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Died - 2023 - English guitarist Jeff Beck died age 78 from a bacterial meningitis infection at a hospital near Riverhall, England. He rose to prominence as a member of the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to an instrumental style with focus on an innovative sound, and his releases spanned genres and styles ranging from blues rock, hard rock, jazz fusion and a blend of guitar-rock and electronica. Beck's highest-charting album Blow by Blow (1975) and produced by George Martin was a hit in the US, reaching No.4 on the Billboard album charts, eventually selling a million copies.
Died - 2016 - English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, painter, and actor David Bowie died from liver cancer at his New York home two days after releasing the album Blackstar on his 69th birthday. During his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at 140 million albums worldwide, made him one of the world's best-selling music artists.
2005 - A woman was suing Gene Simmons from Kiss for slander, alleging a documentary made her out to be a "sex-addicted nymphomaniac". Georgeann Walsh Ward, 53, of New York, said during a VH1 documentary her photo was flashed up as Simmons talked about his past sexual encounters. Ms Walsh Ward had dated Simmons for three years when he was a student. In the documentary, Simmons boasted of having sex with over 4,600 women.
Born - 1953 - American rock singer and songwriter Pat Benatar. She is a four-time Grammy winner
Born - 1948 - Donald Fagen, vocals, keyboards, Steely Dan, (1973 US No.11 single 'Reeling In The Years' and nine other US Top 30 hits). Steely Dan's 'Two Against Nature' won a Grammy in 2001 for Album of the year. He has also released four albums as a solo artist.
Born - 1945 - British rock and pop singer and songwriter Rod Stewart. He was a member of The Hoochie Coochie Men, Steampacket, Shotgun Express, Jeff Beck Group, the Faces (UK No.6 & US No.17 single 'Stay With Me'). As a solo artist he had the 1971 UK & US No.1 single 'Maggie May', plus five other UK No.1's and over 35 Top 40 hits and 10 No.1 albums. His 1971 debut album Every Picture Tell's A Story was the first album ever to simultaneously be No.1 in the UK and US. Stewart has eight children, by five mothers. In reference to his divorces, Stewart was once quoted as saying, "Instead of getting married again, I'm going to find a woman I don't like and just give her a house."
Born - 1943 - Jim Croce, US singer/songwriter who had a 1973 US No.1 single with 'Time In A Bottle'. He was killed in a plane crash on the way to a concert on September 20th 1973.
Born - 1939 - Scott McKenzie, (1967 UK No.1 & US No.4 single 'San Francisco, Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair'. McKenzie also auditioned for The Monkees.) McKenzie died on August 18, 2012 aged 73.
Born - 1942 - Clarence Clemons, also known as The Big Man, saxophonist with E Street Band. He released several solo albums and in 1985, had a hit single with "You're a Friend of Mine," a duet with Jackson Browne and as an actor Clemons featured in several films, including New York, New York and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. Clemons died from complications caused by a stroke on June 18, 2011.
2005 - A report showed that more songs had been written about Elvis Presley than any other artist. It listed over 220 songs including: ‘Graceland’ by Paul Simon, ‘A Room At The Heartbreakhotel’ by U2, ‘Calling Elvis’, Dire Straits, ‘Happy Birthday Elvis’, Loudon Wainwright III, ‘There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis’, Kirsty MacColl, ‘I Saw Elvis in a UFO’, Ray Stevens. ‘Elvis Has Left the Building’ by Frank Zappa and 'My Dog Thinks I'm Elvis' by Ray Herndon.
1984 - BBC Radio 1 announced a ban on 'Relax' by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, after DJ Mike Read called it 'obscene', a BBC TV ban also followed. The song went on to become a UK No.1 and spent a total of 48 weeks on the UK chart.
1979 - The YMCA (Leaders of the Young Men’s Christian Association) filed a lawsuit against The Village People for their hit single 'Y.M.C.A.' claiming the song was defaming to the organization. The suit was not only dropped, but the Y.M.C.A. adopted the song as their nonofficial commercial jingle after seeing the huge popularity boost the group brought them. Later, the US Navy recruits Village People to try to work similar magic for Navy recruitment. 'Y.M.C.A.' went on to sell over 12 million copies worldwide.
1978 - With a budget of only £1,500 borrowed from Stewart Copeland's brother Miles Copeland III, The Police started recording their debut album at Surrey Sound Studios, Surrey, England with producer Nigel Gray. The album 'Outlandos d'Amour' which was released in November of this year featured the hits 'So Lonely', 'Roxanne' and 'Can't Stand Losing You'.
