This Day in History: 2024-12-09

DECEMBER 9^th

Billy Joel’s cataloging of 20th century touchstones, “We Didn’t Start The Fire,” is #1 in the U.S. 1989

Jim Morrison is posthumously pardoned for a ‘69 indecent exposure conviction in Florida. Outgoing Governor Charlie Crist leads the pardon effort, which the Clemency Board unanimously grants. The Doors frontman, a Florida native, was appealing the conviction when he was found dead in a Paris bathtub in ’71. 2010

A Maryland couple sues Wal-Mart for selling Evanescence’s “Anywhere But Home” CD/DVD without a parental advisory label. The song “Thoughtless” contains an explicit lyric. The suit charges the national retailer of deceiving its customers, after promoting a policy of selling only clean versions of albums. The suit requests that Wal-Mart either censor or remove the CD/DVD from its shelves. 2004

The case is later dismissed.

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

Jim Morrison is arrested on stage in New Haven after badmouthing the law. A backstage incident prior to The Doors concert (where Morrison is maced by a police officer) riles the singer. He is charged with breach of the peace and resisting arrest. 1967

Weezer guitarist Brian Bell starts his life in Kansas City, KS. 1968

Bob’s son, Jakob Dylan, has a birthday. The Wallflowers frontman is born in New York. 1970

Tre Cool (Frank Edwin Wright III) is born in Frankfurt, Germany. An early bandmate gives the drummer his moniker (which means “very cool” in French). Tre Cool joins Green Day in ’90. 1972

The Moody Blues are #1 on the Billboard 200 with “Seventh Sojourn.” Containing “I’m Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band),” the set has a four-week run at the top. 1972

George Harrison is the first recipient of Billboard magazine’s Century Award. 1992

Less than three weeks after its release The Beatles “Anthology 1” leads the U.S. album survey. The compilation features rarities, outtakes and live performances but is best known for John Lennon’s “Free As A Bird” (a demo the surviving band members finished), the first new Beatles song in 25-years.  1995

The “Cold Mountain” soundtrack is released. White Stripes’ Jack White contributes five songs including two new compositions. 2003

Owners of The Station in Rhode Island, Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, and Great White tour manager Dan Biechele are each charged with involuntary manslaughter. One-hundred people were killed in a fire at the club the previous February after Biechele lit the pyrotechnics that sparked the blaze. 2003

Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong performs “The Saints Are Coming” with U2 during the group’s concert at Oahu’s Aloha Stadium. The song was released as a charity single to help Hurricane Katrina victims. 2006

The U.S. Military releases a list of songs they use to break down detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay (Cuba). “Enter Sandman” (Metallica), “Bodies” (Drowning Pool), “Born In The U.S.A.” (Bruce Springsteen) and an AC/DC double shot, “Shoot To Thrill”/”Hell’s Bell’s” top the list. Two days later, Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello backs the Reprieve organization’s Zero dB initiative protesting the use of music to torture political prisoners. 2008

The Beatles’ “Penny Lane,” the Box Tops’ “The Letter,” the Animals’ “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place” and Hank Williams’ “Lovesick Blues” are inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The Hall, founded in ’73, honors recordings at least 25 years old that made a lasting impact on society and in the world of music. 2010

Sting (The Police) joins the cast of his struggling Broadway musical “The Last Ship.” His month-long run is an attempt to save the show from sinking. Showbiz pub Variety reports there were “no major car crashes” during Sting’s debut performance. 2014

Queens Of The Stone Age’s Josh Homme kicks a female photographer in the face at KROQ’s annual holiday concert in Inglewood, CA. The next day Homme apologizes saying it was ‘unintentional’. 2017

Falling In Reverse frontman Ronnie Radke slams venues who take a cut of a band’s merchandise sales following a show the previous night at the Armory in Minneapolis. Radke takes to social media to state that the venue’s business practices were so upsetting that he “refused to sell . . .  merch” there.  2023