Music History

During the carnival in the London district of Notting Hill, clashes broke out between Black youths and the police. Members of The Clash were present, and the event inspired them to write “White Riot” as a call for white people to protest with the same intensity.

The Voyager 2 probe was launched into space carrying the “Golden Record”, a recording of sounds and images representing Earth.

Alice Hovartar and Juanita Johnson, both 19 years old, died after a car crashed into a crowd of mourners outside Graceland following Elvis Presley's death. Their funerals were held on this day.

The New York Post reported that Anita Pallenberg, Keith Richards' partner, was linked to an alleged group of witches in South Salem, New York, where Richards owned a house. The police officer investigating the case said he was attacked by a group of people in black cloaks who tried to lure him into taking part in a ritual and sexual orgies. Local residents also claimed that ritual objects and small animals believed to have been sacrificed during ceremonies had been found near the house.

Rod Stewart and his first wife Alana Hamilton welcomed their daughter Kimberly Stewart, who later became an actress and model.

A statue of Elvis Presley was unveiled at Elvis Presley Plaza in Memphis. It was later moved inside the Memphis Welcome Centre.

Donna Summer and her husband Bruce Sudano became parents to their first daughter, Amanda Grace Sudano.

The city of Liverpool named four streets after members of The Beatles: John Lennon Drive, Paul McCartney Way, George Harrison Close and Ringo Starr Drive.

Pirate radio station Radio Caroline, which had broadcast only sporadically since its original closure in 1968, returned to the air from the ship Ross Revenge in international waters in the North Sea. Exactly six years later, it was shut down again.

The Beatles fans paid $271,180 for memorabilia at an auction in London, England.

Simon Le Bon's boat capsized during a race off the English coast. The Royal Navy rescued him after he spent 40 minutes trapped in an underwater air pocket.

Serial killer Richard Ramirez was captured in Los Angeles and later convicted of 13 murders. At one crime scene, he left behind an AC/DC cap. The media nicknamed him the "Night Stalker" and speculated that AC/DC's song "Night Prowler" had inspired him to kill. This claim was never confirmed and unfairly linked the band to the killer, which terrified the group.

The former studio of the television program American Bandstand in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was added to the US National Register of Historic Places.

Rolling Stone magazine named The Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band the best album made during the previous 20 years. The next places went to Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, Exile on Main St., The Beatles (The White Album) and Blood on the Tracks.

Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil injured his hand before a concert in Rochester, New York, after angrily smashing a glass of Gulden's mustard because he wanted Frenchie's. The concert was cancelled and Neil was flown to Baltimore, where surgeons repaired damaged nerves and tendons in his hand.

To mark the 100th anniversary of the jukebox, the Amusement and Music Operators Association announced that Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” and Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog” had been named the most-played songs on jukeboxes during their first 100 years of existence. The jukebox had been in operation since 1906, while its earliest predecessors appeared as early as 1889.

The cookbook “Rock N' Roll Cuisine” was published and contained 95 recipes from various musicians, including “Dream Soup” by Yoko Ono, “Boyfriend Approved Macaroni Salad” by Cher, Mick Jagger's shrimp curry and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich by “Weird Al” Yankovic.

Eagles drummer Don Henley expressed his dissatisfaction with Joe Walsh playing the song “Life in the Fast Lane” during his tour with Ringo Starr. Henley stated that Walsh had written only a short guitar riff at the beginning of the song.

A public memorial service for Stevie Ray Vaughan was held at Laurel Land Memorial Park in Dallas, Texas, four days after he was killed in a helicopter crash in Wisconsin at the age of 35. Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Wonder led a communal singing of "Amazing Grace" at the end of the memorial.

Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and Hole's Courtney Love became parents to a daughter, Frances Bean Cobain.

The handwritten lyrics to The Beatles' song “A Day in the Life” from the album “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band”, written by John Lennon, were sold at auction at Sotheby's in London for $100,000. The double-sided manuscript contained spelling mistakes and crossed-out words. It was offered at auction again in 2006, and in 2010 an anonymous American buyer acquired it for $1.2 million.

Gloria Estefan and her husband Emilio organized a Miami project to help victims of Hurricane Andrew.

The British duo The KLF burned one million pounds on the Scottish island of Jura for no apparent reason.

