December 31st Born on this day in Music History
Odetta (1930), Siw Malmkvist (1936), Andy Summers - The Police (1942), John Denver (1943), Burton Cummings (1947), Donna Summer (1948), Tom Hamilton - Aerosmith (1951), Fermin Goytisolo - KC and the Sunshine Band (1951), Pete Quaife (The Kinks) 1943, Paul Westerberg - The Replacements (1959), Scott Taylor - Then Jericho (1961), Scott Ian - Anthrax (1963), Danny McNamara - Embrace (1970), Joey McIntyre - New Kids on the Block (1972), Bob Bryar - My Chemical Romance (1979)
Chart News
1966 The Monkees at No.1 on the US singles charts with the Neil Diamond song 'I'm A Believer'
1988 The Beach Boys at No.1 in Australia with Kokomo
1994 Garth Brooks at No.1 on the US album chart with, 'The Hits'
2011 Military Wives with Gareth Malone and Paul Mealor at No.1 in the UK with 'Wherever You Are'
2015 Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir at No.1 in the UK with 'A Bridge over You'
2020 LadBaby at No.1 on the UK chart with 'Don't Stop Me Eatin'
Gig News
1961 The Beach Boys made their live debut at Long Beach Civic Auditorium, California.
1962 Bob Dylan played at the King and Queen pub, London
1963 The Kinks played at the Lotus House Restaurant, London
1966 Ray Charles appeared at the City Center Arena, Seattle Washington
1968 Joe Cocker, Amen Corner, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, The Small Faces, Free and Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band appeared at Alexandra Palace, London
1973 AC/DC made their live debut at Chequers Bar in Sydney
1973 Journey made their live debut at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom
1979 Blondie's gig at The Apollo Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland was broadcast live on BBC 2's 'Old Grey Whistle Test
1991 Pearl Jam, Nirvana and the Red Hot Chili Peppers all appeared on the same bill at the Cow Palace, San Francisco, California.
1999 The Manic Street Preachers performed to 57,000 fans at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff - I was there! Also supported by Feeder, Super Furry Animals and Shack. The concert was broadcasted live and watched by two billion people around the world.
Music News
1977 It's Alive was recorded by the Ramones, fabulous live album. Not released until April 1979
1985 Ricky Nelson and six others were killed when his plane crashed en-route to a New Year's Eve extravaganza in Dallas, Texas.
2015 Natalie Cole died