Music History on December 21

"Sally"

1920 Jerome Kern and Buddy DeSylva's musical "Sally" premieres in NYC

"Zouzou"

1934 French film "Zouzou" premieres in Paris, starring Josephine Baker; 1st black woman to star in a major motion picture

  • 1941 David Diamond's 1st Symphony premieres with the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Society conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos
  • 1945 "Billion Dollar Baby" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 219 performances
  • 1946 "If the Shoe Fits" closes at Century Theater NYC after 20 performances

"Minstrel Show"

1946 Morton Gould's "Minstrel Show" premieres in Indianapolis

"Out of This World"

1950 Cole Porter's musical "Out of This World" an adaptation of Titus Plautus's mythological comedy Amphitryon, starring George Gaynes, opens at New Century Theater, NYC; runs for 157 performances

Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation

1960 Ornette Coleman records his influential album "Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation", establishes the name for the Free Jazz sound

  • 1968 David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash (Crosby, Stills & Nash) premiere together in California

"Wichita Lineman"

1968 Glen Campbell's album "Wichita Lineman" goes to #1 in the US

Ross's Final Supreme Appearance

1969 Diana Ross' final TV appearance as a Supreme on "The Ed Sullivan Show", performing “Someday We’ll Be Together", after which Sullivan announced her upcoming departure from the group

Elvis Meets Nixon

1970 Elvis Presley meets US President Richard Nixon in the White House - the image of this meeting is the most requested photo from the entire National Archives

  • 1975 "Very Good Eddie" opens at Booth Theater NYC for 307 performances
  • 1975 Louis LaRusso II's stage drama "Lampost Reunion", starring Danny Aiello, closes at the Little Theatre, NYC, after 77 performances
  • 1975 Revival of Jerry Herman's musical "Hello, Dolly", starring Pearl Bailey closes at Minskoff Theater, NYC, after 51 performances

"A Broadway Musical"

1978 Charles Strouse and Lee Adams' musical "A Broadway Musical" opens and closes at Lunt Fontanne Theater, NYC, after 1 performance

  • 1983 Musical "Tap Dance Kid" opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 669 performances
  • 1985 Heart's "Heart" album goes #1
  • 1993 "The Sign" single released in the US by Ace of Base (Billboard Song of the Year 1994)
  • 2005 Civil Partnership Act comes into force in the UK, with singer Elton John and David Furnish one of the first couples to form a same-sex civil union

"Gangnam Style"

2012 "Gangnam Style" by Psy becomes the first video to reach one billion views on YouTube

Flavor Flav Opens Restaurant

2012 Rapper Flavor Flav opens Flavor Flav's Chicken & Ribs causal restaurant in Sterling Heights, Michigan - closes July 2013

Kamakawiwoʻole's "Over the Rainbow"

2020 Hawaiian vocalist Israel Kamakawiwoʻole's official music video for his rendition of Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg's "Over the Rainbow" reaches a billion views on YouTube