| 77 | years ago | 1949 | Ric Ocasek, guitar player for the Cars, is born. |
| 73 | years ago | 1953 | Chaka Khan is born. |
| 63 | years ago | 1963 | The Beach Boys release Surfin U.S.A. It would spend 17 weeks on the Hot 100, and six in the Top Ten. |
| 63 | years ago | 1963 | Jackie Wilson's Baby Workout enters the R&B chart where it will be his fifth #1. On the pop chart, it peaks at #5, making it his second biggest hit. |
| 62 | years ago | 1964 | John Lennon's first book, In His Own Write is published. |
| 58 | years ago | 1968 | Damon Albarn of Blur is born. |
| 57 | years ago | 1969 | 30,000 people, including Jackie Gleason, Kate Smith, the Lettermen, and Anita Bryant appear at the Rally for Decency in Miami. Announcements publicizing the rally warn that “longhairs and weird dressers” won't be let inside. Four days later, President Richard Nixon sends a letter of congratulation and appreciation to the organizers of the rally. |
| 56 | years ago | 1970 | John Humphrey of The Nixons is born. |
| 56 | years ago | 1970 | Spencer Dryden plays his last gig with Jefferson Airplane. He goes on to join and later manage The New Riders of the Purple Sage. He dies in relative obscurity in 2005, reportedly living in a shack at the back of a rented property in Petaluma, California. |
| 53 | years ago | 1973 | Derek and the Dominos in Concert, the two record set released well over a year after the short-lived group's break-up, goes gold. |
| 53 | years ago | 1973 | Yoko Ono is granted permission to live in the U.S. permanently. |
| 51 | years ago | 1975 | San Francisco's Kezar Stadium is the site for a Bill Graham-run benefit show called SNACK (Students Need Athletics, Culture, and Kicks). The Show features the Tower of Power, the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Starship, Joan Baez, Graham Central Station, Neil Young, and special guest Bob Dylan. It's to raise money for the San Francisco school system which recently canceled most sports and after-hour activities because of a $3-million budget deficit. Almost $200,00 is raised, but it's really not needed . |
| 48 | years ago | 1978 | Rolling Stone reports Fleetwood Mac is working on final adjustments to perform at Moscow's 3,000 seat Russian Concert Hall on July 8th, 9th, and 10th. Their advisor, Michael Shapiro admits, “Everything, of course, depends on world peace.” |
| 48 | years ago | 1978 | The Police sign with A&M Records. |
| 41 | years ago | 1985 | Billy Joel marries Christy Brinkley in New York. They would divorce in 1994. |
| 38 | years ago | 1988 | Mick Jagger makes his first onstage solo appearance in Japan in front of a crowd of 46,000. The Rolling Stones had previously been banned from the country by Japanese authorities amid drug speculation. |
| 22 | years ago | 2004 | The Recording Industry Association of America files 27 lawsuits against 532 people. 89 are students alleged to be illegally swapping copyrighted music files over the computer networks of 21 universities. |
| 13 | years ago | 2013 | My Chemical Romance announces their breakup. |