On This Day

Events in Music on December 22

Music Premiere

1808 Beethoven's Symphonies No. 5 and No. 6, Choral Fantasy and Piano Concerto No. 4 (featuring the composer as soloist) premiere at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, Austria

Ludwig van Beethoven
Composer Ludwig van Beethoven

Music History

1894 Claude Debussy's first orchestral masterpiece "Prélude à l'apres-midi d'un faune" premieres in Paris

Claude Debussy
Composer Claude Debussy
  • 1946 "Bal Negre" closes at Belasco Theater NYC after 54 performances
  • 1956 "New Faces of 1956" closes at Barrymore Theater NYC after 221 performances
  • 1958 "Chipmunk Song" reaches #1
  • 1958 "Whoop-Up" opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 56 performances
  • 1976 "Your Arm's Too Short..." opens at Lyceum NYC for 429 performances
  • 1976 East Germany grants rock singer Nina Hagen her request to leave the country, after refusing her stepfather re-entry

Music History

1978 Kenney Jones becomes The Who's new drummer, replacing the deceased Keith Moon

Keith Moon
Rock Drummer Keith Moon

#1 in the Charts

1984 Madonna's "Like a Virgin" single goes #1 for 6 weeks

Madonna
Pop Star Madonna
  • 1985 "Wind in the Willows" closes at Nederlander Theater NYC after 4 performances

Music History

1987 Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx overdoses from heroin

Nikki Sixx
Rocker and Musician Nikki Sixx
  • 1994 "Christmas Carol" opens at Richard Rodgers Theater NYC for 18 performances

Music History

1997 MTV removes music video for Prodigy's song "Smack My Bitch Up" from broadcast rotation

Keith Flint
Singer and Dancer Keith Flint


December in Music

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