Bill Haley and His Comets played West Berlin’s first rock-and-roll concert for 7,000 people at the Sportpalast. A riot injured five officers and six audience members, caused about 50,000 Deutsche Marks in damage, and prompted a temporary citywide rock ban.

Elvis Presley rented the Memphis Fairgrounds amusement park after closing for a private night with Anita Wood, relatives, and friends, including rides on the Zippin Pippin roller coaster and vintage race cars.

Bob Dylan signed with Columbia Records through talent scout John Hammond. He later placed twelve songs in America’s Top 40 from 1965 to 1979 and thirty-eight albums on Billboard charts between 1962 and 2020.

The Beatles received MBEs from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, provoking traditionalists and veterans to return their medals. John Lennon defended the honor by contrasting entertainment with wartime service and afterward said the Queen was nicer than she looked in photographs.

Waylon Jennings, 32, married 26-year-old Jessi Colter, his fourth wife; they remained together until his 2002 death. Beyond his Buddy Holly and country careers, Jennings reached No. 21 pop with “Theme from The Dukes of Hazzard,” while Colter reached No. 4 with “I’m Not Lisa.”

Elton John released “Your Song,” his first international Top 10 single, reaching that level in Britain, the Netherlands, Canada, and the United States.

Three days after performing “Tired of Being Alone” on American Bandstand, Al Green received a Gold record for the single, which reached No. 11 pop and No. 7 on the Soul chart.

Dionne Warwick and the Spinners each earned a first Hot 100 No. 1 when their collaboration “Then Came You” topped the chart.

Bad Company’s “Can’t Get Enough” led Cashbox’s best-sellers list, becoming the group’s biggest North American hit before eight more U.S. Top 40 entries.

Barry White’s Can’t Get Enough spent a week atop Billboard’s album chart, fueled by No. 1 “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe” and No. 2 “You’re the First, the Last, My Everything.”

Jefferson Starship leader Paul Kantner suffered a cerebral hemorrhage during a session. After two weeks in hospital he made a remarkable recovery without brain surgery and returned to recording the following spring.

Wham!’s “Freedom” was No. 1 in Britain, the duo’s second UK chart-topper that year after “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”; it later reached No. 3 in America.

Nineteen-year-old John McCollum died by suicide after listening to Ozzy Osbourne records. His parents later sued Osbourne and CBS over “Suicide Solution,” but courts dismissed the claim and protected the lyrics under the First Amendment.

Whitney Houston earned the first of seven consecutive Hot 100 No. 1 singles with “Saving All My Love for You,” followed by “How Will I Know,” “Greatest Love of All,” “I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” “Didn’t We Almost Have It All,” “So Emotional,” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go.”

Bobby Fuller Four guitarist Jim Reese died from a heart attack at 49 after a round of golf; he had played on the group’s hit “I Fought the Law.”

San Juan churches stayed open overnight in protest of Madonna’s Girlie Show, and residents were urged to display black ribbons. The concert still drew 26,000 people and caused further outrage when Madonna used Puerto Rico’s flag provocatively onstage.

Michael Jackson and his designers received a U.S. patent for shoes that enabled the 45-degree “Smooth Criminal” lean by locking heel slots onto retractable stage pegs.

Wilbert Harrison died from a stroke at 65. His 1959 No. 1 “Kansas City” later entered the Grammy Hall of Fame and the Rock Hall’s 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.

A federal judge rejected the RIAA’s effort to block portable MP3-player manufacturing. The ruling denied the industry’s piracy argument and helped clear the path for digital audio players.

Singer-songwriter Hoyt Axton died from a heart attack at his Montana ranch at 61. He wrote Three Dog Night’s “Joy to the World” and “Never Been to Spain,” Ringo Starr’s “The No No Song,” and the Kingston Trio’s “Greenback Dollar”; his mother co-wrote “Heartbreak Hotel.”

Forbes named Elvis Presley the highest-earning dead celebrity at $40 million, with John Lennon fourth at $21 million and George Harrison seventh at $7 million.

The RIAA filed 750 new copyright lawsuits against individual file sharers, including twenty-five users at thirteen university campuses, as part of its campaign against peer-to-peer services such as Kazaa and LimeWire.

Patti LaBelle’s World Series national anthem before Game 4 drew criticism for changing the melody and misquoting several lyrics, including “twilight’s last gleaming” and “ramparts.”

A California appeals court rejected Joe Jackson’s attempt to challenge the administration of Michael Jackson’s estate; the singer’s 2002 will had excluded his father.

Boy George reportedly threw a drink at a woman talking during his London performance after angrily telling her to be quiet.

Forbes’ dead-celebrity list placed Michael Jackson first with $275 million, Elvis Presley second with $60 million, and John Lennon fifth with $17 million.

Keith Richards released his memoir Life. It debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times hardcover nonfiction list and earned the 2011 Norman Mailer Prize for Biography.

Kiss guitarist Paul Stanley announced vocal-cord surgery after forty years of what he called “preaching rock ’n’ roll”; doctors expected a quick return to the studio.

Fleetwood Mac canceled fourteen Australia and New Zealand dates so bassist John McVie could undergo cancer treatment. He recovered and returned to the stage the following year.

A draft of John Lennon’s letter returning his MBE surfaced at a Liverpool Beatles exhibition. Found inside a £10 used record, the smudged draft was valued at about £59,000, with a cleaner copy believed to have gone to the Queen.

Little Feat guitarist Paul Barrere died at 71, four years after a liver-cancer diagnosis. The band released seventeen albums between 1971 and 2021 and topped Billboard’s Album Rock Tracks chart with “Hate to Lose Your Lovin’.”