Today in Music History for Jan. 23:
In 1893, Episcopal minister Phillips Brooks, bishop of Massachusetts and author of "O Little Town of Bethlehem," died.
In 1940, country singer-songwriter Johnny Russell was born. His biggest hit was "Rednecks, White Sox and Blue Ribbon Beer" in 1973. He died on July 3, 2001.
In 1943, pioneering R&B artist Louis Jordan topped the Billboard R&B chart with "What's the Use of Getting Sober." It was the first of his 18 No. 1 singles. Artists such as Chuck Berry and Ray Charles credited Jordan as a major influence.
In 1952, Robin Zander, lead vocalist of "Cheap Trick," was born in Loves Park, Ill. The Rockford, Ill.-based foursome first appeared on the national scene in 1977, and within two years had a chart-topping live album and a top-10 single, "I Want You to Want Me."
In 1958, Brunswick Records released "Maybe Baby" backed with "Tell Me How" by "The Crickets."
In 1970, singer Judy Collins was denied permission to sing her testimony at the Chicago Seven trial.
In 1972, blues singer Big Maybelle, born Mabel Louise Smith, died in Cleveland from a diabetic coma. She was 47.
In 1973, pioneer New Orleans jazz musician Edward (Kid) Ory died in Hawaii of pneumonia and heart failure at the age of 86. Ory, a trombonist, led one of the most successful bands in New Orleans from 1912 to 1919.
In 1973, Neil Young interrupted a concert in New York to announce that the U.S. had accepted a ceasefire in Vietnam. The audience was reported to have hugged and kissed for 10 minutes.
In 1976, "Donny and Marie" premiered on ABC. It was the first variety show hosted by a brother and sister team, Donny and Marie Osmond.
In 1978, Terry Kath, vocalist and guitarist with "Chicago," accidentally killed himself while playing with a loaded gun. He was 31.
In 1982, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley recorded their first demos as "Wham!" at Ridgeley's parents' house. They used a portable studio that cost them $32.
In 1986, 10 performers, including Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and Fats Domino, were the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Other performers honoured at the ceremony in New York were Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, James Brown, "The Everly Brothers" and Jerry Lee Lewis. Three of rock's forefathers -- Mississippi delta blues singer Robert Johnson, country and western singer Jimmie Rodgers and blues pianist Jimmy Yancey -- were also inducted.
In 1989, James Brown was sentenced in Georgia to another six years in jail in connection with a police chase through two states. At the time, Brown was serving a sentence in South Carolina.
In 1990, Allen Collins, former guitarist with the southern rock band "Lynyrd Skynyrd," died in Jacksonville, Fla., of pneumonia at age 37. He had been paralyzed from the waist down since a 1986 auto accident in which his girlfriend was killed. Collins was also injured in the 1977 plane crash that killed "Lynyrd Skynyrd" lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and three others. Collins later formed the "Rossington-Collins Band" with another "Skynyrd" survivor, Gary Rossington.
In 1993, Thomas A. Dorsey, known as the father of gospel music, died in Chicago at age 93. Dorsey didn't invent gospel music but he was its most important composer, writing such classics as "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" and "Peace in the Valley."
In 1993, country singer Wayne Raney died of cancer at age 71. His "Why Don't You Haul Off and Love Me" was a No. 1 hit in 1949.
In 1995, William Horton, lead singer of the Philadelphia doo-wop group "The Silhouettes," died at age 65. The group's only hit, "Get a Job," was a No. 1 record in 1958.
In 1996, city council in Johnson City, Tenn., withdrew permission for "White Zombie" to hold a show there. Several town residents had complained that the band advocated Satan worship.
In 1997, Richard Berry, who wrote the rock 'n' roll anthem "Louie Louie," died in his sleep in Los Angeles at age 61. He wrote the song in 1955 and recorded it two years later. But it was not a hit until 1963, when "The Kingsmen's" version went to No. 2 on the Billboard chart. Berry sold the rights to all his songs, including "Louie Louie," for $750 in 1956. Thirty years later, an artists' rights group helped him recover $2 million in royalties.
In 1998, Wynonna, Ricky Skaggs, Garth Brooks and George Harrison were among the performers at a memorial service for Carl Perkins in his hometown of Jackson, Tenn. Perkins had died four days earlier at age 65 following three strokes.
In 2001, Lou Levy, a pianist who accompanied such jazz greats as Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, died of a heart attack in Los Angeles at age 72. Levy's piano work appears on more than 100 recordings, also including works by Benny Goodman, Stan Getz, Peggy Lee, June Christy, Anita O'Day and Pinky Winters.
In 2002, Virgin Records paid Mariah Carey US$28 million to end its association with the singer after less than a year and a flop album, "Glitter." She had already been paid $21 million of a $100-million deal that was to have included several albums.
In 2002, virtuoso harpsichordist Igor Kipnis died at his Connecticut home of cancer at age 71. He recorded more than 80 albums and championed the venerable instrument for popular tastes.
In 2010, Grammy-winning pianist Earl Wild, who learned his craft from students of Liszt and Ravel and became one of America's masters of the keyboard, died in Palm Springs, Calif., at age 94.
In 2014, 19-year-old Canadian pop star Justin Bieber was arrested after police say he drag raced on a Miami Beach residential street in a yellow Lamborghini. His charges included DUI, driving with an expired license and resisting arrest without violence. Bieber reached a plea deal of misdemeanour careless driving and resisting arrest without violence. He agreed to take an anger management course and make a US$50,000 charitable donation.
In 2018, legendary South African jazz musician and anti-apartheid activist Hugh Masekela died after a decade-long fight with cancer. He was 78.
In 2018, a New York federal court ruled that the civil rights anthem "We Shall Overcome," which has been quoted by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and was made popular by folk singer Pete Seeger, is part of public domain. Song publisher Ludlow Music had claimed ownership of the song based on a copyright filed in 1960. The lawsuit was filed by the We Shall Overcome Foundation, a group that wanted to make a documentary about the song, and Butler Films.
In 2023, the death toll in the mass shooting at a Los Angeles-area ballroom dance hall rose to 11. Health officials said one of the 10 people injured in the attack died.
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The Canadian Press