4 AUGUST
In Music History
1940 Larry Knechtel (keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist for Bread) is born in Bell, California.
1939 R&B singer Frankie Ford is born in Gretna, Louisiana.
1936 Bass singer Elsbeary Hobbs (of The Drifters) is born in Manhattan, New York.
1921 Jazz guitarist Herb Ellis is born in Farmersville, Texas. Along with drummer Buddy Rich, he was part of the backing band for comeback albums by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald.
1901 Jazz singer and trumpeter Louis Armstrong is born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
1875 Hans Christian Andersen dies of liver cancer at age 70. His stories inspired songs by Kate Bush and Sinead O'Connor.
Curtis Mayfield Gets Superfly
1972The movie Super Fly is released, along with a soundtrack by Curtis Mayfield that becomes a soul music landmark, taking on the drug culture portrayed in the film with vivid commentary.
Read more4 AUGUST
Featured Events
2017 "Despacito" becomes the most-watched YouTube video ever, passing the Wiz Khalifa/Charlie Puth collaboration "See You Again" with nearly 3 billion views in just seven months. The mark holds until 2020, when "Baby Shark" overtakes it.
1990 Mariah Carey lands her first #1 Hot 100 hit when her debut single, "Vision Of Love," goes to the top. It's the first of her 14 chart-toppers... in the '90s!
1984 The Prince album Purple Rain, which also serves as the soundtrack to the film of the same name, hits #1 in the US, where it stays for an amazing 22 weeks.
1975 While vacationing on the Greek Island of Rhodes, Led Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant and his family are badly injured in a car accident, forcing the cancellation of an upcoming US tour. Doctors tell Plant he may never walk again, but he makes a full recovery.
1958 Billboard combines its unwieldy system of five separate sales, jukebox, and DJ charts to make one master chart, the Billboard Hot 100. The first #1 is Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool."
1958 Bobby Darin has his first hit as "Splish Splash" reaches #3 in America. The song is later used on Sesame Street as a way to encourage kids to get in the tub.
1942 The movie Holiday Inn premieres in New York, introducing Bing Crosby's holiday classic "White Christmas."
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