December 4, 2014

The day after a fake MSNBC story reports the death of Axl Rose, the very much alive Guns N’ Roses frontman tweets: “if I’m dead do I still have to pay taxes?”

December 5, 1998

Billboard changes the way they calculate the Hot 100, accounting for airplay. Before this, if a song wasn’t available for purchase as a single, it couldn’t chart. As labels withheld singles to goose album sales, popular songs like “Don’t Speak” and “One Headlight” were absent from the chart, prompting the change.

December 6, 2013

After they verify its authenticity on the PBS series History Detectives, someone purchases the Fender Stratocaster that Bob Dylan played in his historic performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 for an astounding $965,000. It had spent the previous 48 years with the family of Dylan’s personal pilot, who received no reply when he told Dylan to retrieve the gear he left behind.

December 7, 1979

“Christmas Rappin’” by Kurtis Blow becomes the first rap song released on a major label – Mercury Records. It sells about 400,000 copies and provides the template for his next single, “The Breaks,” which becomes the first rap Gold record.

December 8, 1980

John Lennon, 40 years old, is shot and killed outside his apartment in New York City.

December 9, 1967

They arrest Jim Morrison of The Doors at his own concert in New Haven, Connecticut, after a police officer finds him backstage with a young girl and maces him. It’s the first time they arrested a famous musician in the middle of a performance.

December 10, 2007

Led Zeppelin plays a one-off show at the O2 Arena in London, the biggest reunion in rock history. John Bonham’s son, Jason, plays drums at the show, which is hailed by critics and fans as triumphant.

The first issue of Playboy magazine is published (Marilyn Monroe is on the cover). Over the next two decades, “playboy” shows up in several hit songs: “Playboy“ by Marvelettes (1962) “He’s Just A Playboy” by The Drifters (1964) “Playboy“ by Gene & Debbe (1968) “International Playboy” by Wilson Pickett (1973).