Today in rock history 8th December

1943 – Jim Morrison of the Doors is born in Melbourne, Fla., the son of a U.S. Navy admiral. 1947 – Allman Brothers vocalist and organist Gregg Allman is born in Nashville. 1957 – Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen is born. 1962 – Troubled rock ‘n’ roll DJ Alan Freed leaves his job at Miami’s WQAM to testify at his payola trial in New York. 1967 – Traffic release their debut album, Mr. Fantasy. 1968 – Graham Nash leaves the Hollies after a London concert. 1969 – Jimi Hendrix appears in Toronto Supreme Court to answer charges of hashish and heroin possession. Hendrix admits he has used pot, hashish, LSD, and cocaine a handful of times. But he tells the judge he has “outgrown” drugs. The jury, presumably unfamiliar with Hendrix’s history, finds him not guilty. 1975 – Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue plays its last night at Madison Square Garden. The Night of the Hurricane raises $100,000 for Hurricane Carter, a boxer unjustly jailed for murder immortalized in Dylan’s song “Hurricane.” 1975 – Uriah Heep bassist Gary Thain dies of a drug overdose in his bath. 1980 - John Lennon was murdered outside of the Dakota building in New York City where he was living. Mark David Chapman murdered Lennon as Lennon was signing an autograph for Chapman. Lennon was 40 years old. 1981 – A year after her husband’s death, Yoko Ono publishes in Rolling Stone a letter saying, “I think of John’s death as a war casualty – it is the war between the sane and the insane.” 1984 - Motley Crue singer Vince Neil was involved in a car crash which killed passenger Nick Dingley, drummer of Hanoi Rocks & injured two others. Neil would spend 20 days in jail and pay $2.6 million in compensation. 2000 – Metallica sues perfume manufacturer Guerlain Inc. and the Neiman-Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman department store chains, alleging that they have infringed on and diluted the rock band’s trademarked name by creating and marketing a “Metallica” perfume brand. 2000 – Sting receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 2000 – On his Web site, Julian Lennon does his best to remember the father who was never there for him on the 20th anniversary of John Lennon’s murder. 2003 – Ozzy Osbourne breaks his collarbone and several ribs after he crashes an ATV on the grounds of his Buckinghamshire estate in England. Doctors say he may take two months to fully recover. 2004 – Damageplan/Pantera guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott is murdered on stage in Columbus, Ohio, in a shooting spree that also claims the life of the band’s head of security, Jeffrey “Mayhem” Thompson, a club employee and an audience member. 2010 –Alice Cooper portrays Scrooge in a unique performance to promote his 10th Annual Christmas Pudding Concert being held on December 18th, 2010 at the Comerica Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona. LikeShow More ReactionsCommentShare