| 85 | years ago | 1941 | Otis Redding, soul artist, is born. |
| 81 | years ago | 1945 | Singer Dee Dee Mashed Potato Time Sharp is born. |
| 80 | years ago | 1946 | Keyboardist Billy Preston and Iron Butterfly's Doug Ingle are born. |
| 74 | years ago | 1952 | Dave Stewart, guitarist for the Eurythmics, is born. |
| 71 | years ago | 1955 | The J.P. Seeburg Corporation introduces its Dual Music System Jukebox. It's the first ever equipped to handle a hundred singles and two song per side EPs. |
| 70 | years ago | 1956 | Elvis Presley makes the first of three appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. He belts out Love Me Tender, Hound Dog, Don't Be Cruel and Ready Teddy. But what's most notable about this performance is that Elvis is shot just from the waist up, so that his gyrating hips don't offend the television audience. |
| 59 | years ago | 1967 | Sam & Dave's soul classic, Soul Man is released. |
| 55 | years ago | 1971 | John Lennon's Imagine LP is released. |
| 54 | years ago | 1972 | The Eagles' Witchy Woman is released. |
| 54 | years ago | 1972 | Yes' LP Closer To The Edge hits #3 on the album chart. |
| 54 | years ago | 1972 | The Who's Join Together peaks at #17 on the singles chart. |
| 53 | years ago | 1973 | Todd Rundgren keeps his promise and records a thousand voices in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park for the left track of his song, Sons of 1984. He had put 5,000 fans in New York on tape for the right track. However, the open-air recording session ends in a rumble as police move in to arrest a suspect for alledgedly peddling cannabis. A melee erupts and 11 people are arrested. |
| 48 | years ago | 1978 | The Rolling Stones' Beast Of Burden is released. |
| 48 | years ago | 1978 | The Who's final album with Keith Moon, Who Are You enters the LP charts. |
| 48 | years ago | 1978 | U2 opens for The Stranglers at the Top Hat Ballroom outside of Dublin. The Stranglers take up two dressing rooms, leaving U2 to dress behind their amps. |
| 48 | years ago | 1978 | Foreigner's Hot Blooded peaks at #3 on the singles chart while Eddie Money's Two Tickets To Paradise peaks at #22. |
| 45 | years ago | 1981 | Amnesty International's The Secret Policeman's Other Ball takes place. Sting plays his first solo set as does Phil Collins. |
| 44 | years ago | 1982 | Al Green and Patti LaBelle make their Broadway debut in Vinnete Carroll's Your Arm's Too Short to Box with God. It opens at the Alvin Theatre in New York City. Both Green and LaBelle get rave reviews from both critics and the audiences, and the intial number of performances is expanded from 30 to 80. |
| 34 | years ago | 1992 | At MTV's 9th annual Video Music Awards, Van Halen's Right Now video wins the Best Video Award. They are presented the award by Mick Jagger. During the show Elton John sings The One and then later joins Guns N' Roses on November Rain. |
| 30 | years ago | 1996 | Tom Petty's wife of 22 years, Jane, files for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences.” |
| 30 | years ago | 1996 | Bluegrass legend Bill Monroe dies in Springfield, Tennessee at the age of 84. |
| 28 | years ago | 1998 | An episode of Judge Judy airs in which Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten appears as the defendant in a case involving a drummer who sues Rotten for allegedly head-butting him in a contract dispute. |
| 19 | years ago | 2007 | The MTV Video Music Awards show features a disasterous out-of-lip-sync perfomance by Britney Spears, and a tussle between Tommy Lee and Kid Rock in the audience. Both are ex-husbands of Pamela Anderson, who is a presenter at the show. |
| 16 | years ago | 2010 | Kentwood, Louisiana native Britney Spears denies a bodyguard’s accusations that she sexually harassed him and abused her children. |