The database currently contains 4781 historical events.
- Scottish folk musician John Alexander was born.
- English guitarist and songwriter Michael “Micky” Moody was born in Middlesbrough. He was best known as a member of Whitesnake, Juicy Lucy and Snafu. Juicy Lucy had the UK No. 14 single “Who Do You Love” in 1970, while Whitesnake had the US No. 1 single “Here I Go Again” in 1987 and reached No. 9 in the UK.
- Andrew Gold, the American singer, songwriter, musician, and producer best known for hits such as “Lonely Boy” and “Thank You for Being a Friend,” was born on August 2, 1951, in Burbank, California.
- Joe Lynn Turner, the American singer known for his work with Rainbow and Deep Purple, was born on August 2, 1951, in Hackensack, New Jersey.
- Johnny Graham, multi-instrumentalist with Earth, Wind & Fire, was born in Louisville, Kentucky.
- Roy Flowers, drummer with Sweet Sensation, was born in Kingston, Jamaica.
- Samantha Sang, born Cheryl Lau Sang, was born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
- Northern Irish drummer Les Binks was born. He is best known as the drummer of Judas Priest from 1977 to 1979.
- Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Dan Fogelberg was born in Peoria, Illinois.
- Rock drummer Ric Parnell was born. He became known for his work with Atomic Rooster and for playing Mick Shrimpton in the film This Is Spinal Tap.
- Jazz and soul singer Bobby Caldwell was born.
- Nat King Cole recorded the original mono version of the song “Unforgettable” at Capitol Recording Studio in Hollywood. He re-recorded it in stereo in 1961, and this version was used in 1991 for an electronic duet with his daughter Natalie Cole.
- John Rees, bassist with Men at Work, was born.
- English musician and songwriter John Deacon was born in Oadby, Leicester, England. He became famous as the bassist of the rock group Queen. He was the last member to join the group and also its youngest member; he was only 19 when he joined. He wrote a number of Queen’s hit singles, including “You're My Best Friend”, “Spread Your Wings”, “I Want to Break Free” and the group’s best-selling single in the US, “Another One Bites the Dust”.
- English rock bassist and singer Glenn Hughes was born in Cannock, Staffordshire. He became known for his work with the bands Trapeze and Deep Purple and also briefly as the singer of Black Sabbath.
- American rock singer Jimi Jamison was born in Durant, Mississippi. He became famous as the frontman of Survivor, Target and Cobra. With Survivor, he had the 1982 US and UK number-one single “Eye of the Tiger” and was also the voice and co-writer of the title song for the “Baywatch” TV series.
- Mark Hudson, a founding member of the sibling musical group The Hudson Brothers, was born in Portland, Oregon. He also co-wrote several songs for Aerosmith, including the 1993 hit “Livin' On The Edge”.
- Danny Joe Brown, singer, multi-instrumentalist and lead vocalist of Molly Hatchet, was born in Jacksonville, Florida.
- Michael Derosier, Canadian drummer and former member of the American rock band Heart, was born.
- James Warren, bassist, singer, guitarist and keyboardist of British group The Korgis, was born. The group had the 1980 hit “Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime”, which reached number five in the UK and number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100.
- English singer and songwriter Robert “Rob” Halford was born in Sutton Coldfield, England. He became known as frontman and lead singer of heavy metal band Judas Priest and also performed with the projects Fight, 2wo and Halford.
- Kevin Kavanaugh, a member of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, was born. The band released the album “Hearts Of Stone” in 1978 and later more than ten other albums.
- American musician and songwriter David “Dave” Hlubek was born in Jacksonville, Florida. He was a founding member and lead guitarist of the rock band Molly Hatchet.
- American drummer and session musician Dennis Davis was born. He became best known for his work with David Bowie, with whom he recorded ten albums, including seven consecutive studio albums from Bowie’s classic mid-to-late 1970s period, and contributed to a number of hit singles including “Fame”. He also recorded with Stevie Wonder and Iggy Pop.
- Wayne Osmond, singer, guitarist, and multi-instrumentalist, was born in Ogden, Utah. He became famous as a member of the American family music group The Osmonds, which had the US No. 1 single “One Bad Apple” in 1971, the 1974 hit “Crazy Horses”, and the UK No. 1 single “Love Me for a Reason” in the same year. The Osmonds sold more than 75 million records worldwide.
- Dana Rosemary Scallon, born Rosemary Brown, was born in London, England. In 1970, she won the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland with “All Kinds of Everything”, which reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart.
- Singer and frontwoman of The Pretenders Chrissie Hynde was born.
- English violinist and keyboardist Mik Kaminski was born in Harrogate. He became best known as a member of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra.
- Les Dudek, the American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who worked with the Steve Miller Band, Stevie Nicks, Cher, Boz Scaggs, and The Allman Brothers Band, was born on August 2, 1952.
- Moya Brennan, born Máire Ní Bhraonáin, singer, songwriter, and harpist with Clannad, was born in Dublin, Ireland.
- Irish music manager Louis Walsh, known for his work with Westlife, Boyzone and Girls Aloud, was born in Kiltimagh, County Mayo, Ireland.
- Singer, songwriter and musician Pat MacDonald, co-founder of Timbuk3, was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
- American guitarist Vinnie Vincent was born. He was a member of KISS from 1982 to 1984 and later formed his own band, Vinnie Vincent Invasion.
- Hank Williams was dismissed from the Grand Ole Opry and told not to return until he was sober. The reason was his drinking problem and frequent absences. He died four months later.
- Hughie Thomasson was born in Tampa, Florida. He later became a guitarist, singer, and founding member of the Outlaws and also performed with Lynyrd Skynyrd.
- In Los Angeles, she recorded the original version of “Hound Dog”, which became the first hit for songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The recording spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart and sold nearly two million copies.
- Hank Williams was arrested for drunkenness and disorderly conduct in Alexander City, Alabama. The arrest came just days after he had been fired from the Grand Ole Opry because of his drinking.
- Patrick Swayze, actor and singer, was born.
- American singer, songwriter and guitarist Douglas “Doug” Fieger was born in Oak Park, Michigan. He became known as a member of the rock band The Knack. Their first single, “My Sharona”, became an international No. 1 hit in 1979; Fieger wrote the song for Sharona Alperin, who later became his girlfriend. He died of cancer on February 14, 2010, aged 57.
- American singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist and multi-genre musician John Hiatt was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. His songs were recorded by artists including Bob Dylan, The Searchers, Ry Cooder, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Three Dog Night, Joan Baez and Iggy Pop.
- Country singer and guitarist Rudy Gatlin of The Gatlin Brothers was born in Olney, Texas.
- English musician and co-founder of the punk rock band The Clash John Mellor, known by his stage name Joe Strummer, was born in Ankara, Turkey. He was born John Graham Mellor.
- English keyboardist, songwriter and producer Geoffrey Downes was born in Stockport, Cheshire, England. He became known for his work with The Buggles, Yes and Asia.
- American guitarist Jack Holder of Black Oak Arkansas was born. The group achieved its greatest fame in the 1970s and had a hit with “Jim Dandy (To The Rescue)”.
- Dave Malone, singer, songwriter, and guitarist of The Radiators, was born.
- Kenny Andrews of the British doo-wop revival group Darts was born. In 1978, the group had the UK No. 2 single “Boy From New York City”.
- Atlantic Records bought Ray Charles's contract from Swingtime Records. He thereby moved to a label that began steering him toward harder rhythm and blues rather than the polished pop and West Coast blues in which he had previously recorded.