In 1969, Jethro Tull's debut album, This Was, was released.
In 1980, The Pretenders' debut LP was released in North America.
In 1984, the album Thriller by Michael Jackson became the all-time bestselling LP. Thriller, with 10 million copies sold, surpassing the previous best-seller, the soundtrack from "Saturday Night Fever." Thriller eventually sold more than 40 million copies. Also on January 11th, 1984, Jackson was nominated for 12 Grammy Awards.
In 1987, Frankie Goes to Hollywood opened their final tour in Manchester, England. Their second LP sold only 60-thousand copies compared with one million for the first one, which contained the hit single "Relax."
In 1992, Paul Simon became the first major international star to perform in South Africa following the end of the United Nations cultural boycott, opening a concert tour in Johannesburg.
In 2000, Gary Glitter was freed from prison after serving half of a four-month sentence for downloading pornographic pictures of children.
Also in 2000, authorities at an airport in Hawaii say they found a half-ounce of marijuana in Whitney Houston's bag. She caught her flight before she could be arrested.