| 87 | years ago | 1939 | Singer Marvin Gaye is born. |
| 85 | years ago | 1941 | Leon Russell is born. |
| 68 | years ago | 1958 | Veteran disc jockeys Gene Norman and Dick Haynes quit KLAC, Los Angeles in protest over the format. Norman comments, “It would be inconceivable for me to desert my fifteen year standards by resorting to a Top Forty format.” |
| 66 | years ago | 1960 | The National Association of Record Merchants presents its first annual awards in Las Vegas. Elvis Presley is named best-selling male artist and Connie Francis is the best-selling female artist. |
| 65 | years ago | 1961 | Paul Revere and The Raiders make their national pop chart debut with Like Long Hair, a curious song for a group that will later, in the mid 60's, become known for their Revolutionary War-era ponytails. |
| 59 | years ago | 1967 | Greg Camp of Smash Mouth is born. |
| 57 | years ago | 1969 | Tony Fredianelli of Third Eye Blind is born. |
| 56 | years ago | 1970 | The London Magistrate's Court hears arguments on John Lennon's indecency summons for his exhibition of erotic lithographs in January. |
| 56 | years ago | 1970 | Donovan's A Gift from a Flower to a Garden and Bobby Sherman's Easy Come, Easy Go both go gold. |
| 55 | years ago | 1971 | Ringo Starr releases his solo hit, It Don't Come Easy. It would become his first top-ten hit. |
| 54 | years ago | 1972 | John Lennon and Yoko Ono hold a news conference in New York to discuss their appeal of the Immigration Department's decision to deport John. |
| 49 | years ago | 1977 | Stevie Wonder's tribute song to Duke Ellington, Sir Duke is released. The song is from the hugely successful LP, Songs In The Key Of Life and would eventually top the chart for three weeks. |
| 39 | years ago | 1987 | Famed drummer Buddy Rich dies due to complications caused by a brain tumor. He was 69 years old. |
| 29 | years ago | 1997 | Singer Joni Mitchell is reunited with Kilauren Gibb, the daughter she gave up for adoption 32 years earlier. |
| 27 | years ago | 1999 | The Black Crowes play a concert in Knoxville, Tennessee. Joshua Harmon, a teenager sitting in the second row, files suit against the band, their promoter, the theatre, and the sound company a year later for $385,000, claiming significant hearing loss. |