1955Sun Records artists Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Carl Perkins opened an eleven-date Southern tour at Fair Park Auditorium in Abilene, Texas. The bill joined three future icons while each was helping define rockabilly’s emerging sound.
1965Gerry Marsden married Pauline Behan, secretary of the Gerry and the Pacemakers fan club and formerly George Harrison’s girlfriend. Marsden had written “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying” after one of their disagreements; they reconciled and remained married until his death in 2021.
1969Grand Funk Railroad’s debut album On Time entered Billboard’s LP chart at No. 65. Despite hostile reviews from many critics, the Michigan trio went on to become one of rock’s biggest-selling concert and recording acts.
1975Neil Sedaka’s comeback produced a second U.S. No. 1 of the year with “Bad Blood.” Within eight months he also wrote the chart-toppers “Laughter in the Rain” for himself and “Love Will Keep Us Together” for the Captain and Tennille.
1975Janis Ian performed “At Seventeen” on the premiere of NBC’s Saturday Night Live, hosted by George Carlin. Billy Preston was the other musical guest and sang his No. 1 hit “Nothing from Nothing.”
1976Casablanca released Donna Summer’s fourth studio album, Four Seasons of Love. Its five tracks occupied two sides of the LP, which peaked at No. 29 and earned U.S. Gold certification for 500,000 sales.
1976ABBA released Arrival, featuring “Dancing Queen,” “Money, Money, Money,” and “Knowing Me, Knowing You.” The album topped Britain’s chart, reached No. 20 in America, became the UK’s best-selling LP of 1977, earned RIAA Gold status, and was selected for the U.S. National Recording Registry in 2024.
1978Billy Joel released his sixth studio album, 52nd Street. It spent eight nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1, produced “My Life,” “Big Shot,” and “Honesty,” won Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and became one of the first fifty titles issued on compact disc in 1982.
1989Michael Jackson attended the dedication of an auditorium bearing his name at Hollywood’s Gardner Street Elementary School. Officials covered the name after his 2003 arrest, but following Jackson’s death a fan petition led the district to restore it.
1997Elton John reached No. 1 in America with “Candle in the Wind 1997,” his eighth solo chart-topper. Written in memory of Princess Diana, it sold an estimated 33 million copies worldwide, ranking behind only Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” in Guinness sales records.
2003Mojo readers selected Elvis Presley’s July 1954 recording of “That’s All Right” as rock history’s most pivotal moment. Bob Dylan going electric ranked second, followed by the Clash’s “White Riot,” the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, and the Rolling Stones’ “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”
2008Liverpool singer Russ Hamilton died in North Wales at 76. His 1957 hit “Rainbow” made him the first Liverpool performer to break the American market, reaching No. 4 after U.S. distributors accidentally promoted it instead of the intended A-side “We Will Make Love.”
1957Johnny Mathis topped Cashbox with “Chances Are,” then No. 7 on Billboard’s disc-jockey chart. The single sold more than two million copies and entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.
1957While touring Australia, Little Richard renounced rock and roll and threw four diamond rings valued at $8,000 into the Hunter River after a bandmate challenged his faith. He soon began a gospel career, but returned to secular rock five years later.
1962One week after releasing “Love Me Do,” the Beatles opened for their idol Little Richard at the Tower Ballroom in Wallasey. Backstage photographs captured them with Richard and his young touring keyboard player Billy Preston.
1963Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs topped Billboard with “Sugar Shack.” The million-selling single became the year’s biggest U.S. record, while reaching No. 45 in Britain.
1963The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby” reached No. 2 during a ten-week Top 40 run. Phil Spector required 42 takes before accepting the recording, an exhausting process engineer Larry Levine later described as evidence of Spector’s musical genius.
1965At Abbey Road, the Beatles recorded “Run for Your Life” and an early version of “This Bird Has Flown” for Rubber Soul. They rebuilt the latter recording nine days later and retitled it “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown).”