1968 - Johnny Cash played a show, which was recorded, for his forthcoming live album at Folsom Prison, near Sacramento, California in front of 2,000 inmates. When released, the lead single, 'Folsom Prison Blues' (an update of his 1956 hit) became one of the most famous recordings of his career.
1962 - Chubby Checker went back to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'The Twist'. The song first went to No.1 in Sept 1960 and became the only record in American chart history to top the charts on two separate occasions.
Born - 1969 - American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer Dave Grohl. At the age of seventeen, Grohl joined Scream, he was the longest-serving drummer with Nirvana and the frontman and founder of the Foo Fighters and is the drummer and co-founder of the rock supergroup Them Crooked Vultures. In 2012, Grohl was estimated to be the third wealthiest drummer in the world, behind Ringo Starr and Phil Collins, with a fortune of $260 million. Foo Fighters have won 15 Grammy Awards, including Best Rock Album five times, making them among the most successful rock acts in Grammy history. In 2021, the band was announced as recipients of the first-ever "Global Icon" award at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards.
2021 - American producer Phil Spector died in prison age 81. Known for his 'Spector Wall Of Sound’ he was a member of Teddy Bears, who had the 1958 US No.1 single 'To Know Him Is To Love Him'. He went on to produce many classic songs including; Ben E King, 'Spanish Harlem', The Crystals, 'Da Doo Ron Ron', The Ronettes, 'Baby I Love You', The Righteous Brothers, 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling', Ike and Tina Turner, 'River Deep, Mountain High'. He also produced albums for The Ramones, John Lennon, (produced the 1970 hit 'Instant Karma!, George Harrison, The Beatles, and Harry Nilsson. The 2003 shooting of actress Lana Clarkson in his Alhambra, California home led to his 2009 conviction of murder in the second degree.
2009 - Boy George was sentenced to 15 months in prison after being convicted of falsely imprisoning a male escort. The Culture Club frontman denied the charge at Snaresbrook crown court and claimed the victim, Norwegian Audun Carlsen, 29, had stolen photos from his laptop. The singer told police he invited Carlsen back to his home after a cocaine-fuelled pornographic photo shoot in January, 2007, because he suspected the Norwegian of stealing pictures from his computer. He admitted handcuffing Carlsen to a wall in April 2007 but said he did so in order to trace the missing property.
2004 - Michael Jackson appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to seven charges of child molestation. The singer who arrived 21 minutes late was told off by the Santa Barbara judge saying 'Mr Jackson, you have started out on the wrong foot here, it is an insult to the court.'
1990 - Ike Turner was convicted of driving under the influence of cocaine and being under the influence of cocaine and sentenced to a four year prison sentence in California.
1980 - Paul McCartney was jailed for nine days in Tokyo for marijuana possession after being found with 219g on his arrival at Narita Airport in Japan. McCartney said in 2004. “This stuff was too good to flush down the toilet, so I thought I’d take it with me.”
2023 - American singer-songwriter and guitarist David Crosby died age 81. He was a founding member of both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash. With CS&N he had the 1969 UK No.17 single 'Marrakesh Express', 1970 US No.11 single 'Woodstock' with Crosby, Stills Nash & Young plus the 1970 US No.1 album 'Deja Vu' and the 1975 US No. 6 solo album 'Wind On The Water'.
2016 - The Eagles guitarist Glenn Frey died at the age of 67 in New York City from complications arising from rheumatoid arthritis, colitis and pneumonia. Frey co-founded the Eagles in 1971 with Don Henley, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner. After the breakup of the Eagles in 1980, Frey embarked on a successful solo career and went on to score the Top 40 hits 'The One You Love', 'Smuggler's Blues', 'The Heat Is On', and 'You Belong to the City'.
2015 - American session drummer Dallas Taylor died of complications from viral pneumonia and kidney disease, aged 66. He is best known as the drummer on Crosby, Stills and Nash's debut album, Crosby, Stills & Nash (1969) and their follow-up with Neil Young, Déjà Vu (1970) as well as appearing on Stephen Stills' eponymous first solo album in 1970. Taylor was the drummer for Stills' group Manassas in 1972 and 1973. In 1970, Dallas sat in with The Doors accompanying John Densmore on drums. Jim Morrison acknowledges him on The Doors Live in New York album.
