More About Music History On This Day

8 Jan 1957
Bill Haley & His Comets started the first ever 'rock & roll tour' of Australia, playing two sold out nights in Sydney.

8 Jan 1958
The Everly Brothers kicked off a 17 date North American tour at the Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. Also on the bill, Buddy Holly, The Rays, Royal Teens, Shepherd Sisters, Paul Anka, Margie Rayburn and
Danny & The Juniors.

8 Jan 1966
The Beatles started a six week run at No.1 on the US album chart with Rubber Soul the group's seventh US chart topper, which went on to spend 56 weeks on the chart. The group also started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'We Can Work It Out' the group's 11th US No.1 single.

8 Jan 1969
Mike Jagger and Keith Richards were both barred from an exclusive hotel for wearing "op art" pants and nothing else. They were both asked to leave the Hotel Crillen in Lima, Peru after refusing to change clothes.

8 Jan 1972
The New Seekers were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing, (in Perfect Harmony'). The song started as a Coca Cola TV ad. It originally included the line, 'I'd like to buy the world a Coke.'

8 Jan 1979
Canadian rock band Rush were named the country's official Ambassadors Of Music by the Canadian government.

8 Jan 1991
Steve Clark guitarist with Def Leppard, was found dead at his Chelsea flat by his girlfriend, after a night of heavy alcohol consumption combined with prescription drugs. The autopsy revealed he had died from an overdose of codeine and had Valium, morphine and a blood alcohol level of .30, three times the British legal driving limit. In 2007 Clark was ranked No.11 on Classic Rock Magazine's "100 Wildest Guitar Heroes".

8 Jan 1994
Jamaican reggae/rap (ragga) duo Chaka Demus and Pliers were at No.1 in the UK with their version of 'Twist And Shout.' The song was originally recorded (and produced by Phil Spector) by the Top Notes in 1961 and then covered by The Isley Brothers. It was also covered by The Beatles on their first album Please Please Me.

8 Jan 1996
A Los Angeles court found Robert Hoskins guilty of five counts of stalking, assault and making terrorist threats to Madonna. Hoskins had twice scaled the walls of the singer's estate and had threatened to slash her throat from ear to ear.

8 Jan 2000
It was reported that police foiled a £1 million ($1.7million) kidnap plot to snatch Victoria Beckham and her baby son. The plot was uncovered after a tip off to the police. The gang had planned to kidnap the pair when husband David was away playing football.

8 Jan 2001
A woman who believed that Axl Rose communicated with her via telepathy was arrested for stalking the Guns N' Roses singer for a second time. Police detained Karen Jane McNeil after she was spotted loitering outside his house.

8 Jan 2004
The estate of George Harrison started a $10 million legal action against Dr Gilbert Lederman of Staten Island University Hospital, claiming the doctor coerced Harrison to sign souvenirs. The main allegations of the legal action was that Dr Lederman got an extremely sick Harrison to sign his son's guitar and autographs for his two daughters.

8 Jan 2006
The Strokes went to No.1 on the UK chart with 'First Impressions Of Earth' the bands third album and first No.1.

8 Jan 2010
Jimmy Page launched a new set of stamps in the UK which featured classic album covers from the last 40 years including Coldplay, Power, Corruption And Lies, New Order, David Bowie and Parklife by Blur.

8 Jan 2014
It was reported that vinyl record sales had increased 32% in 2013, while CD sales declined 14.5% in the last last year, vinyl sales grew 32% from 4.5 million units sold in 2012 to 6 million sold in 2013, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

8 Jan 2016
American R&B and soul singer Otis Clay died aged 73. Clay who started in gospel music scored R&B hits in the late 60s and 70s. He recorded the original version of 'The Only Way Is Up' in 1980 which later became a chart-topping single for Yazz and the Plastic Population.

8 Jan 2016
David Bowie released his twenty-fifth and final studio album Blackstar, coinciding with his 69th birthday and two days before his death. It became his first and only album to reach No.1 on the Billboard 200 album chart in the US. At the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, the album won awards for Best Alternative Music Album; Best Engineered Album; Best Recording Package, and the title single won Best Rock Performance, and Best Rock Song. The album was also awarded the British Album of the Year award at the 2017 Brit Awards.

8 Jan 2017
Northern Indian-born British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Peter Sarstedt died at the age of 75. He was best known for the single 'Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?' which topped the UK Singles Chart in 1969 (and 14 other countries), and won an Ivor Novello Award.

Date & Time

January 8, 2025

Share This Event!

Add to My Calendar

Did you know you can follow any of our 175 Special Interest calendars and stay informed better than ever before? See them here. You can also create your own public or private calendar here. Post events to your calendar and ours at the same time! Terms and conditions may vary based on the policies of your local Town Planner publisher.

To learn more, watch our intro video!