It’s December 17th and these are some of the things that happened on this day in pop music history:
- In 1994, Céline Dion married her manager, René Angélil, at Notre-Dame Basilica in Montréal. The singer met Angélil when she was only 12 years old. They went on to have three sons – René-Charles and twins Eddy and Nelson.
- In 1958, Michael Edward Mills was born in California. Before he was a teen, he moved to Macon, Georgia where he met Bill Berry, who would later be his bandmate in R.E.M. The Grammy-winning band’s hits include “Shiny Happy People” and “Losing My Religion.”
- In 1977, Elvis Costello was banned from Saturday Night Live for 12 years after he stopped singing “Less Than Zero” and said: “I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but there’s no reason to do this song here.” He then started performing “Radio Radio.” Costello was a last-minute replacement for the Sex Pistols, who were not able to get visas to enter the U.S.
- In 1971, David Bowie released his fourth album, Hunky Dory. It opened with “Changes,” which became one of the singer’s signature songs.
- In 1978, Neil Christopher Sanderson was born in Peterborough, Ont. and took an early interest in music. In 1997, he co-founded Three Days Grace, which had hits like “Pain” and “Chalk Outline.”
And that’s what popped on this day.