Also on January 18:
1989 - At just 38 years old, Stevie Wonder became the youngest living person to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At a ceremony held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, other inductees include The Rolling Stones, The Temptations, Otis Redding and Dion DiMucci.
1981 - Wendy O. Williams of The Plasmatics was arrested on stage at Milwaukee and was charged with the offence of simulating sex with a sledgehammer. Williams later filed a multimillion dollar civil suit against the Milwaukee Police, claming they sexually assaulted and beat her during the arrest, but a jury rejected her claims.
1964 - The Beatles made their US chart debut when 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' entered the chart at No.45 just ten days after its release, making it the fastest-breaking and the fastest selling single in Capitol Records history. It went on to spend seven weeks at the No.1 position on the US chart before being replaced by their follow-up single 'She Loves You'. 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' became the Beatles' best-selling single worldwide, selling more than 12 million copies.
1941 - American soul singer David Ruffin was born who with The Temptations had the 1971 US No.1 & UK No. 8 single 'Just My Imagination' and re-issued 'My Girl' UK No.2 in 1992. He had the 1975 solo US No.9 & UK No.10 single 'Walk Away From Love', (produced by Van McCoy). Ruffin died of an accidental overdose of crack cocaine on 1 June 1991. Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin sang at the funeral and Michael Jackson volunteered to pay for all the funeral expenses.
2008 - American songwriter and singer John Stewart, who wrote the Monkees 1967 hit 'Daydream Believer' died aged 68 after he suffered a brain aneurysm in San Diego. Stewart was a member of folk group The Kingston Trio and went on to record more than 45 solo albums with his biggest solo success being a US top five single, 'Gold', in 1979.
2007 - Canadian singer songwriter and former Mamas and the Papas singer Denny Doherty died at the age of 66 at his home near Toronto, Canada after a short illness. The group scored the 1966 US No.1 & UK No.2 single 'Monday Monday.' Doherty started his musical career in 1956 with a band called the Hepsters and in 1963, established a friendship with Cass Elliot when she was with a band called The Big 3.
2006 - American soul singer, Wilson Pickett died in hospital near his Ashburn, Virginia home of a heart attack aged 64. Pickett recorded the soul classics ‘Mustang Sally’, ‘Everybody Needs Somebody to Love’ and ‘In The Midnight Hour’ plus Pickett scored 15 other US Top 40 singles.
1998 - American singer, songwriter Carl Perkins died aged 65 from throat cancer. He wrote the classic rock & roll song 'Blue Suede Shoes', the first record on the Sun label to sell a million copies. His songs were recorded by Elvis Presley, The Beatles Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Cash. Paul McCartney claimed that "if there were no Carl Perkins, there would be no Beatles."
Born on this day:
1951 - American rock and new wave singer-songwriter Martha Davis. With The Motels she scored the 1981 UK hit single 'Days Are OK'. She has made several solo albums and contributed many songs to motion picture soundtracks.
1949 - Robert Palmer, British singer, songwriter, member of Vinegar Joe and solo artist. His first solo album the 1974 Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley was heavily influenced by the music of Little Feat and the funk fusion of the Meters who acted as backing band along with producer/guitarist Lowell George of Little Feat. He had the 1986 US No.1 & UK No.5 single 'Addicted To Love'. He was also a member of the Power Station with former Chic drummer Tony Thompson, and Duran Duran members John Taylor and Andy Taylor. Palmer died on 26th Sept 2003 aged 54.
1946 - Dolly Parton US singer, songwriter, actress. She had the 1976 UK No.7 single 'Jolene', and the 1981 US No.1 single '9 to 5'. She has 44 career Top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and she has 110 career-charted singles over the past 40 years. She has composed over 3,000 songs including Parton 'I Will Always Love You' which was a US Country No.1 for her in 1974 and became a UK & US No.1 for Whitney Houston in 1992. In 1974 Elvis Presley indicated that he wanted to record 'I Will Always Love You' and Parton was told by his manager that it was standard procedure for the songwriter to sign over half of the publishing rights to any song recorded by Presley. Parton refused. That decision has been credited with helping to make her many millions of dollars in royalties from the song over the years.
