February 1, 2013 The documentary Sound City is released in theaters. Directed by Dave Grohl, it tells the story of Sound City Studios, where his group Nirvana made their Nevermind album. Tom Petty, Rick Springfield, Stevie Nicks and a host of other stars appear in the film to share their memories of recording there.
January 30, 2013 Patty Andrews (lead singer of The Andrews Sisters) dies at age 94. She was the youngest and last surviving member of the group of singing sisters.
January 12, 2013 Black Sabbath, complete with their newly reunited original frontman Ozzy Osbourne, announce the upcoming release of the album 13, the first Black Sabbath album in 18 years (since 1995's Forbidden).
January 12, 2013 The 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow used by Freddie Mercury until his death in November 1991 is sold at an auction for £74,000 to a Russian businessman. It comes with a box of Kleenex Mansize tissues left in the car by the Queen frontman.
January 11, 2013 Re/Create, a charity event to aid victims of 2012's Hurricane Sandy, holds a celebrity clothing auction. Among the items auctioned off are duds donated by music celebrities, including an autographed pair of Yeezy II sunglasses from Kanye West, a WeSC jacket Skrillex wore to the 2012 Grammys, a Mugler bag donated by Lady Gaga, and a Sue Wong evening gown from Kelly Osbourne.
January 9, 2013 At the People's Choice Awards, One Direction win Favorite Album (Up All Night) and Favorite Song ("What Makes You Beautiful"). Katy Perry gets Favorite Music Video ("Part of Me"), Favorite Female Artist, Favorite Pop Artist, and Favorite Music Fan Following for her fan club, the Katycats.
January 7, 2013 Justin Bieber fans are the target of an online trolling campaign. Members of the image board 4chan claim to be implementing an awareness campaign to encourage the pop star to say "no" to drugs. The campaign's premise is "Cut for Bieber," and fans are encouraged to cut themselves and post photos of the damage online accompanied by the #CutForBieber tag on Twitter. Several hoax accounts post results in "response," but it appears no actual Bieber fans fall for the ploy. Earlier in October, a similar troll campaign called "Bald for Bieber" fizzled out, too. That one encouraged fans to shave their heads for the pop star based on the false rumor that he had cancer.
January 1, 2013 For the first time in 41 years, the New Year rings in without Dick Clark, who passed away in 2012. Clark, host of American Bandstand amongst many years of entertainment in TV and radio, hosted Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve from 1972 until 2012, even making video phone-ins from his hospital bed while recovering from a stroke in his later years. The show continues with many memorial tributes to Clark, as his protégé Ryan Seacrest takes over as the new host.
January 1, 2013 Patti Page, a pop and country singer who had a huge hit with "Tennessee Waltz," dies at age 85, suffering from both heart and lung disease.
December 30, 2012 The Birmingham Mail reports that Jim Simpson, the record industry A&R man who discovered and signed Black Sabbath, is launching a campaign to have the airport in Birmingham, England, renamed as "The Ozzy Osbourne International Airport." No word on whether the planes would play "Flying High Again" on takeoff and landing.
December 22, 2012 Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood marries his girlfriend Sally Humphreys; Wood at age 65 and Humphreys at 34. Coincidentally, the world did not end on the day before, as proponents of the Mayan calendar would have it. Perhaps this bolstered their optimism?
December 19, 2012 Madonna gets angry at fans at a concert in Santiago, Chile, for smoking cigarettes near her against her wishes. The singer lectures the audience: "If you're going to smoke cigarettes, I'm not doing a show. You don't care about me, I don't care about you. All right? Are we going to play that game? I'm not kidding. I can't sing if you smoke." Did we mention this is out in the open air in the rain and she is about 10 feet above everybody onstage?
December 18, 2012 Songwriter Earl Shuman files a copyright infringement lawsuit against singer Alicia Keys, claiming her Top 20 single "Girl On Fire" sounds too much like Shuman's 1970 song "Lonely Boy," which ended up being recorded by Eddie Holman as "Hey There Lonely Girl." The suit is kind of vague on the details, but apparently it comes down to a few notes; Keys and Shuman later settle.
