Saturday, September 7, 2019

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2018Rapper Mac Miller dies at 26 of an apparent drug overdose.
2010The xx take home the 2010 Mercury Prize.
2008MTV makes up for trotting out a lethargic Britney Spears to open their previous year's Video Music Awards by giving her three awards for "Piece Of Me." Kanye West also debuts "Love Lockdown" on the show.
2008While performing the song "Morning Glory" at the V Festival in Toronto, Noel Gallagher of Oasis is attacked by a concert-goer who rushes the stage and pushes him into his monitor. The band continues the show, but Gallagher is taken to a hospital that night to treat injuries to his ribs. He suffers a fractured rib and ligament damage, which forces the cancellation of several Oasis concerts.
2001The movie Rock Star, starring Mark Wahlberg as the lead singer of a tribute band who ends up joining his favorite group, hits theaters. A number of musicians have roles in the film, including Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind and Brian Vander Ark of The Verve Pipe, whose song "Colorful" Wahlberg lip-synchs at the end of the film.
2001Michael Jackson plays the first of two concerts at Madison Square Garden as part of his 30th anniversary tribute. Performers honoring Jackson include Slash'N Sync and Britney Spears. The concerts are edited and aired as a special on CBS.
2001Ryan Adams shoots the video for his song "New York, New York" with the World Trade Center in the background. Four days later, the buildings are destroyed in terrorist attacks; when the video is released, it is dedicated to the victims.
1988Barry Sadler is shot while riding in a Guatemala City taxi (he will die from his injuries 14 months later).
1986Mike Nesmith joins the other three Monkees on stage during their reunion tour concert in Los Angeles.
1985"St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" hits #1 in the US. David Foster and John Parr wrote the song for the film St. Elmo's Fire, but they wrote it about Rick Hansen, who went around the world in his wheelchair raising money for spinal cord research on his "Man In Motion" tour.
1985Ringo Starr becomes the first Beatles grandfather when his son Zak's child is born.
1984With most of her family (including her parents) on the road with The JacksonsVictory tour, 18-year-old Janet Jackson elopes with James DeBarge from the group DeBarge. The marriage ends eight months later.
1975The Guess Who perform their final concert (before the inevitable reunion), in Montreal.
1970Chad Sexton (drummer/percussionist for 311) is born in Lexington, Kentucky.
1963Eric "Eazy-E" Wright (member of N.W.A., founder of Ruthless Records, executive producer) is born in Compton, California.
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Tupac Shot Five Times

1996
Rap star Tupac Shakur is shot five times in a drive-by following a boxing match in Las Vegas. He dies six days later at age 25.

Shakur's shooting is preceded by a beatdown: After watching Mike Tyson batter Bruce Seldon at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the confrontational rapper spots a rival, Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, and punches him in the face. Suge Knight and the rest of Tupac's entourage join in, brutally stomping the downed Crip. (The assault is caught on the hotel's video surveillance, which later lands Knight in jail.)

Later that night, Tupac is riding shotgun in Knight's car when after stopping at a red light, a white four-door late-model Cadillac pulls up on their right side. They roll down a window and rapidly fire gunshots at Tupac. The rap star is hit four times: in the chest, arm and thigh, with one of the bullets going into his right lung and left testicle. Knight is hit in the head by a fragmentation. Despite their car having a flat tire, Knight drives them a mile away where a Bike Patrol stops them and alerts the paramedics.

They get to the hospital; Tupac predicts his fate, saying, "I'm dying" while being carried to the emergency room. Pac's rap group Outlawz guard him as he fights for his life for nearly a week, but he finally dies from internal bleeding on September 13th.

Police state that Suge Knight and the rest of the Death Row entourage that had been driving behind them refused to cooperate, giving them no real leads on the assailants. 2Pac himself refused to answer any questions about his shooter, his final words being "F--k You" to the officer questioning him.

Tupac Shakur's murder is never solved. With no witnesses willing to speak, the case goes cold early. There are many theories surrounding Tupac's death, whether it be a final attack from East Coast rivals Bad Boy Records, a setup by Suge Knight before 2Pac could leave Death Row Records, or that Pac is actually still alive. Whatever the cause, the result is the same. The world lost a true artist in his prime and will never know just how much more he had to offer.

Tupac left his mark during his 25 years on earth, and well beyond. The posthumous release of his final album, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, moves 664,000 copies its first week; the influences behind his lyrics are studied in courses at Harvard and Berkeley; a Tupac-inspired musical shows up on Broadway. His legacy shows that Shakur was far more than a rapper - he was an idol and an inspiration.

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