Music Features
The Rock History Report for
December 8th, 2009
1961 - The Beach Boys released "Surfin'," their first recording.
1963 - Frank Sinatra, Jr. was kidnapped.
1967 - Traffic released their Mr. Fantasy LP.
1968 - Graham Nash announced the formation of Crosby, Stills and Nash. The musician quit the Hollies three days earlier.
1969 - In Toronto testifying at his trial for hashish and heroin possesion, Jimi Hendrix claimed he had "outgrown" drugs. Surprisingly, his defense worked, as the jury found him not guilty after eight hours of deliberations.
1976 - John Denver made an appearance on the Carpenters' ABC-TV special.
1980 - John Lennon was shot to death in New York City by Mark David Chapman.
1995 - In an interview with Barbara Walters for ABC's "10 Most Fascinating People of 1995," Courtney Love told Walters that she wished she'd done "eight thousand million things" differently to prevent the suicide of husband Kurt Cobain.
1995 - The Grateful Dead's surviving members announced they were splitting. The decision came after group founder Jerry Garcia died the previous August.
1998 - The FBI declassified its files on Frank Sinatra, revealing over 1,300 pages on the legendary crooner.
1998 - Bruce Springsteen announced that he would tour again with the E Street Band. The Boss had not played with the band in nearly a decade.
2000 - Sting earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2003 - Ozzy Osbourne sustained injuries in an ATV accident in England. Ozzy fractured his left collarbone, eight ribs and endured a stable fracture to a vertebrae in his neck.
Birthdays:
1942 Bobby Elliott of the Hollies
1947 Gregg Allman of Allman Brothers Band
1957 Phil Collen of Def Leppard
1959 Paul Rutherford of Frankie Goes to Hollywood
1962 Marty Friedman of Megadeth
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