In 1941, Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra, featuring vocalist Frank Sinatra, recorded "This Love of Mine," which became one of the band's nine Top 10 singles in 1941. Between 1935 and 1958, a total of 102 Tommy Dorsey singles reached the Top 10.
In 1941, Ernest Tubb released the single "Walking The Floor Over You."
In 1954, Apollo Records formed their subsidiary, Lloyds. The first artist signed were the Larks.
In 1955, Elvis Presley made his first appearance on the "Big D Jamboree" radio program, broadcast from the Dallas Sportatorium by local radio station KRLD.
In 1957, NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences) was formed.
In 1958, Buddy Holly received his draft notice, but he would later be refused induction because of a stomach ulcer.
In 1960, Elvis Presley visited Las Vegas where his entourage was called the "Memphis Mafia" for the first time by members of the local media who noticed they frequently wore long coats and dark glasses.
In 1963, "It's My Party" by Lesley Gore was the #1 song.
In 1964, the BBC received over 8,000 postal applications for tickets for The Rolling Stones appearance on Juke Box Jury.
In 1964, Marianne Faithful records the Mick Jagger / Keith Richards tune "As Tears Go By," accompanied by future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page on guitar and John Paul Jones on bass. The song will end up in the British Top Ten by next August.
In 1966, the Rolling Stones single "Paint It Black" hit #1 in the UK.
Also in 1966, Percy Sledge hit the top of the US charts with "When A Man Loves A Woman," a song that he improvised with his band one night when he was upset over a failed romance. A more polished version of the song was released in early April and became Percy's only US Top Ten hit. It reached #4 in the UK.
In 1966, "River Deep, Mountain High" by Ike and Tina Turner was released. The record will stay on the chart for just four weeks and stall at #88. Producer Phil Spector considered the song the high point of his production career and was so disappointed by its poor performance that he would go into seclusion for two years.
In 1966, Shades Of Blue, a three man, one woman, blue-eyed soul group from Detroit, Michigan enter the Billboard Top 40 with "Oh How Happy." The song would stay on the chart for eight weeks, reaching #12, but follow-up releases would not be as successful.
In 1966, Love appeared at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood, California, supported by the Doors.
In 1967, the Association make their first TV appearance on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
In 1967, the Temptations performed "My Girl,""All I Need," and "(I Know) I'm Losing You" on CBS-TV's "The Ed Sullivan Show."
In 1969, Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull were arrested at their London home and charged with possession of cannabis. They were released on £50 bail.
In 1969, singer Judy Collins appeared on NBC-TV's "The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson."
In 1973, bassist Ronnie Lane exited the band Faces.
In 1973, Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon was on both the UK and US album charts. It remained in the US charts for 741 discontinuous weeks from 1973 to 1988, longer than any other album in history. (After moving to the Billboard Top Pop Catalog Chart, the album notched up a further 759 weeks, and had reached a total of over 1,500 weeks on the combined charts by May 2006).
In 1977, Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers played together for the first time when they performed as part of Mike Howlett’s band, Strontium 90, at the Circus Hippodrome, Paris.
Also in 1977, Heart, Steve Miller, the Eagles and Foreigner performed in concert at the Oakland-Alameda County Stadium in northern California.
In 1977, having settled a two-year legal battle with his former manager Mike Appel, Bruce Springsteen was free to record a follow-up to his 1975 hit 'Born To Run.'
In 1981, jazz pianist/composer and arranger Mary Lou Williams, who worked with Andy Kirk, Benny Goodman, Earl Hines, and Tommy Dorsey, died of bladder cancer at age 71.
In 1982, in San Francisco, promoter Bill Graham staged a special benefit concert for Vietnam veterans, featuring the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Starship, and Country Joe McDonald.
In 1983, actress and singer Irene Cara started a six-week run at #1 on the US singles chart with “Flashdance... What a Feeling,” taken from the film Flashdance, and a #2 hit in the UK.
In 1983, Rapidfire appeared at Gazzarri’s On The Sunset Strip, in Los Angles. Rapidfire featured singer Axl Rose, who was seen for the first time by guitarist Slash, who was in the audience.
In 1983, the four-day US Festival ’83 took place in California, featuring the Clash, U2, David Bowie, the Pretenders, Van Halen, Stray Cats, Men at Work, Judas Priest, Stevie Nicks, Willie Nelson, INXS, Joe Walsh, Motley Crue and Ozzy Osbourne. Over 750,000 fans attended the festival.
In 1985, Desert Island Discs radio presenter Roy Plomley died. He devised the BBC Radio series Desert Island Discs in 1941, and went on to present 1,791 editions of the show, which became one of the longest running radio shows in the UK.
In 1986, viewers of Dick Clark's "America Picks the #1 Songs" chose Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock," Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and Lionel Richie's "All Night Long" as the greatest hits of the rock era.
In 1987, Whitney Houston released her second studio album, 'Whitney,' in Canada. It was issued in the US five days later.
In 1988, trumpeter/singer/composer/arranger (for Ella Fitzgerald, Jimmie Lunceford, Tommy Dorsey, Frank Sinatra)/ music director and bandleader Sy Oliver died of lung cancer at age 77.
In 1996, jazz pianist/composer James George "Jimmy" Rowles, who worked with Lester Young, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Les Brown, Tommy Dorsey, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall, and as a studio musician, died of cardiovascular disease at the age of 78.
In 1998, "Candle in the Wind '97" by Elton John and Bernie Taupin wins Best Selling U.K. Single and International Hit of the Year at the Ivor Novello Awards.
In 2000, Britney Spears was at #1 on the US album chart with 'Oops!... I Did It Again'. The singer's second album also reached #1 in thirteen other countries and has now sold over 20m copies.
In 2001, singer/keyboardist/songwriter/producer/artist Tony Ashton of Ashton, Gardner & Dyke died of cancer at the age of 55.
In 2007, the Police kicked off their 152-show reunion tour at General Motors Place in Vancouver, Canada in front of 22,000 fans.
In 2008, the band Rush made a $100,000 donation to the Canadian Museum of Human Rights.
In 2010, Kevin Eubanks exited NBC-TV's "The Tonight Show" after 18 years as its bandleader. On June 7, 2010, Rickey Minor became the show's bandleader.
In 2010, country music singer/songwriter Pittsburgh radio and TV host Thomas Hoyt "Slim" Bryant died at the age of 101.
In 2011, Aretha Franklin performed at the Seneca Niagara Casino in Niagara Falls, New York in her first appearance since cancelling a series of concert dates the previous year to have surgery for an undisclosed ailment.
In 2012, the restored version of the Beatles' Yellow Submarine was released.
