| 69 | years ago | 1957 | Elvis Presley's Too Much enters the pop chart. It will become the first of four chart toppers for Presley this year. |
| 69 | years ago | 1957 | The Cavern Club opens in a former wine cellar on Matthew Street in Liverpool, England. The club will earn its landmark status in 1961 and '62 when The Beatles are its house band. |
| 56 | years ago | 1970 | John Lennon's London Art gallery exhibit of erotic lithographs, Bag One, is closed by Scotland Yard and eight prints are confiscated as evidence of pornography. |
| 56 | years ago | 1970 | The Who begins it first tour of Europe in four years with a performance of its rock opera Tommy at the theatre Champs Elysees in Paris. |
| 54 | years ago | 1972 | Ross Bagdasarian, who had a bunch of hits “sung” by TV cartoon characters, the Chipmunks, dies at age 52. He did the voices for Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. Under the name David Seville, he also recorded the #1 hit Witch Doctor in 1958. |
| 53 | years ago | 1973 | Famed gospel singer Carla Ward dies after suffering her second stroke within several weeks. Aretha Franklin called Ward, “my inspiration.” She was 48 years old. |
| 51 | years ago | 1975 | Years of missed performances and sliding creativity catch up with Sly and the Family Stone when they begin an eight show six night stand at Radio City Music Hall and bomb at the box office. |
| 51 | years ago | 1975 | Paul McCartney & Wings arrive in New Orleans to begin sessions for the album Venus and Mars. The band records with Allen Toussaint at his Sea-Saint Studio; the LP will be released four months later. |
| 50 | years ago | 1976 | The record set Frampton Comes Alive! is released and does extremely well. It goes gold in five weeks and platinum in less than three months, topping the charts for over two months. |
| 46 | years ago | 1980 | Paul McCartney is jailed in Tokyo for possession of a half pound of marijuana. He will spend ten days behind bars before being kicked-out of the country by Japanese authorities. The remainder of his tour is canceled. |
| 45 | years ago | 1981 | John Lennon releases Woman in the U.K. |
| 44 | years ago | 1982 | Earth, Wind & Fire's Let's Groove becomes the longest running R&B #1 single in the past ten years, having held that position now for eight weeks. |
| 42 | years ago | 1984 | The Rolling Stones go to Mexico City to shoot videos for She Was Hot and Too Much Blood, two songs from their Undercover LP. |
| 39 | years ago | 1987 | The Beastie Boys become the first act censored on American Bandstand. |
| 38 | years ago | 1988 | George Harrison's Got My Mind Set On You hits #1 on the chart. |
| 35 | years ago | 1991 | The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies are held. Among those being inducted are The Byrds and Wilson Pickett. |
| 34 | years ago | 1992 | Mick Jagger attends the Hollywood premiere of his flick Freejack at Mann's Chinese Theatre. |
| 30 | years ago | 1996 | Jamaican authorities open fire on Jimmy Buffett's seaplane, mistaking it for a drug trafficker's plane. U2 singer Bono was with Buffett, but neither was hurt. |
| 27 | years ago | 1999 | Warren Zevon, America, Jonny Lang, and Delbert McClinton perform at the inaugural ball for former pro wrestler turned Minnesota governor Jesse “The Body” Ventura. America performs Ventura Highway. |
| 19 | years ago | 2007 | Usher is fined $425 and told to perform 20 hours of community service after being found guilty of speeding on Interstate 75 in Georgia on July 4. The five-time Grammy winner was clocked at 103 mph in his 2005 Range Rover SUV. Afterward, he spends 30 minutes outside the Bartow County courthouse signing autographs. |
| 10 | years ago | 2016 | New Orleans' French Quarter is packed with thousand of fans who turn out for a David Bowie tribute and second-line led by Arcade Fire and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Bowie had died less than a week earlier. |
| 8 | years ago | 2018 | Judas Priest drummer Dave Holland passes away at the age of 69 in Lugo, Spain. |