• 1983: Neil Young is sued by Geffen Records for producing albums that are “not commercial”
• 1982: Michael Jackson releases Thriller
December 2
• 1970: Jay-Z is born Shawn Corey Carter
December 3
• 1979: Eleven Who fans are trampled to death rushing to gain admittance for general seating at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Coliseum
• 1948: Ozzy Osbourne is born John Michael Osbourne
December 4
• 1993: Frank Zappa dies of pancreatic cancer
December 6
• 1988: Roy Orbison dies of a heart attack
• 1969: Infamous stabbing by the Hell’s Angels at Altamont occurs during Rolling Stones show
• 1956: Randy Rhodes is born
December 7
• 1949: Tom Waits in born
• 1942: Singer/songwriter Harry Chapin is born
December 8
• 1980: John Lennon is assassinated in front of his NYC apartment building
• 1947: Gregg Allman is born
• 1943: Jim Morrison is born
December 10
• 1967: Otis Redding dies in a plane crash
December 11
• 1957: Jerry Lee Lewis secretly weds his third wife, third cousin Myra Gale Brown
December 12
• 1943: Dickey Betts of The Allman Brothers Band is born
• 1915: Frank Sinatra is born
December 13
• 1948: Ted Nugent is born
December 18
• 1943: Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones is born
December 22
• 1946: Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick is born
December 23
• 1966: Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam is born
December 25
• 1946: Jimmy Buffett is born
December 26
• 1940: Legendary music producer and “Wall of Sound” creator Phil Spector is born
December 30
• 1999: George Harrison is stabbed several times after he and his wife, Olivia, are attacked by an intruder in their home outside London
• 1928: Bo Diddley is born
December 31
• 1984: Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen loses his left arm in a car accident in England
• 1943: John Denver is born John Henry Deutschendorf
