6 DECEMBER
In Music History
1995 Michael Jackson collapses in a New York theater during a rehearsal for an upcoming TV special and is hospitalized.
1990 The Simpsons, already a cultural phenomenon, venture into music, debuting the video for "Do The Bartman" after the "Bart The Daredevil" episode. The backup singer might sound familiar: it's Michael Jackson, a big fan of the show.
1989 The Grateful Dead play the Earthquake Relief Fund Benefit at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum to help raise funds for victims of the Loma Prieta earthquake. They open their act, fittingly, with "Shakedown Street."
1988 Guitarist Bill Harris (of The Clovers) dies of pancreatic cancer in Washington, DC, at age 63.
1986 Ringo becomes the first Beatle to turn pitchman with the announcement that he'll be shilling for Sun Country wine coolers.
1975 Tyrone Davis' "Turning Point" enters the R&B charts.
1971 Deep Purple record the track to "Smoke On The Water" at a Montreux nightclub called the Pavilion, where they've been relocated after the Montreux Casino, where they planned to record, burned down. They get kicked out the next day because of noise complaints and complete the Machine Head album at their hotel, using the Rolling Stones' mobile unit to record.
1970 The Rolling Stones' tour documentary Gimme Shelter, featuring footage of the infamous Altamont concert, opens in New York City.
1970 Ulf Ekberg (of Ace Of Base) is born in Gothenburg, Sweden.
1969 Cab Calloway stars in NBC's "Hallmark Hall of Fame" presentation of The Littlest Angel.
1968 President Richard Nixon sends out 66,000 signed letters to potential administrative office holders, including Elvis Presley.
1968 The Rolling Stones release Beggars Banquet.
1966 No longer touring, The Beatles hunker down on their Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. With "Strawberry Fields Forever" in the can, they start work on "When I'm 64," a song they started playing live in rough form years earlier.
1965 The Beatles release "We Can Work It Out," with "Day Tripper" on the flip side.
1965 The Rolling Stones record "19th Nervous Breakdown" and "Mother's Little Helper."
Travis Tritt Reunites Eagles
1993At a video shoot for Travis Tritt's remake of the Eagles' "Take It Easy," the Eagles themselves reunite and decide to re-form for new songs and a tour.
Read more6 DECEMBER
Featured Events
2004 Mötley Crüe announce their "reunion/farewell tour," with drummer Tommy Lee returning to the fold after a five-year absence. It is not their farewell: They tour every year until 2015, when they sign a "cessation of touring agreement." That one doesn't stick either - they go back on the road in 2022.
1995 Coolio wins Single Of The Year for "Gangsta's Paradise" at the Billboard Music Awards. When he performs the song at the ceremony, he is joined by Stevie Wonder, whose "Pastime Paradise" is the basis for Coolio's track.
1994 Bush release their debut album, Sixteen Stone, which takes off in America but is largely ignored in their native England.More
1988 Roy Orbison, in the midst of a career resurgence thanks to his supergroup the Traveling Wilburys, dies of heart failure at age 52. His album Mystery Girl, completed at the time of his death, is released in January 1989.
1977 Jackson Browne releases Running On Empty, a live album compiled from performances at various stops on his summer tour. Live albums typically rely on songs that have already been released, but this one features all new songs, the first major rock album to do so.More
1975 Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years album hits #1 in America, his first solo album to top the chart.
1969 The Rolling Stones headline the Altamont concert at a speedway in California. It's a free event with Jefferson Airplane and Santana also on the bill, but it turns violent when the Hells Angels motorcycle gang, who are hired as security, kill a crowd member. The concert is documented in The Stones movie Gimme Shelter.More
1969 Steam's "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye," the ultimate "see ya later" song, hits #1 in America.More
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