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Pablo Fanque's Circus Royal plays at The Town Meadows, Rochdale, England, UK, Europe. One hundred and twenty four years later, while filming the promotional video for Strawberry Fields Forever in Sevenoaks, Kent, UK, John Lennon of The Beatles visits an antique shop and buys a circus poster advertising this performance. The text of the poster will, in due course, inspire the lyrics of Lennon's song Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite.
Von Der Mehden's Band plays at the Union Coursing Park, San Francisco, California, USA.
The word 'jazz' is first used in print, by journalist Scoop Gleason in the San Francisco Bulletin. Gleason is, however, not writing about music. He is describing the return home of a baseball team, with the words, "Everybody has come back to the old town, full of the old 'jazz' and they promise to knock the fans off their feet."
During World War I, up to 100,000 British and German troops along the Western Front in Belgium, Europe, take part in an unofficial truce, singing Christmas carols together, exchanging gifts and even playing football. The incident, later to be known as The Christmas Truce, will inspire Peter Hooton of The Farm to write their major hit single, All Together Now.
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Considered by many to be France's greatest boxer ever, Marcel Cerdan dies when a Lockheed L-749 Constellation crashes into Pico da Vara, Sao Miguel Island, Azores, killing all eleven crew members and 37 passengers on board. One of Edith Piaf's most famous songs, L'Hymne a l'amour (Hymn To Love), recorded the following year, is said to be about her unending love for Cerdan. The song has been recorded in English many times under the title If You Love Me [Really Love Me].
UK music weekly the NME (New Musical Express) reports that jazz vocalist and bandleader Ray Ellington has won £75,000 on the football pools and has invested the money in a block of flats in London.Frank Sinatra performs a benefit concert at the Sporting Club, Monaco, for the United Nations Fund for Refugee Children, with an orchestra conducted by Quincy Jones.
Sonny Liston knocks out Floyd Patterson in the first round of the world heavyweight boxing championship title fight at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois, USA. In the same year Liston states, "Some day they're gonna write a blues for fighters. It'll just be for slow guitar, soft trumpet and a bell." Suitably inspired, in 2004, Mark Knopfler will record Song For Sonny Liston. Liston will also be mentioned in songs by artists including The Animals, Tom Petty, Phil Ochs, Morrissey, The Mountain Goats, Freddy Blohm, Chuck E. Weiss,The Roots, Wu-Tang Clan, Gone Jackals, Billy Joel and Nick Cave.
Music trade magazine Billboard in the USA reviews the new Beach Boys single, Surfin' USA, with the words, "The boys scored with their last Surfin' side and this one will go right up after it. The side has strong beat and can be expected to blast off in Los Angeles, California, USA."
Johnny Cash plays the first of three days at The Kiwanis Football Stadium, Chatham, Ontario, Canada.
A proposed concert by The Beatles at Ramat-Gan Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel, Asia, does not take place because it has been turned down by The Committee of Education and Culture of the Knesset (Parliament). The Committe has stated that The Beatles "have no artistic level sufficient enough and that they cannot add to the spiritual and cultural life of the youth in Israel". One Jerusalem newspaper reports that "Some of the committee members have said during the debate that The Beatles shows cause sexual arousal and that is why it should be better not to bring th em over."
Gerry And The Pacemakers release a new album, The Hits Of Gerry And The Pacemakers, in Canada on Capitol Records. Taj Mahal records Fishin' Blues and Country Blues No1 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, for Columbia Records.
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On their Duke tour, The Jacksons, including Michael Jackson, sign up notorious boxing promoter Don King to promote their upcoming Victory tour.
Duran Duran begin their Sing Blue Silver tour at the National Indoor Sports Centre, Canberra, Australia, Oceania.
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A report in the South China Morning Post states that popular Hong Kong singer Connie Mak has been advised to cancel her upcoming concert in Peking, China, Asia, because of fears of crowd violence. In May 1985, Hong Kong defeated China 2-1 in a world cup qualifying football match and there are fears of anti-Hong Kong sentiments. Country star John Denver, who had been in Peking recently, confirms that China's Central Television was concerned about crowd control at an open-air concert he had been planning.
