It’s January 4th and these are some of the things that happened on this day in pop music history:
- In 2012, Bryan Ferry married Amanda Sheppard, who had previously dated his son Isaac, in Turks and Caicos. Ferry was 66 and Sheppard was 29. Their marriage lasted 19 months.
- In 1975, Elton John’s cover of The Beatles’ 1967 track “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was bumped from the top spot after two weeks by Barry Manilow’s “Mandy.”
- In 2001, Vanilla Ice was arrested in Florida after he allegedly ripped out some of his wife Laura’s hair during an argument while driving. The “Ice, Ice Baby” rapper spent one night in Broward County Jail before being released on $3,500 U.S. bail. Ice (aka Robert Van Winkle) later said it was nothing more than a “heated argument” and that he pulled his wife’s hair to prevent her from jumping out of their vehicle.
- In 1960, John Michael Stipe was born in Decatur, Georgia. While a student at the University of Georgia, he befriended record store clerk Peter Buck and went on to form R.E.M. with Bill Berry and Mike Mills. The band’s hits include “Losing My Religion” and “Shiny Happy People.”
- In 2008, Britney Spears was taken to hospital from her California home and placed on a psychiatric hold following a breakdown. Then-manager Sam Lutfi claimed the pop star was under the influence of amphetamines at the time.
And that’s what popped on this day.