Rock and Metal History, December 31
1942: Andy Summers, guitarist of the Police and solo artist, was born in Poulton-Le-Fylde, Lancashire, England.
1943: Pete Quaife, founding member and bassist of the Kinks, was born in Tavistock, Devon, England; died June 10, 2010 from kidney failure in Copenhagen, Denmark.
1947: Burton Cummings, lead singer, keyboardist and songwriter of the Guess Who and a solo artist ("Stand Tall" from 1976) was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
1961: Janis Joplin performed for the first time at the Halfway House in Beaumont, Texas.
1963: Scott Ian Rosenfeld, rhythm guitarist and the only remaining founding member of Anthrax, was born in Queens, New York.
1966: The Monkees started a seven-week run at number one on the singles charts with the Neil Diamond song “I’m A Believer.”
1966: The Move, Pink Floyd, and The Who appeared at the New Year’s Eve All Night Rave, at The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm Road, London.
1968: Joe Cocker, Amen Corner, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, The Small Faces, Free and Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band all appeared at Alexandra Palace, London.
1969: Jimi Hendrix unveils his new group Band of Gypsys at New York’s Fillmore East. The concert, featuring the rhythm section of Billy Cox and Buddy Miles backing Hendrix, later appears on the album Band of Gypsys.
1971: Queen played at the Rugby Club, Twickenham, England.
1973: Australian band AC/DC made their live debut when they appeared at Chequers Bar in Sydney.
1975: KISS plays at the Coliseum, Evansville, Indiana.
1975: JJ Cale appears at Ebbets Field, Denver, Colorado.
1976: The Cars give their debut performance at Pease Air Force Base in Portsmouth, N.H.
1984: Rick Allen, drummer of Def Leppard, lost his left arm in a tragic car accident near Sheffield, England. His seat belt became undone, and his arm was severed as he was sent through the sunroof. Doctors were able to reattach the arm at first, but it had to be amputated. Rick bravely soldiered on, and through a specially constructed drum set, was able to play drums within three months of the accident. Allen continues as drummer of the group to this day.
1991: Pearl Jam, Nirvana and the Red Hot Chili Peppers all appeared on the same bill at the Cow Palace, San Francisco, California.
2002: Kevin MacMichael, guitarist with Cutting Crew "(I Just) Died In Your Arms"), died at age 51 of lung cancer in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
2003: Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Elton John and Kiss all performed on Dick Clark’s 32nd annual New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.
2007: Roger Daltrey, lead singer of the Who, received the honor of Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to music and charity work.
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