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Featured Events
2009Donny Osmond wins Season 9 of Dancing With The Stars.
1996Crowded House play their farewell concert, performing on the steps of the Sydney Opera House to a crowd of over 100,000. In 2007, they get back together.
1991Freddie Mercury of Queen dies of AIDS-related bronchial pneumonia in Kensington, London, England, at age 45.
1991Cyndi Lauper marries the actor David Thornton. Little Richard, who is an ordained minister, presides over the ceremony and performs at the reception.
1979"No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" by Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer becomes the first duet between two women to hit #1 in America.
1976The Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter and Tompall Glaser collaboration Wanted! The Outlaws becomes the first country album certified Platinum.More
1868Scott Joplin, Ragtime composer and pianist, is born in Northeast Texas.More
24
In Music History
2017Mitch Margo of The Tokens, who had a #1 hit in 1961 with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," dies at age 70.
2014Iggy Azalea reissues her debut album, The New Classic, as Reclassified. The re-release features five newly recorded songs.
2014Eminem releases the two-disc compilation album Shady XV.
2003Glen Campbell is arrested for drunk driving and hit-and-run charges in Phoenix, Arizona, after crashing his BMW into another car at another intersection and continuing on. The 67-year-old Campbell, who is sentenced to ten days in jail, allegedly knees an officer's groin during the arrest.
2001Pop singer Melanie Thornton (lead singer for La Bouche) dies in a plane crash (Crossair Flight 3597) near Zurich, Switzerland, at age 34.
1998The Metallica compilation of cover tunes, Garage, Inc., is released.
1997Johnny Rotten of The Sex Pistols is the defendant in an episode of Judge Judy. The case is a wrongful termination suit brought on by his former drummer, which Rotten wins.
1994Oasis is named Best UK Band at the first annual MTV European Music Awards.
1993Albert Collins, electric blues guitarist and singer, dies of cancer in Las Vegas, Nevada, at age 61. The "Master of the Telecaster" can be seen in a cameo appearance in the 1987 comedy Adventures in Babysitting (performing "Babysitting Blues" with the cast).
1991Eric Carr of Kiss dies of heart cancer at age 41.
1985Bluesman Big Joe Turner, real name Joseph Vernon Turner Jr., dies of heart failure after a series of illnesses in Inglewood, California, at age 74.
1978In a clear prelude to his coming "Christian" direction, the Jewish-born Bob Dylan plays tonight's gig in Fort Worth, Texas, wearing a large gold cross around his neck.
1974In the midst of his infamous "Lost Weekend," John Lennon rehearses with Elton John for Elton's upcoming Madison Square Garden performance, where Lennon makes a surprise appearance.
1973Ringo Starr's "Photograph" hits #1.
1972Produced by Don Kirshner, the TV series In Concert debuts on ABC as a competitor to NBC's Midnight Special. Guests on the first episode include Chuck Berry, Alice Cooper, Blood, Sweat & Tears, The Allman Brothers Band, and Poco.
"Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli Buys Only Copy Of Wu-Tang Clan Album
2015The only copy of Wu-Tang Clan's new double album Once Upon A Time In Shaolin is sold at auction. The buyer is not Wu-Tang obsessive Quentin Tarantino as many hoped, but Martin Shkreli, a 32-year-old pharmaceutical executive notorious for buying a drug company and raising the price of their AIDS drug Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 per pill.
By making just one copy of the 31-track album, Wu-Tang is changing the paradigm of music distribution, treating the album like a piece of fine art rather than a commodity. And like a fine art auction, details are kept under wraps. The album is made on Wu-time, taking about six years to complete. In early 2015, potential bidders with significant capital are given private listenings, and in May Shkreli wins the auction for a reported $2 million, but the unique restrictions take months to hammer out. It seems Wu-Tang is hoping that the buyer will curate the album by holding private exhibitions, but Shkreli just wants to show it off like a trophy. On December 9, he Tweets: "Which artist should I now approach to buy my next private album from?" The controversy doesn't end there: On December 17, Shkreli is arrested on charges of securities fraud and gets out on bail. RZA is unaffected, seeing it as the nature of art. Ghostface Killah feels differently, and when asked about Shkreli, says "F--k him." Shkreli taunts him on Twitter, posting, "Don't cry, Ghost. All rap careers come to an eventual end." The feud escalates, and Shkreli threatens to remove Ghostface's vocals from the album. As for details on the album or its future, even congress can't find out: Shkreli pleads the fifth when he testifies. In 2018, he is sentenced to seven years in prison for defrauding investors.
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