22 DECEMBER
In Music History
1967 Richey Edwards (lyricist, rhythm guitarist for Manic Street Preachers) is born in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Wales.
1966 Beatles producer George Martin and his engineer Geoff Emerick pull off one of the all-time great feats of sound editing: combining two takes of "Strawberry Fields Forever" - in different keys and tempos - to make one song. The edit is 59 seconds in, just before John Lennon sings, "Going to..."
1962 The Tornadoes' "Telstar" - an instrumental inspired by the Telstar satellite - hits #1 in the US for the first of three weeks.
1948 Rick Nielsen (lead guitarist for Cheap Trick) is born in Elmhurst, Illinois.
1944 Barry Jenkins (drummer for Nashville Teens, The Animals) is born Colin Ernest Jenkins in Leicester, England.
1939 Blues singer Ma Rainey - known as "The Mother of the Blues" - dies of a heart attack in Rome, Georgia, at age 53.
1939 James Gurley (guitarist for Big Brother & the Holding Company) is born in Detroit, Michigan.
1938 Country singer-songwriter Red Steagall is born Russell Steagall in Gainesville, Texas. He discovers Reba McEntire in 1975.
1930 American songwriter Charles K. Harris, known for "After The Ball," dies in New York City, at age 63.
Nikki Sixx Dies But Comes Back To Life
1987After a night of debauchery with Robbin Crosby of Ratt and Slash from Guns N' Roses, Mötley Crüe bass player Nikki Sixx suffers a drug overdose and his heart stops beating. He is declared clinically dead, but comes back to life.
Read more22 DECEMBER
Featured Events
2002 Joe Strummer of The Clash dies of a heart attack at age 50. The Clash are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a few months later.
1995 Three years after her feature film debut in The Bodyguard, Whitney Houston gives her second acting performance in Forest Whitaker's romantic drama Waiting to Exhale, leading an all-African American cast that includes Angela Bassett and Dennis Haysbert.More
1967 The Graduate, starring Anne Bancroft and newcomer Dustin Hoffman, premieres in US theaters. It spawns a hit soundtrack featuring songs from Simon & Garfunkel, including "Mrs. Robinson."
1958 The Chipmunks hit #1 on the Hot 100 with the squeaky-clean festive favorite "The Chipmunk Song." It's the last Christmas song to top the chart until "All I Want For Christmas Is You" 61 years later in 2019.More
1949 The twins Maurice and Robin Gibb are born in Douglas, Isle Of Man, and raised in Manchester, England. They join older brother Barry to form the Bee Gees.
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