1968Big Brother and the Holding Company’s Cheap Thrills began eight nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 and became the year’s best-selling album with more than a million copies. The Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry in 2013.
1971Rockabilly singer Gene Vincent died from a bleeding ulcer at 36. Best remembered for “Be-Bop-A-Lula,” he had four Billboard Top 100 entries but enjoyed even greater British success with eight Top 40 hits from 1956 to 1961.
1972Diana Ross made her feature-film debut as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues, alongside Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, James T. Callahan, and Scatman Crothers. The film earned five Academy Award nominations, including Best Actress for Ross, who lost to Liza Minnelli for Cabaret.
1974Olivia Newton-John topped America’s album chart with If You Love Me, Let Me Know. Its title track reached No. 5, while “I Honestly Love You” became her first Hot 100 No. 1 and won the following spring’s Grammy for Record of the Year.
1974John Denver’s “Annie’s Song,” written for then-wife Annie Martell Denver, reached No. 1 in Britain after topping the American chart in July.
1978Nancy Spungen, Sid Vicious’s 20-year-old girlfriend, was found fatally stabbed in their Chelsea Hotel room. Vicious was charged and released on bail but died from a heroin overdose in February 1979 before trial, after which New York police closed the case.
1957CBS broadcast The Edsel Show, an hour-long promotion for Ford’s new automobile starring Bing Crosby with Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Louis Armstrong, Lindsay Crosby, and the Four Preps. It earned an Emmy nomination for Best Single Program but lost to Rod Serling’s Playhouse 90 drama “The Comedian.”
1958Billboard noted that 18-year-old Phil Spector, writer and arranger of the Teddy Bears’ “To Know Him Is to Love Him,” was studying to become a court reporter. The same issue retired the Best Sellers in Stores chart because retail data had been incorporated into the new Hot 100.
1958Little Anthony and the Imperials’ debut chart entry, “Tears on My Pillow,” reached No. 4 and became their biggest hit. Six more hits followed through 1965, including the Top 10 singles “Goin’ Out of My Head” and “Hurt So Bad.”
1962Don Everly collapsed during a London rehearsal on the eve of the Everly Brothers’ 22-date British tour. He returned urgently to America for treatment while Phil completed the scheduled concerts alone.
1963An early eruption of Beatlemania surrounded the Beatles’ appearance on ITV’s Sunday Night at the London Palladium. Fans struggled with police outside as an estimated 15 million viewers watched the group perform “She Loves You,” “Twist and Shout,” and other hits.
1965The Who recorded “My Generation,” Pete Townshend’s expression of youth frustration. Roger Daltrey said he stuttered to fit the rhythm; the BBC initially feared the effect mocked people who stammer, then relented. The single reached No. 2 in Britain but only No. 74 in America.
1967The Who released “I Can See for Miles” in Britain, where it peaked at No. 10. Already issued in America, it became the band’s only Billboard Top 10 single at No. 9 and later ranked No. 262 on Rolling Stone’s 2010 greatest-songs list.
1970Nine days after Janis Joplin’s death, ten mourners attended a private Los Angeles service before her ashes were scattered over the Pacific Ocean and along California’s Stinson Beach.
1973The Rolling Stones earned their fourth American No. 1 album as Goats Head Soup began four weeks at the summit. Its ballad “Angie” topped the Hot 100 one week later.
1974Television host Ed Sullivan died from esophageal cancer at 73. His 23-year Sunday variety show introduced the Beatles and scores of other performers to mass American audiences, won Emmy and Golden Globe honors, and led to his Television Academy Hall of Fame induction in 1985.
1977Shirley Brickley of the Orlons was shot dead by an intruder in her Philadelphia home at 32. The unsolved killing ended the life of a singer whose group scored five Top 20 hits in 1962–63, including “The Wah-Watusi,” “Don’t Hang Up,” and “South Street.”
1978Queen released the double A-side “Fat Bottomed Girls” and “Bicycle Race” in Britain. It reached No. 11 there and, after an American issue eleven days later, No. 24 in the United States.
