2004 – The Pixies wrap their triumphant reunion tour with a show at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom. The gig caps a nearly eight-month trek, the quartet’s first since its original 1992 dissolution, which played to sold-out audiences across the world.
2003 – Prosecutors in Santa Barbara, Calif., charge Michael Jackson with nine felony counts involving the alleged abuse of a teenage boy at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch. The pop star is charged with seven counts of committing a lewd act on a child under age 14 between Feb. 7 and March 10 and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent with the intent of committing a felony.
2002 – Radiohead treats fans to a Webcast featuring songs from the group’s forthcoming, as-yet-untitled sixth Capitol album. Frontman Thom Yorke and bassist Colin Greenwood host the session, in which the band DJs and plays three new songs plus a cover of Dick Smith and Felix Bernard’s yuletide classic “Walking in a Winter Wonderland.
2001 – Jay-Z becomes the first hip-hop artist ever to release an album from the “MTV Unplugged” series when roc-A-Fella/Def Jam issues “Jay-Z Unplugged.”
2001 – English singer/songwriter Clifford T. Ward dies of pneumonia. He is 57. Ward, who battled multiple sclerosis, is best known for his 1973 U.K. hit “Gaye”; his singles “Scullery” and “Wherewithal” were also longtime favorites.
2000 – Kirsty MacColl, a much-loved figure on the British music scene for more than 20 years, dies while swimming on vacation in Cozumel, Mexico. MacColl, 41, is hit by a speedboat while swimming in an area reserved for swimmers. Her two sons are with her at the time of the accident, but are unharmed.
2000 – British music magazine Melody Maker, which began publishing weekly in 1926, publishes its last issue.
2000 – Bruce Springsteen, backed by the Max Weinberg 7 & Friends, plays the second in a pair of benefit shows at New Jersey’s Asbury Park Convention Hall. The show benefits the Boys & Girls Club of Monmouth County, the Women’s Center of Monmouth County (which serves families affected by domestic violence and sexual assault), the FoodBank of Monmouth & Ocean Counties, and the Parker Family Health Clinic (a free healthcare facility).
1999 – Reggae singer Joe Higgs dies in Los Angeles. Higgs, 59, struggled with cancer. He is known for fostering the career of Bob Marley.
1997 – Leading activists that include Gloria Steinem, C. Delores Tucker and Eleanor Smeal gather in front of the Time Warner building in New York’s Rockefeller Plaza to protest the Prodigy song “Smack My Bitch Up.”
1997 – Tori Amos offers 14 music videos, including a rare clip for “Cornflake Girl,” for viewing over the Internet as part of a holiday charity effort for the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN). Users at www.real.com and www.atlanticrecords.com are allowed access to the clips for a four-week period in exchange for a donation of $5.
1984 – No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Like a Virgin,” Madonna. The song is Madonna’s first No. 1 hit and tops the singles chart for six weeks.
1971 – Jerry Lee Lewis divorces his cousin Myra Gale Brown. They married in 1957 when she was 13 years old.
1965 – U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler records “Ballad of the Green Berets.”
1962 – The Beatles make their final trip to Hamburg, West Germany, during their early pre-fame days. They play the Star Club for two weeks.
1943 – Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones is born in Kent, England.
1938 – Musician and manager Chas (Bryan) Chandler is born. Chandler was a member of the Animals, and managed the career of Jimi Hendrix.
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