14
Featured Events
2015The first presidential playlists are released. Barack Obama's selections include tracks by Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin and John Legend.More
2002Guns N' Roses kick off their Chinese Democracy world tour with a show in Hong Kong. The album they are touring behind doesn't show up for another six years.
1994Bob Dylan, who refused an invitation to the original 1969 festival, performs on the last day of Woodstock '94, singing "It Ain't Me Babe," "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," "Masters Of War," "Just Like A Woman," and "Highway 61 Revisited" on the main North Stage. Over on the South Stage, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong wallops fistfuls of mud at fans and incites an all-out mudfight. Bassist Mike Dirnt gets his front teeth knocked out by a security guard in the chaos.
1988John Mellencamp becomes a grandfather at age 37 when his 18-year-old daughter Michelle gives birth to a little girl named Elexis.
1965Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe" hits #1 for the first of three weeks.
14
In Music History
2019Matt Healy of The 1975, an advocate for LGBQ rights, ventures into the crowd and kisses a male fan on the lips during a concert in Dubai, where homosexuality is illegal. "We're all human, right?," he says upon returning to the stage.
2017Taylor Swift wins her lawsuit against David Mueller, a DJ at KYGO in Denver who was fired after Swift accused him of groping her at a photo session before her concert there in 2013. When Mueller sued Swift in 2015, she countersued for sexual assault. Swift, who in her hour of testimony said Mueller was "grabbing my ass against my will, underneath my skirt, and refusing to let go," is awarded $1 at her request. "My hope is to help those whose voices should also be heard," she says.
2017Pantone announces a new color: a purple hue in honor of Prince named after his famous symbol (Love Symbol #2).
2016Nearing the end of a summer concert season where fans have been tailgating with improvised toilets, police in Mansfield, Massachusetts, warn they will not be tolerated at the upcoming Jimmy Buffett concert.More
2016Former Nine Inch Nails keyboardist James Woolley, who played with the band from 1991-1994, falls from a ladder at his Illinois studio and dies from resulting neck injuries at age 49.
2014Police raid Cliff Richard's Berkshire, England estate, looking for evidence of an alleged sexual assault from 1985. He's in Portugal, but the BBC is tipped off and has reporters waiting and helicopter overhead. Richard is later exonerated and sues the BBC for invasion of privacy.
2013Allen Lanier (keyboardist/rhythm guitarist for Blue Öyster Cult) dies of complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (C.O.P.D) in Manhattan, New York, at age 67.
2012John Geils, former guitarist for the semi-retired J. Geils Band, files suit against the other band members to stop them from touring under his name... since he's left the band. The irony stings like bleach in a wound! Despite this move, the remaining members of the band say they'll tour anyway.
2010Richie Hayward (drummer for Little Feat) dies of lung disease, while also struggling with liver cancer, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, at age 64.
2007The High School Musical 2 soundtrack is released, going straight to #1 US its first week, when it sells about 615,000 copies. It closes out 2007 as the second-best seller of the year, moving nearly 3 million copies. Only Josh Groban's Christmas album Noël sells more.
2007Country singer Luke Bryan releases his debut album, I'll Stay Me.
2007Amy Winehouse checks into rehab for the first time, entering the Causeway Retreat in Osea Island, England with her husband, Blake Fielder. They both start using again as soon as they get out.
2001Michelle Branch, 18, releases her breakthrough album The Spirit Room, with the hits "Everywhere" and "All You Wanted."
2000Rage Against The Machine play a free protest concert in Los Angeles across the street from the Staples Center, where the Democratic National Convention is being held. After the show, police fire rubber bullets and use pepper spray to disperse the crowd.
2000Nineteen-year-old Craig David releases his first album, Born To Do It, which debuts at #1 on the UK Albums chart and becomes the fastest-selling debut album by a British male solo act.
Michael Jackson Buys Beatles Catalog
1985Three years after their duet "The Girl Is Mine," Paul McCartney advises Michael Jackson to invest in publishing. Jackson makes a winning bid of $47.5 million for the rights to over 250 Lennon-McCartney Beatles songs owned by ATV publishing, which turns out to be a great investment, but kills their friendship.
In 1981, McCartney invited Jackson to his home in England, where they wrote "Say Say Say" and kindled a friendship. During that visit, McCartney talked to Jackson about song publishing, showing him the list of songs he owns and explaining that he gets paid every time one of them is played or recorded. In 1982, they recorded another song together, "The Girl Is Mine," which became the lead single to Jackson's Thriller album. McCartney had considered purchasing the ATV catalog, including thousands of pop songs in addition to a sizable portion of the Beatles' collection a few years earlier as a joint venture with Yoko Ono, but the deal didn't pan out. He and John Lennon lost the publishing rights to most of their songs in 1969 when two of the partners in their publishing company, Northern Songs, sold their shares to ATV Music without warning. Efforts to reacquire the catalog were futile, forcing them to sell out to ATV, though still receiving writer's royalties. By the time Jackson swoops in, he's already dabbled in investing in music publishing, acquiring the rights to songs by Sly Stone and Dion, under pal McCartney's advice. When the Beatles' songs come up for grabs, Jackson tells McCartney of his intentions, but the former Beatle thinks he's joking and is shocked when the King of Pop places his hefty bid, which he can easily cover with his Thriller earnings. It's a shrewd business move for Jackson, who is otherwise beset with financial difficulties throughout the rest of his career, even after his death. McCartney is miffed, not wanting to pay Jackson every time he wants to sing one of his own songs (by 2012, it can cost up to $250,000 to license a Beatles song), and their friendship effectively ends. Jackson eventually merges his catalog with Sony Music's publishing, establishing Sony/ATV Music Publishing, and retains a half ownership. In 2016, seven years after Jackson's death, Sony buys out his shares for $750 million, leaving McCartney in the dust once again. McCartney does succeed in acquiring the rights to some of the Fab Four's EMI tunes, published by Ardmore and Beechwood, including "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You." When Jackson died in 2009, McCartney seems to have put it behind him, releasing a statement talking about Jackson's great sense of humor and the good times they spent together, but no mention of when he bought his songs.
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