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Events for this day
- English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was born.
- French composer Jacques Ibert was born.
- Leon Theremin, inventor of the theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments, was born in St. Petersburg, Russia.
- Composer and lyricist Ned Washington was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He wrote lyrics for the songs “Wild Is The Wind” and “Theme From The Unforgiven”.
- Composer and arranger Hugo Winterhalter was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
- Jazz pianist and composer Oscar Peterson was born in Montreal, Canada. He later became a seven-time Grammy Award winner.
- R&B singer and saxophonist Jackie Brenston was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He sang lead vocals on Ike Turner's song “Rocket 88”.
- R&B and pop singer Gil Hamilton, known as Johnny Thunder, was born in Leesburg, Florida.
- Country singer and guitarist Bobby Helms was born in Bloomington, Indiana. He achieved two No. 1 hits on the country chart but became best known for the Christmas hit “Jingle Bell Rock”.
- The musical film The Wizard of Oz premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood after several changes of directors, scripts and cast. The film helped make Judy Garland's song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” famous.
- American country musician Don Rich was born, a member of Buck Owens' backing group The Buckaroos.
- British rock drummer Pete York, a founding member of The Spencer Davis Group, was born.
- American composer, singer and lyricist Jimmy Webb was born.
- Founder and frontman of The Doobie Brothers Tom Johnston was born.
- American singer and songwriter Billy Griffin, who later became the lead singer of The Miracles, was born.
- American drummer Tommy Aldridge was born, known among other things for his work with Whitesnake, the Ozzy Osbourne Band and Thin Lizzy.
- Jazz and soul singer Bobby Caldwell was born.
- At a meeting in Memphis with manager Bob Neal, Colonel Tom Parker and his father Vernon Presley, he signed a new contract that appointed Parker as a “special adviser” with control over virtually every aspect of Elvis's career. On the same day, Mitch Miller of RCA Victor rejected a proposal to offer $20,000 to acquire Elvis, saying that no singer was worth that amount.
- Colonel Tom Parker became Elvis's “special adviser” and effectively took over his management duties from Bob Neal.
- At the age of 21, Buddy Holly married Maria Elena Santiago in a private ceremony at his parents' home in Lubbock, Texas.
- At his mother Gladys Presley's funeral at Graceland, Elvis was so devastated that friends had to hold him up to keep him on his feet. More than 500 police officers supervised the funeral because of the huge crowd of fans. Fans sent more than 100,000 letters and postcards, approximately 500 telegrams and more than 200 floral arrangements.
- The father of Elvis's longtime friend and Memphis Mafia member Red West died.
- “The song “There Goes My Baby” performed by The Drifters with Ben E. King reached No. 1 on the Cashbox chart and No. 2 on Billboard. The recording was among the first to combine orchestral strings with a Black vocal group and later ranked No. 196 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs.
- Cobo Arena, with a capacity of 12,000, opened in Detroit. It later became a major venue for concerts and live album recordings, hosting artists including Kiss, J. Geils Band and Bob Seger.
- With the song “It's Now or Never”, he began a five-week run at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and also reached No. 1 in the UK. The song was based on the Italian song “O Sole Mio” and was his first postwar number-one hit. More than 20 million copies were sold worldwide.
- The founder and only permanent member of the post-punk band The The, Matt Johnson, was born.
- Lennon and McCartney traveled from Liverpool to Skegness to offer Ringo Starr a place in The Beatles. Starr accepted the offer and agreed to a salary of £25 per week.
- Dean Martin's “Everybody Loves Somebody” knocked The Beatles' “A Hard Day's Night” from the No. 1 spot on the US Billboard Hot 100. It became his biggest hit and reached No. 11 in the UK. The song dated back to 1949 and had been unsuccessfully recorded by several other artists before Martin.
- Following the success of The Beatles film A Hard Day's Night, The Dave Clark Five signed a film deal with Warner Bros. for the project Catch Us If You Can, which was released in the US under the title Having A Wild Weekend and premiered in the UK in July 1965.
- Elvis, Vernon Presley and Colonel Tom Parker visited the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. Elvis also held a benefit concert to raise funds for the memorial.
- They opened their third North American tour with a concert at Shea Stadium in New York before 55,600 fans, setting a world record at the time for attendance at a pop concert. The concert grossed $304,000, of which the group received $160,000. The bill also included Brenda Holloway, The King Curtis Band, The Young Rascals and Sounds Incorporated.
- During their US tour, they performed at D.C. Stadium in Washington before more than 32,000 fans. Five members of the Ku Klux Klan, led by the Imperial Wizard of Maryland, protested against the concert.
- She was originally booked to perform at Woodstock but had to cancel her appearance because of a television engagement. She later wrote the song “Woodstock”.
