Buddy Holly and Bob Montgomery auditioned for KDAV radio’s Sunday Party in Lubbock, Texas, a live country-and-bluegrass showcase hosted by disc jockey and talent scout Dave “Hipockets” Duncan. The duo earned a weekly 30-minute Sunday-afternoon slot and performed under the name Buddy and Bob.

Tommy Roe scored his first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 when “Sheila” reached the top. The hit was a new recording of a song he had first released in 1960 with the Satins, and it launched a run that produced five additional U.S. Top 10 singles through 1970.

James Brown, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, and the Kinks appeared on the television program Shindig! Brown performed “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” while the single was sitting at No. 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100.

Following manager Brian Epstein’s death, the Beatles met at Paul McCartney’s St. John’s Wood home to discuss their future. McCartney proposed making Magical Mystery Tour themselves; afterward, the group announced it would not hire a replacement manager and would handle its business affairs internally, a choice that helped lead to Apple Corps.

After receiving a postcard invitation while busking in Stockholm, Boz Scaggs officially joined the Steve Miller Band. He appeared on Children of the Future and Sailor before departing in 1968 and later building a solo career that produced eight Billboard Top 40 hits between 1976 and 1988.

The O’Jays received a Gold record for “Back Stabbers.” The Philadelphia soul single reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Hot Soul Singles chart.

Paul and Linda McCartney and Denny Laine began recording Wings’ Band on the Run at EMI’s studio in Lagos, Nigeria. Drummer Denny Seiwell and guitarist Henry McCullough had quit shortly before the trip, leaving McCartney to cover bass, drums, and much of the lead guitar. The sessions unfolded amid poor studio conditions and local tension, and the McCartneys were later robbed at knifepoint of lyrics and demo tapes.

Ode Records president Lou Adler and employee Neil Silver were kidnapped from Adler’s Malibu home, handcuffed, and held for eight hours at another nearby Adler property. They were released unharmed after a $25,000 ransom was delivered; Veronica Franovich and Zoltan Laslow Kakash were later arrested, with Kakash receiving a life sentence and Franovich serving seven months.

Despite serious internal disputes over the Beach Boys’ artistic direction and finances, the band played a free Central Park concert for an estimated 150,000 people. Setting aside backstage tensions, they delivered hits including “California Girls,” “In My Room,” “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” and “Help Me, Rhonda.”

Blondie signed its first major-label agreement with Chrysalis Records. Chrysalis bought out the group’s contract with independent label Private Stock and acquired the master recordings for Blondie’s self-titled 1976 debut album.

Epic Records released Molly Hatchet’s self-titled debut album. Although it peaked at No. 64 on Billboard’s Top LPs & Tape chart, the record eventually earned an RIAA Platinum certification for sales exceeding one million copies.

Fleetwood Mac concluded an eleven-month tour at the Hollywood Bowl. Lindsey Buckingham told the audience it would be the band’s last show for a long time, and the group did not return to the road until the Mirage tour began nearly two years later.

RCA released Hall & Oates’ album Private Eyes. It climbed to No. 5 in the United States and No. 8 in Britain, producing two Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles—the title track and “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)”—plus the Top 10 hit “Did It in a Minute.”

Tina Turner reached No. 1 in America with “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” 24 years after first entering the Hot 100 with Ike Turner on “A Fool in Love.” The comeback single later won Grammys for Record of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.

David Bowie and Mick Jagger’s charity recording of “Dancing in the Street” debuted at No. 1 on the UK singles chart. Recorded to benefit Live Aid, the collaboration later reached No. 7 in the United States.

Barry Cowsill, bassist for the Cowsills, died at 51 in flooding caused by the levee failures after Hurricane Katrina. His body was recovered from New Orleans’ Chartres Street Wharf on December 28 and identified through dental records in January 2006.

Ronald Isley, leader of the Isley Brothers, was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison after convictions on five tax-evasion counts and one count of willfully failing to file a tax return involving millions of dollars in income.

While awaiting trial for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson, producer Phil Spector, 65, married Rachelle Marie Short, 26, in the foyer of his Alhambra mansion, where Clarkson had been shot three years earlier. Spector filed for divorce from prison in 2016, and the marriage was formally dissolved in 2018.

Singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actor Jerry Reed died from complications of emphysema at 71. His pop hits included “Amos Moses” and “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot,” both Top 10 records in 1971, while “East Bound and Down” became closely associated with his role in Smokey and the Bandit.

Lyricist Hal David, Burt Bacharach’s longtime songwriting partner, died at 91. Their extensive catalogue included “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song; months before David’s death, the pair received the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

Joe Kelley, guitarist for the Shadows of Knight on their 1966 No. 10 hit “Gloria,” died from lung cancer at 67. After leaving the group in 1967, he worked with blues figures including Willie Dixon, Buddy Miles, and Freddie King.

Reports revealed that the REDD.37 mixing console used at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios for early Beatles recordings was being offered for sale by Vintage King Audio. EMI had replaced the desk with the REDD.51 model in January 1964.

Following Aretha Franklin’s death on August 16, “Respect” re-entered Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at No. 21 and topped R&B Digital Song Sales. Franklin occupied 16 of that digital chart’s 25 positions, while her 1968 album Aretha Now returned to the Billboard 200 at No. 6.

The stone wall outside Elvis Presley’s Graceland mansion was spray-painted with messages supporting Black Lives Matter and calls to defund the police, covering many handwritten tributes left by fans since Presley’s death in 1977.

Ian Mitchell, who joined the Bay City Rollers in 1976 and sang lead on the title track of their album Dedication, died at 62.

Marty Fried, drummer for the Cyrkle on the 1966 hits “Red Rubber Ball” and “Turn Down Day,” died from pancreatic cancer at 77. After the band broke up, Fried earned a law degree and spent nearly five decades as a bankruptcy attorney in suburban Detroit.

Jimmy Buffett died at 76 after a four-year battle with Merkel cell skin cancer. The singer-songwriter transformed his 1977 No. 8 hit “Margaritaville” into a hospitality and lifestyle enterprise and also reached the Top 40 with “Come Monday,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” and “Knee Deep.”