Sting plays a gig at The Palais Des Sports, Toulouse, France, Europe.
Elton John attends the 3rd Test Match in Sydney, Australia, Oceania, and is so delighted when the English cricketers defeat Australia that he pours champagne all over himself in celebration.
On her Break Every Rule tour, Tina Turner plays at Valle Hovin, Oslo, Norway, Europe. This is the first music concert ever held at Valle Hovin, which was formerly a skating venue.
Bret Michaels of Poison participates in the third annual MTV Jock'n'roll softball game, a fundraiser for a Leukemia charity.
It is announced that singer Usher is part of a business group making a $375m bid to buy the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team. 
Queen and Paul Rodgers play at The Sport Paleis, Antwerp, Belgium, Europe.
Stevie Wonder performs The Star-Spangled Banner and his new single, So What the Fuss, at the NBA Finals, broadcast live on ABC tv in the USA.
Eminem, G Unit, Obie Trice, StatQuo, Akon and others play the first of two nights at Lancashire County Cricket Ground, Manchester, England, UK.
Eric Clapton and His Band perform at a special fundraiser for the Bunbury Cricket Club in the Grosvernor House Hotel, London, England, UK.
Singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, Glen Phillips from Toad The Wet Sprocket, Mat Scannell from Vertical Horizon and others play a benefit concert in Los Angeles, California, USA, to raise money for singer-songwriter Kelly Buchanan who is suffering traumatic brain damage sustained while playing street-hockey.
Devizes-based singer-songwriter 
Baseball Mistress, a pornographic video tape of country singer Mindy McCready and an ex-boyfriend referred to as "Peter", is released by Vivid Entertainment in the USA. McCready had previously claimed to have had a long-term affair with baseball star Roger Clemens, which may have started as early as when McCready was 15.
On their Ending On A High Note Tour, A-ha play at Warsteiner Hockey Park, Monchengladbach, Germany, Europe.
Irish pop duo 
Paul McCartney, Mike Oldfield, Dizzee Rascal, Arctic Monkeys, Emeli Sande and others perform live in the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, London, England, UK. It is later revealed that all of the live acts were paid £1 each for their perfomances. They had all agreed to play for free, but the £1 fee was necessary to validate their contracts.As part of the Lumia Live Sessions tour British electro pop band Fenech-Soler perform in a mixed martial arts caged arena [Leeds Cage] in Leeds, England, UK, Europe, to an audience of approximately 150 people.
Cyndi Lauper attends the Pittsburgh Penguins vs New York Rangers game at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA.
Australian steeplechase runner Genevieve LaCaze invades the stage during Kylie Minogue's performance at the Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland,UK, Europe. LaCaze manages to dance onstage for over a minute before security guards remove her. Other performers at the ceremony include Lulu, Deacon Blue, Prides and Jessica Mauboy.
Darius Rucker makes a surprise appearance on the South Carolina Gamecocks' college team, catching a touchdown at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, Carolina, USA, during the annual Garnet And Black Game. The Black team wins the contest, 14-13.
Angus Young of AC/DC and his wife Ellen attend the French Open Tennis Tournament in Paris, France, Europe, where he sees Roger Federer of Switzerland and Marcel Granollers of Spain.
Avril Lavigne makes her first singing appearance in a year when she performs Fly at the Special Olympics Opening Ceremony in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Thirteen minutes into his set at The Pan-American Games in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Kanye West throws his microphone into the air and storms off the stage. It is later stated that he had been suffering "technical difficulties".
The 2020 Grammys ceremony in The Staples Centre, Los Angeles, California, USA, opens with a tribute by Lizzo to basketball player Kobe Bryant, who died earlier in the day. "Tonight is for you Kobe," declares Lizzo, opening the show with her stirring ballad Cuz I Love You. Host Alicia Keys then dedicates the show to Bryant's memory, with an acapella version of It's So Hard To Say Goodbye, accompanied by Boyz II Men.1843 |
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