16 August

Pick a Day

16 AUGUST

In Music History

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2023 Britney Spears' third husband, Sam Asghari, files for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. They started dating in 2017 after he played her love interest in the "Slumber Party" video, and got married in June 2022.

2014 To announce Syro, his first Aphex Twin album in 13 years, Richard James arranges for a blimp to fly over London with his iconic logo on one side and the year on the other. The same logo is also spraypainted on New York sidewalks.

2008 Noah and the Whale make a splash when their debut single "5 Years Time" peaks at #7 on the UK Singles Chart. It proves to be the biggest hit for the British group.

2005 Country/Bluegrass fiddler Vassar Clements (of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys) dies of lung cancer in Jamestown, New York, at age 77.

2003 The USPS unveils a new commemorative postage stamp of recently deceased composer Henry Mancini, famous for the Pink Panther theme and several other film works.

2002 Twenty-five years after the death of Elvis Presley, an album containing 30 of his #1 hits is released with "A Little Less Conversation" as a bonus track - a remix of that one went to #1 UK in June.

2000 Guitarist Alan Caddy (of The Tornados) dies at age 60 after a lifelong battle with alcoholism.

1997 A tribute concert is held in Memphis, Tennessee, remembering Elvis Presley on the 20th anniversary of his death. Daughter Lisa Marie unveils the music video "Don't Cry Daddy," a virtual duet with her father that features his original vocals from the 1969 tune along with her own.

1997 The seventh annual Lollapalooza tour comes to a close at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California, with Korn, Snoop Dogg and Tool headlining. With alternative music on the wane, it's the last Lollapalooza until 2003, when a more limited version of the tour is launched.

1997 Greyson Chance is born in Wichita Falls, Texas. After finding success on YouTube, he releases his first album at age 13.

1996 With the help of Broadway star Chita Rivera, over 50,000 baseball fans at Yankee Stadium break the record for the largest group dance when they bust a move to the "Macarena," the decade's latest dance craze.

1995 Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys performs live for the first time with his daughters Carnie and Wendy, recently famous for their stint in the trio Wilson Phillips.

1994 Barenaked Ladies release their second studio album, Maybe You Should Drive.

1994 Neil Young releases Sleeps with Angels, the title of which is inspired by the death of Kurt Cobain. Young's 20th studio album, its dark, brooding sound contrasts sharply with his previous album, Harvest Moon.

1991 Wilfrid Thomas, broadcaster and radio commentator, dies in London, England, at age 87. Wrote the English lyrics to "Rose, Rose, I Love You," recorded by Frankie Laine in 1951.

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Red Hot Chili Peppers Release Freaky Styley

1985

Red Hot Chili Peppers release the cocaine-fueled funk album Freaky Styley, produced by Parliament-Funkadelic founder George Clinton, and welcome back guitarist Hillel Slovak.

Freaky Styley is the first Red Hot Chili Peppers album to feature Slovak, a founding member of the group who left with drummer Jack Irons to play in the rock band What Is This? in 1983, a year before RHCP released their eponymous debut. Their sophomore effort pairs them with funk master George Clinton, who ups the level of funk and adds in layers of punk and psychedelic rock on the singles "Catholic School Girls Rule" and "Jungle Man," as well as covers from Sly & the Family Stone ("If You Want Me To Stay") and The Meters ("Africa"). He also brings in James Brown's horn players Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley for an extra blast of funkiness. The band, including frontman Anthony Kiedis, who just kicked a heroin habit, indulges in copious amounts of cocaine with the producer. Clinton gets in over his head with his drug debt and assuages his volatile dealer by giving him a speaking part on the Dr. Seuss-inspired track, "Yertle The Turtle," saying "Look at that turtle go, bro." Although it makes little commercial impact, the band is proud of the album. Bassist Flea notes, "I know the music on this record was just way too obscure to ever be popular in a mainstream kind of way, but to me it really holds its own as a definitive and substantial musical statement. More than any other record we ever made it falls into the category of 'too funky for white radio, too punk rockin' for black.'"

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