1943 - American singer and songwriter Janis Joplin. Joplin rose to prominence following an appearance at Monterey Pop Festival where she was the lead singer of the then little-known San Francisco psychedelic rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company. She left Big Brother to continue as a solo artist with her backing groups, first the Kozmic Blues Band and then the Full Tilt Boogie Band. She appeared at the 1969 Woodstock Festival and on the Festival Express train tour. She had a 1971 US No.1 single with 'Me And Bobby McGee' and the 1971 US No.1 album Pearl. Joplin died on 4 October 1970 age 27 after an accidental heroin overdose.
1939 - American singer, songwriter Phil Everly from The Everly Brothers, who had the 1958 UK & US No.1 single 'All I Have To Do Is Dream' plus over 25 other Top 40 hits. The duo was raised in a musical family, first appearing on radio singing along with their father Ike Everly and mother Margaret Everly as "The Everly Family" in the 1940s. Everly died on 3rd Jan 2014 aged 74 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
2022 - American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor Meat Loaf (Marvin Lee Aday) died aged 74. His record-breaking 1978 album Bat Out Of Hell spent 457 weeks on the UK album chart. His Bat Out of Hell trilogy of albums (consisting of Bat Out of Hell, Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell, and Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose) has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide, (his first album stayed on the charts for over nine years). In 1984, Meat Loaf legally changed his first name from Marvin to Michael because he was "haunted" by a Levi Strauss & Co. commercial which contained the line, “Poor fat Marvin can't wear Levi's.”
1965 - American disc-jockey Alan Freed died from uraemia and cirrhosis brought on by alcoholism at the age of 42. Freed called himself the "father of rock and roll", appeared in the movies such as Rock Around the Clock and Don't Knock the Rock. His career was destroyed by the payola scandal that hit the broadcasting industry in the early 1960s.
2022 - American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor Meat Loaf (Marvin Lee Aday) died aged 74. His record-breaking 1978 album Bat Out Of Hell spent 457 weeks on the UK album chart. His Bat Out of Hell trilogy of albums (consisting of Bat Out of Hell, Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell, and Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose) has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide, (his first album stayed on the charts for over nine years). In 1984, Meat Loaf legally changed his first name from Marvin to Michael because he was "haunted" by a Levi Strauss & Co. commercial which contained the line, “Poor fat Marvin can't wear Levi's.”
1965 - American disc-jockey Alan Freed died from uraemia and cirrhosis brought on by alcoholism at the age of 42. Freed called himself the "father of rock and roll", appeared in the movies such as Rock Around the Clock and Don't Knock the Rock. His career was destroyed by the payola scandal that hit the broadcasting industry in the early 1960s.
Also, on this day in 1982, in Des Moines, Iowa, the often-cited but greatly misinformed infamous bat head incident. At an Ozzy Osbourne concert, a member of the audience threw a bat onto the stage. Perhaps stunned by the light, maybe injured by the impact, the bat lay motionless, and thinking it was a rubber fake, Ozzy picked it up and attempted to bite its head off. He realized it wasn't fake but in fact alive. After the show Ozzy was immediately rushed to the nearest hospital for rabies shots.
And in 1983, Def Leppard released Pyromania, featuring new guitarist Phil Collen; it was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, and featured Thomas Dolby on keyboards (credited as Booker T. Boffin). It sold over 10 million copies and included the singles "Photograph", "Rock of Ages", "Foolin'" and "Too Late for Love".
1997 - 'Colonel' Tom Parker, Elvis Presley's manager and agent died of a stroke in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the age of 87. Born Andreas van Kuijk, a Dutch immigrant who changed his name as soon as he arrived in the US, Parker never applied for a green card and feared deportation his entire life. He briefly managed country singers Eddy Arnold and Hank Snow.
1984 - Soul singer Jackie Wilson died aged 49. Wilson suffered a massive heart attack while playing a Dick Clark show at the Latin Casino in New Jersey on September 29, 1975, falling head-first to the stage while singing 'Lonely Teardrops', and had remained in a coma until his death 8 years later. His 1957 single Reet Petite became a posthumous No.1 when re-issued in 1987 due in part to a new animated video made for the song, featuring a clay model of Wilson. Van Morrison wrote 'Jackie Wilson Said' which was covered by Dexy's Midnight Runners.
Born today:
1942 - American singer and songwriter Edwin Starr. He had the 1970 Norman Whitfield-produced US No.1 and UK No.3 single 'War' on Motown Records. Starr died from a heart attack age 61 on 2 April 2003.
1938 - DJ Wolfman Jack. Master of ceremonies for the rock 'n' roll generation of the '60s on radio, and later on television during the '70s. Died of a heart attack 1 July 1995.
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