January 2
• 1943: Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills and Nash is born
January 3
• 1946: John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin is born
• 1945: Steven Stills of Crosby, Stills and Nash is born
January 4
• 1960: Michael Stipe of R.E.M. is born
January 6
• 1957: Elvis Presley makes his third and final appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” but is only shown from the waist up
• 1946: Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd is born Roger Barrett
• 1924: Earl Scruggs is born
January 7
• 1958: Gibson registers patent for the Flying V Model Electric Guitar
January 8
• 1947: David Bowie is born David Robert Jones
• 1935: Elvis Presley is born
January 9
• 1950: David Johansen of The New York Dolls is born
• 1944: Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin is born
January 11
• 1964: Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire becomes the first country album to top the U.S. pop album chart
January 14
• 1968: LL Cool J is born James Todd Smith
January 15
• 1967: The Rolling Stones appear on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and, at Sullivan’s request, change the lyrics from “Let’s spend the night together” to “Let’s spend some time together”
• 1949: Ronnie Van Zandt of Lynyrd Skynyrd is born
January 19
• 1981: Chris Wright, the chairman of the British Phonograph Industry, predicts the new cassette format will cause the death of vinyl
• 1943: Janis Lynn Joplin is born
January 20
• 1982: Ozzy Osbourne bites the head off of a live bat
• 1950: Paul Stanley of Kiss is born
January 23
• 1910: Django Reinhardt is born
January 24
• 1947: Warren Zevon is born
• 1941: Neil Diamond is born Noah Kaminski
January 26
• 1957: Eddie Van Halen is born
January 27
• 1984: Michael Jackson suffers second and third degree burns to his head and neck after his hair catches fire from sparks from pyrotechnic effects during the filming of a Pepsi commercial
January 29
• 1952: Tommy Ramone of The Ramones is born Thomas Erdelyi
January 30
• 1969: The Beatles perform together for the last time atop the roof of Apple Records’ headquarters in London.
