December 21st
1970 Elvis Presley drops in on President Richard Nixon at the White House.
No invitation, no warning. Elvis is convinced drugs are ruining America’s youth and he offers to help deal with the problem. The White House staff allows Elvis to see the President. All that really comes from the meeting is a picture of a very stoned Elvis shaking hands with a very uncomfortable Nixon.
1996 “Tragic Kingdom” holds the top spot on the Billboard 200.
No Doubt’s most commercially successful effort is known for the songs “Just A Girl,” “Spiderwebs” and “Don’t Speak.”
2010 The street crossing featured on the cover of The Beatles “Abbey Road” album is declared an official site.
The crossing is recognized for its “cultural and historical importance.”
The 10-minute photo shoot occurred in ‘69. For traffic management reasons, the heavily trafficked crosswalk was later moved several meters.
MORE TODAY IN ROCK…
1940 One of music’s great original thinkers, Frank Zappa, bops into the world.
1946 The Beach Boys’ guitarist, Carl Wilson, is born.
1966 The Beach Boys receive a well-deserved gold record for their classic “Good Vibrations.”
1970 Following Blind Faith, Steve Winwood reforms Traffic as a trio with original members Jim Capaldi (drums) and Chris Wood (woodwinds). Their “John Barleycorn Must Die” featuring the rousing instrumental “Glad” goes gold.
1971 Vocalist Brett Scallions has a birthday. The Brownsville, TN, native is in Fuel from ’89 to ’06.
1972 “An Anthology,” a collection of late guitarist Duane Allman’s work, is certified gold.
1978 Seether’s Shaun Morgan has a birthday. The singer/guitarist hails from Bloemfontein, South Africa.
1979 Linda Ronstadt, The Eagles, and Chicago perform a benefit concert in San Diego to support California Governor Jerry Brown’s presidential campaign. Ronstadt dated Brown for a while, but not even that and the $150,000 raised from two shows (a second in Las Vegas the following day), is able to wrest the Democratic nomination from sitting President Jimmy Carter.
1985 Heart’s self-titled eighth studio album is #1 on the Billboard 200. The songs “What About Love” and “These Dreams” mark a comeback for the band.
2005 Elton John and David Furnish exchange vows and diamond wedding bands during a civil ceremony in the U.K. It’s John’s second marriage. A woman was involved in the first go-round.
2009 If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Pete Doherty (The Libertines) is arrested on drug charges immediately after leaving court, where he was sentenced for reckless driving.
2009 Ozzy Osbourne blasts the Christmas holiday saying the best Christmas he ever had was when he was unconscious after breaking his neck in an ’03 ATV accident. “I hate Christmas, I hate it,” humbugs Ozzy. “Everything stops. When I used to drink it was a good excuse to get drunk for two weeks. Now I just hate it. I have to unravel all these presents. What a waste of paper!”
2012 Lee Dorman, bassist for the Iron Butterfly, dies of natural causes in his car at his home in Laguna Niguel, CA. Authorities speculate that Dorman may have been on his way to a doctor’s appointment. Dorman played on the legendary “In-Gadda-Da-Vida” album. He was 70.
2014 Elton John marries his partner of more than two decades, David Furnish, during a ceremony in England. The couple undertook a civil partnership in ’05 and were waiting for same-sex marriage to be legal in the country, which happened the previous March.
2015 Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst is banned from entering Ukraine for five years after attempting to buy property in the Russian-occupied part of the country. Durst is married to Kseniya Beryazina, a Russian.
2021 The vote is in. Rage Against The Machine’s “Killing In The Name” is once again the Favorite Christmas #1 of all time in a U.K. poll. The first time RATM won the #1 Christmas poll with “Killing In The Name” was in ’09 (see above). The tally is held annually.
2022 ZZ Top reportedly sell their “entire music interests” to BMG and KKR for approximately $50 million dollars. The agreement includes a buyout of the band’s publishing catalog and their income from recorded and performance royalties. Previously, BMG served as co-publisher and administrator of ZZ Tops’ publishing catalog.
2023 Spencer Elden, who appeared as a naked 4-month-old baby swimming toward a dollar bill on the cover of Nirvana’s iconic ‘91 “Nevermind” album, can proceed with his legal claim of child pornography against the band following a federal appeals court ruling.
