2014 Who doesn't like a free gift? Apparently, about 500 million iTunes users who create an uproar when U2's latest album, Songs of Innocence, shows up sans charge and sans permission in their personal libraries.More
2007 During a performance by Alicia Keys at the MTV Video Music Awards, Tommy Lee and Kid Rock get in a fight, prompting presenter Jamie Foxx to decry the "white on white violence."
2006 "SexyBack," the lead single from Justin Timberlake's second solo album, FutureSex: LoveSounds, hits #1 in America, where it stays for seven weeks. Timbaland and Nate "Danja" Hills are the producers - they're red hot, coming off Nelly Furtado's #1 "Promiscuous."
2004 The Oxford English Dictionary adds the word bootylicious, defined as "(of a woman) sexually attractive."
2003 Simon & Garfunkel make it official, announcing plans to reunite and tour for the first time in 20 years. They get more per ticket than any other tour that year: $136.90. They donate $1 million to The Children's Health Fund at the end.
1992 During a performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, Nirvana plays "Lithium," ending in a grand finale where bassist Krist Novoselic tosses his instrument high into the air. When he tries to catch it, he misses, and the bass whacks him in the head. Still, it's a pretty awesome performance.
1988 It's the finale of a 4-day "garage sale" where Elton John cleans house, which in his case looks like a high-end Hoarders. Among the items sold are the boots he wore in the movie Tommy and his Statue of Liberty stage costume that the 41-year-old feels he has outgrown. The take is $6.2 million.
1979 Two years after converting to Islam, Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) enters into an arranged marriage with Fauzia Ali. The couple raise five children, strictly adhering to the Muslim faith.
1975 The TV series Welcome Back, Kotter debuts on ABC. The theme song, written by John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful fame, goes to #1 in America in 1976. Kotter also gives John Travolta, who plays a high school delinquent on the show, his big break; he goes on to star in Saturday Night Fever and Grease.
2019 Kelly Clarkson's daytime talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, debuts. Every episode starts with "Kellyoke," where Clarkson sings a cover of a popular song.
2014 Vance Joy releases his debut studio album, Dream Your Life Away, four days after its release in his native Australia.
2008 Donny and Marie Osmond kick off what is supposed to be a six-week residency at the Flamingo hotel and casino in Las Vegas, but the show proves so popular, their run stretches for 11 years, coming to an end in 2019.
2008 Former Raspberries lead and solo star Eric Carmen is arrested in his hometown of Cleveland on DUI charges. He will be sentenced to six months in jail but will only serve 30 days.
2007 Rock guitarist Hughie Thomasson (of The Outlaws and Lynyrd Skynyrd) dies of a heart attack in Brooksville, Florida, at age 55.
2005 Despite numerous fan protests, the City of Liverpool, England, declares its intention to go ahead and demolish Ringo Starr's birthplace on Madryn Street, which the famous drummer lived in until the age of 5.
2004 Ernie Ball, who developed many innovative guitar accessories, dies at age 74.
2003 Bob Markley, who co-founded the West Coast Pop Experimental Art Band, dies at 68.
2003 John Mayer releases his second studio album, Heavier Things. The disc's title is a response to some critics who believed his previous songs were too soft. The album debuts at #1 on the US Billboard 200 chart.
2002 Peter Tetteroo (lead singer for The Tee Set) dies from liver cancer in Delft, Netherlands, at age 55.
2000 Duets, starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis, is released at the Toronto Film Festival. The film is a critical and box-office flop, but Paltrow and Lewis's duet cover of "Cruisin'" reaches #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
1996 Bluegrass singer/songwriter Bill Monroe dies at age 84 in Springfield, Tennessee, several months after suffering a stroke.
1995 Kyuss perform their last-ever show, at Festa Dell Unita, in Reggio Emilia, Italy.
1994 Green Day play a free concert at the Hatch Shell in Boston. A few songs into their set, many in the crowd cross the line from moshing to rioting, and police order an end to the show. With their album Dookie climbing the charts, the band has been playing to exuberant crowds, which causes problems when casual fans find themselves engulfed in mosh pits.
1992 Nirvana's feud with Guns N' Roses reaches a tense climax when Axl Rose threatens Kurt Cobain backstage at the MTV Video Music Awards.More
Britney Spears opens the MTV Video Music Awards with a listless lip-synch where she appears dazed and confused. Over the next few months, she loses custody of her kids and is involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility.
Spears, 25, has been in a downward spiral since filing for divorce from Kevin Federline, the father of her two children, in November 2006. Her erratic behavior is well-documented; there is footage of her from months earlier shaving her own head at a hair salon and days later, beating a paparazzi's car with an umbrella. After marrying Federline in 2004, Spears stopped touring to raise a family, but their domestic life proved chaotic. She played a few short club shows in May 2007, but hasn't played to a wide audience since her Onyx Hotel tour ended, months before she married Federline. She also hasn't released an album since 2003. The MTV appearance is supposed to be her big comeback, introducing her upcoming Blackout album with a performance of the lead single, "Gimme More," but it ends up being part of her public unravelling. Spears has a glazed look and has trouble keeping up with the choreography and the backing track - she is clearly lip-synching. It's a stunning flop for Spears, who has been commanding stages since her first album was released in 1999. It is indeed a sign of trouble for Spears. A few weeks later, a judge awards Federline custody of their children, with Spears reduced to monitored visitation. In January 2008, she is twice placed on 5150 psychiatric holds, the second engineered by her family. When she emerges from the UCLA psychiatric ward in February, she starts to piece her life back together. Her public appearances are much more coherent, and she's able to return to work. Her troubles only magnify her star power: despite a dearth of hits and no tour to promote it, Blackout still sells a million copies in America. In September 2008, MTV makes amends at the 2008 VMAs by giving her three awards for the album's second single, "Piece Of Me." Her next album, Circus, is released in November. The lead single, "Womanizer," goes to #1 in America, as does the album. She spends much of 2009 touring behind the album, grossing over $130 million.
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