Music History

Britt Ekland filed a $15 million palimony lawsuit against Rod Stewart. The case never went to trial and was eventually settled out of court, with Stewart providing Ekland with a property settlement worth approximately $500,000.

During an Aerosmith concert at the Fort Wayne Coliseum in Indiana, police arrested dozens of fans for possession or smoking of marijuana, underage drinking and other minor offenses. Among those arrested was reportedly Steven Tyler's seamstress, who was caught smoking an ordinary cigarette. Tyler strongly protested the police action from the stage, referring to the officers among other things as “Gestapo” and “scumbags.” After the concert, Aerosmith offered to pay bail for all the arrested fans. Estimates of the total number arrested vary considerably among sources, ranging from around 30 to more than 60; however, as many as 28 arrested fans accepted the band's offer. An Aerosmith accountant subsequently paid approximately $4,200 in bail and fines during separate court proceedings.

Mick Jagger apologized to Reverend Jesse Jackson over the controversial lyrics of “Some Girls,” which Jackson described as racist and offensive toward Black people and women. Jagger nevertheless refused to change the lyrics and explained that the song was parodying real racial stereotypes rather than endorsing them. Atlantic Records, represented by Ahmet Ertegun, also met with Jackson about the song.

Billboard reported that Marvin Gaye had filed for personal bankruptcy and bankruptcy protection for his company Right On Productions twice during the year. His financial problems were connected to heavy debts, tax liabilities, and his divorce settlement with Anna Gordy.

Leaveil Degree of the soul group The Whispers began serving a two-year prison sentence in Boron, California, for his involvement in a diamond robbery.

The Bee Gees filed a $200 million lawsuit against their manager Robert Stigwood over alleged mismanagement of their career. The dispute was settled out of court in May 1981, and both sides publicly apologized.

Former Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten was arrested in Dublin for taking part in a pub brawl.

The Bee Gees filed a $136 million lawsuit against their manager Robert Stigwood, accusing him of fraud, withholding royalties and unfairly handling their careers. The group claimed that contracts signed with Stigwood in 1968 were exploitative and that they were too young at the time to fully understand what they were signing. Stigwood filed a $310 million countersuit for libel. The dispute was settled out of court in May 1981, with both sides publicly apologizing.

Judge Joseph Evans ruled that Elvis's estate no longer had to make further payments to Colonel Tom Parker, ending his 36-year control over a large part of Elvis's finances. The question of Parker's identity and citizenship was also revealed for the first time.

Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy appeared before Kingston Crown Court in London, where he was fined £200 for possession of cocaine. He later publicly expressed great concern about how the case and sentence would affect his career.

Mark David Chapman, who murdered John Lennon outside the Dakota building in New York on December 8, 1980, was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. His parole requests were repeatedly denied.

John Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman, was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.

A London court found Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page guilty of possessing cocaine. He received a 12-month conditional discharge and was ordered to pay £100 in court costs.

Little Richard crashed a rented Nissan 300ZX into a telephone pole in West Hollywood, California. He suffered a broken right leg, bruised ribs, and head and facial injuries. He later pleaded guilty to reckless driving. His serious injuries prevented him from attending the first Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in January 1986.

Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers Band was arrested in Florida for driving under the influence shortly after regaining his driver's license following a five-year suspension. Police spotted his 1985 Pontiac Trans Am weaving along Route 441; he was arrested in Belleview, with one source placing the area south of Ocala. His blood alcohol level was recorded at 0.27, and he was also charged with driving with an expired license. He was sentenced to five days in jail and community service, which he completed by performing at drug- and alcohol-free high school proms at local schools. He served the sentence in January 1987.

The jury failed to reach a verdict and the judge declared a mistrial in the case of Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra, who was accused of distributing harmful material to minors because of H. R. Giger's illustration “Work 219: Landscape XX”, known as “Penis Landscape”, which was included as a poster with the 1985 album “Frankenchrist”. It was the first case in which a musician was prosecuted over an album cover, and the costly trial contributed to the subsequent breakup of Dead Kennedys.

Ian Astbury of The Cult was arrested after a concert in Vancouver following disturbances at the show, with security staff alleging that he had assaulted them.

Wanda Nicholls filed an official complaint accusing David Bowie of rape and biting her legs and back. Bowie denied the allegations and, according to the source, claimed that Nicholls was seeking publicity.

Three members of LL Cool J's backing group were arrested and charged with the rape of a 15-year-old girl. The incident allegedly occurred after a concert after the girl obtained backstage access through a radio contest.

Ringo Starr obtained an extension of a preliminary court injunction intended to prevent producer Chips Moman and CRS Records from releasing material that Starr considered to be of poor quality because of his deteriorated condition at the time it was recorded. In January 1990, the court ordered Starr to pay Moman $74,000 in costs; in exchange, Moman handed all the master tapes over to the former Beatle.

Izzy Stradlin of Guns N' Roses was arrested at Phoenix airport after urinating on the floor of an airplane, reportedly angered by having to wait to use the toilet. His publicist said it was his “way of expressing himself”.

Billy Joel fired his manager and former brother-in-law Frank Weber after an audit uncovered serious financial irregularities, substantial depletion of his accounts and a $5 million debt to the US Internal Revenue Service. The following September, he sued Weber for $90 million, accusing him of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and extortion under federal law. A few days after the lawsuit was filed, Weber declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy to protect his remaining assets. The legal dispute eventually ended in an out-of-court settlement, and Joel recovered only part of the lost funds, approximately $8 million. Frank Weber was never criminally prosecuted or imprisoned.

Izzy Stradlin of Guns N' Roses was arrested for disorderly conduct during a flight in the United States. He urinated on the floor, verbally abused a flight attendant and smoked in the non-smoking section of the plane.

