He uses his platform to draw attention to causes like the military-industrial complex ("Bulls On Parade") and police brutality ("Killing In The Name") while pushing musical boundaries by merging rock with rap.
January 3, 1970 Davy Jones announces he's leaving The Monkees, essentially dissolving the group, which had dwindled to a duo.
January 3, 1970 Four days after learning that their movie Let It Be will be released in theaters, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr meet at Abbey Road Studios and record "I Me Mine" for the film and soundtrack.
December 31, 1969 A BBC TV special declares John Lennon Man Of The Decade on the same day that Rolling Stone names him Man Of The Year and New Musical Express quotes him as saying he's thinking of leaving The Beatles.
December 26, 1969 Peter Klett (lead guitarist for Candlebox) is born in Bellevue, Washington.
December 25, 1969 16-year-old Robbie Bachman of Winnipeg, Canada, receives his first drum kit for Christmas and begins to play along with his older brother, guitarist Randy. Just three years later, Randy asks him to join his new band, named Bachman-Turner Overdrive.
December 23, 1969 Elton John meets for the first time with what would become his classic team - songwriter Bernie Taupin, arranger Paul Buckmaster, and producer Gus Dudgeon - to begin work on his first solo album.
December 21, 1969 On The Ed Sullivan Show, Diana Ross appears with The Supremes for the last time, where they perform "Someday, We'll Be Together."
December 17, 1969 Thanks to play on freeform FM radio stations, Chicago Transit Authority's self-titled debut album goes Gold, eight months after its release. For their next album, the band shortens their name to Chicago.
December 16, 1969 At the Fillmore West in San Francisco, Keith Emerson's band The Nice shares a bill with Greg Lake's band, King Crimson. The pair enjoy a jam session before the show and discuss a partnership, which with the addition of Carl Palmer from Atomic Rooster, becomes Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
December 15, 1969 John Lennon makes his last stage appearance in England when he performs with the Plastic Ono Band at the UNICEF "Peace For Christmas" charity concert in London. George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Keith Moon join him on stage.
December 15, 1969 John Lennon and Yoko Ono launch the "War Is Over" campaign with billboards declaring peace around the world.More
December 14, 1969 The Jackson 5 make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, where they perform their debut Motown single "I Want You Back."
December 12, 1969 The movie The Magic Christian, starring Ringo Starr, premieres in the UK. The film includes three Badfinger songs, including "Come And Get It," written by Paul McCartney.
December 9, 1969 Jakob Dylan, lead singer of The Wallflowers, is born in New York City, New York. He is the fifth and youngest child of Bob Dylan and his first wife, Sara Lownds.
December 8, 1969 The GTO's (Girls Together Outrageously) release their only album, Permanent Damage, with Frank Zappa producing. The band is entirely made up of "groupies." The lineup consists of Pamela Miller (later Des Barres), Mercy Fontenot, Cynthia Wells (later Cale-Binion), Christine Frka, Lucy Offerall, Sandra Rowe and Sandy Parker.More
December 6, 1969 The Rolling Stones headline the Altamont concert at a speedway in California. It's a free event with Jefferson Airplane and Santana also on the bill, but it turns violent when the Hells Angels motorcycle gang, who are hired as security, kill a crowd member. The concert is documented in The Stones movie Gimme Shelter.More
December 6, 1969 Steam's "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye," the ultimate "see ya later" song, hits #1 in America.More
December 5, 1969 The Rolling Stones release the foreboding album Let It Bleed, with the classic tracks "Gimme Shelter" and "Midnight Rambler." The next day, a fan is killed during their performance at the Altamont Speedway.
December 4, 1969 Jay-Z (Shawn Corey Carter) is born in housing projects in Brooklyn - something he will remind us of many times in his early songs. Known for his lyrical dexterity, he becomes one of the top rappers in the game and also one of the most profitable, amassing over $1 billion with interests in liquor, apparel and record labels.
December 2, 1969 An intruder kidnaps Cindy Birdsong of The Supremes and forces her to tie up her two companions and get in a car with him. Birdsong escapes by jumping out of the car, and the man is arrested four days later in a bizarre case that makes national headlines. The intruder turned out to be a maintenance man at Birdsong's apartment building.
December 2, 1969 In Bristol, England, George Harrison joins the Delaney & Bonnie and Friends tour as a guitarist, making this the first tour of a Beatle since 1966.
December 2, 1969 On the way to their fateful Altamont concert of December 6, The Rolling Stones stop at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Alabama, where they spend three days recording the songs "Wild Horses," "You Gotta Move" and "Brown Sugar."
November 30, 1969 Directed by Charles Grodin, the Simon & Garfunkel TV special Songs Of America airs on NBC, getting killed in the ratings by an ice skating presentation. The program has a very political tone, and marks the broadcast debut of the song "Bridge Over Troubled Water."
November 30, 1969 Neil Diamond makes his only appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, where he performs "Sweet Caroline" and "Holly Holy."
November 27, 1969 The Rolling Stones record Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! at New York City's Madison Square Garden. In the audience is Jimi Hendrix, celebrating his 27th (and last) birthday.
November 26, 1969 John Lennon works on a Beatles song for the last time when he mixes "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)" at Abbey Road Studios. The song is used as the B-side of their "Let It Be" single.
November 25, 1969 As a protest against Britain's military involvement in foreign conflicts, John Lennon returns his MBE (Member of the British Empire) medal, with an attached letter that reads, puckishly, "Your Majesty, I am returning this MBE in protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam, and against 'Cold Turkey' slipping down the charts. With love, John Lennon of Bag."
November 20, 1969 James Brown drags his road-weary band into King Studios in Cincinnati, where Clyde Stubblefield starts banging out a drum pattern. Brown makes it the basis of a song, which he calls "Funky Drummer." It's just a minor hit, but becomes one of the most sampled songs in hip-hop.
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