Showbiz Today: Guns, Heroin & Taxes

On February second, 1956, Atlantic Records signed The Coasters. In 1959, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper made what ended up being their last public appearances at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. They died in a plane crash the next day. In 1973, the NBC rock show "Midnight Special" made its debut, with Helen Reddy as the host. In 1974, Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake and Palmer sustained minor cuts when a rigged piano exploded prematurely during a concert in San Francisco. In 1979, former Sex Pistols member Sid Vicious died of a heroin overdose at age 21. The death was ruled accidental. NYPD spokesperson Fred Elwick makes the initial announcement here.In 1993, a judge in New York dropped gun charges against singer Harry Connick Junior. He had been arrested when he tried to bring a pistol on board a flight at Kennedy Airport. And, Willie Nelson and the Internal Revenue Service reached a settlement on his estimated $17 million tax debt. In 1996, entertainer Gene Kelly died of complications from strokes at his home in Los Angeles. He was 83. Associated Press