August 2nd In Hip Hop History
Weird Al Finally Lands #1 Album
Weird Al Yankovic's Mandatory Fun goes to #1, giving the parody master his first chart-topping album.
1998The Beatles are named "Favourite Recording Artist Of All Time" in a poll conducted by the UK music magazine Mojo, beating out Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Queen, and Elton John in that order.
1975The Eagles' "One Of These Nights" hits #1 in the US, where it stays for one week.
1962Aretha Franklin makes her television debut, singing "Don't Cry Baby" and "Try A Little Tenderness" on American Bandstand.
1962Bob Dylan makes his name change official, legally saying adieu to his birth name, Robert Zimmerman.
2019With a show in Hannover, Germany on the 246th date of his ÷ (Divide) tour, Ed Sheeran breaks the record for highest-grossing tour, surpassing the $735.3 million U2 earned on their 2009-2011 360 tour (they did it in just 110 shows). Sheeran finishes the tour August 26 with a final tally of $775.6 million.
2019Skillet release their 10th album, Victorious, featuring the songs "Legendary" and "Save Me." The album is produced by the band's frontman, John Cooper, and his wife/bandmate, Korey Cooper.
2010Arcade Firerelease The Suburbs, their third studio album. It's almost universally lauded by fans and critics alike, with the latter feeling that the album fully realizes the great artistic potential hinted at by Funeral and Neon Bible, the band's first two albums.
2009Rockabilly musician Billy Lee Riley dies of colon cancer at age 75. Known for the 1957 hit "Red Hot."
2007Elvis Presley Enterprises announces plans to revamp Graceland, the singer's home, with a visitor's center, convention hotel, and high-tech multimedia displays.
2004Eric Clapton bails out Cordings clothing store in London, a favorite of his since his teenage years, by purchasing a 50 percent share in the retailer.
2001Ron Townson (of The 5th Dimension) dies of renal failure as a result of kidney disease at age 68.
1997Fela Kuti, a multi-instrumentalist and pioneer of Afrobeat, dies of AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma, at age 58.
1992While performing his song "Don Henley Must Die" at an Austin nightclub, the psychobilly artist Mojo Nixon is surprised when Henley, who happened to be in the neighborhood, climbs up on stage and starts beatboxing along with it. Nixon says it was the first time in his life he was left speechless. Henley seeing the humor in the song forces his critics to rethink what they perceive as his earnest arrogance.
1987David Martin (bass player for Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs and co-writer of "Wooly Bully") dies of a heart attack at age 50.
1983Motown bass player James Jamerson dies at age 47 from a host of ailments, including cirrhosis of the liver and heart failure. Unheralded during his lifetime (he had to buy a ticket to see the Motown 25 special, Jamerson is later recognized as an integral part of the Motown sound; in 2000 he is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
1982José Feliciano marries Susan Omillian in California.
1980Olivia Newton-John's "Magic," from the Xanadu soundtrack, hits #1.
1978Boston release their second album, Don't Look Back, which like its predecessor was recorded mostly in group leader Tom Scholz' basement studio.
1973"Papa" John Phillips of The Mamas & The Papas files suit against his former label, Dunhill, alleging $60 million in unpaid royalties.
1972Brian Cole (bass guitarist for The Association) dies of a heroin overdose at age 29.
1971Now down to a trio and driven by infighting, Creedence Clearwater Revival embark on their last US tour with a gig at Tulsa, Oklahoma's Assembly Center.
1970Zelma Davis (of C and C Music Factory) is born in Monrovia, Liberia in West Africa.
1969Bob Dylan makes a rare return to his hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota, to attend his 10-year high school reunion. Accompanied by his wife, Sara, he joins classmates at the local Moose lodge before the event, and it proves awkward. He never makes it to the reunion itself, and makes no more public visits to the town.
1961Pete De Freitas (drummer for Echo And The Bunnymen) is born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
1956This month's issue of Look magazine reports that Elvis Presley is now receiving 3,000 fan letters a week.
1953Skeeter Davis, still a member of the Davis Sisters, breaks both her arms and legs in a car crash near Cincinnati, Ohio, a crash which also kills fellow Davis "sister" Betty Jack Davis.
1951Andrew Gold, known for the hits "Lonely Boy" and "Thank You for Being a Friend," is born in Burbank, California.
1950Ted Turner (guitarist for Wishbone Ash) is born in Sheldon, Birmingham, England.
1944Jim Capaldi (drummer for Traffic) is born Nicola James Capaldi in Evesham, Worcestershire, England.
1944Jazz bassist Albert Stinson is born in Cleveland, Ohio.
1943Kathy Lennon (of The Lennon Sisters) is born in Los Angeles, California. Had hits with "Tonight You Belong to Me" and "Sad Movies (Make Me Cry)."
1941Doris Kenner-Jackson (of the The Shirelles) is born Doris Coley in Goldsboro, North Carolina.
1941Andrew Steele (drummer for The Herd) is born in Hendon, North West London, England.
1939Edward Patten (of Gladys Knight and the Pips) is born in Atlanta, Georgia.
1937Garth Hudson (of The Band) is born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
1935Country singer Hank Cochran, who co-wrote Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces," is born in Isola, Mississippi.
1921Italian operatic tenor Enrico Caruso dies of peritonitis at age 48. Son Enrico Caruso Jr. attributes his father's downward health spiral to an onstage injury, having being struck by a falling pillar during a production of Samson and Delilah the year before.
1910Scottish playwright Roger MacDougall ("The Emperor Of Lancashire") is born in Glasgow.
1900Torch singer and actress Helen Morgan is born in Danville, Illinois. She sings "Bill" and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" in the original run of Show Boat in 1927.