- During their North American tour, they performed at HemisFair Arena in San Antonio. Jethro Tull and Sweet Smoke were also on the bill, but only Led Zeppelin faced negative reactions from locals because of their long hair.
- Their debut album Three Dog Night received a gold record for sales of one million copies. After modest success with “Nobody” and “Try a Little Tenderness”, the label released the single “One”, which reached No. 5. Later editions of the album emphasized this hit in the title, and the album was certified platinum in 2008.
- The Woodstock Music and Art Fair began on Max Yasgur's 600-acre farm in Bethel, New York. Estimates of total attendance vary among sources, while contemporary figures put the number at approximately 450,000 people. The three-day festival featured 24 acts, including Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Santana, The Who, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, Canned Heat, Joan Baez, Sly and the Family Stone and Jefferson Airplane. Three people died during the festival, two children were born, and miscarriages were reported. The festival became one of the most significant events in the history of rock music and a symbol of the 1960s counterculture.
- The song “Lookin’ Out My Back Door” entered the US Billboard Top 40 and later reached No. 2. Although its surreal imagery led to interpretations involving drugs, John Fogerty said he wrote the song for his three-year-old son Josh.
- The song “Lay A Little Lovin' On Me” peaked at No. 11 after eight weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. His next single received almost no radio airplay, and McNamara remained best known as a one-hit artist.
- Singer Thomas Wayne, known for the 1959 hit “Tragedy”, which reached No. 5 on the US chart, died at the age of 31 in a car accident in Memphis. His car crossed four lanes and the median into oncoming traffic. By then, he was working mainly behind the scenes as a recording engineer and producer in Nashville.
- Irish singer and songwriter Michael “Mikey” Graham, a member of Boyzone, was born.
- Baltimore, Maryland proclaimed this day “Cass Elliot Day” in honor of the singer of The Mamas & The Papas, who was from the city.
- He canceled the rental of a Fairchild aircraft and instead purchased a Jet Commander for $508,000. He later flew from Memphis to Las Vegas, but due to breathing difficulties, the aircraft had to make an unplanned landing in Dallas. After resting for several hours at a motel, he continued his journey.
- He officially announced his departure from Genesis. Phil Collins later became the new lead singer after an audition attended by more than 400 musicians.
- They released the single “Dancing Queen”, which became their only US number-one hit and also topped the charts in more than a dozen countries.
- Epic Records released Boston's second studio album Don't Look Back. The album reached No. 1 on the US Billboard chart and No. 9 in the UK, sold more than one million copies within its first ten days and later received a seven-times-platinum certification. The title track reached No. 4 and “A Man I'll Never Be” reached No. 31.
- The futuristic satirical film Americathon premiered in Los Angeles, starring Meat Loaf. The soundtrack featured songs by The Beach Boys, Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello.
- The unknown rock band appeared as the opening act for Hall & Oates in Maryland. During the performance, the audience discovered that the singer was Cher.
- His autobiography I, Me, Mine was published, making him the first member of The Beatles to publish an autobiography. John Lennon later criticized the book for almost completely ignoring his influence on Harrison's life.
- They performed at the Alabama Jam 2 festival at Ladd Memorial Stadium in Mobile, Alabama.
- “Endless Love” began a nine-week reign at No. 1 on the US singles chart. The song was the title track of the film of the same name starring Brooke Shields. Because of scheduling difficulties, they completed the duet at 5 a.m. in a studio in Reno after a Diana Ross concert, while Lionel Richie was also working with The Commodores and Kenny Rogers.
- Her third studio album “Precious Time” reached No. 1 on the US Billboard 200, becoming her first and only album to top the chart.
- The BBC recording documenting the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer reached No. 1 on the UK albums chart. It included the procession, wedding vows, speeches and hymns.
- They released the album Rant N' Rave with the Stray Cats.
- American musician, producer and radio station owner Norman Petty died at the age of 57 from leukemia. He was also known as a recording engineer and Buddy Holly's first manager.
- Multi-instrumentalist and founding member of Mumford & Sons Ted Dwane was born.
- They released the album Sacred Heart.
- American rapper Airmiess Joseph Asghedom, known as Nipsey Hussle, was born.
- With the single “I Just Can't Stop Loving You”, they reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart. The song was originally intended to be a duet between Michael Jackson and either Barbra Streisand or Whitney Houston.
- Tenor singer, guitarist, songwriter and founding member of The Statler Brothers Lew DeWitt died at the age of 52 from heart and kidney disease. He wrote their hit “Flowers on the Wall”, which reached No. 4.
- He staged a free concert in New York's Central Park, which was broadcast live on HBO and later released as the album “Paul Simon's Concert in the Park”. Attendance figures vary significantly among sources, ranging from 600,000 to 750,000 people, while later estimates suggest a much lower actual park capacity.
