2006 – Phil Walden, the colorful and oft-controversial founder of the pathfinding Southern rock label Capricorn Records and manager of Otis Redding and the Allman Brothers, dies of lung cancer at his home in Atlanta. He is 66.
2003 – Pop singer Jessica Simpson adds to her television-acting resume with an episode of “The Twilight Zone.” Simpson stars in a segment of the UPN series as a babysitter who discovers the lifelike doll collection belonging to the child for whom she’s caring may be responsible for the disappearance of previous sitters.
2002 – Andrea Bocelli is honored for his outstanding contribution to music at the third Classical Brit Awards.
1999 – Garth Brooks, Billy Ray Cyrus, Rhett Akins, Lee Roy Parnell and blues artist Johnny Neel surprise an audience of 13,000 in Nashville when they join Charlie Daniels for his Volunteer Jam ’99 concert at the First American Music Center.
1991 – Punk rock forerunner Johnny Thunders dies of a drug overdose in New Orleans at age 38.
1981 – Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins give a live performance in West Germany that is later released as the LP “The Survivors.”
1979 – No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Heart of Glass,” Blondie. When the song hits No. 1, Andy Warhol throws a party for the group at Studio 54 in New York.
1975 – Badfinger’s Pete Ham commits suicide by hanging himself in his London garage.
1958 – No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Witch Doctor,” David Seville. Seville later creates the Chipmunks, which hit No. 1 in 1958 with “The Chipmunk Song.”
1956 – Elvis Presley plays Las Vegas, Nev., for the first time. Reaction is poor, and he plays only one week of a two-week engagement.
1936 – Roy Orbison is born in Vernon, Texas. His biggest hit is “Oh, Pretty Woman,” which stays at No. 1 for three weeks in 1964. He is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and dies of a heart attack on Dec. 6, 1988, in Madison, Tenn.
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