1968 – The Jackson Five sign a one-year contract with Motown Records.
1969 – Johnny Cash releases the single, “A Boy Named Sue”, a song written by Shel Silverstein.
1970 – Jimi Hendrix plays in his hometown of Seattle for the last time.
1975 – Van McCoy reaches #1 with “The Hustle”, his only chart hit in the US.
1977 – Led Zeppelin cut short their 11th North American tour after
Robert Plant's five-year-old son Karac dies unexpectedly of a virus at
their home in England.
1980 – The Rolling Stones start a seven
week run at #1 with Emotional Rescue, their eighth album to hit #1 in
the US. Emotional Rescue was the first Rolling Stones album recorded
following Keith Richards' exoneration from a Toronto drugs charge that
could have landed him in jail for years.
1986 – Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” goes to #1. It eventually becomes the most played music video in the history of MTV.
1990 – Grateful Dead keyboardist and vocalist Brent Mydland is found
dead on the floor of his home at the age of 38 from a drug overdose. His
eleven-year tenure was longer than that of any other keyboardist in the
band.
1992 – Mary Wells, referred to as The First Lady of
Motown, dies of cancer at the age of 49. Wells was forced to give up her
career and with no health insurance, was forced to sell her home.
2006 – The final edition of Top Of The Pops is recorded at the BBC Television Centre in London.
2013 – Singer-songwriter JJ Cale dies of a heart attack at the age of
74. He was best known for the songs “After Midnight” and “Cocaine” which
Eric Clapton covered and popularized.
2017 – A jury awards
Quincy Jones $9.4 million in royalties for the use of Michael Jackson
songs he produced in two Cirque du Soleil shows and the This Is It
documentary. Jones filed suit in 2013, asking for $30 million.
Today’s Birthdays include…Bobby Hebb of “Sunny” fame and the great
Darlene Love (both 79); Sir Michael Phillip Jagger (77); Queen drummer
Roger Taylor (71); former Extreme and Van Halen singer Gary Cherone and
Swing Out Sister’s Andy Connell (59); former Sum 41 guitarist Dave Baksh
(40).