A judge in Dublin ruled that Adam Clayton of U2 would not be sentenced for possession of marijuana, despite his admission to the offense. Clayton agreed to make a financial contribution to a women's center in Dublin.

Ozzy Osbourne was charged with threatening to kill his wife Sharon after attempting to strangle her at their home in Buckinghamshire. He later said he had no memory of the attack. He was released on condition that he immediately enter detoxification, and the case was later dropped after the couple reconciled.

Judas Priest were cleared of liability in Reno, Nevada, in a civil case concerning the suicides of two seventeen-year-old fans who had listened to the album „Stained Class“. The victims' families claimed that the music contained subliminal messages that led to their actions and sought a total of $6.2 million.

The owner of E-C Records in Fort Lauderdale, Charles Freeman, was found guilty of obscenity on October 3, 1990, for selling the 2 Live Crew album “As Nasty As They Wanna Be.” He sold the album two days after a federal court ruled that its content was obscene. Freeman had originally been arrested on June 8 after selling the recording to an undercover police officer. He was later fined $1,000, which he was ordered to donate to a local elementary school specializing in arts education. In 1993, the conviction was overturned.

A federal court in Georgia heard two lawsuits against Ozzy Osbourne and CBS Records. The parents of two teenagers claimed that their children had committed suicide after listening to the song “Suicide Solution” and that the recording contained subliminal messages encouraging suicide. The cases were dismissed with reference to a 1988 California precedent, and in 1992 the US Supreme Court declined to hear the families' appeal.

All four members of The Stone Roses were each fined £3,000 after being found guilty of criminal damage at their former record company's offices.

Rick James and his girlfriend Tanya Hijazi were arrested in Hollywood on August 2, 1991, and charged with, among other offenses, assault with a deadly weapon, torture, and unlawful imprisonment.

Billy Preston was arrested in Los Angeles on charges of assaulting a sixteen-year-old boy. Later, in a separate case involving possession of cocaine and a dangerous weapon, he pleaded no contest and received five years' probation and 90 days of house arrest.

Michael Jackson’s crystal-encrusted white glove was stolen from the Motown Museum in Detroit. According to one source variant, the glove was found two days later; M.C. Hammer offered a $50,000 reward for its return.

Apple Computer settled its name-and-logo dispute with The Beatles' Apple Corps for a reported $26.5 million. Apple Corps retained exclusive use of the Apple name and logo for creative works centered on music, while Apple Computer could use the branding for computers, software, data transmission and reproduction devices, provided it did not package or distribute physical music.

Apple Computer and Apple Corps, the company associated with The Beatles, reached a settlement in their long-running dispute over trademarks and business activities. Sources cite different figures: $26.5 million for an agreement concerning music software rights and approximately $29 million for the settlement over Apple's name and logo. The agreement followed a 1981 arrangement that restricted Apple Computer from entering the music business. It was later revised as music became an increasingly important part of Apple's business.

A U.S. doctor filed a $35 million lawsuit against Southwest Bell. He claimed that his wife died because he was unable to get through to the 911 emergency line, as all telephone lines were overloaded by demand for tickets to a Garth Brooks concert.

During the controversy surrounding the song “Cop Killer”, Ice-T appeared in “Rolling Stone” magazine wearing a police uniform. Inside the magazine was an interview titled “You Gotta Problem With That?”. He had already removed the song from future editions of the “Body Count” album after employees of his record label Warner Bros. had received death threats.

The US Supreme Court declined to reinstate lawsuits against Ozzy Osbourne alleging that his music had allegedly encouraged two teenagers to die by suicide.

Los Angeles police began investigating allegations of child abuse made against Michael Jackson. No criminal charges were ultimately filed, and the civil lawsuit was settled out of court in January 1994.

Police raided Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch after a child staying there made allegations of sexual abuse. Jackson allowed police to conduct a personal search, which was deeply humiliating for him. He was not charged, but later faced further allegations.

Duff McKagan testified in court against his former Guns N' Roses bandmate Steve Adler. During the testimony, the so-called “spaghetti incident” was also discussed, which later became the title of another album by the band, “The Spaghetti Incident”.

The Los Angeles Police Department formally announced that Michael Jackson was the subject of a criminal investigation following allegations of child sexual abuse.

Snoop Doggy Dogg drove his passenger McKinley Lee in a Jeep Cherokee to Woodbine Park in Los Angeles, where Lee shot and killed a member of a rival gang. Both were charged with murder and Snoop Doggy Dogg was released on $1 million bail. In 1996 both were found not guilty.

Wilson Pickett was sentenced to one year in prison after driving under the influence of alcohol and hitting an 86-year-old pedestrian with his car. During his sentence, he suffered an eye injury in a confrontation with another inmate that required several operations.

Members of Oasis and The Verve were arrested in Sweden following an incident in which they allegedly damaged a hotel bar and broke into a church, taking communion wine.

John Denver, who was still on probation for a 1992 drunk-driving conviction, was again charged with driving under the influence after crashing his 1963 Porsche 356 into a tree near his home in Aspen, Colorado. It was his second such case within two years. The first trial ended with a hung jury, and the second trial was still pending at the time of his death on October 12, 1997.

His estate acquired the domain jimihendrix.com, which had been registered since 1996 by a domain investor who used it to sell email addresses.

The US Internal Revenue Service placed a lien on Aretha Franklin's home over $600,000 in unpaid taxes.

A helicopter crashed in Sequoia National Forest, about 150 miles north of Los Angeles, while a music video for Meat Loaf's song "I'd Lie for You" was being filmed. The pilot and cameraman were killed in the accident.

Tone Loc was arrested in Los Angeles for taking $80 from a pizzeria. He later pleaded no contest.