December 16, 2012 Billy Idol fans weep as Miley Cyrus performs "Rebel Yell" on the VH1 Divas special.
December 14, 2012 Stalker Jacob Nicholas Kulke is arrested outside a residence belonging to Taylor Swift and is charged with trespassing. Kulke claims that he had been in touch with Swift through social media and had been planning to show up and "surprise her for her birthday." Though the singer had just had her birthday the previous day, she'd been overseas at the time and likely wouldn't be too happy with Kulke scaling her fence.
December 13, 2012 Songwriting legend Carole King, whose career dates back to the Brill Building, wins the Library of Congress' Gershwin Prize in recognition of her lifetime achievement. She is the first woman awarded this honor, which fits with her having authored "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman," among many other chart-smashers during her five-decade career.
December 11, 2012 Sitar maestro Ravi Shankar dies during surgery for a heart valve replacement in San Diego, California, at age 92. He was survived by two daughters, Norah Jones and Anoushka Shankar. His son, musician Shubhendra Shankar, died in 1992.
December 1, 2012 San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders declares "Peaceful Easy Feeling Day" in honor of Jack Tempchin, who wrote the Eagles hit in the city. The ceremony takes place at a hot dog joint called the Wienerschnitzel, where he wrote the last verse while waiting for his order. Tempchin is presented with a golden wiener at the event.
November 30, 2012 At the Uptown Theatre in Napa, California, 76-year-old Glen Campbell plays his final concert. It's the last stop on his Goodbye Tour, which began in September 2011 after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The tour runs much longer than expected, but when Campbell becomes disoriented during the show and struggles to get through eight songs, it becomes clear he can no longer perform.
November 20, 2012 Fiona Apple cancels the remaining dates on her Idler Wheel tour to care for her dying dog.More
November 19, 2012 Rihanna releases the single "Nobody's Business," featuring the man who assaulted her three years earlier, Chris Brown.
November 18, 2012 At the 2012 American Music Awards (the 40th anniversary of the event), Justin Bieber wins Artist of the Year.
November 14, 2012 Brian Eno is awarded the Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) distinction, established by the British Royal Society for Arts, for "his ground-breaking use of sound in technology and media and long term sustainable thinking." Eno is the only recipient awarded for sound design.
November 13, 2012 Brian Eno releases his first solo album in seven years, LUX, on Warp Records. It marks his first intervention as autonomous composer, compared to his previous purely generative albums.More
November 13, 2012 RCA Records releases a greatest hits album to commemorate the late Whitney Houston, who died in February 2012. The album, titled I Will Always Love You - The Best of Whitney Houston, includes all 11 of her #1 Billboard charting hits.
November 11, 2012 INXS, with Ciaran Gribbin on lead vocals, play their last concert, performing at Perth Arena in Australia as the support act for Matchbox Twenty. The band had re-formed with various lead singers since the death of frontman Michael Hutchence in 1997.
November 10, 2012 No longer an item: Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez. The pair announce their breakup after dating for about a year. Bieber plays an acoustic version of "Cry Me A River" at his show in Boston. A decade earlier, Justin Timberlake wrote the song about his split with Britney Spears.
November 6, 2012 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.More
November 5, 2012 With one day to go until the United States presidential election, dozens of music stars take to the press to support incumbent Barack Obama over Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Those voicing support for Obama include Jay-Z, Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, Bruce Springsteen, Katy Perry, Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, and Stevie Wonder. This should come as no surprise, as music celebrities traditionally come out to support the progressive candidate in elections.
November 2, 2012 Brian Eno's new album LUX is previewed for travelers at Tokyo International Airport, a fitting move for a composer whose 1978 album Ambient 1: Music for Airports was designed for such purpose.
©2026 Songfacts®, LLC