This Day in Top 40 History: December 25

Cultural Milestones

• 1929: Chris Kenner was born in Kenner, Louisiana. He began his musical journey by singing in his father's choir. After moving to New Orleans, he got into R&B and admired artists such as Joe Turner and Willie Mabon. As his career advanced, Kenner released Top 40 hits that included “Sick and Tired” and “I Like It Like That.”
• 1948: Barbara Ann Mandrell, the first of three children, was born to Mary Ellen and Irby Matthew Mandrell in Houston, Texas. With her father as her manager, Barbara broke into the music scene at age 11 and later released a string of hits, including “(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want To Be Right,” which peaked at No. 31 on the Hot 100 and spent 16 weeks on the chart.
• 1954: Annie Lennox of the Eurythmics was born in Scotland. She attended the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she mastered various musical instruments, including the piano. In the late 1980s and 1990s, she scored multiple Top 40 hits in the U.K. and the U.S., including “Put a Little Love in Your Heart,” “Walking on Broken Glass,” and “No More 'I Love You's.”
• 1977: The Sex Pistols owned the stage at Ivanhoe's nightclub in Huddersfield, England. This concert to benefit striking firefighters included two shows, one for kids and another for adults. The band played some of their U.K. Top 40 singles, such as “Pretty Vacant,” “God Save the Queen,” and “Holiday in the Sun.”

Industry Changes and Challenges

• 2006: James Brown died at 73 while in Emory University Hospital Midtown in Atlanta, Georgia. Although he officially died from congestive heart failure caused by pneumonia, some people suspected that he was murdered. Brown achieved many Top 40 singles on Billboard charts, including “I Got You (I Feel Good)” and “It's a Man's Man's Man's World.”
• 2016: George Michael died from heart failure at his home in Goring, Oxfordshire, at age 43. As a part of the pop duo Wham!, Michael's singles on the Hot 100 included “Careless Whisper” and “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.” His solo career had more chart-toppers, such as “Faith” and “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me).”