28 JANUARY
Featured Events
2016 Two founding members of Jefferson Airplane, lead singer Signe Anderson and guitarist Paul Kantner, die on the same day, both at 74. Anderson left the group in 1966 after recording their first album - she was replaced by Grace Slick.
1997 Pat Boone releases the album In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy, where he covers various hard rock classics, including "Stairway To Heaven," "Enter Sandman" and "Crazy Train."More
1995 Four British acts make the Top 10 of the US Modern Rock chart, where homegrown acts typically dominate:
#5 "Love Spreads" - The Stone Roses
#6 "Everything Zen" - Bush
#7 "Live Forever" - Oasis
#9 "Sour Times" - PortisheadMore
1991 At the American Music Awards, Gloria Estefan performs live for the first time since a tour bus accident 10 months earlier where she seriously injured her back. She debuts her new single, "Coming Out Of The Dark," which is inspired by her recovery.
1986 The Space Shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after liftoff, killing the seven crew members on board. The disaster inspires a lyric in the Prince song "Sign O' the Times": Silly, no? When a rocket ship explodes and everybody still wants to fly.
1985 With the stars in town for the American Music Awards, "We Are The World" is recorded in Los Angeles, with cameras rolling for the video.More
1984 Def Jam Records release their first single: "It's Yours" by T La Rock and Jazzy Jay. The rap label becomes wildly successful, attracting Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Kanye West and many other big-name artists.
1968 Sarah McLachlan is born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She breaks through in 1997 with her fourth album, Surfacing, which includes the hits "Adia" and "Angel." That year, she launches the Lilith Fair with a full roster of female singer-songwriters.More
28 JANUARY
In Music History
2023 Miley Cyrus' alone-but-happy anthem "Flowers" grows to #1 in the US, where it stays for a total of eight weeks.
2018 Bruno Mars goes six for six at the Grammys, winning every award he's nominated for, including Album Of The Year for 24K Magic and Song Of The Year for "That's What I Like" (he gets a trophy for that one because he co-wrote the song). Best New Artist goes to Alessia Cara.
2018 Shakira's El Dorado wins the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop album, making her the first female performer to receive two trophies in that category. The first was for her 2001 live album, MTV Unplugged.
2014 At a press conference, all four members of Mötley Crüe sign a "cessation of touring agreement" preventing them from ever touring again after 2015. It prevents nothing: they kick off their next tour in 2022.
2009 Billy Powell (Lynyrd Skynyrd and Vision keyboardist) dies of a heart attack in his Orange Park, Florida home.
2008 Papa Roach's Jacoby Shaddix confirms drummer Dave Buckner has left the band. A statement released by the frontman says: "For y'all that don't know, we had to split with Dave, our drummer. It was one of the hardest things we have ever had to do. He's taking this time to get his life together. We are still friends and still talk on a regular basis."
2005 Members of the "Free Fiona" movement protest outside Sony headquarters in New York City, encouraging the label to release Fiona Apple's long-delayed third album, which shows up in October. As part of the campaign, members also mailed apple-related items (foam apples, pictures of apples) to Sony.
2005 Traffic drummer Jim Capaldi dies of stomach cancer at age 60.
2004 James Brown, 70, is arrested on charges of domestic violence after he's seen pushing his fourth wife, Tomi Rae Hynie, to the floor. He's fined and released from jail the next day after pleading no contest. Brown also faced assault charges from his third wife, Adrienne Rodriguez, in the '80s and '90s.
2004 Mel Pritchard, drummer for the British prog rock band Barclay James Harvest, dies of a heart attack at age 56.
2001 Ray Charles sings "America The Beautiful" at Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa. The Backstreet Boys sing the US national anthem, and halftime performers include Aerosmith, 'N Sync and Britney Spears.
1999 Shakira makes her American TV debut on The Rosie O'Donnell Show in an episode guest hosted by her good friend Gloria Estefan. She sings an English version of her song "Inevitable," which is considered for her first English-language single but bumped for "Whenever, Wherever," which she wrote with Estefan.
1997 A day before his 16th birthday, Jonny Lang's major-label debut album, Lie To Me, is released.
1996 Diana Ross performs at the Superbowl XXX halftime show in Tempe, Arizona.
1996 Chris Isaak guest-stars in the Friends episode "The One After the Superbowl," where he plays Phoebe's date, Rob Donnen.
Doobie Brothers Teach Rerun That Bootlegging Is Wrong
1978The Doobie Brothers star in the first of a two-part episode of What's Happening! where they teach the kids why bootlegging is bad.
In the first episode, cleverly titled "Doobie Or Not Doobie," a nefarious character cons Rerun into surreptitiously recording a Doobie Brothers concert from the first row. When Raj interviews the band with Rerun in tow, they explain that the practice is called bootlegging, and is a pox on their profession because it takes money away from them and disseminates low-quality recordings. Rerun sees the light, but it's too late: the bad guy will beat him up if he doesn't go through with it. Episode Two takes place at the concert, where the Doobies play their hit "Black Water" while Rerun tapes the show with a recorder hidden under his coat. At the end of "Takin' It To the Streets" (this is the Michael McDonald era of the band), the recorder comes loose and he's busted. He tells the band why he went through with it, and they set up a sting operation, capturing the criminal after Rerun turns over the tape. The treatment on the show of bootlegging as a crime is comically overwrought, making it look like there is an organized crime syndicate out there preying on concertgoers and ripping off bands. This being 1978, the tape recorders are huge and have tiny microphones, so anything recorded this way is going to be pretty much unlistenable. It's also strange seeing The Doobie Brothers taking a stand for law and order: this is a band whose core audience is biker gangs. Despite the plot holes, it's a welcome relief from typical sitcom fare, and great exposure for The Doobie Brothers, who take up most of the second episode playing music. Kids who grew up learning about bootlegging from the episode are later confused when they learn that the practice is more about soundboard recordings, and often encouraged by the bands - notably the Grateful Dead.
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