| 97 | years ago | 1928 | Guitarist Bo Diddley is born. |
| 94 | years ago | 1931 | Singer Skeeter Davis is born. |
| 88 | years ago | 1937 | Singer Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary is born. |
| 83 | years ago | 1942 | Michael Nesmith, guitarist and vocalist with The Monkees, is born. |
| 80 | years ago | 1945 | Roger Glover, bassist for the Rainbow, and Davy Jones of The Monkees are born. |
| 79 | years ago | 1946 | Singer Patti Smith is born. |
| 78 | years ago | 1947 | Jeff Lynne, guitarist and vocalist with the Electric Light Orchestra, is born. |
| 63 | years ago | 1962 | Pop Singer Brenda Lee is slightly injured when she runs into her burning Nashville home to rescue her poodle, Cee Cee. However, it is too late as the pet, which toured the world with Lee, succumbs to smoke inhalation. The home is destroyed by the flames. |
| 62 | years ago | 1963 | New Musical Express' Twelfth International Popularity Poll lists British acts at the top of most categories for the first time. The #1 male singer is Cliff Richard, the #1 group is The Beatles and the Record of the Year is She Loves You. |
| 49 | years ago | 1976 | Swedish pop group, Abba, the world's most successful singing group this decade, garners a U.S. gold record for their Greatest Hits album. |
| 47 | years ago | 1978 | Emerson, Lake & Palmer, the art-rock supergroup beloved by millions of fans and hated by most rock critics, annouce their break-up. |
| 44 | years ago | 1981 | The J.Geils Band enjoys the biggest LP of its career with Freeze-Frame, which turns gold on this date. The album will go on to #1 early in 1982. |
| 34 | years ago | 1991 | Bruce Springsteen and wife Patti Scaialf have their second child. |
| 26 | years ago | 1999 | George Harrison is stabbed several times after he and his wife, Olivia, are attacked by an intruder in their home outside London. The Harrisons manage to subdue the attacker. Harrison recovers from his stab wounds. |
| 16 | years ago | 2009 | Concert industry rag Pollstar releases its Top 50 Tours of North America for 2009. U2 surpassed all other tours by a wide margin, grossing $123 million in North America and selling more than 1.3 million tickets overall. It beat its closest competitor, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, by about $30 million. The top five are rounded out by Elton John / Billy Joel, Britney Spears and AC/DC. The Top 10 included the Kenny Chesney, headlining newcomers Jonas Brothers, the Dave Matthews Band, Fleetwood Mac, and Metallica. |