January 16

 

Smooth sophistication personified, Helen Folasade Adu, known simply as Sade, celebrates her 66th birthday today, the Nigerian-British singer whose cool jazz-influenced soul and timeless elegance on songs like "Smooth Operator" made her one of the 1980s' most distinctive and enduring voices…

 

Music's most troubled genius Phil Spector died on this day in 2021 at 81 while serving a prison sentence for Lana Clarkson's 2003 murder, ending the life of the "Wall of Sound" architect whose revolutionary production couldn't overcome the darkness that led to his conviction…

 

Acoustic redemption was captured on this day in 1992 when Eric Clapton recorded his MTV Unplugged session, the stripped-down performance featuring "Tears in Heaven" that would become his biggest-selling album and prove his blues could translate to any format…

 

Beatles world tour plans crashed today in 1980 when Paul McCartney was arrested at Tokyo's Narita Airport with marijuana in his luggage, spending nine days in jail before deportation, the incident canceling Wings' Japanese tour and embarrassing the former Beatle…

 

Novelty music lost its greatest innovator today in 1972 when Ross Bagdasarian, creator of Alvin and the Chipmunks as Dave Seville, died at 52, ending the career of the artist whose sped-up vocal technique created one of pop culture's most enduring franchises…

 

Country music's blind virtuoso Ronnie Milsap was born on this day in 1943, the pianist whose crossover success in the 1970s and 1980s with hits like "Smoky Mountain Rain" proved that country could embrace pop production without losing its heart…

 

Rock history's most legendary club opened on this day in 1964 when the Whisky a Go Go opened on Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, the venue that would launch the Doors and countless others while defining Los Angeles rock culture for decades…

 

Jazz received its ultimate validation today in 1938 when Benny Goodman performed the first-ever jazz concert at Carnegie Hall, bringing swing music to classical music's most prestigious American venue and proving jazz deserved to be taken as seriously as any art form.