Birthdays
- 1923 - Doc Watson (born Arthel Watson) (d. 2012)
- 1927 - Junior Parker (d. 1971)
- 1930 - Clark Burroughs (Hi-Los)
- 1938 - Willie Chambers (Chambers Brothers)
- 1941 - Mike Pender (Searchers)
- 1944 - Jance Garfat (Dr. Hook)
- 1947 - Jennifer Warnes
- 1947 - Dave Mount (Mud) (d. 2006)
- 1948 - Terence 'Snowy' White (Thin Lizzy, Pink Floyd)
- 1950 - Re Styles (born Shirley MacLeod) (Tubes)
- 1953 - Robyn Hitchcock
- 1953 - Dave Amato (REO Speedwagon)
- 1954 - Chris Hughes (Adam and the Ants)
- 1954 - John Lilley (Hooters)
- 1966 - Tone Loc (born Anthony Smith)
- 1970 - John Carter Cash
- 1971 - Brett Warren (Warren Brothers)
- 1977 - Ronan Keating (Boyzone)
- 1986 - Stacie Orrico
- 1997 - Camila Cabello
Deaths
- 1995 - Howard Yanks (founder of Philadelphia Folk Festival) (65)
- 2002 - Harlan Howard (74)
- 2008 - Norman "Hurricane" Smith - Cancer (85)
- 2012 - Ronnie Montrose - Suicide (64)
- 2013 - Bobby Rogers (Miracles) (73)
- 2017 - Jim Fuller (Surfaris) (69)
On This Day
- 1957 - A Chicago Cardinal bans rock music from Roman Catholic schools in the city.
- 1963 - Patsy Cline played her final show, a benefit for a Kansas City DJ.
- 1966 - Buffalo Springfield was formed by Stephen Stills, Neil Young and Richie Furay.
- 1967 - The Animals refused to play a show in Ottawa, Canada after the promoter wouldn't pay their advance fee. The audience rioted and caused $5,000 damage.
- 1967 - The Jeff Beck Group played their first show in London.
- 1968 - The Grateful Dead played a farewell to San Francisco concert when they moved to Marin County.
- 1969 - Led Zeppelin recorded their first BBC Radio 1 Top Gear show.
- 1978 - Van Halen opened their first tour at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago.
- 1981 - The documentary This is Elvis premiers in Memphis.
- 1983 - A member of Hell's Angels testified in court that they have had a contract to kill Mick Jagger for the last fourteen years and had attempted it twice.
- 1985 - Michael Jackson was at Madame Tussaud's in London for the unveiling of his likeness.
- 1990 - The first tour by the Highwaymen (Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson) was held at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
- 1994 - Smashing Pumpkins were not allowed to appear on the BBC's Top of the Pops due to the lyrical content of their song Disarm.
- 1994 - Kurt Cobain went into a coma while in Italy after ingesting Valium and champagne.
- 1995 - Bill Berry of R.E.M. underwent successful surgery for a brain aneurysm.
- 1995 - The Foo Fighters made their live debut in Portland, OR.
- 1995 - A stalker was arrested trying to break into Roberta Flack's apartment in New York.
- 1999 - Oasis ageed to pay $935,000 to former drummer Tony McCarroll for back royalties.
- 1999 - A U.S. music professor sued Smashing Pumpkins, their promoters and a producer of ear plugs claiming his hearing was damaged at one of their concerts.
- 2001 - The Stereophonics had to change the name of their new album, which used the word Jeep, after objections from Chrysler.
- 2003 - Ray Jackson, formerly of Lindisfarne, sued Rod Stewart over back royalties. He claimed to have written the mandolin melody on the single Maggie May.
- 2003 - Madonna signed with Penguin to write children's books.
- 2004 - Elton John announced he would marry David Furnish when U.K. law allowed.
- 2006 - Gary Glitter was sentenced to three years in a Vietnamese prison for sexual abuse of two eleven-year-old girls.
