Career events
- Thomas Edison invented the phonograph and made the first sound recording.
- John Philip Sousa was appointed leader of the United States Marine Corps Band. He also composed the march “Semper Fidelis”.
- Bill Monroe made his Grand Ole Opry debut.
- Frank Sinatra began his solo singing career.
- Buddy Holly and Bob Montgomery auditioned for the radio program Sunday Party on KDAV in Lubbock, Texas, hosted by disc jockey and talent scout Dave “Hipockets” Duncan. They were given a regular 30-minute Sunday afternoon broadcast slot known as The Bob and Buddy Show.
- Elvis Presley began working for Crown Electric as a delivery truck driver, delivering materials to construction sites. At the same time, he was training to become an electrician. He worked for the company until mid-October 1954. At that time, the Presleys were living at 2414 Lamar Avenue, which they rented through the end of 1954 and into mid-1955.
- Elvis Presley continued working for Crown Electric until the middle of October 1954.
- The Washington, D.C., disc jockey founded the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Elvis Presley after reading too many articles portraying Elvis Presley as a hillbilly or a threat to society. Elvis was frequently criticized in national news coverage and described in headlines as a hillbilly and a threat to society.
- Nineteen-year-old Jerry Lee Lewis arrived at Sun Records hoping for an audition, but owner Sam Phillips was on vacation in Florida. Producer and sound engineer Jack Clement recorded several demos with Lewis for Phillips to hear upon his return. At the beginning of December, Lewis began recording as a solo artist and session musician.
- Frankie Lymon officially left his group and began a solo career.
- The USS Randall arrived in Bremerhaven, West Germany, where more than 1,500 fans were waiting for Elvis Presley and where he gave his first European autograph. He then traveled with his unit by military train to Friedberg, where he joined the US Army’s 3rd Armored Division; his time in Germany lasted until early 1960.
- Bobby Darin became the youngest performer to headline the Copa Room at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, at age 21, breaking Johnny Mathis' previous record of 23. He was touring in support of his hit "Mack the Knife," which was No. 1 in the US that week.
- Ken Brown left The Quarrymen after John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison decided he should not receive a share of the performance fee because he had missed a Casbah Coffee Club performance due to a heavy cold.
- The Beatles began a two-year period during which they served as the main band at Liverpool’s Cavern Club.
- Jefferson Airplane played their first live performance at The Matrix in San Francisco. A positive review in the San Francisco Chronicle helped the group secure a recording contract, and before the end of the year they became the first San Francisco rock band to sign with a major record label.
- Elvis received a telegram from the president of Capitol Records inviting him to a cocktail party in Los Angeles on August 24, where he was to meet The Beatles.
- Fleetwood Mac performed their first live show at the National Jazz and Blues Festival in Windsor, England. The original lineup consisted of Mick Fleetwood, Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer, and Bob Brunning; the same bill also featured Jeff Beck, Cream, Small Faces, The Move, Pink Floyd, and Donovan.
- After a two-year hiatus caused by anxiety and stage fright, Brian Wilson returned to live performing with The Beach Boys at the Honolulu International Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.
- Boz Scaggs officially joined the Steve Miller Band as a rhythm guitarist after receiving an invitation on a postcard while performing on the streets of Stockholm. He had known Steve Miller since his youth. After returning to the U.S. from Europe, he rejoined the group and appeared on the albums Children of the Future and Sailor. He left in 1968 to pursue a solo career, during which he had eight Top 40 hits on the Billboard chart between 1976 and 1988.
- Pink Floyd arrived in New York to begin their first tour of the United States.
- The group was performing under the name The New Yardbirds at the time; later that year, it adopted the name Led Zeppelin.
- Eighteen-year-old Bruce Springsteen joined Earth in August 1968, a heavy blues-rock trio or quartet that mainly played cover versions of Jimi Hendrix, Traffic, Cream and Chicago blues.
- John Sebastian officially left The Lovin' Spoonful and began a solo career. During his solo career, he released twelve albums, worked as a session musician, and composed music for children’s films and television. His greatest commercial success came in 1976 with the song “Welcome Back”, which reached No. 1 on the US Billboard chart.
- Birmingham group Earth changed their name to Black Sabbath after Ozzy Osbourne announced the new name on stage. At their first concert under the name Black Sabbath in Workington, England, the band played “N.I.B.”, “The Wizard”, “Black Sabbath” and “Warning”.
- James Brown announced his retirement after a live performance at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis.
- Genesis published an advertisement in Melody Maker seeking a drummer and musicians “determined to break through stagnant musical forms”. Nineteen-year-old Phil Collins responded to the advertisement and eventually joined the group.
- Curtis Mayfield left The Impressions to focus on a solo career and his own record label, Curtom Records, which he had co-founded with Eddie Thomas in 1968. Over the following five years, nine of his songs reached the Billboard Hot 100, including the million-selling hits “Freddie’s Dead” and “Superfly” from 1972.
- Paul McCartney announced the formation of his new group. The lineup included his wife Linda McCartney, former Moody Blues member Denny Laine, and drummer Denny Seiwell. The group did not yet have a definitive name at the time; the name Wings was chosen later.
- John Lennon left the United Kingdom and traveled to New York, from where he never permanently returned to Britain.
- Paul McCartney announced the formation of his new band Wings. The lineup included his wife Linda McCartney on keyboards, drummer Denny Seiwell and guitarist Denny Laine.
- The date of the Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii concert was moved to January 1973 due to the upcoming release of the film Elvis: On Tour.
- The surviving members of The Doors officially announced the breakup of the group, two years after Jim Morrison’s death. Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger later attempted several reunions, including the projects “Other Voices” and “Full Circle” and a major tour in 2002 under the name The Doors of the 21st Century with singer Ian Astbury of The Cult.
