More About Music History On This Day
7 Dec 1991
George Michael and Elton John were at No.1 in the UK with a live version of 'Don't Let The Sun Go down On Me', (a hit for Elton in 1974). All proceeds from the hit went to aids charities.
7 Dec 1991
U2 went to No.1 on the US album charts with 'Achtung Baby'. Featuring 'One', Zoo Station', 'The Fly' and 'Even Better Than The Real Thing'.
7 Dec 1992
Mariah Carey's MTV Unplugged EP became the first Sony Minidisc to be released in the US.
7 Dec 1993
Manic Street Preachers co-manager Phillip Hall died from cancer. Hall was a former Record Mirror journalist and had also worked in PR for Stiff Records. Represented many acts including The Stone Roses, The Pogues, James, The Waterboys, The Beautiful South and Radiohead.
7 Dec 2003
Britney Spears was at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘In The Zone’ the singer's fourth US No.1 album. The singer broke her own record from being the first female artist to have three albums enter the US chart at No.1 to being the first female artist to have 4 albums enter at No.1 consecutively.
7 Dec 2005
The MBE medal that John Lennon returned to the Queen was found in a royal vault at St James' Palace. Lennon returned his medal in November 1969 with a letter accompanying saying, "Your Majesty, I am returning my MBE as a protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts. With Love, John Lennon." Historians were calling for the medal to be put on public display.
7 Dec 2008
Leona Lewis went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Run’ which became the fastest-selling digital-only track. Take That went to No.1 on the UK album after selling over 432,000 copies of their new album The Circus. Britney Spears album Circus, released on the same day as Take That's album entered the chart at number four.
7 Dec 2014
Pink Floyd's classic album, The Dark Side Of The Moon made a surprise return to the Billboard chart when it landed at No.13, thanks to ultra-cheap pricing in the Google Play store where the album was discounted to 99-cents. Although it held the No.1 spot in the US for only a week when released in 1973, it remained in the Billboard album chart for 741 weeks.
7 Dec 2015
David Bowie made his last public appearance when he attended the opening night of the Lazarus production at the New York Theatre Workshop in Manhattan. Tickets to the entire run of the musical (which ran until 20th Jan 2016), sold out within hours of being made available.
7 Dec 2016
Greg Lake, who fronted both King Crimson and Emerson, Lake and Palmer, died aged 69 after a battle with cancer. One of the founding fathers of progressive rock, the band combined heavy rock riffs with a classical influence. They scored hit albums with Pictures at an Exhibition, Trilogy and Brain Salad Surgery and Lake had his solo hit 'I Believe in Father Christmas'. Jimi Hendrix considered joining ELP in their earliest incarnation, and if this had happened, the band would've been known as HELP.
7 Dec 2016
An inquest into the deaths of British band Viola Beach after a crash in Sweden heard that "none of the young men suffered". The four-piece group and their manager, who were aged between 19 and 32, died in the early hours of 13 February 2016, following a gig in Stockholm. Their car crashed into a raised section of a bridge and plummeted into a canal.
7 Dec 2019
Ozzy Osbourne offered $25,000 as a reward for the return of stolen instruments previously owned by his late guitarist Randy Rhoads after the Musonia School of Music in N. Hollywood, was robbed on Thanksgiving night. The stolen instruments included Rhoads’ first electric guitar, a 1963 Harmony Rocket, as well as a rare Marshall prototype made specifically for Rhoads.
7 Dec 2021
Scottish singer-songwriter Steve Bronski died from smoke inhalation in a fire at his home in Soho, London age 61. He was a co-founder and keyboard player of the group Bronski Beat, known for the singles ‘Smalltown Boy’ and ‘Why?’. He was also well known as an LGBTQ activist and was openly gay himself from an early age.
George Michael and Elton John were at No.1 in the UK with a live version of 'Don't Let The Sun Go down On Me', (a hit for Elton in 1974). All proceeds from the hit went to aids charities.
7 Dec 1991
U2 went to No.1 on the US album charts with 'Achtung Baby'. Featuring 'One', Zoo Station', 'The Fly' and 'Even Better Than The Real Thing'.
7 Dec 1992
Mariah Carey's MTV Unplugged EP became the first Sony Minidisc to be released in the US.
7 Dec 1993
Manic Street Preachers co-manager Phillip Hall died from cancer. Hall was a former Record Mirror journalist and had also worked in PR for Stiff Records. Represented many acts including The Stone Roses, The Pogues, James, The Waterboys, The Beautiful South and Radiohead.
7 Dec 2003
Britney Spears was at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘In The Zone’ the singer's fourth US No.1 album. The singer broke her own record from being the first female artist to have three albums enter the US chart at No.1 to being the first female artist to have 4 albums enter at No.1 consecutively.
7 Dec 2005
The MBE medal that John Lennon returned to the Queen was found in a royal vault at St James' Palace. Lennon returned his medal in November 1969 with a letter accompanying saying, "Your Majesty, I am returning my MBE as a protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts. With Love, John Lennon." Historians were calling for the medal to be put on public display.
7 Dec 2008
Leona Lewis went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Run’ which became the fastest-selling digital-only track. Take That went to No.1 on the UK album after selling over 432,000 copies of their new album The Circus. Britney Spears album Circus, released on the same day as Take That's album entered the chart at number four.
7 Dec 2014
Pink Floyd's classic album, The Dark Side Of The Moon made a surprise return to the Billboard chart when it landed at No.13, thanks to ultra-cheap pricing in the Google Play store where the album was discounted to 99-cents. Although it held the No.1 spot in the US for only a week when released in 1973, it remained in the Billboard album chart for 741 weeks.
7 Dec 2015
David Bowie made his last public appearance when he attended the opening night of the Lazarus production at the New York Theatre Workshop in Manhattan. Tickets to the entire run of the musical (which ran until 20th Jan 2016), sold out within hours of being made available.
7 Dec 2016
Greg Lake, who fronted both King Crimson and Emerson, Lake and Palmer, died aged 69 after a battle with cancer. One of the founding fathers of progressive rock, the band combined heavy rock riffs with a classical influence. They scored hit albums with Pictures at an Exhibition, Trilogy and Brain Salad Surgery and Lake had his solo hit 'I Believe in Father Christmas'. Jimi Hendrix considered joining ELP in their earliest incarnation, and if this had happened, the band would've been known as HELP.
7 Dec 2016
An inquest into the deaths of British band Viola Beach after a crash in Sweden heard that "none of the young men suffered". The four-piece group and their manager, who were aged between 19 and 32, died in the early hours of 13 February 2016, following a gig in Stockholm. Their car crashed into a raised section of a bridge and plummeted into a canal.
7 Dec 2019
Ozzy Osbourne offered $25,000 as a reward for the return of stolen instruments previously owned by his late guitarist Randy Rhoads after the Musonia School of Music in N. Hollywood, was robbed on Thanksgiving night. The stolen instruments included Rhoads’ first electric guitar, a 1963 Harmony Rocket, as well as a rare Marshall prototype made specifically for Rhoads.
7 Dec 2021
Scottish singer-songwriter Steve Bronski died from smoke inhalation in a fire at his home in Soho, London age 61. He was a co-founder and keyboard player of the group Bronski Beat, known for the singles ‘Smalltown Boy’ and ‘Why?’. He was also well known as an LGBTQ activist and was openly gay himself from an early age.
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