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Today in Music History

December, 17

  • 1999 Grammy winning producer Andy Wiswell dies of a short illness at his home in Aikens, S.C. He is 94.
  • 1999 Crossover jazz saxophonist Grover Washington collapses and dies in New York after taping a performance for CBS’s “The Saturday Early Show.” He is 56. The show airs the next day.
  • 1999 Singing cowboy Rex Allen Sr. dies in Tucson, Ariz., when his caregiver accidentally hits him with a car in his driveway. He is 78.
  • 1997 President Clinton signs into law the No Electronic Theft Act, closing a loophole that had protected individuals who claimed they took no direct financial gains from stealing copyrighted works and downloading them on the Internet.
  • 1996 Two of Charlie Daniels’ band members show real dedication to the road by scheduling outpatient surgical procedures to coincide with a procedure Daniels is having. Bass player Charlie Hayward (tonsillectomy) and drummer Jack Gavin (shoulder surgery), wanting to avoid missed concert dates, join Daniels (realignment of both knees) on the same day, in the same hospital.
  • 1996 At a press conference, Celine Dion admits that a hectic recording and touring schedule has kept her from her ultimate goal of becoming a mother. The Canadian diva says she will take a break and concentrate on starting a family with her husband and manager Rene Angelil.
  • 1996 Irish singer, Ruby Murray, who had five hit records in the top 20 in the ‘50s, dies.
  • 1995 Sting and wife Trudie Styler welcome a son, Giacomo Luke, in London.
  • 1978 No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Le Freak,” Chic. The single sells more than 4 million copies, making it the best selling single from Atlantic Records.
  • 1969 No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” Peter, Paul & Mary. The song is the final single from the group and the only to top the pop chart.
  • 1958 Mike Mills of R.E.M. is born. The group’s best selling album is 1991’s “Out of Time,” which sells more than 3 million copies.
  • 1942 Bluesman Paul Butterfield is born in Chicago.
  • 1939 Eddie Kendricks of the Temptations is born in Birmingham, Ala.
  • 1894 Boston Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler is born in Boston. He joins the Boston Pops Orchestra around 1915 as a viola player and begins conducting the group in 1930, which he continued until his death in 1979.