Look magazine reported that Elvis Presley’s records had grossed over $6 million and that he was receiving more than 3,000 fan letters a week. The piece predicted his annual income would soon top $500,000, and noted his devotion to his parents, for whom he’d bought a $40,000 air-conditioned home in Memphis.

Aretha Franklin made her professional television debut on American Bandstand, performing “Don’t Cry Baby” (which would reach number 92 on the Hot 100) and “Try a Little Tenderness” (number 100).

Robert Allen Zimmerman emerged from the Supreme Court building in downtown Manhattan with a new legal name: Robert Dylan.

Bob Dylan made a quiet appearance at his ten-year high school reunion in Hibbing, Minnesota, but left early after a few drunken former classmates tried to start a fight with him. Aside from possible private visits, he never made another public appearance in his hometown.

Dunhill Records released Three Dog Night’s version of “Easy to Be Hard,” taken from the 1967 rock musical Hair. The song climbed to number four on the Hot 100 and was later ranked number 33 among Billboard’s biggest hits of 1969.

Brian Cole, an original member of The Association, died of a heroin overdose at 29. He played bass on the group’s hits “Cherish” (a US number one), “Windy” (also a US number one, number 53 in the UK), and “Never My Love” (US number two).

American Graffiti premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland. Made for just over $700,000, the film about teenagers on the 1960s West Coast has since brought in an estimated $200 million-plus between box office and home video. Its soundtrack reached number ten in America and has gone triple Platinum, and the movie itself was selected for the National Film Registry in 1995.

The Eagles notched the second of their five Billboard number-one albums as “One of These Nights” topped the Top LPs & Tape chart. The title single, featuring Don Felder’s now-classic guitar solo, reached number 23 in the UK.

Though the movie Xanadu bombed at the American box office, its soundtrack sold briskly and produced Olivia Newton-John’s US number-one hit, “Magic.”

Deep Purple scored their third UK number-one album with the greatest-hits collection “Deepest Purple: The Very Best of Deep Purple.”

Former Chicago bassist Peter Cetera topped the Billboard Hot 100 with his first solo single, “Glory of Love.” Featured in The Karate Kid Part II, it reached number three in the UK.

David Martin, bassist for Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, died of a heart attack at 50. A founding member of the band, he co-wrote their 1965 hit “Wooly Bully,” which reached number two. After leaving the Pharaohs in 1966 amid management disputes, he returned to Dallas and opened a television and video repair shop.

Rick James, who’d scored a hit in 1981 with “Super Freak,” was arrested and charged with imprisoning and torturing an unnamed 24-year-old woman at his California home. She alleged she’d been held captive for up to six days during a crack cocaine binge, tied to a chair, and burned more than twenty times with a heated cocaine pipe. James was convicted in 1993 for the incident, along with a second assault committed while he was out on bail, and received a five-year prison sentence.

A poll conducted by UK music magazine Mojo named the Beatles “Favourite Recording Artist of All Time,” ahead of Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Queen, and Elton John, in that order.

Ron Townson of The 5th Dimension died of renal failure at 68, following a four-year battle with kidney disease. He had retired from the group in 1997 and was living in Las Vegas at the time of his death.

Graceland’s management announced plans to overhaul its visitor complex with a new center larger than a football field, a convention hotel, and high-tech museum exhibits. Economic setbacks pushed the project back several years, but the vision eventually came to fruition in 2017 with the opening of the $45 million, 40-acre Elvis Presley’s Memphis entertainment complex.

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards signed a reported $7 million-plus deal to write his memoir. The book, tracing his path from choirboy to rock ‘n’ roll survivor, was titled “Life” and arrived in stores in the fall of 2010.

Jimmy Jones, who earned two Gold records in 1960 with “Handy Man” (number two in the US, number three in the UK) and “Good Timin’” (number three in the US, number one in the UK), died at 82. He managed only two more minor American hits afterward but landed three further UK Top 50 entries, and kept releasing singles all the way through 1987.

Nielsen SoundScan reported that US album sales totaled just 4.68 million for the week ending July 28th — the lowest weekly figure since the tracking system began in May 1991.

Rosetta Hightower, lead singer of The Orlons, died at 70. The Philadelphia group placed five songs on the Billboard Hot 100, including “The Wah-Watusi” (number two in 1962), “Don’t Hang Up” (number four in 1962), and “South Street” (number three in 1963). After The Orlons, Hightower relocated to England, releasing solo singles and at least two albums; she later sang backup on Joe Cocker’s 1968 cover of “With a Little Help from My Friends” and John Lennon’s 1971 single “Power to the People.”

Steve Holland, the guitarist who found fame with Southern rock band Molly Hatchet, died at 66 after a long illness. He’s credited as a co-writer on several of the band’s best-known songs, including “Gator Country,” “Bounty Hunter,” and “Whiskey Man.”

Aerosmith announced via social media that they were retiring from touring due to Steven Tyler’s ongoing vocal cord injury, though a representative clarified the band wasn’t breaking up. They went on to release a new collaborative single, “One More Time,” with Yungblud in 2025. Over their fifty-year recording career, Aerosmith placed nineteen albums on the Billboard 200 and landed twenty-three singles in the Top 40, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.