This Day in History: 2023-12-08

DECEMBER 8th

Singer/poet Jim Morrison, of The Doors, is born in Melbourne, FL. 1943

Traffic delivers their debut album “Mr. Fantasy.” The set has “Dear Mr. Fantasy, “Paper Sun” and “Heave Is On Your Mind”1967

You can check out anytime you like but you can never leave. The Eagles release their classic, “Hotel California.” The album contains the title track and “New Kid In Town.” 1976

Pat Benatar’s “In The Heat Of The Night” album goes platinum (one million sales).  The set features the song “Heartbreaker.” 1980

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

Gregg Allman (Gregory Lenoir Allman), keyboardist/singer for the Allman Brothers Band and Cher’s ex-husband, has a birthday. Duane’s Allman’s kid brother is born in Nashville, TN. 1947

Def Leppard guitarist Philip Kenneth Collen is born in Hackney, East London, England. He joins the band in ‘82 following the firing of Pete Willis. 1957

The Rolling Stones release the stoned-out “Their Satanic Majesties Request.” The album is recorded while Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Brian Jones deal with their drug arrests and trials. 1967

Slipknot/Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor is born in Des Moines, IA.  1973

The maudlin ballad, “Babe,” written by Styx frontman Dennis DeYoung, is #1 and becomes the group’s biggest hit. Yes, even bigger than “Mr. Roboto.” 1979

The dream is over. John Lennon is fatally shot in New York. 1980

The sound system breaks down during a John Mellencamp concert at Madison Square Garden in New York. Mellencamp waits until the problem is fixed, resumes the show and offers anyone in the audience their money back if they’re not satisfied. 1985

Four months after the death of guitarist Jerry Garcia, the Grateful Dead declare their long, strange trip is over. They disband. 1995

Creed’s third album, “Weathered,” tops the Billboard 200.  The album stays at #1 for the remainder of the year and four weeks into ’02. 2001

An ATV accident on his U.K. estate sends Ozzy Osbourne to the hospital with a broken collarbone and six broken ribs. Concert appearances are subsequently cancelled. 2003

Damageplan guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, a former member of Pantera, is shot to death onstage in Columbus, OH. The deranged gunman also kills three other people and injures two more before being killed by a police officer. 2004

Dimebag’s family sues the venue where the guitarist was killed. The lawsuit claims that the Alrosa Villa nightclub did not provide adequate security for the gig, and that the staff could have done more to prevent the shooting. 2005

An acetate of the Velvet Underground’s first recording sells for $155,401 on e-Bay. The disc was purchased by a collector for 75-cents four years earlier.  This demo was rejected by Columbia Records with the Underground releasing their influential debut “The Velvet Underground & Nico” on Verve in March of ’67. 2006

Green Day rule the Rolling Stone Best of the Decade Readers Poll. “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams” is the best single and “American Idiot” takes the finest album honor. The group is also named the most accomplished artist of the past 10 years. However, Rolling Stone editors, writers and select musicians name Radiohead’s “Kid A” as the album of the decade. 2009

Soundscan reports that The Beatles are second only to Eminem in album sales between 2000-2009. The Beatles sold over 30 million units including 11.5 million of their ’00 compilation “The Beatles #1’s.” That album, the decade’s best seller, moved more copies than either Linkin Park’s “Hybird Theory” or Creed’s “Human Clay,” the only other Rock albums to make the decade’s Top 10 sales list. 2009

Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker settles a lawsuit over the ’08 South Carolina plane crash that killed four and left Barker seriously injured. The defendants – Clay Lacy Aviation, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Global Exec Aviation, Bombardier Inc. and others — reach an undisclosed agreement with Barker during a mediation session. 2009

Ringo Starr unveils his Knotted Gun statue for the Non-Violence Foundation in the Gibson Guitar Studio in London. The former Beatle calls for stricter weapons regulation at the anti-gun event held on the anniversary of John Lennon’s murder (see above). The statue depicts a large revolver, painted in a variety of pastel colors, with its barrel twisted into a knot. The word ‘imagine’ is emblazoned below the cylinder. 2011

Metallica perform in Antarctica as part of a Coca-Cola Zero-sponsored promotional event. They play in a dome near the heliport of the Argentine Antarctic Base Carlini. The concert makes Metallica the first band to play all seven continents in one year. The feat is recognized in the 2015 Guinness World Records book. 2013

Carlos Santana and Billy Joel are recognized for their lifetime contributions to American culture at the 36th Annual Kennedy Center Honors Ceremony in Washington, D.C. 2013

Jared Leto (30 Seconds To Mars) files a lawsuit against TMZ and parent company Warner Bros. Entertainment after the site posts a video of the singer critiquing Taylor Swift’s music. Leto alleges TMZ knew it was stolen but published the video anyway. Leto also apologizes to the Pop/Country superstar for his harsh words. 2015

Eagles Of Death Metal return to Bataclan in Paris less than one month after terrorists killed at least eighty-nine audience members during a concert at the venue. The band adds flowers to the makeshift memorial site and read their own tributes. “The bad guys never take a day off, and therefore we Rock ‘n Rollers cannot either… and we never will,” the band writes on Facebook. 2015

DevilDriver announces they have parted ways with drummer Austin D’amond. In the same post the band says Davier Pérez is their new drummer.  2022