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Featured Events
2007Led Zeppelin play a one-off show at the O2 Arena in London, the biggest reunion in rock history. John Bonham's son, Jason, plays drums at the show, which is hailed by critics and fans as triumphant.More
2005After five years of dating, country singers Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood tie the knot in a private ceremony at their home in Owasso, Oklahoma. The marriage is Brooks' second and Yearwood's third.
1967Otis Redding dies at age 26 when his personal Beechcraft plane crashes into Lake Monona near Madison, Wisconsin. Members of his road band The Bar-Kays also die in the crash; the only survivor is the band's trumpet player Ben Cauley. One month later, "Dock of the Bay" is released, becoming the first #1 song issued after the artist's death.
1953The first issue of Playboy magazine is published (Marilyn Monroe is on the cover). Over the next two decades, "playboy" shows up in several hit songs:
"Playboy" by Marvelettes (1962)
"He's Just A Playboy" by The Drifters (1964)
"Playboy" by Gene & Debbe (1968)
"International Playboy" by Wilson Pickett (1973)More10
In Music History
2011At the last of four 30th anniversary concerts at The Filmore in San Francisco, Metallica are joined on stage by two original members: bass player Ron McGovney and guitarist Dave Mustaine.More
2006A demo called KO At Home by Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O is accidentally leaked on the internet. The recording was meant to be a gift to friend Dave Sitek from TV on the Radio but it was stolen from Sitek's suitcase. Karen O shrugged off the leak, saying "shit happens."
2003Bill Deal (frontman for The Rhondels) dies at age 59. Known for the 1969 hit singles "I've Been Hurt," "What Kind Of Fool Do You Think I Am," and "May I."
1999Rick Danko (bassist for The Band) dies of heart failure in his sleep in Marbletown, New York, at age 56.
1996Country singer Faron Young dies a day after shooting himself, possibly due to his failing health, at age 64.
1995During a recording session, Fat Boys member Darren Robinson, known as "The Human Beatbox," dies of a heart attack at age 28.
1991Alan Freed, the disc jockey who coined the phrase "rock and roll," is posthumously awarded a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
1985Three Dog Night's Danny Hutton and Cory Wells fire third vocalist Chuck Negron.
1983Tina Turner's first solo hit, a cover of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together," charts at #6 in England as her comeback gets going.
1980John Lennon's body is cremated. There is no funeral, but a worldwide vigil is held four days later.
1979Kool and the Gang's "Ladies' Night" is certified Gold.
1976Queen release their fifth album, A Day At The Races, in the UK (US release is December 18). Like their previous album, A Night At The Opera, it's titled after a Marx Brothers movie.
Dylan Accepts Nobel Prize
2016
Bob Dylan accepts the Nobel Prize in Literature. He doesn't attend the ceremony, but sends an insightful speech that is read by the US ambassador to Sweden.
"If someone had ever told me that I had the slightest chance of winning the Nobel Prize, I would have to think that I'd have about the same odds as standing on the moon," Dylan writes, dispelling any notion that he was snubbing the honor when he didn't respond in October, when he was announced as the winner. Explaining his slow reaction time, he writes, "I was out on the road when I received this surprising news, and it took me more than a few minutes to properly process it."
Dylan, who rarely gives interviews and hardly ever speaks on stage, offers some revealing insights about his creative mindset. "As a performer I've played for 50,000 people and I've played for 50 people and I can tell you that it is harder to play for 50 people. 50,000 people have a singular persona, not so with 50. Each person has an individual, separate identity, a world unto themselves. They can perceive things more clearly. Your honesty and how it relates to the depth of your talent is tried. The fact that the Nobel committee is so small is not lost on me."
As for the question of whether or not he fits the category, he invokes Shakespeare, a playwright whose works were later regarded as exceptional literary achievements. "I would bet that the farthest thing from Shakespeare's mind was the question 'Is this literature?," Dylan writes. "Like Shakespeare, I too am often occupied with the pursuit of my creative endeavors and dealing with all aspects of life's mundane matters. 'Who are the best musicians for these songs?' 'Am I recording in the right studio?' 'Is this song in the right key?' Some things never change, even in 400 years."
Patti Smith honors Dylan at the ceremony by singing "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall." She flubs it and has to do a pick-up, but the audience is understanding, as Dylan's work was never about perfection.
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