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Featured Events
2012US 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
2008Thanks to internet voting, Rick Astley wins Best Act Ever at the MTV Europe Music Awards. "We've been well and truly Rickrolled," the show's producer says.
2005The Four Seasons musical Jersey Boys opens on Broadway to rave reviews.
1982The Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes song "Up Where We Belong," from the film An Officer And A Gentleman, goes to #1 in America.
1976Blue Öyster Cult land their biggest hit as "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" peaks at #12 in the US. The song is not about suicide, but about reuniting with loved ones in the afterlife.
1975The Sex Pistols play their first-ever gig, opening for the band Bazooka Joe at St. Martin's School of Art in London. Bazooka Joe's lead singer is Stuart Goddard, who is so inspired by the set that he drops out of art school and takes the name Adam Ant.
1970Aerosmith perform their first-ever gig when they play at Nipmuc Regional High School in Mendon, Massachusetts. They go on to become the best-selling American rock band of all time, selling over 150 million albums worldwide. They also hold the record for the most gold and multi-platinum albums by an American group.
1968The Monkees movie Head is released. The studio that commissioned the film expected something light and funny, but got a trippy commentary on the manipulation of The Monkees, complete with a scene where the group jumps to their death off a bridge. The film bombs when it is released, but later becomes a cult classic.
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In Music History
2015After visiting the Texas Capitol two days earlier, Ozzy Osbourne visits the Alamo in San Antonio, where he famously peed on a statue in 1982. Ozzy's road trip is part of a History Channel show he's working on with his son, Jack.
2014AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd is hit with charges of "attempting to procure murder" in a New Zealand court. The charges are dropped a short time later, but the media coverage causes a spike in downloads of the song "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap."
2014John Fogerty, Common, Mary J. Blige and Willie Nelson are among the performers at a concert that takes place on the South Lawn of the White House hosted by President and Mrs. Obama. Later broadcast as A Salute to the Troops: In Performance at the White House, a highlight is Fogerty's performance of "Fortunate Son" - an antiwar song, but one that resonates with those who served.
2007Country singer Hank Thompson, whose life inspired the 1987 Thomas Cobb novel Crazy Heart and the 2009 Jeff Bridges film of the same name, dies of lung cancer at age 82.
2006Singer Marianne Faithfull publicly announces that she has beaten her two-month fight with breast cancer.
2003Justin Timberlake wins for Best Male Artist, Best Pop Act and Best Album (Justified) at the 10th annual MTV Europe Music Awards.
2002Usher appears on the revived TV series The Twilight Zone, playing a police officer in the episode "To Protect and Serve."
2001In an early effort at online try-before-you-buy, Virgin Records posts 90-second clips of the songs from Mick Jagger's upcoming album Goddess in the Doorway.
2000Ricochet vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Eddie Kilgallon and his wife, Terry, welcome into the world Addison Marie Kilgallon, a baby daughter.
2000Alejandro Sanz picks up two of the 14 music awards at the 47th Premios Ondas, presented in Barcelona. Sanz wins the album category for El Alma Al Aire, and the honor for best Spanish artist.
1999Bill Miller takes home top honors at the second annual Native American Music Awards, presented at Popejoy Hall in Albuquerque. Miller wins five honors, including artist of the year, songwriter, male artist, and song ("Ghostdance").
1999Lee Ann Womack marries record producer Frank Liddell.
1999Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten), broadcasts one of the first online radio shows, which is called Rotten Radio. On the 4-hour webcast, Rotten allows callers and guests to say whatever they please free of censorship. The show lasts until August, 2000.
1997Kevin Paul Godfrey, aka Epic Soundtracks of the British post-punk band Swell Maps, dies in his sleep at age 38. The circumstances surrounding his death are unknown.
1995Queen release Made In Heaven, an album pieced together from recordings made before Freddie Mercury's 1991 death. It debuts at #1 in the UK.
Madonna Releases Lenny Kravitz Collaboration "Justify My Love"
1990
Madonna releases "Justify My Love," which stirs controversy when MTV bans the video. The brouhaha piques interest in the song, which becomes her ninth #1 hit in the US.
On the seductive track from her Immaculate Collection, Madonna wants her lover to indulge in her sexual fantasies, which she details in a series of breathless whispers. Lenny Kravitz, who co-wrote and produced the song, calls it a "classic of its type" and likens it to an old Donna Summer tune (Summer sang the lusty hit "Love to Love You Baby" in 1975).
While the sultry singer expects her paramour to justify her love, she's the one who has to justify her video when MTV refuses to air the steamy clip. The black-and-white video features a flash of nudity, but it's the overall tone that influences the network's ban. True to its lyrics, the song's visual counterpart shows the singer acting out her fantasies in a hotel room with men and women alike. Ever the shrewd businesswoman, Madonna uses the controversy to her advantage and releases the video on VHS, eventually selling more than one million copies.
On December 3, she debuts the video on the ABC news program Nightline and defends its adult content. When asked about the children who may stumble upon the controversial clip, Madonna says parents should be more concerned with the violence and degradation against women shown elsewhere on MTV and should welcome the opportunity to explain sexuality to their kids.
"Let their parents explain to them that it is a sexual fantasy and that these things exist in life," she says. "Why are we willing to deal with the realities of violence and sexism, and why aren't we willing to deal with sexuality?"
MTV eventually relents and airs the video in a late-night time slot, and "Justify My Love" becomes Madonna's ninth #1 hit. She continues to push the envelope with her next album, Erotica, including the S&M-themed video for the title track and her illicit coffee-table book: Sex.
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