Musician Birthdays: Aaliyah (R&B, soul singer, actress, born in 1979)
– In 1964: The Beatles played two shows at the Olympia Theatre, Paris, France, the first of an 18-night engagement. This first show was attended mostly by Paris’ “top society” members (all dressed in formal evening attire). The French press had little good to say about The Beatles in the next day’s papers, but The Beatles didn’t care, because they’d just received news that their single ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ had hit No.1 in the US, selling 10,000 copies an hour in New York City alone.
– In 1965: The Beatles played the last of a 16 night run billed as ‘Another Beatles’ Christmas Show’ that had started on Jan 1st at The Hammersmith Odeon, London.
– In 1969: Fleetwood Mac, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Albert Collins all appeared at the Fillmore West, San Francisco, California.
– In 1973: Bruce Springsteen appeared at Villanova University, Philadelphia to an audience of 25 people.
– In 1977: One half of TV cop show “Starsky & Hutch” (he was blonde Hutch), David Soul went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Don’t Give Up On Us’. Also a No.1 in the US.
– In 1978: Sex Pistol, Sid Vicious fell through a glass door at a San Francisco hotel, took a drug overdose and was rushed to hospital.
– In 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.
– In 1984: Paul and Linda McCartney were arrested in Barbados for drug possession and were each fined $200 (£117).
– In 1985: David Bowie’s schizophrenic half-brother Terry Burnes killed himself after laying down on the railway lines at Coulsdon South station, London. He was killed instantly by a passing train. He was 47.
– In 1987: TV presenter Jools Holland was suspended from Channel 4’s UK music show The Tube for 6 weeks, after using the phrase ‘groovy fuckers’ during a live trailer broadcast in children’s hour.
– In 1988: 24 years after The Beatles first topped the chart, George Harrison went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Got My Mind Set On You’.
– In 1988: George Michael went to No.1 on the US album charts with his debut solo album ‘Faith’. It went on to sell over 8 million copies.
– In 1988: Tina Turner gave herself a place in the record books when she performed in front of 182,000 people in Rio De Janeiro. The largest audience ever for a single artist.
– In 1989: Michael Jackson played the first of five nights at the Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California. These were the last shows on the singers Bad World Tour. Jackson donated more than $1m of the final concert’s takings to an organisation fighting child cruelty.
– In 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.
– In 1992: Eric Clapton recorded his unplugged session for MTV. The set which included his current hit single ‘Tears in Heaven’ and a reworked acoustic version of ‘Layla’, earned six Grammy Awards for the album including Record of the Year.
– In 1996: Jamaican authorities opened fire on Jimmy Buffett’s seaplane, mistaking it for a drug trafficker’s plane. U2 singer Bono was also on the plane; neither singer was injured in the incident.
– In 2000: It was reported that Mick Jagger had lost the chance of a knighthood because of his errant ways. British Prime Minister Tony Blair had second thoughts about the message it would give about family values.
– In 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.’
– In 2008: Radiohead were forced to abandon an intimate gig at Rough Trade East records in London after police raised safety fears. The band moved the gig to a nearby club after over 1,500 fans turned up after the event was announced in the morning promising tickets to the first 200 fans.
– In 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.
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