Rock and Metal History, December 25

1940: Pete Brown, lyricist, poet, singer, producer, Cream, (1967 UK No.11 single 'I Feel Free'). Also worked with Jack Bruce, Graham Bond, Mick Jagger and Peter Green.

1945: Noel Redding, bassist with The Jimi Hendrix Experience who had the 1967 UK No.3 single 'Purple Haze', and the 1970 UK No.1 single 'Voodoo Chile'. Redding was the first person to join the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and the first to leave, his final concert with them was in June 1969. Redding died on 11th May 2003 aged 57.

1954: Annie Lennox of the Eurythmics and a solo star, was born in Aberdeen, Scotland.

1958: Alannah Myles, Canadian singer, 1990 US No.1 and UK No.2 single 'Black Velvet.'

1964: The Beatles recorded six songs for the BBC radio program Saturday Club in London: ‘Rock and Roll Music’, ‘I'm a Loser’, ‘Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby’, ‘I Feel Fine’, ‘Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey’ and ‘She's a Woman.’

1965: The Beatles 6th album Rubber Soul started a nine-week run at No.1 on the UK chart. It spent a total of 42 week's on the UK chart and was also a No.1 in the US.

1968: Led Zeppelin arrived in the United States for the very first time in preparation of their debut North American tour. The group were paid an average of $1,500 for each show.

1971: Noel Hogan, guitar, The Cranberries, (1994 UK No.14 single 'Linger'). The bands 1993 album 'Everybody Else Is Doing It So Why Can’t We' spent 86 weeks on the UK chart.

1972: Dido (real name Floria Cloud deBounevialle O'Malley Armstrong) was born in Kensington, London.

1972: Josh Freese, drummer, Nine Inch Nails, (2005 US No.1 album ‘White Teeth’). Also worked with The Vandals, Devo, Viva Death and A Perfect Circle.

1975: The British Heavy Metal band Iron Maiden was formed by bassist SteveHarris in Leyton ,East London.The band's discography has grown to thirty-eight albums, including sixteen studio albums, eleven live albums, four EPs, and seven compilations.Harris attributes the band's name to a film adaptation of The Man in the Iron Mask from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, the title of which reminded him of the iron maiden torture device.After months of rehearsal, Iron Maiden made their debut at St. Nicks Hall in Poplar on 1 May 1976.On 15 May, after Dickinson had been given the all-clear, manager Rod Smallwood confirmed that the album would be released in 2015, although the band will not tour until 2016 to allow Dickinson to recuperate On 18 June 2015, the band's website announced its title, The Book of Souls, and confirmed a release date of 4 September 2015. A critical and commercial success, it received positive reviews and became the band's fifth UK No. 1 album.

Current members: Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals (1975–present), keyboards (1988, 1998–present)Dave Murray – guitars (1976–1977, 1978–present)Adrian Smith – guitars, backing vocals (1980–1990, 1999–present), keyboards (1988)Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals (1981–1993, 1999–present), piano (2015)Nicko McBrain – drums, percussion (1982–present)Janick Gers – guitars (1990–present)Live membersMichael Kenney – keyboards (1988–present)

Former members:Doug Sampson – drums, percussion (1977–1979)Paul Di'Anno – lead vocals (1978–1981)Dennis Stratton – guitars, backing vocals (1979–1980)Clive Burr – drums, percussion (1979–1982)Blaze Bayley – lead vocals (1994–1999)

1976: A new group from the Midwest first entered the chart as Kansas debuted with their first single "Carry On Wayward Son".

1976: Tuomas Lauri Johannes Holopainen was born He is a Finnish songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer, best known as the founder, leader, keyboardist and songwriter of symphonic metal band Nightwish.

2006: Iron Maiden released the single "Different World"

2006: James Brown, the “Godfather of Soul,” died at the age of 73 after being diagnosed with severe pneumonia. Brown went to his dentist in Atlanta the previous day who told him something was wrong, and sent him to a doctor immediately.