Jimmy Buffett crashed his Grumman G-44 Widgeon seaplane while taking off from Madaket Harbor on Nantucket, Massachusetts. The aircraft struck a large ocean wave, overturned and sank. Buffett escaped from the wreck and two local fishermen pulled him from the water and took him to hospital. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Scottish singer and songwriter Frankie Miller suffered a massive brain hemorrhage in New York while working on material for a new group he had formed with Joe Walsh of the Eagles. He spent five months in a coma and subsequently underwent rehabilitation, during which he relearned how to walk and talk.

During the filming of the video for Meat Loaf’s song “I'd Lie for You”, a pilot and cameraman were killed in a helicopter crash in Sequoia National Forest approximately 150 miles north of Los Angeles, California.

Delegates at the Democratic National Convention took a break to dance to “Macarena”, including First Lady Hillary Clinton, who imitated the dance moves from the crowd.

A pair of Elvis Presley's black underwear was stolen from the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum in Los Angeles. The thief reportedly reached the exhibit through the plexiglass barrier or with the aid of a tool during opening hours.

The Rolling Stones made a spectacular announcement of their forthcoming Bridges to Babylon tour. The band arrived at the Brooklyn Bridge in New York in a 1955 red Cadillac driven by Mick Jagger, with Keith Richards beside him and Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood in the back.

Twelve-year-old Georgia Lee Moses was found dead in South Petaluma, California. Tom Waits learned of her story and was inspired by it to write the song “Georgia Lee”, the thirteenth track on the album “Mule Variations”.

A man who escaped from a psychiatric facility near Helsinki, Finland, was arrested after planning to set fire to the stage where Michael Jackson was due to perform. He had already placed petrol on the stage but was arrested before he could ignite it.

Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers was hospitalized after crashing his motorcycle while riding along Sunset Boulevard.

The former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev visited the 10th edition of the Popkomm music trade fair.

Terence Trent D'Arby, who had not been heard from since the release of his 1995 album “Vibrator”, posted a statement on his website: “I am a holographic representation in the third dimension of what your souls have asked to be one of your favorite artists. I have sent a portion of my soul to incarnate into an artist named Terence Trent D'Arby, who fulfilled this request.” He later explained that he was using the new name Sananda Maitreya, which had come to him in a dream.

All four original members of KISS attended the unveiling of their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. The star is located at 7092 Hollywood Boulevard. At the time, the band had released more than 30 albums and sold more than 80 million records worldwide.

Madonna gave birth to her second child, son Rocco Ritchie, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills. His father was British director Guy Ritchie.

A pizza-stained piece of paper signed by three of the four members was sold for $48,000 (£17,441) to an anonymous collector at an auction in Melbourne. John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison signed it during the band's 1964 Australian tour at a hotel in Adelaide. Ringo Starr had laryngitis and did not join the tour.

Aaliyah's funeral was held at St. Ignatius Loyola Church in Manhattan, New York, six days after her death in a plane crash in the Bahamas. Hundreds of grieving fans accompanied her horse-drawn casket to the private ceremony, which was attended by Gladys Knight, Lil' Kim, Sean Combs, Timbaland and Missy Elliott. After the service, 22 white doves were released in her memory, representing each year of her life.

A memorial to John Lennon was unveiled in the Scottish village of Durness. Lennon spent his holidays there from the age of seven to fifteen, and the memorial consists of three stones engraved with verses from the song “In My Life”.

Jimmy Buffett's first Cheeseburger In Paradise restaurant, named after his 1978 song, opened in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Norwegian Elvis Presley impersonator Kjell Henning Bjoernestad set a world record by singing the rock'n'roll legend's hits continuously for more than 26 hours. The previous record was held by British Elvis fan Gary Jay with a time of 25 hours, 33 minutes and 30 seconds.

Vanessa Williams and her husband, basketball player Rick Fox, divorced.

A report highlighted the growth of concert ticket scalpers on eBay. Examples included tickets for Madonna's concert at Wembley, whose price increased from £150 to £350, and two tickets for The White Stripes, whose original value of £90 increased to £130.

A man from Stoke-on-Trent, England, named singer Bryan Adams in his divorce papers as “the other man” after years of trying to cope with his wife's obsession with the singer. He said that she had a six-foot-tall cardboard cutout of Adams in the bedroom and posters on the walls.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum announced that it had acquired a Gibson L-5 guitar formerly owned by „Mother Maybelle“ Carter.

A post office near the Los Angeles studio where Ray Charles recorded much of his music was renamed in his honor. The federal bill renaming the post office was signed by US President George W. Bush.