Released
- 1961 - I Want a Guy - Supremes (debut single)
- 1986 - Master of Puppets - Metallica
- 2005 - The Massacre - 50 Cent
Awards
- 1973 - Grammy Awards
- Record of the Year - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack
- Album of the Year - The Concert For Bangladesh - Various Artists
- Song of the Year - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Ewan MacColl
- Best New Artist - America
- Pop Female - I Am Woman - Helen Reddy
- Pop Male - Without You - Harry Nilsson
- Pop Duo or Group - Where is the Love - Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway
- R&B Female - Young, Gifted & Black - Aretha Franklin
- R&B Male - Me & Mrs. Jones - Billy Paul
- R&B Duo or Group - Papa Was a Rolling Stone - Temptations
- R&B Song - Papa Was a Rolling Stone - Barrett Strong & Norman Whitfield
- Country Female - Happiest Girl in the Whoe U.S.A. - Donna Fargo
- Country Male - Charley Pride Sings Heart Songs - Charley Pride
- Country Duo or Group - Class of '57 - Statler Brothers
- Country Song - Kiss An Angel Good Morning - Ben Peters
- Folk - The London Muddy Waters Session - Muddy Waters
- 2000 - Brit Awards
- British Album - The Man Who - Travis
- British Single - She's the One - Robbie Williams
- British Video - She's the One - Robbie Williams
- Soundtrack - Notting Hill
- British Male - Tom Jones
- British Female - Beth Orton
- British Group - Travis
- British Breakthrough Act - S Club 7
- British Dance Act - Chemical Brothers
- British Pop Act - Five
- International Male - Beck
- International Female - Macy Gray
- International Group - TLC
- International Breakthrough Act - Macy Gray
- Live Act - Steps
- Outstanding Contribution to Music - Spice Girls
Broadcasts
- 1974 - Columbo (NBC) - Johnny Cash
- 1979 - Grand Ole Opry (PBS) - Del Reeves, Barbara Mandrell, Bill Monroe, Hank Snow, Roy Acuff, Minnie Pearl, Don Gibson (first time whole show Broadcasts on PBS)
Number Ones - U.S. Singles
- 1951 - If - Perry Como (1 week)
- 1990 - Escapade - Janet Jackson (3 weeks)
- 2007 - What Goes Around...Comes Around - Justin Timberlake (1 week)
- 2012 - Part of Me - Katy Perry (1 week)
Number Ones - U.S. Albums
- 1973 - Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player - Elton John (2 weeks)
- 1979 - Spirits Having Flown - Bee Gees (5 weeks)
- 2007 - Not Too Late - Norah Jones (2 weeks)
Number Ones - U.S. R&B Singles
- 1951 - Black Night - Charles Brown (14 weeks)
- 1984 - Somebody's Watching Me - Rockwell (5 weeks)
Number Ones - U.S. Country Singles
- 1973 - The Lord Knows I'm Drinking - Cal Smith (1 week)
- 1979 - Golden Tears - Dave & Sugar (3 weeks)
- 1984 - Woke Up In Love - Exile (1 week)
- 1990 - No Matter How High - Oak Ridge Boys (1 week)
- 2001 - You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This - Toby Keith (1 week)
- 2012 - You Gonna Fly - Keith Urban (2 weeks)
Number Ones - U.S. Adult Contemporary Singles
- 1962 - Midnight in Moscow - Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen (3 weeks)
- 1973 - Last Song - Edward Bear (2 weeks)
- 1984 - An Innocent Man - Billy Joel (1 week)
- 1990 - All My Life - Linda Ronstadt Featuring Aaron Neville (3 weeks)
- 2007 - Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield (1 week (1 previous week))
Number Ones - U.K. Singles
- 1973 - Cum On Feel the Noize - Slade (4 weeks)
- 1979 - Tragedy - Bee Gees (2 weeks)
- 1984 - 99 Red Baloons - Nena (3 weeks)
- 1990 - Dub Be Good to Me - Beats International Featuring Lindy Layton (4 weeks)
- 2007 - Ruby - Kaiser Chiefs (1 week)
- 2012 - Somebody That I Used to Know - Gotye Featuring Kimbra (4 weeks)
Number Ones - U.K. Albums
- 2007 - Back to Black - Amy Winehouse (1 week (2 previous weeks))
- 2012 - 21 - Adele (1 week (2 previous weeks))