December 21

 

Pop culture's most surreal meeting occurred on this date in 1970 when Elvis Presley secretly visited President Nixon in the Oval Office, the King of Rock and Roll requesting to become a "Federal Agent at Large" for the Bureau of Narcotics while sporting a cape and collecting police badges…

 

We remember rock's most uncompromising maverick Frank Zappa on his birthday today in 1940, the composer-satirist whose fearless creativity spanning doo-wop parody to orchestral complexity made him one of music's most important voices before prostate cancer claimed him in 1993…

 

The Beach Boys' most underrated member Carl Wilson was born today in 1946 in Hawthorne, California, the youngest Wilson brother whose angelic lead vocals on "God Only Knows" and steady guitar work held the band together through Brian's troubles before lung cancer took him in 1998…

 

The blues lost one of its three Kings today in 1992 when Albert King died from a heart attack in Memphis at 69, silencing the left-handed guitarist whose bent-string style on the Flying V influenced Stevie Ray Vaughan and every blues-rock player who followed…

 

Glam-pop's one-hit wonder Nick Gilder was born today in 1951, the Canadian singer whose "Hot Child in the City" became a late-1970s radio staple despite his inability to replicate that success, proving that sometimes one perfect song is enough…

 

Flamenco found its greatest innovator when Spanish virtuoso Paco de Lucía was born on this day in 1947, the guitarist who brought traditional flamenco into jazz and classical realms, collaborating with Al Di Meola and John McLaughlin before his death in 2014…

 

Pop royalty made their union official today in 2005 when Elton John and partner David Furnish participated in a civil ceremony in Windsor, England, the couple among the first to take advantage of the UK's new civil partnership law before later converting to marriage.