1939 : Recorded on this day, Coleman Hawkins – “Body And Soul”

1944 : No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: I’ll Walk Alone by Dinah Shore

1955 : Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash kicked off an eleven date tour of the Southern US states in Abilene, Texas.

1961 : The Highwaymen were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Michael’. The US group’s only UK Top 40 hit. The Highwaymen were US college students who broke up when they graduated.

1962 : The Beatles made their first appearance on the UK singles chart with ‘Love Me Do’, which peaked at No. 4 on the chart.

1963 : The Beatles’ She Loves You is certified gold

1966 : No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: Reach Out I’ll Be There by The Four Tops

1967 : The Doors appeared at Danbury High School, Danbury, Connecticut. Before the group came on stage an announcer told the audience not to leave their seats during the performance or they would be escorted out of the venue. There was also a beauty pageant just prior to The Doors coming on stage.

1968 : Aretha Franklin’s I Say a Little Prayer is certified gold

1968 : During a Beatles recording session at Abbey Road six saxophonists recorded parts for ‘Savoy Truffle’ for the forthcoming White Album. George Harrison distorted the saxophones to get the desired sound.

1969 : Grand Funk Railroad’s LP On Time enters the charts

1974 : John Denver was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Annie’s Song.’ The song was a tribute to his wife and was written in 10 minutes while he was on a ski lift.

1975 : Neil Sedaka’s “Bad Blood” hits #1

1975 : Saturday Night Live – at the time called Saturday Night – makes its debut on NBC. Music is a big part of the show, and the first episode features two musical guests performing two songs each: Janis Ian doing “At Seventeen” and “In the Winter,” and Billy Preston playing “Nothing from Nothing” and “Fancy Lady.”

1976 : Pussycat started a four week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Mississippi’ making them the first Dutch act to top the UK chart.

1976 : Donna Summer’s “Four Seasons Of Love” concept album is released.

1980 : The Police scored their second UK No.1 album with their third studio release ‘Zenyatta Mondatta’, which featured, ‘Don’t Stand So Close to Me’, ‘Canary in a Coalmine and ‘De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da.’

1986 : Madonna was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with the title track from her album. ‘True Blue’ her third UK No.1. The title came from a favorite expression of her then husband Sean Penn and was a direct tribute to him.

1990 : Drummer Dave Grohl played his first gig with Nirvana when they appeared at the North Shore Surf Club in Olympia.

1991 : Apple Computers reaches an agreement with The Beatles’ Apple Corps, paying $26.5 million the rights to run music software – an update to their 1981 deal that prohibited the computer maker from selling anything music-related. The deal is revised from time to time as Apple Computer makes music a major part of their business.

1995 : Tupac Shakur was released from Clinton Correctional Prison on $1.4 Million bail which was posted by Suge Knight. In return 2Pac signed a three album deal with Knight’s Death Row Records.

1997 : Elton John went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Candle In The Wind 97′ A re-write of his 1974 hit about Marilyn Monroe. This version was raising funds for the Diana, Princess of Wales charity, following her death in Paris. It went on to become the biggest selling single in the world ever.

1997 : Gregg Allman, Bo Diddley, Keb’Mo’, Buddy Guy and John Hiatt are among the musicians who perform at a tribute to Muddy Waters at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

1997 : The Verve started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with their third album ‘Urban Hymns’. The band’s best-selling release features ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’, and ‘The Drugs Don’t Work’. It is currently ranked the 15th best-selling album in UK.

1999 : Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee was released on $5000 bail after facing charges relating to a riot at a gig in North Carolina in 1997. Lee allegedly incited the crowd to attack a guard and had also poured a drink over his head.

2003 : Mojo magazine readers voted the studio session for Elvis Presley’s debut single ‘That’s All Right’ the most pivotal moment in rock history. Bob Dylan’s switch from acoustic to electric guitars in 1965 came second, and ‘White Riot, the debut single by The Clash released in 1977 was voted third.

2004 : The Vote for Change tour wraps up in Washington, D.C. with a concert featuring Springsteen, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., The Dave Matthews Band, Dixie Chicks and James Taylor. The goal of the tour was to get president George W. Bush voted out of office in the November elections. Bush won by a narrow margin.

2005 : Freddie Mercury’s 1974 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow was offered for auction on eBay by his sister, Kashmira Cooke, who had inherited the car from him. The luxury vehicle had not appeared in public since 2002, when it had been used to transport the Bulsara family to the premiere of the Queen stage musical We Will Rock You. It came with a box of Kleenex Mansize tissues left in the car by Freddie. Going Going Gone

2006 : Madonna adopted a one-year-old boy in Malawi, Africa, the boy’s father, Yohane Banda, told reporters “I know he will be very happy in America.” The boy’s mother had died a week after he was born.

2009 : Barbra Streisand went to No.1 on the US album charts with ‘Love Is the Answer’. Streisand’s ninth No.1 album, making her the only artist to have a number one album in America in five different decades.

2009 : 54-year-old Jo Wood, wife of The Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood, was granted a divorce after 24 years of marriage on the grounds of adultery. The couple split in 2008 after the guitarist, 64, began a relationship with a 20-year-old woman.