| 69 | years ago | 1956 | Elvis records Hound Dog, Don't Be Cruel and Any Way You Want Me for RCA Records in New York. It's the first session to feature the Jordanaires, a vocal harmony quartet. |
| 56 | years ago | 1969 | Bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell quit the Jimi Hendrix Experience. |
| 50 | years ago | 1975 | David Bowie gets gold record #4. Young American contains two of his biggest hits, Fame, which hits #1 later in the year, and the title track. |
| 49 | years ago | 1976 | For the first time in 12 years, Brian Wilson joins the Beach Boys on stage. He's mostly motionless at his piano but he does sing the lead vocal on In My Room. The next night he's back and TV cameras record the whole thing for a Beach Boys special which will air on NBC in August. |
| 45 | years ago | 1980 | Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and manager Danny Rifken are picked up for suspicion of inciting a riot at the San Diego Sports Arena. This was after they tried to interfere in a drug related arrest. |
| 44 | years ago | 1981 | Medley singles make it to top-40 radio. The most popular is Stars on 45 by a group of Dutch studio musicians and singers. The medley has strung together sound-alike versions of popular hits like Sugar Sugar, Venus and several Beatles songs. The song hits #1 and goes gold and sets the trend for other medley hits. |
| 44 | years ago | 1981 | Bruce Springsteen plays the first shows ever at the 21,000 seat Brendan Byrne Meadowlands Arena in New Jersey. The six shows sold out in an hour. Springsteen said of the audiences' loudness, “When we got onstage, I couldn't hear the band. We felt like The Beatles.” |
| 43 | years ago | 1982 | The Rolling Stones begin their summer tour of Europe in Rotterdam, Holland. |
| 35 | years ago | 1990 | Representatives of the Italian Catholic Church announce they'll attempt to halt Madonna's concerts in Rome because of her alleged inappropriate use of crucifixes and sacred symbols. It works. |
| 34 | years ago | 1991 | Guns 'n' Roses lead singer Axl Rose sparks a riot during a concert outside of St. Louis when he jumps off the stage and attacks a fan who is videotaping the concert. 60 people are hurt and the venue is wrecked. |
| 30 | years ago | 1995 | Between 3,000 and 4,000 Grateful Dead fans riot outside a Noblesville, Indiana venue, tearing down gates and throwing rocks. 17 punks are arrested. |
| 30 | years ago | 1995 | John Entwistle of The Who hits the road in the U.S. as the bassist in Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band. The rest of the band is Billy Preston, Randy Bachman, Mark Farner, Felix Cavaliere, Mark Riveria, and Ringo's son and future Who drummer Zak Starkey. |
| 20 | years ago | 2005 | An estimated worldwide audience of 2 billion people tune in to Bob Geldof's Live 8 spectacular to witness rock'n'roll make history. Geldof, the Irish musician who masterminded Band Aid and the Live Aid concerts 20 years earlier, conceived the multi-concert event as a political exercise to influence world leaders into making Africa a priority at the upcoming G8 summit. Hyde Park in London plays host to performances by Paul McCartney, U2, Madonna, Elton John, The Who, Robbie Williams, and the reunited Pink Floyd. McCartney and U2, who each performed at the 1985 show at Wembley Stadium, opens the London leg with a take on The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.Geldof later describes the collaboration as “one of the greatest rock'n'roll moments of all time.” Philadephia hosts Black Eyed Peas, Bon Jovi, Destiny's Child, Toby Keith, Dave Matthews Band, Def Leppard and Sarah McLachlan. Paris, Berlin, Rome, Tokyo, Barrie, Johannesburg, and Moscow also participate with their own all-star shows. |
| 19 | years ago | 2006 | Bobby Brown, who left New Edition in the 80’s for a solo career, reunites with the band at the Essence Music Festival in Houston. The other five group members perform to slick choreography while Brown runs around the stage, wild and raunchy. He leaves the stage while the band does some ballads, then returns for a solo set featuring more raunchy dancing and talk about his sex life with wife Whitney Houston. By the time he finishes My Prerogative, he’s shirtless, with many audience members screaming for him to get off the stage. |
| 15 | years ago | 2010 | Janet Jackson makes a concert comeback in the New Orleans Superdome for the Essence Music Festival. |
| 14 | years ago | 2011 | Boyz II Men, Jennifer Hudson, and Fantasia make music in the Louisiana Superdome on the first night of The Essence Music Festival in New Orleans. |
| 7 | years ago | 2018 | Alan Longmuir, a founding member of the Bay City Rollers who played multiple instruments, including bass guitar and keyboards, dies in Scotland. He was 70. |