Today in Music History

Steve Wozniak financed and organized the three-day US Festival in San Bernardino, California, featuring Fleetwood Mac, The Police, Grateful Dead, Tom Petty, The Cars, Talking Heads, The Kinks, Jackson Browne, Santana, B-52’s and others. According to the source, more than 400,000 people attended; the festival grossed approximately $10 million but ended with a loss of more than $12 million.

Eurythmics reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)”.

UB40 earned their first UK No. 1 single with “Red Red Wine” from the album Labour of Love. It was a cover of Neil Diamond’s 1968 song; after being reissued, the recording also reached No. 1 in the US in 1988.

American singer Robert Curry, a member of Day26 and a participant in the television show Making the Band 4, was born.

Metallica played one of their early breakthrough concerts and further strengthened their growing cult following.

Def Leppard’s album Hysteria reached No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 and, according to the source, returned to the top for the third time.

UB40 earned their first No. 1 single with “Red Red Wine” from the album Labour of Love. It was a cover of Neil Diamond’s 1968 recording.

George Michael released his second solo album, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, through Columbia and Epic Records. The album later sold more than eight million copies and reached the Top 3 in ten countries, including No. 1 in the United Kingdom.

R.E.M. began recording their album Out of Time at Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York.

Ike Turner was released from prison after serving 18 months of a four-year sentence for drug offenses. He later told Variety that he had spent more than $11 million on cocaine during his lifetime.

During their European tour, Nirvana recorded “Dumb”, “Drain You” and “Endless Nameless” at the BBC Maida Vale studios in London for John Peel’s program.

Rush released their fourteenth studio album, Roll the Bones, through Anthem Records. The album sold more than one million copies and reached No. 3 in the US and No. 10 in the UK.

David Bowie appeared on the cover of Architectural Digest magazine. According to the source, he was the first person to appear on the cover in four years.

The Beach Boys released their 27th studio album, Summer in Paradise. According to the source, it sold poorly, and the group did not release another album of original material until 2012.

Motown Records was sold to the Dutch record and entertainment company PolyGram for $325 million. This was more than five times the $61 million received by founder Berry Gordy when he sold the company in 1988.

Brian Setzer, former member of the Stray Cats, married Christine Schmidt.

The album After the Storm by Crosby, Stills and Nash was released.

R&B singer Major Lance died of heart failure at the age of 55. During his career, he placed 19 recordings on the Billboard R&B chart and another 12 on the Hot 100; he was best known for the hits “The Monkey Time” and “Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um”.

Prince, performing as The Artist, appeared on Soul Train as the bassist accompanying Nona Gaye on “Love Sign”.

The Cranberries released the album To the Faithful Departed.

Thousands more fans than expected arrived for a free System Of A Down concert in a Los Angeles parking lot. Authorities prevented the band from performing, riots followed, the group’s equipment was destroyed and six people were arrested. The concert was intended to celebrate the release of the album Toxicity the following day.

Bruce Springsteen released the album The Rising in the United Kingdom.

The original version of the peer-to-peer file-sharing program Napster officially ended after a planned takeover by Bertelsmann Entertainment Group could not be completed during the bankruptcy proceedings. Napster subsequently laid off all employees, and its homepage displayed “Napster Was Here”. The brand later returned as a paid service.

The Rolling Stones began their 40th anniversary Licks Tour with a concert at FleetCenter in Boston. The best seats cost $224, and during the more than 100 concerts on the tour, the group performed for more than 2.5 million fans.

The long-running dispute between The Ronettes and producer Phil Spector reached the New York Court of Appeals in Albany. The Ronettes recorded 28 songs for Spector between 1963 and 1967 and, under their 1963 contract, received a one-time payment of $14,482. The group argued that the contract did not cover royalties for use of the recordings in films, television and advertising. The court ultimately ruled in favor of Spector’s ownership claim, while also awarding Ronnie Spector her share of licensing income.

Coldplay received major honors at the MTV Video Music Awards related to the music video for “Clocks”.

Libertines singer Pete Doherty was sentenced to six months in prison for burglary and drug possession; after an appeal, the sentence was reduced to two months.

After 46 years, Cliff Richard ended his contract with EMI Records and signed with Universal Music. During his time with EMI, he sold more than 250 million records.

Songwriter and producer Roquel “Billy” Davis, also known as Tyran Carlo, died in 2004 at the age of 72; sources place his death in both New York and Detroit, Michigan. He co-wrote Jackie Wilson songs including “Reet Petite” and “Lonely Teardrops” and the advertising jingle “I’d Like To Buy The World A Coke”.

Fats Domino was rescued from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina struck the city, following several days during which he was reported missing.

Hilary Duff began a two-week run at No. 1 on the US chart with her first compilation album Most Wanted. The album also reached No. 1 in Canada and the Top 3 in Japan and Australia.

Oasis scored their second UK No. 1 single of the year with “The Importance of Being Idle”. Earlier in 2005, they had topped the chart with “Lyla”.

Justin Timberlake and Timbaland reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “SexyBack”. It was Timberlake’s first UK single to top the chart, and the recording won the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording in 2007.

Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance married Lyn-Z, bassist of Mindless Self Indulgence, backstage at the Projekt Revolution festival featuring Linkin Park.

Rockabilly and country singer Janis Martin died in Durham, North Carolina, at the age of 67 from cancer. She was known for her version of “Love Me to Pieces”.

Ne-Yo was awarded $700,320 in damages after being removed from R. Kelly’s US tour. The singer claimed he was dismissed from his opening-act role because fans and critics liked him more; R. Kelly denied the claim.

Slipknot earned their first No. 1 album in the United States with All Hope Is Gone. After sales were recalculated, the album surpassed rapper The Game’s release by 1,134 copies; according to Nielsen SoundScan, it sold 239,516 copies.

Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour became, according to the source, the highest-grossing worldwide tour by a solo artist, with approximately $408 million in revenue. It included performances in 32 countries.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff awarded permanent custody of Michael Jackson’s children to his mother, Katherine Jackson.

Mike Edwards, founding member and cellist of Electric Light Orchestra, died at the age of 62 in an accident in Devon, England, when a bale of hay weighing approximately 600 kilograms rolled down a steep slope and struck his van.

Olly Murs featuring Rizzle Kicks reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Heart Skips a Beat”.

Will Young reached No. 1 on the UK chart with his fifth studio album, Echoes.

Internal emails from promoters of Michael Jackson’s planned 2009 This Is It concerts were released, in which they expressed concerns about his condition during preparations for the shows.

The British Phonographic Industry announced that The Beatles’ album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band had received Triple Platinum certification in the United Kingdom. The album had sold more than five million copies in Britain since its 1967 release; the platinum certification system, however, had only existed since 1994.

Trisha Yearwood appeared in the TLC genealogy documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? The singer discovered that her English ancestor had been a criminal before emigrating to America.

Black Sabbath announced their final tour, titled The End, which was scheduled to begin in January 2016. Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler were confirmed to participate, while original drummer Bill Ward was not mentioned in the announcement.

Jess Glynne reached No. 1 on the UK album chart with her debut studio album I Cry When I Laugh.

Rachel Platten earned her first UK No. 1 single with “Fight Song”.