- With “End of the Road”, Boyz II Men began a thirteen-week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart and broke Elvis Presley's 36-year-old record. TLC's “Baby-Baby-Baby” simultaneously held the No. 2 position.
- Ed Roberts of Ruby And The Romantics died at the age of 57 from cancer. The Akron vocal group had three Top 40 hits, the biggest being “Our Day Will Come”, which reached No. 1 in 1963.
- They released their debut album “Garbage”, which included hits such as “Queer” and “Only Happy When It Rains”.
- His estate acquired the domain jimihendrix.com, which had been registered since 1996 by a domain investor who used it to sell email addresses.
- The Clarence Hotel in Dublin, owned by members of U2, was damaged by a fire that took more than three hours to bring under control. The nightclub The Kitchen, located in the same building, was also affected and had to be evacuated.
- A women's shelter on Long Island rejected a $10,000 donation from a James Brown benefit concert because of domestic violence allegations involving the singer. Brown denied the allegations, which were later dropped.
- Record company Tony Nicole Tony Records filed a lawsuit against Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, alleging intentional interference with drummer Peter Criss's contract with the company.
- They performed on the second day of the A Day In The Garden festival in Bethel, New York, where Woodstock had also taken place. Joni Mitchell closed her performance with the song “Woodstock”.
- David Bowie and his wife Iman celebrated the birth of their first daughter, Alexandria Zahra Jones.
- A memorial to John Lennon was unveiled in the Scottish village of Durness. Lennon spent his holidays there from the age of seven to fifteen, and the memorial consists of three stones engraved with verses from the song “In My Life”.
- It was announced that The Rolling Stones drummer was undergoing treatment for throat cancer, which had been diagnosed in June.
- At the Coventry festival in Vermont, they performed what they described as their final concert. The group reunited in 2009.
- After twelve years away from the public eye, he appeared at the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles, where he watched his sister Vet perform with Phunk Phamily Affair, a band playing the repertoire of Sly and the Family Stone.
- She released her debut album Memories Are Made of This, featuring songs associated with her father Dean Martin as well as Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. The album was produced by her husband John Griffeth and spent 40 weeks in the iTunes Top 10 during 2006 and 2007.
- Sixteen of John Lennon's solo albums were made available for download through iTunes for the first time following an agreement approved by Yoko Ono. The agreement followed a long legal dispute between Apple Corps and Apple.
- American music producer and journalist Jerry Wexler died at the age of 91 from heart failure. He significantly influenced the development of modern rhythm and blues and worked on Aretha Franklin's “Respect”, Wilson Pickett's “In the Midnight Hour” and Bob Dylan's album Slow Train Coming. He also worked with Ray Charles, Percy Sledge, Solomon Burke, Led Zeppelin and Dire Straits. As a Billboard journalist, he helped establish the term “rhythm and blues” in 1949 as a replacement for the then-used term “Race Records”.
- American singer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Jim Dickinson died at the age of 67. He was best known as the frontman of Mud Boy and the Neutrons.
- Bassist Robert Wilson of The Gap Band died at the age of 53 from a heart attack. From the late 1970s onward, the group had four platinum albums and placed 30 songs on the Billboard R&B chart.
- KISS were removed from the planned Michael Jackson tribute concert after organizers reconsidered public statements by Gene Simmons concerning allegations against Jackson.
- American bassist Bob Birch died at his Los Angeles home at the age of 56 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He had been a member of Elton John's band since 1992 and also worked with Bryan Adams, Lionel Richie, George Michael, Eric Clapton, B. B. King, Phil Collins and The Doobie Brothers.
- Joe Jackson withdrew his wrongful death lawsuit against Dr. Conrad Murray, who was serving a sentence for the involuntary manslaughter of Michael Jackson. Murray's lawyer said that withdrawing the lawsuit would allow the family to focus on Jackson's life rather than the circumstances of his death.
- Priscilla Presley and Lisa Marie Presley surprised fans with a visit to Graceland on the eve of the 35th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death and spoke to the crowd. Lisa Marie said she had previously avoided the occasion because it was emotionally difficult for her, but this time she felt it was important to attend.
- Her fifth studio album “Woman” reached No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 and became her second album to reach the top spot.
- Arlo Guthrie opened the weekend commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Woodstock at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. Original Woodstock veterans Carlos Santana and John Fogerty also performed after plans for a much larger anniversary festival collapsed.
- With the song “Watermelon Sugar”, he achieved his first No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
- He died at the age of 63 from Lewy body dementia. He was the singer of Great White, known among other things for the hit “Once Bitten, Twice Shy”.