2023 For the first time since 1958, country songs claim the top three spots on the Hot 100: #1 "Try That in a Small Town" by Jason Aldean #2 "Last Night" by Morgan Wallen #3 "Fast Car" by Luke Combs (a cover of Tracy Chapman's song)
2022 In Orlando, Bad Bunny sets out on his first stadium tour, the World's Hottest Tour. It lives up to its name, becoming the top-grossing tour of 2022 as audiences return to concerts following the pandemic.
2021 Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga play the second of two sold-out shows at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. It's Bennett's last performance; a week later the 95-year-old singer, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2016, announces he's retiring from performing.
2013 Singer/keyboardist George Duke (Frank Zappa collaborator and half of The Clarke/Duke Project with Stanley Clarke) dies from chronic lymphocytic leukemia at age 67 in Los Angeles, California.
2009 Steven Tyler of Aerosmith falls off the stage at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota, suffering injuries to his head and neck, which force the rest of the band's tour to be canceled. Tyler falls when he is entertaining the crowd with a dance while a technical problem is being sorted.
2007 Proctor and Gamble, maker of Luvs brand diapers, upsets Beatles fans around the world with their licensing of the song "All You Need Is Love" for a new television ad.
2007 DNA tests prove that at least two of the twelve claimants to the estate and fortune of recently deceased soul legend James Brown are found to be legitimate. His will had already named six known children.
2001 Part-time C&W DJ and quadruple murderer Robert Spangler dies from terminal cancer in prison.
1998 Lars Ulrich of Metallica has his first child, a son named Myles.
1996 Soul singer Wilson Pickett checks into a court-ordered rehab for cocaine addiction.
1993 Bassist Randy Hobbs (of The McCoys, Edgar Winter Group, and Montrose) dies of heart failure at age 45 in Dayton, Ohio.
1992 Jeff Porcaro (drummer for Toto) dies of a heart attack from cocaine-induced atherosclerosis at age 38 in Los Angeles, California.
1985 Sinead O'Connor, 18, signs with Ensign Records. She releases her debut album, The Lion And The Cobra, two years later.
1981 Olivia Newton-John is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.
1980 Pat Benatar releases her second album, Crimes Of Passion. "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" is the big hit, but her Young Rascals cover "You Better Run" gets a music video that becomes the second one aired on MTV (after "Video Killed The Radio Star") when the network launches a year later.
The first all-female hard-rock band is formed when producer Kim Fowley puts together The Runaways, featuring Joan Jett, future Bangle Michael Steele, and Lita Ford.
Read more2017 Sam Hunt's "Body Like a Back Road" lands at #1 on the Country chart for the 25th week, breaking the record previously held by Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise."
2016 There are spectacular fireworks, awe-inspiring acrobats, and sensational dancers at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Rio, but supermodel Gisele Bundchen gets the biggest reaction when she takes a long walk across the stage to "The Girl From Ipanema," performed by the composer's grandson, Daniel Jobim.
1978 The Rolling Stones' disco-flavored "Miss You" hits #1 in America, where it stays for one week, knocking Andy Gibb's "Shadow Dancing" from a seven-week run at the top.
1976 At a show in Birmingham, England, an inebriated Eric Clapton speaks out in favor of the right-wing National Front, repeating their slogan, "Keep Britain white," and adding, "I used to be into dope, now I'm into racism." Clarifying his statements years later, Clapton says, "I made some fairly racial comments, but they weren't directed at any particular minority. It was a feeling of loss of identity and losing my Englishness."
1975 Stevie Wonder signs the largest contract for a single artist in history: $13 million over seven years for seven albums with Tamla/Motown.
1962 Marilyn Monroe dies of a barbiturate overdose at age 36 in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California. Musically, she's known for an iconic performance of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend."
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