2025: Singer-songwriter Todd Snider dies at 59. The Americana storyteller was known for wry, talking-blues songs like “Beer Run” and “Alright Guy,” which country star Gary Allan later recorded.
2016: Country singer Holly Dunn dies at 59. A member of the Grand Ole Opry, she earned three Grammy nominations and was best remembered for her heartfelt 1986 hit “Daddy's Hands.”
2011: Songwriter Lee Pockriss dies at 87. He co-wrote a string of pop favorites from the late 1950s and early 1960s, including Perry Como's “Catch a Falling Star,” “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” and “Johnny Angel.”
2007: Garth Brooks wraps a nine-night stand in Kansas City. What started as a single show at the new Sprint Center grew to nine because of ticket demand, and the final night was beamed live to more than 300 movie theaters across the country.
2003: Jay-Z releases The Black Album. Billed at the time as his farewell record, it delivered “99 Problems” and “Dirt off Your Shoulder.” He was back with a new album, Kingdom Come, three years later.
1998: Lauryn Hill's “Doo Wop (That Thing)” hits number one. It made her the first female rapper to top the Hot 100 with a solo record and no featured guest. The song came from her Grammy-winning album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
1997: The Bee Gees play their One Night Only concert in Las Vegas. The Gibb brothers filled the MGM Grand Garden Arena, with tickets running from $50 to $300, and the show grossed about $1.68 million. It became a hit live album and TV special.
1991: Michael Jackson's “Black or White” video premieres. The 11-minute clip, directed by John Landis, debuted at the same moment on MTV, BET and Fox, and its face-morphing sequence became one of the most talked-about effects of the era.
1987: The Dirty Dancing soundtrack reaches number one. Powered by “(I've Had) The Time of My Life” and “Hungry Eyes,” the album went on to become one of the best-selling soundtracks ever.
1983: Michael Jackson's Thriller short film premieres in Los Angeles. The nearly 14-minute horror-themed video, also directed by John Landis, was screened in a theater before airing on MTV and changed what a music video could be.
1979: Neil Young releases Live Rust. Recorded with Crazy Horse on the Rust Never Sleeps tour, the double live album captured both his quiet acoustic songs and his loudest electric ones.
1967: Pink Floyd starts its first UK tour, supporting Jimi Hendrix. The package tour kicked off at London's Royal Albert Hall with the Jimi Hendrix Experience as headliner, while Syd Barrett was still leading Pink Floyd.
1962: Bob Dylan records “Don't Think Twice, It's All Right.” Minnesota connection: the Duluth-born, Hibbing-raised songwriter cut the song in New York for his breakthrough album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, released the next spring.
1960: Ray Charles hits number one with “Georgia on My Mind.” It was his first chart-topper on the Hot 100, and Georgia later named it the official state song.
1952: The first UK singles chart is published. Britain's New Musical Express printed the country's first regular hit chart, with American crooner Al Martino's “Here in My Heart” at number one.
Born on This Day
1982: Boosie Badazz, American rapper Turns 44. The Baton Rouge rapper, once known as Lil Boosie, became a leading voice of Southern hip hop.
1982: Joy Williams, American singer-songwriter (The Civil Wars) Turns 44. Half of the Grammy-winning duo behind “Poison & Wine.”
1979: Tobin Esperance, American bassist (Papa Roach) Turns 47. Played bass on the band's breakout hit “Last Resort.”
1977: Obie Trice, American rapper Turns 49. Signed to Eminem's Shady Records and known for “Got Some Teeth.”
1975: Travis Barker, American drummer (Blink-182) Turns 51. The pop-punk drummer joined Blink-182 in 1998 and has become an in-demand producer.
1974: Adina Howard, American singer Turns 52. Best known for her 1995 R&B hit “Freak Like Me.”
1969: Butch Walker, American singer-songwriter and producer Turns 57. Fronted Marvelous 3 (“Freak of the Week”) before producing hits for many pop and rock acts.
1968: Brian Yale, American bassist (Matchbox Twenty) Turns 58. Played on “Push,” “3AM” and “Bent.”
1967: Nina Gordon, American singer-songwriter (Veruca Salt) Turns 59. Co-led the Chicago band behind the 1994 alternative hit “Seether.”
1964: Joseph “Run” Simmons, American rapper (Run-DMC) Turns 62. Co-founded the pioneering hip hop group famous for “Walk This Way” with Aerosmith.
1954: Yanni, Greek-American composer and pianist Turns 72. Famous for his instrumental albums and the PBS concert special Live at the Acropolis.
1953: Frankie Banali, American drummer (Quiet Riot) Drummed on the band's 1983 metal breakthrough “Cum On Feel the Noize.”
1951: Stephen Bishop, American singer-songwriter Turns 75. Known for “On and On” and for writing Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin's “Separate Lives.”
1951: Alec John Such, American bassist (Bon Jovi) The band's original bassist, from 1983 to 1994, during the years of “Livin' on a Prayer.”
1949: James Young, American guitarist (Styx) Turns 77. Longtime guitarist and singer of the Chicago-area band behind “Come Sail Away” and “Renegade.”
1947: Buckwheat Zydeco, American accordionist The Louisiana bandleader brought zydeco music to mainstream audiences and won a Grammy.
1939: Wendy Carlos, American composer and keyboardist Turns 87. Her 1968 album Switched-On Bach made the Moog synthesizer famous.
1936: Cornell Gunter, American singer (The Coasters) Sang with the Coasters during their run of hits like “Poison Ivy” and also had an early stint with the Platters.
1936: Freddie Garrity, English singer (Freddie & the Dreamers) The British Invasion frontman topped the U.S. charts in 1965 with “I'm Telling You Now.”
1934: Ellis Marsalis Jr., American jazz pianist The New Orleans jazz teacher and father of musicians Wynton and Branford Marsalis.
1919: Johnny Desmond, American singer A big band era crooner whose biggest hit was the 1955 version of “The Yellow Rose of Texas.”
1915: Martha Tilton, American singer Sang with Benny Goodman's orchestra on the 1939 hit “And the Angels Sing.”
1900: Aaron Copland, American composer Wrote “Fanfare for the Common Man,” Appalachian Spring and Rodeo, whose “Hoe-Down” became the “Beef. It's What's for Dinner” theme.