- Jeff “Skunk” Baxter left Steely Dan and joined The Doobie Brothers.
- Neil Peart made his first appearance with Rush at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as they opened for Manfred Mann and Uriah Heep.
- He officially announced his departure from Genesis. Phil Collins later became the new lead singer after an audition attended by more than 400 musicians.
- Peter Gabriel publicly confirmed his departure from Genesis after the tour for the album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. His departure was also announced in the August 16, 1975 issue of Melody Maker.
- David Bowie moved to West Berlin, or according to one version to West Germany, to escape Los Angeles and deal with his personal problems and drug addiction. This period laid the foundation for his Berlin Trilogy; Bowie also worked with Iggy Pop on the albums “The Idiot” and “Lust for Life” and with Brian Eno, while the song “Heroes” also came from this period.
- Henri Padovani left The Police after nine months, and the band continued as a trio.
- Bachman-Turner Overdrive announced their breakup after Randy Bachman left the group. Since 1974, the group had placed seven songs in the Billboard Top 40, including “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet”, which reached No. 1. Five years later, the group reunited.
- B.B. King celebrated his 30th year in the music industry at a special event at the Roxy Theatre in Hollywood, California.
- Aerosmith began their Done With Mirrors tour, announcing the return of the band's original lineup to the world.
- Sixteen-year-old high school student Debbie Gibson from Long Island signed a contract with Atlantic Records, which was impressed by the number of songs she had written and recorded as demos in her home studio.
- Paul Anka became a US citizen.
- Paul Anka, who was born in Ottawa, Canada, became a U.S. citizen in Las Vegas. During the ceremony, he joked that after paying a million dollars in taxes every year, he felt it was the right time to gain the right to do everything else. During the ceremony, his improperly parked car was also towed away.
- Composer of "West Side Story" Leonard Bernstein ended his conducting career at the age of 72 due to emphysema. He died five days later.
- The group, which had split in 1981, reunited and began a US tour with a concert at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
- Peggy Lee gave her final major public performance at the Hollywood Bowl.
- The members met and decided to disband following the recent tragic death of founder and leader Jerry Garcia.
- Oingo Boingo announced that they would break up after a series of Halloween concerts in California.
- Liam Gallagher rejoined the rest of Oasis in Chicago after a week of speculation about the band's future. He had left the group several days earlier.
- Liam Gallagher flew to America to rejoin his Oasis bandmates on the tour for the album “(What's the Story) Morning Glory?”. The band played their first four concerts with his brother Noel as the singer after the singer watched their MTV Unplugged performance from backstage and claimed to be suffering from a throat infection.
- Marilyn Manson changed his appearance from heavily blackened eyes to lighter makeup and 1970s-style clothing, including platform shoes. The sound of his album “Mechanical Animals” represented a radical change from the 1996 album “Antichrist Superstar”.
- Coldplay began their first headline concert tour with a performance at Cambridge Junction in England.
- James Blunt left the British Army after six years of service with a cavalry regiment. Several years later, he established himself as a singer with the album “Back to Bedlam” and the hits “You're Beautiful” and “Goodbye My Lover”.
- Representatives for Linda Ronstadt announced the cancellation of all her concerts through the end of the year while she recovered from planned surgery. They stated that it was not an emergency procedure.
- KISS bassist Gene Simmons took his stage name from rockabilly singer Jumpin' Gene Simmons, who died at the age of 69 after a long illness.
- Three days before the release of their second studio album “The First Days of Spring”, Doug Fink, brother of lead singer Charlie Fink, announced that he would leave Noah and the Whale to pursue a career in medicine. In a 2011 interview, Charlie said that Doug was still the person he consulted first about matters concerning the band.
- Noel Gallagher left Oasis after a series of conflicts with his brother Liam and announced that he could no longer work with him. As the band’s lead guitarist and main songwriter, he had recently been involved in a number of arguments with Liam; he said that the brothers barely spoke, did not travel together, and only saw each other onstage. Oasis were due to perform at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris, but their appearance was canceled at the last minute following an internal conflict within the band. Their departure brought the band’s existence to an end.
- Noel Gallagher confirmed his departure from Oasis, saying that he could no longer work with his brother Liam.
- 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.
- Bob Dylan announced his intention to fight ticket scalpers by allowing fans to purchase only one ticket at the entrance to each concert.
- Geoff Tate, former frontman of Queensryche, announced plans to form a “new Queensryche.” Rudy Sarzo, Bobby Blotzer, Glen Drover, Kelly Gray and Randy Gane pledged their support. At the same time, it remained uncertain whether the group would be able to use the Queensryche name, as Tate was involved in legal disputes with the other three members over his dismissal from the group and the use of its name.
- Iron Maiden announced that they would use a huge Boeing 747-400 Jumbo Jet named “Ed Force One” for the 2016 The Book of Souls World Tour, carrying the band, their crew and more than 12 tons of stage equipment. Singer Bruce Dickinson was preparing to pilot it. The aircraft subsequently transported the band and equipment more than 55,000 miles across six continents and 35 countries.
- 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.
- The Go-Go's completed their final tour and played their last concert at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.
- Ed Sheeran concluded his ÷ (Divide) tour with a concert at Chantry Park in Ipswich, England, near his hometown of Framlingham. The tour began on March 16, 2017 and grossed $775.6 million over 255 concerts, setting a record for the highest-grossing concert tour. After two and a half years on the road, he announced that he wanted to take a break.
- Noel Gallagher said he wanted to start a petition to break up Foo Fighters. He was responding to comments made by the band's frontman, Dave Grohl.
- Aerosmith announced the cancellation of their touring plans due to an injury to Steven Tyler’s vocal cords.