| 85 | years ago | 1941 | David Crosby of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, and Nash is born |
| 80 | years ago | 1946 | Larry Graham, bassist and singer for Sly & The Family Stone, is born. |
| 79 | years ago | 1947 | George Newsome of the Climax Blues Band is born. |
| 75 | years ago | 1951 | Slim Dunlap of The Replacements is born. |
| 70 | years ago | 1956 | A Washington, D.C. DJ, Bob Rickman, creates the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Elvis Presley. Much of the national coverage of the singer has been critical, as evidenced by the many headlines which refer to him as a hillbilly. |
| 68 | years ago | 1958 | Gladys Presley, mother of Elvis, dies at the age of 46. At her funeral two days later, Presley is so overcome with grief that he is unable to stand and has to be supported. Over 500 police are at the service to keep the gigantic crowd at bay. Presley never gets over his mother's premature death. |
| 66 | years ago | 1960 | Bryan Hyland's Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini hits #1 on the pop chart. |
| 64 | years ago | 1962 | Unhappy with Pete Best's role in the Beatles, Brian Epstein and the other three members decide to fire him. He plays his last gig the following night at The Cavern in Liverpool. |
| 62 | years ago | 1964 | Singer Johnny Burnette dies in a California boating accident. |
| 61 | years ago | 1965 | The McCoys' Hang On Sloopy is released. |
| 61 | years ago | 1965 | The Beatles fifth album Help starts a nine-week run at #1 on the U. K charts. Meanwhile, Sonny and Cher start a three-week run at #1 on the U. S. singles chart with I Got You Babe. |
| 61 | years ago | 1965 | On the R & B chart, James Brown's Papa's Got a Brand New Bag is #1. |
| 60 | years ago | 1966 | London's Catholic Herald calls John Lennon's apology for his remark about The Beatles being more popular than Jesus Christ, “arrogant.” However, the publication admits, as Lennon asserted, it's probably true. |
| 56 | years ago | 1970 | Stephen Stills is arrested on suspected drugs charges while staying at a San Diego hotel and is found crawling along a corridor in an incoherent state. He is freed on $2,500 bail. |
| 56 | years ago | 1970 | The three-day U. K. Yorkshire Folk, Blues & Jazz Festival at Krumlin, Yorkshire starts. It features Atomic Rooster, Pink Floyd, The Kinks, Elton John, Mungo Jerry, Yes, Alan Price, Georgie Fame, Juicy Lucy, Pretty Things, and The Groundhogs. Weekend tickets are £3. |
| 56 | years ago | 1970 | Kevin Cadogan of Third Eye Blind is born. |
| 55 | years ago | 1971 | The Moody Blues hit #1 on the U.K. chart with their sixth album Every Good Boy Deserves A Favour. |
| 55 | years ago | 1971 | Rod Stewart releases Maggie May. |
| 52 | years ago | 1974 | Paul Anka's You're Having My Baby, is gold despite its denouncement by feminists. The objection is the use of the word 'my' as in “my baby,” not “our baby.” It is #1 by the end of the summer. |
| 50 | years ago | 1976 | The Steve Miller Band's Rock 'N Me is released. |
| 48 | years ago | 1978 | Fire by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown hits #1 for one week on the U.K. singles chart. Brown would perform the song with his hat set on fire. |
| 41 | years ago | 1985 | Michael Jackson outbids Yoko Ono and Paul McCartney to secure the ATV Music Publishing catalogue at $47.5 million. He gains the rights to more than 250 songs written by Lennon and McCartney. |
| 38 | years ago | 1988 | Guitarist Roy Buchanan dies after hanging himself in a jail in Fairfax, Virginia. |
| 37 | years ago | 1989 | Bon Jovi's New Jersey LP becomes the first U.S. album to be released legally in the Soviet Union. The Russian label Melodiya pays the group with a truckload of firewood since rubles can't leave Russia. |
| 34 | years ago | 1992 | The Platters' lead singer Tony Williams dies from diabetes and emphysema. He was 64. |
| 19 | years ago | 2007 | Michael Jackson's former entertainment lawyers file suit against him for payment of $113,000 in legal fees they claim they are owed. |
| 19 | years ago | 2007 | Antoine “Fats” Domino is presented with reproductions of 20 gold record awards he lost to Hurricane Katrina when she flooded his Lower 9th Ward New Orleans house in a ceremony at Tipitina’s in the French Quarter. |