January 1
- 1989: Nirvana signs a deal with Sub Pop Records
- 1958: Johnny Cash performs at San Quentin State Prison
January 3
- 1945: Steven Stills of Crosby, Stills and Nash is born
- 1946: John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin is born
- 1953: Hank Williams dies at 29 years old
January 2
- 1975: The Allman Brothers Band are named “Outstanding Community Organization” by the Georgia Department of Corrections
January 3
- 1964: The Beatles make their first appearance on U.S. television in a clip shown on the “Jack Paar Show”
January 4
- 1950: RCA Victor announces that it will begin manufacturing long-playing (LP) records
- 1964: Leo Fender sells the Fender Guitar Company to CBS for $13 million
January 6
- 1957: Elvis Presley makes his third and final appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” but is only shown from the waist up
- 1958: Gibson patents the Flying V guitar
January 8
- 1925: Russian composer Igor Stravinsky appears in his first American concert
- 1935: Elvis Presley is born
January 9
- 2014: With Gov. John Hickenlooper on hand, Poco, Firefall, Manassas and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band are inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame. Nathaniel Rateliff is featured in a tribute to Stephen Stills/Manassas
- 1944: Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin is born
January 11
- 1964: Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire becomes the first country album to top the U.S. pop album chart
- 1967: Jimi Hendrix records “Purple Haze”
- 1992: Paul Simon begins a concert tour of South Africa. Simon is the first international performer to play in the country following the end of the U.N. Cultural boycott
January 12
- 1969: Led Zeppelin’s debut album is released in the U.S.
January 14
- 1993: Black Francis tells the BBC that The Pixies are breaking up
January 15
- 1967: The Rolling Stones appear on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and, at Sullivan’s request, change the lyrics from “Let’s spend the night together” to “Let’s spend some time together”
January 16
- 1996: Jamaican authorities open fire on a seaplane carrying Jimmy Buffet and Bono, after mistaking the aircraft for a drug trafficker’s plane. No injuries are reported
January 18
- 1973: Pink Floyd begins recording Dark Side of the Moon
- 1991: Three people are killed at a Salt Lake City AC/DC concert when the audience rushes the stage
January 19
- 1981: Chris Wright, the chairman of the British Phonograph Industry, predicts the new cassette format will cause the death of vinyl
- 1943: Janis Lynn Joplin is born
January 20
- 1964: Meet The Beatles, the group’s U.S. debut, is released
- 1982: Ozzy Osbourne bites the head off of a live bat
January 27
- 2012: Atmosphere headline the first-ever winter show at Red Rocks for the inaugural Icelantic Winter On The Rocks.
- 1984: Michael Jackson suffers second and third degree burns to his head and neck after his hair catches fire from sparks from pyrotechnic effects during the filming of a Pepsi commercial
- 1968: Six weeks after his death in a plane crash, Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” is released
January 28
- 1985: “We Are The World” is recorded
January 30
- 1969: The Beatles perform together for the last time atop the roof of Apple Records’ headquarters in London
January 31
- 1979: The Clash begin their first U.S. Tour with Bo Diddley as their opening act
