Rock 'n' Roll History for
August 26


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1957 - ClassicBands.com

August 26
The theme from the movie Tammy and the Bachelor, called simply "Tammy" by Debbie Reynolds sat at the top of both the Billboard Top 100 and Cashbox magazine's best sellers list. Debbie was accompanied by only a piano on the single release, but the movie version included a full orchestra.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

August 26
Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" is released. Although it is now considered a Rock 'n' Roll classic, the single only reached #65 on the Billboard chart, but did make it to #3 in the UK. In 2010, Billboard ranked it at #17 on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time.

August 26
Just five weeks after it was released, Bobbie Gentry's "Ode To Billie Joe" claimed the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100. It also appeared at #7 on the Adult Contemporary chart, at #8 on the Hot R&B singles chart, and #17 on the Hot Country Songs chart. The record would also become an international hit and later won three Grammy Awards. In 1976 the song was adapted into a motion picture which showed Billie Joe and his girlfriend throwing a rag doll off the Tallahatchie Bridge, although Bobbie Gentry has never revealed what she had in mind when she wrote the song.

1968 - ClassicBands.com

August 26
Apple Corps releases The Beatles' "Hey Jude" backed by "Revolution". It will become the band's biggest hit, holding down the top spot on Billboard's Hot 100 for a then-record of nine weeks. The song would reach #1 on twenty-three record charts around the world and sell over eight million copies.

August 26
Jeannie C. Riley's "Harper Valley P.T.A." is certified Gold. The single eventually sold over six million copies, making Riley the first woman ever to top the US Pop and Country singles charts with the same song.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

August 26
Jimi Hendrix made his last live appearance in the UK at the Isle of Wight festival. On September 18th he would die from an overdose of sleeping pills.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

August 26
A New York quartet called Looking Glass had the number one tune in the US with "Brandy". Despite the success of the song, the band could muster only one more chart entry, "Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne", a #33 hit the following year.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

August 26
Bobby Darin performed what would prove to be his final concert at the Las Vegas Hilton. He would die after heart surgery on the following December 20th at just 37 years old.

1976 - ClassicBands.com

August 26
Donna Summer groans and sighs her way through her erotic Disco hit "Love To Love You Baby" on American Bandstand. Even though the song reached #2 in America, Donna later admitted that she was not completely sure of some of the lyrics, and parts of the song were improvised during the recording.

1978 - ClassicBands.com

August 26
Nearly sixteen years after he topped the US record charts with "Sherry", Frankie Valli had the number one song again with the title track from the musical Grease. It went on to sell over two million copies in the States and was also a #3 hit in the UK.

August 26
A crowd of 80,000 people attended the first Canada Jam Festival held at Mosport Park, just north of Bowmanville Ontario. The show featured sets by The Doobie Brothers, Dave Mason, The Commodores, Kansas and The Atlanta Rhythm Section.

1981 - ClassicBands.com

August 26
67-year-old Lee Hays, a co-founder of an influential American Folk music quartet The Weavers and co-writer of "If I Had A Hammer", suffered a fatal heart attack at his New York home.

1987 - ClassicBands.com

August 26
Sonny Bono, who once said that he never voted until age 53, announced that he was running for mayor of Palm Springs, California. Sonny said he was frustrated over the red tape he faced for a remodeling project at his Italian restaurant. He would win the election in 1988 and serve until 1992. He failed in a Senate race later that year, but won a seat in Congress in 1996. Bono died in a skiing accident on January 6th, 1998, at the age of 62.

1989 - ClassicBands.com

August 26
Ringo Starr wins a court order to prevent a record producer from releasing material Starr considered to be of inferior quality due to the impaired state Starr was in when it was recorded.

August 26
Eagles' drummer Don Henley sees his solo effort, "The End of the Innocence" peak at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. Henley co-wrote and co-produced the song with Bruce Hornsby, who also played piano on the track.

1995 - ClassicBands.com

August 26
Ronnie White of The Miracles died of leukemia at the age of 56. As one of the founding members of Motown singing group, he was the only one to survive all of their line-up changes. He is also noted as the man who discovered Stevie Wonder, then White's 11-year-old neighbor, and brought him to the attention of Motown head, Berry Gordy Jr.

2002 - ClassicBands.com

August 26
Peter Noone, better known as "Herman" of Herman's Hermits, filed a federal lawsuit against what he said were bogus Hermits. He was seeking an injunction blocking Barry Whitwam, the group's original drummer, from performing with other musicians under the Herman's Hermits name. The band was forced to use the name Herman's Hermits starring Barry Whitwam when they toured in North America, but they remain billed as Herman's Hermits worldwide.

2003 - ClassicBands.com

August 26
Rolling Stone magazine named Jimi Hendrix as the greatest guitarist in Rock history. Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Chuck Berry, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Ry Cooder also made the top 10.

2004 - ClassicBands.com

August 26
Pop star Laura Branigan died in her sleep at her home in East Quogue, New York after suffering a brain aneurysm. She was 52 years old. Branigan was one of the world's biggest female Pop stars of the '80s with hits like "Gloria" (#2), "Solitaire" (#7), "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You" (#12) and "Self Control" (#4).

2007 - ClassicBands.com

August 26
The Rolling Stones wrap up their A Bigger Bang tour at the O2 Arena in London. The trek lasted two years and set a new earnings record with a gross of $558 million.

2009 - ClassicBands.com

August 26
Ellie Greenwich, who wrote and co-wrote such classic Pop songs as "Chapel of Love", "River Deep, Mountain High", "Leader of the Pack", "Maybe I Know", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" and "Be My Baby", passed away at the age of 68. In 1991, she and her former husband, Jeff Barry were inducted together into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

August 26
Britain's EMI Records confirmed that Iron Maiden's latest album "The Final Frontier" debuted at #1 in twenty-one countries around the world. Just under four years earlier, the band's last studio LP, "A Matter Of Life And Death" also entered the pan-European chart at the top.

2013 - ClassicBands.com

August 26
After accusing the Estate of Michael Jackson of undervaluing a number of Jackson's assets by hundreds of millions of dollars, the Internal Revenue Service issued the estate a $702 million bill for federal taxes and penalties. The estate followed by filing a court challenge to the bill.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

August 26
Aretha Franklin told Billboard.com that there is a possibility that her life story could make an appearance on Broadway. "I would like to see it be a dramatic musical," she said. "I think the timing is very good now, especially behind Jersey Boys..."



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