Mickey Baker and Sylvia Vanderpool recorded Bo Diddley’s “Love Is Strange” at Groove Records in New York. It later topped the R&B chart, reached No. 11 pop, and entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004; the duo charted seven more times but never returned to the Top 40.

Jailhouse Rock premiered at Memphis’s Loew’s State Theatre, where Elvis Presley had worked as an usher five years earlier. Co-star Judy Tyler died in a crash shortly after filming; although Presley saw a private final cut, grief kept him from watching the released movie.

The Drifters topped the U.S. pop chart with “Save the Last Dance for Me,” still led by former member Ben E. King’s vocal. Originally the B-side of “Nobody but Me,” it gained attention after Dick Clark favored it and later reached No. 2 in Britain.

Dion DiMucci left the Belmonts amid stated musical differences, saying the group favored middle-of-the-road material too heavily. People close to the act maintained that disputes over dividing income were the deeper cause.

Elvis’ Golden Records received RIAA Gold certification. The collection of 1956–57 singles is widely regarded as rock’s first greatest-hits album and later advanced through Platinum, five-times-Platinum, and six-times-Platinum awards.

The Beatles made their first British television appearance on Granada’s regional People and Places, performing “Some Other Guy” and “Love Me Do.” Their first nationwide UK broadcast followed on Thank Your Lucky Stars in January 1963.

Bobby Goldsboro recorded his composition “See the Funny Little Clown” at Bell Sound in New York. It became the first of eleven Billboard Top 40 hits, reaching No. 9 pop, No. 3 easy listening, and No. 10 on Cashbox.

The Beatles recorded their first annual fan-club Christmas message on a flexible vinyl disc. It combined “Good King Wenceslas,” individual greetings, and a closing chorus of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Ringo.”

Manfred Mann topped the Hot 100 with “Do Wah Diddy Diddy,” a remake of the Exciters’ earlier No. 78 single. Sung by Paul Jones, it had already reached No. 1 in Britain in August.

The Rolling Stones released their second American album, 12 X 5. It reached No. 3 and included “It’s All Over Now” and “Time Is on My Side,” the latter a No. 6 U.S. hit.

MGM premiered Elvis Presley’s musical comedy Spinout in Memphis; Britain received it as California Holiday. Presley earned $750,000 plus 40 percent of profits, though the film later appeared in the book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time.

Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart, and Phil Spector guest-starred on I Dream of Jeannie in a storyline where Jeannie conjured a music group for an assignment given to Tony Nelson.

The Beatles attended a private memorial for Brian Epstein at the New London Synagogue near Abbey Road. They had stayed away from his August funeral in Liverpool to give the family privacy.

The Kinks opened their first American tour in more than four years at the Fillmore East. A musicians’ union permit ban, imposed after backstage disorder and clashes during their 1965 U.S. visit, had kept them away.

Michael and Jermaine Jackson shared lead vocals as the Jackson 5 earned a fourth consecutive American No. 1 with “I’ll Be There.” Motown said the group had already sold more than ten million records worldwide.

Maurice Gibb married Yvonne Spencely at the Haywards Heath register office in Sussex. Both were 25; Gibb’s four-year marriage to singer Lulu had formally ended two months earlier.

MCA released Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Street Survivors. It went Gold within ten days, became the group’s highest-charting album at No. 5 in America and No. 13 in Britain, and produced the No. 13 single “What’s Your Name.”

Columbia issued Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond’s duet “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” after Louisville programmer Gary Guthrie’s homemade edit of their solo versions gained airplay. The official remake topped Billboard and sold a million copies; CBS later sent Guthrie a Gold plaque.

Christopher Cross began three weeks at No. 1 with “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do),” his second American chart-topper and a No. 7 British hit.

Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin’s remake of Lesley Gore’s “It’s My Party” reached No. 1 in Britain and New Zealand and the Top 10 in several European markets, but peaked at No. 72 in America.

The Bee Gees returned to Britain’s Top 10 after eight years when “You Win Again” reached No. 1, making them the first group with UK chart-toppers in the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s. Post-disco resistance limited the song to No. 75 in America.

Billy Joel released his eleventh album, Storm Front. It topped Billboard, sold more than four million U.S. copies, reached No. 5 in Britain, and produced “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” “I Go to Extremes,” and “And So It Goes.”

Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild” returned to the Dutch Top 10, revived by widespread use in international television advertising and Hollywood soundtracks.

Tennessee Ernie Ford died from complications of liver failure at 72. The singer and television host scored thirteen Billboard Top 40 hits, led by the eight-week 1955 No. 1 “Sixteen Tons” and No. 4 “The Ballad of Davy Crockett.”

Tommy Durden, co-writer with Mae Axton of Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel,” died at 79. He later played steel guitar for Tex Ritter, Johnny Cash, and Johnny Tillotson before leaving music to repair commercial dishwashers.

George Michael paid £1.67 million at a London auction for the Steinway piano on which John Lennon composed “Imagine.” He bought it to keep the instrument in Britain and available to the public rather than hidden in a private collection.

Fats Domino returned to his Lower Ninth Ward home for the first time after his Hurricane Katrina rescue. The 77-year-old found the house he had occupied for four decades ruined and his white Steinway grand overturned in mud and debris.

The National Civil Rights Museum presented Stevie Wonder with a lifetime-achievement award in Memphis. He performed a hit medley and urged the audience to use its talents in service of people in need.

Singer Teresa Brewer died from neuromuscular disease at 76. She placed fourteen songs in Billboard’s Top 40, including the 1956 Top 10 hits “A Tear Fell” and “A Sweet Old Fashioned Girl.”

Four Tops lead singer Levi Stubbs died at 72 after years of illness including cancer and a stroke. The group placed 24 singles on the Hot 100 and entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

Gene Simmons threatened legal action after hackers disabled SimmonsRecords.com and GeneSimmons.com in retaliation for his support of prosecuting file sharers. Federal authorities later charged a 24-year-old Connecticut man linked to Anonymous with organizing the five-day attack.

British industry figures showed nearly 550,000 vinyl albums sold during 2013, the format’s highest UK total in a decade, though records still represented only 0.7 percent of album purchases.

A BBC History Magazine public poll named David Bowie the best-dressed Briton in history. Bowie captured 48.5 percent of the vote against nominees selected by fashion designers and academics, comfortably defeating Queen Elizabeth I and Beau Brummell.

The BPI reported almost 800,000 UK vinyl-album sales during the first nine months of 2014, well ahead of the comparable 2013 total.

Phil Lesh disclosed a bladder-cancer diagnosis and treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale. The 75-year-old Grateful Dead bassist expected and achieved a full recovery; he died in October 2024 at 84.

Don Henley’s Cass County debuted atop Billboard’s country-album chart with more than 87,000 first-week units. His first solo LP since Inside Job also reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200.