TODAY IN HISTORY –December 24th
1954 - Johnny Ace shot himself dead backstage at the City Auditorium in Houston, Texas. The R&B singer was playing with a revolver during a break between sets, someone in the room said "Be careful with that thing’’ and he said ‘It’s OK the gun’s not loaded, see’’ and pointed it at himself with a smile on his face.
1958 - Bobby Darin recorded the song “Beyond the Sea”.
1965 - The Beatles had the number one album in the US for the third Christmas in a row. 'Rubber Soul' sat atop the LP chart in '65, following 'Beatles For Sale' in 1964 and 'With The Beatles' in 1963. The Fab Four would repeat this feat again in 1968 with 'The Beatles' (The White Album) and again in 1969, with 'Abbey Road'.
1967 – Pirate Radio Pegasus starts broadcasting off the coast of New Zealand.
1967 - The Bee Gees performed their Christmas special 'live' from Liverpool Cathedral, England which was broadcast on UK TV.
1971 – Born this day, Ricky Martin, singer (Livin La Vida Loca).
1972 – Police cut the power to a noisy Manfred Mann concert, causing a 2 hour riot.
1972 - David Bowie appeared at the Rainbow Theatre, London, England giving a special Christmas Eve concert.
1973 - Tom Johnson of the Doobie Brothers was arrested in Visalia, California and charged with possession of marijuana. His court date is set for January 10th, the same day the band's new LP is to be released. The album is ironically titled "What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits".
1976 - 'Hotel California', The Eagles' sixth album, spent the first of eight non-consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard chart. The band's first LP with Joe Walsh and last with bassist Randy Meisner which has now sold over 16 million copies.
1977 – The Bee Gees started a 3 week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart with “How Deep Is Your Love”.
1977 - The Sex Pistols played their last ever UK gig, (until 1996), before splitting, at Ivanhoes in Huddersfield. It was a charity performance before an audience of mainly children.
1978 – ABBA members Bjorn and Agnetha divorced
1988 - American glam metal band Poison started a three-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Every Rose Has Its Thorn.'
1988 – Nirvana started recording their first album “Bleach” using a $600 loan from an old school friend.
1989 – Following years of physical and verbal abuse inflicted on him as a child by his international film and recording star father, Bing Crosby, Lindsay Crosby took his life, reportedly right after watching his father sing “White Christmas” during the television airing of the classic Christmas movie, “Holiday Inn”.
1991 - Born on this day, Louis Tomlinson from English-Irish pop boy band One Direction who formed after finishing third in the seventh series of The X Factor in 2010. Scored the 2011 UK No.1 single 'What Makes You Beautiful' and the 2013 No.1 'One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)'.
1994 - Pearl Jam went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Vitalogy'. Their third studio album was first released on vinyl record, followed by a release in other formats two weeks later.
2000 - Four Seasons bassist Nick Massi died of cancer. They scored the 1976 UK & US No.1 single 'December 1963, Oh What A Night', as well as hits with ‘Sherry,’ and ‘Rag Doll.’
2003 - Jack White of The White Stripes turned himself in to Detroit police to face aggravated assault charges stemming from a bar room altercation in which he allegedly attacked Jason Stollsteimer of The Von Bondies. White was also fingerprinted and formally booked on the charges before he was released on bail.
2013 – Katy Perry has gained more Twitter followers in 2013 than any other celebrity. She added 15 million users to her total of over 48.5 million in the last 12 months. Justin Beiber not far behind gaining an extra 13.8 million to bring his total to 47.8 million.
1954 - Johnny Ace shot himself dead backstage at the City Auditorium in Houston, Texas. The R&B singer was playing with a revolver during a break between sets, someone in the room said "Be careful with that thing’’ and he said ‘It’s OK the gun’s not loaded, see’’ and pointed it at himself with a smile on his face.
1958 - Bobby Darin recorded the song “Beyond the Sea”.
1965 - The Beatles had the number one album in the US for the third Christmas in a row. 'Rubber Soul' sat atop the LP chart in '65, following 'Beatles For Sale' in 1964 and 'With The Beatles' in 1963. The Fab Four would repeat this feat again in 1968 with 'The Beatles' (The White Album) and again in 1969, with 'Abbey Road'.
1967 – Pirate Radio Pegasus starts broadcasting off the coast of New Zealand.
1967 - The Bee Gees performed their Christmas special 'live' from Liverpool Cathedral, England which was broadcast on UK TV.
1971 – Born this day, Ricky Martin, singer (Livin La Vida Loca).
1972 – Police cut the power to a noisy Manfred Mann concert, causing a 2 hour riot.
1972 - David Bowie appeared at the Rainbow Theatre, London, England giving a special Christmas Eve concert.
1973 - Tom Johnson of the Doobie Brothers was arrested in Visalia, California and charged with possession of marijuana. His court date is set for January 10th, the same day the band's new LP is to be released. The album is ironically titled "What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits".
1976 - 'Hotel California', The Eagles' sixth album, spent the first of eight non-consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard chart. The band's first LP with Joe Walsh and last with bassist Randy Meisner which has now sold over 16 million copies.
1977 – The Bee Gees started a 3 week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart with “How Deep Is Your Love”.
1977 - The Sex Pistols played their last ever UK gig, (until 1996), before splitting, at Ivanhoes in Huddersfield. It was a charity performance before an audience of mainly children.
1978 – ABBA members Bjorn and Agnetha divorced
1988 - American glam metal band Poison started a three-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Every Rose Has Its Thorn.'
1988 – Nirvana started recording their first album “Bleach” using a $600 loan from an old school friend.
1989 – Following years of physical and verbal abuse inflicted on him as a child by his international film and recording star father, Bing Crosby, Lindsay Crosby took his life, reportedly right after watching his father sing “White Christmas” during the television airing of the classic Christmas movie, “Holiday Inn”.
1991 - Born on this day, Louis Tomlinson from English-Irish pop boy band One Direction who formed after finishing third in the seventh series of The X Factor in 2010. Scored the 2011 UK No.1 single 'What Makes You Beautiful' and the 2013 No.1 'One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)'.
1994 - Pearl Jam went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Vitalogy'. Their third studio album was first released on vinyl record, followed by a release in other formats two weeks later.
2000 - Four Seasons bassist Nick Massi died of cancer. They scored the 1976 UK & US No.1 single 'December 1963, Oh What A Night', as well as hits with ‘Sherry,’ and ‘Rag Doll.’
2003 - Jack White of The White Stripes turned himself in to Detroit police to face aggravated assault charges stemming from a bar room altercation in which he allegedly attacked Jason Stollsteimer of The Von Bondies. White was also fingerprinted and formally booked on the charges before he was released on bail.
2013 – Katy Perry has gained more Twitter followers in 2013 than any other celebrity. She added 15 million users to her total of over 48.5 million in the last 12 months. Justin Beiber not far behind gaining an extra 13.8 million to bring his total to 47.8 million.