Anthony Kiedis, of Red Hot Chili Peppers, is 57 today. Kiedis co-founded the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1983 and has been with the band, as long as the band has been in existence, ever since. They have recorded 11 studio albums together and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Fun fact: Kiedis first met bandmate Flea in a driver's ed class where they became best friends while sitting next to each other. In a biography about the band written by Jeff Apter, Kiedis said, "We were both social outcasts. We found each other, and it turned out to be the longest-lasting friendship of my life."
Today In:
1955 - R&B group The Famous Flames, led by singer James Brown, cut their first demo of "Please, Please, Please" at a radio station in Macon Georgia. It would lead to their signing with King Records.
1956 - Elvis Presley bought a new Harley Davidson and spent the day riding round Memphis on his new bike with actress Natalie Wood.
1968 - George Harrison released his first solo album Wonderwall Music on the Apple label. The songs which were mostly Harrison instrumentals, featured Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr and an unaccredited banjo contribution by Peter Tork of The Monkees.
1969 - Elvis Presley had his first No. 1 in seven years with "Suspicious Minds." The song was widely regarded as the single that returned Presley's career success, following his '68 comeback special "Elvis" that ran on NBC. It was his seventeenth and last number-one single in the United States. Rolling Stone later ranked it No. 91 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
1969 - The Beatles scored their 13th U.S. No. 1 album with Abbey Road. The final studio recordings from the group featured two George Harrison songs; "Something" and "Here Comes The Sun" plus "Come Together" and the two multi-part closing medleys on side two, culminating with "The End." Conspiracy theories about the album cover supposedly containing clues adding to the 'Paul Is Dead' phenomenon included: The car number plate 'LMW 281F' supposedly referred to the fact that McCartney would be 28 if he was still alive. 'LMW' was said to stand for 'Linda McCartney Weeps.' And the four Beatles were said to represent the priest (John, dressed in white), the Undertaker (Ringo, black suit), the Corpse (Paul, barefoot), and the Gravedigger (George, in jeans and a denim shirt).
1970 - The Festfolk Quartet, which later becomes ABBA, played their first-ever concert at a Gothenburg, Sweden restaurant.
1975 - Elton John started a three-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Island Girl", his 5th U.S. No. 1, a No. 14 hit in the U.K.
1980 - Bruce Springsteen scored his first No. 1 U.S. album with "The River", featuring the U.S. No. 5 and U.K. No. 44 single "Hungry Heart".
1994 - Mariah Carey's album Merry Christmas was released. By the end of the year, it sold over 3 million copies.
1996 - U2 set up a video link to an internet site from their recording studio in Dublin so fans could watch them record their new album.
1999 - With getting music over the internet still a novel concept and technical challenge, Third Eye Blind offered their single "Anything" exclusively online. It was free, but could only be played for three weeks.
2000 - Ben Folds Five disbanded, but reunited in in 2011 and released their fourth album The Sound of the Life of the Mind in 2012.
2000 - Robbie Williams offered to donate his bone marrow to save a fan's life after meeting leukemia suffer Johanna MacVicar. Williams asked his fans to sign up as potential donors after being told of the desperate shortage of male donors.
2015 - Taylor Swift was being sued for $42m for allegedly stealing the lyrics to her hit 2014 song "Shake It Off", which topped music charts around the world. R&B singer Jesse Braham claimed in legal papers Swift stole the words from a song he wrote in 2013 called "Haters Gone Hate".
2016 - Bap Kennedy, singer, songwriter from Belfast, Northern Ireland, died. He is noted for his collaborations with Steve Earle, Van Morrison, Shane MacGowan and Mark Knopfler, as well as for writing the song "Moonlight Kiss". Kennedy was also in the rock band Energy Orchard.
Birthdays:
Country singer Lyle Lovett is 62.
Mags Furuholmen of A-ha is 57.
Rick Allen, Def Leppard drummer, is 56.
Mary Hansen of Stereolab was born today in 1966.
LaTavia Roberson of Destiny's Child is 38.
