| 83 | years ago | 1942 | Andy Summers, guitarist for the Police, is born. |
| 78 | years ago | 1947 | Burton Cummings, keyboardist and vocalist with the Guess Who, is born. |
| 77 | years ago | 1948 | Disco diva Donna Summer is born. |
| 74 | years ago | 1951 | Tom Hamilton, bassist for Aerosmith, is born. |
| 70 | years ago | 1955 | Unchained Melody is named the #1 top tune of 1955 based on Billboard's Honor Roll of Hits, a chart that takes into consideration dealer sales, disc jockey favorites, and jukebox plays. |
| 64 | years ago | 1961 | Appearing at the Ritchie Valens Memorial Concert at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, the Beach Boys play their first show under that name. Prior to this, they called themselves the Pendletons and Carl and the Passion. |
| 62 | years ago | 1963 | Scott Ian of Anthrax is born. |
| 61 | years ago | 1964 | The Beatles single I Feel Fine and album, Beatles '65 are certified gold. |
| 56 | years ago | 1969 | At a New Year's Eve concert at the Fillmore East, New York City, Jimi Hendrix introduces his new all-black, Band of Gypsys: bassist Billy Cox and drummer Buddy Miles. The concert is recorded for the live album, Band of Gypsys. |
| 55 | years ago | 1970 | On the last day of the year, The Beatles break up. Paul MacCartney files a writ in London High Court against The Beatles Co., including Messrs. John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, seeking the legal dissolution of The Beatles' partnership. |
| 52 | years ago | 1973 | AC/DC performs its first live gig at The Chequers Club, Sydney, Australia. |
| 51 | years ago | 1974 | Harry Chapin has a gold #1 hit with a song which hits close to home, Cat's in the Cradle. The lyrics come from a poem composed by his wife, Sandy, all about a neglectful father who's away far too much and busy far too often to watch his kid grow-up. |
| 47 | years ago | 1978 | The Marshall Tucker Band does a New Year's Eve show at The Warehouse on Tcoupitoulas Street in New Orleans. And Bill Graham closes Winterland Theater in San Francisco to rock concerts following a swan-song by the Grateful Dead and the Blues Brothers. |
| 46 | years ago | 1979 | The Jefferson Starship's New Year's Eve concert at X's night club in San Francisco is broadcast over radio to much of the Western world. |
| 43 | years ago | 1982 | Miami Steve Van Zandt, guitar player for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, marries Maureen Santora in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Bruce is the best man, and at the reception, Percy Sledge and preacher Richard Penniman (known better as Little Richard) sing Sledge's When a Man Loves a Woman. |
| 43 | years ago | 1982 | One of New York City's longest running rock clubs, Max's Kansas City closes. Max's had been the watering hole for Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground in the late Sixties. It was there that Devo made its first sensational New York stage debut, introduced by David Bowie in 1976. Also a young, unknown Bruce Springsteen played solo acoustic sets in the early seventies, opening for Bob Marley & the Wailers. |
| 41 | years ago | 1984 | Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen loses his left arm in an auto accident in England. Allen continued on with the band, using a specially adapted drum kit. |
| 40 | years ago | 1985 | Ricky Nelson dies in an airplane crash. |
| 21 | years ago | 2004 | For the first time in 32 years, Dick Clark is unable to host his “New Year's Rockin’ Eve” show from Times Square. He's in the hospital recovering from a minor stroke. Regis Philbin covers for him. Dick recovers and returns the following year. |
| 20 | years ago | 2005 | Dick Clark hosts his “New Year's Rockin’ Eve” show from a studio near Times Square, his speech a bit halting since he had to learn how to talk again after a stroke the previous year. Mariah Carey performs live in Times Square, and Gulfport's 3 Doors Down is one of the musical guests. |
| 10 | years ago | 2015 | Natalie Cole, the Grammy-winning singer who had hits with songs such as This Will Be and Our Love, and who recorded Unforgettable ... With Love, a best-selling album of songs made famous by her late father, Nat King Cole, dies at age 65. |