Rock 'n' Roll History for
August 2


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1956 - ClassicBands.com

August 2
Look magazine reported that Elvis Presley records have grossed over $6 million and that the singer receives over 3,000 fan letters a week.

1957 - ClassicBands.com

August 2
The official Elvis Presley Fan Club was launched in the UK at www.ElvisPresleyFanClub.co.uk

1958 - ClassicBands.com

August 2
Johnny Cash left his first record label, Sun, to sign a major-label contract with Columbia. He would remain with them for the next twenty-six years and place seventy-one singles on the Billboard Country Chart.

August 2
Buddy Holly's version of "Rave On" peaks at #5 on the UK chart. The record, which lasts only 1:47, is one of Holly's last hits during his lifetime.

1962 - ClassicBands.com

August 2
Aretha Franklin made her professional TV debut on American Bandstand, where she sang "Don't Cry Baby", which will reach #92 on the Hot 100, and "Try A Little Tenderness" which went to #100.

August 2
Robert Allen Zimmerman emerged from the Supreme Court building at 111 Centre St. in downtown Manhattan with a new, legal name; Robert Dylan.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

August 2
Bob Dylan attends his ten-year high school reunion in Hibbing, Minnesota, but leaves when a drunk tries to pick a fight with him. He never makes another public appearance in his home town.

August 2
Dunhill Records releases Three Dog Night's rendition of "Easy To Be Hard". Taken from 1967 Rock musical Hair, the song would climb to #4 on the Hot 100 and was later ranked at #33 on Billboard's Hot 100 songs of 1969.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

August 2
Brian Cole, an original member of The Association, died of a heroin overdose at the age of 29. He played bass on the hits "Cherish" (US #1), "Windy" (US #1, UK #53), and "Never My Love" (US #2).

1973 - ClassicBands.com

August 2
American Graffiti premiered in Los Angeles and became something of a surprise hit. The film, centered on a group of teenagers growing up on the West Coast of the US in the 1960s, cost just over $700,000 to make, but has garnered an estimated return of well over $200 million in box office receipts and home video sales. The soundtrack album reached #10 in America and has been certified triple Platinum. In 1995, the movie was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

1975 - ClassicBands.com

August 2
The Eagles enjoy the second of their five Billboard #1 hits with "One Of These Nights", as the album of the same name led the Hot 200 Albums chart. The single, which featured Don Felder's classic guitar solo, reached #23 in the UK.

1978 - ClassicBands.com

August 2
Epic Records releases Boston's second studio album, "Don't Look Back". Rising to the top of the Billboard 200 and #9 on the UK Official Albums Chart, the LP sold over one million copies in the first ten days following its release. The title track would reach #4 on the Hot 100 and "A Man I'll Never Be" went to #31, helping to push album's sales to 7X Platinum status by April 11th, 1996.

1980 - ClassicBands.com

August 2
Although the movie Xanadu was a flop at American box offices, the soundtrack sold well and produced Olivia Newton-John's US number one hit "Magic".

August 2
Deep Purple scored their third UK #1 album with "Deepest Purple: The Very Best of Deep Purple", a collection of their greatest hits up to that time.

1986 - ClassicBands.com

August 2
Chicago's former bassist Peter Cetera reached the top of the Billboard Pop chart with his first solo effort, "Glory Of Love". The song, featured in the film The Karate Kid II, went to #3 in the UK.

1987 - ClassicBands.com

August 2
David Martin, bass player with Sam The Sham and The Pharaohs, died of a heart attack at the age of 50. Martin was a founding member of the band and co-wrote their 1965, #2 hit "Wooly Bully". After leaving The Pharaohs in 1966 over management conflicts, he returned to Dallas and opened a television and video repair store.

1991 - ClassicBands.com

August 2
Singer Rick James, who scored a 1981 hit with "Super Freak", pleads innocent to charges he imprisoned, tortured and sexually assaulted his 21-year-old girlfriend, Tanya Hijazi in his California home. He would be arrested again in 1992 for similar charges and in 1994 was sentenced to five years and four months for cocaine use and assaulting two women. After serving two years, he was released from prison and continued his career.

1998 - ClassicBands.com

August 2
The 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.

2001 - ClassicBands.com

August 2
68-year-old Ron Townson of The 5th Dimension died of renal failure after a four-year battle with kidney disease. He had retired from the group in 1997 and was living in Las Vegas at the time of his death.

2007 - ClassicBands.com

August 2
Managers of Elvis Presley's famous home, Graceland, announced plans to overhaul its tourist complex with a new visitors center bigger than a football field, a convention hotel, and high-tech museum displays.

August 2
Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards signed a deal reportedly worth more than $7 million to write his autobiography. The book, which traces his days from cherubic choir boy to Rock 'n' Roll survivor, was titled Life, and hit stores in the Fall of 2010.

2012 - ClassicBands.com

August 2
Jimmy Jones, who earned two Gold records in 1960 for "Handy Man" (US #2, UK #3) and "Good Timin'" (US #3, UK #1), passed away at the age of 82. Although he could only muster two more minor hits in America, he enjoyed three more Top 50 chart entries in the UK and kept releasing singles until 1987.

2013 - ClassicBands.com

August 2
Nielsen SoundScan reported that US album sales totaled 4.68 million for the week ending July 28, the lowest weekly total since the tracking system was formed in May, 1991.

2014 - ClassicBands.com

August 2
Rosetta Hightower, lead singer of The Orlons, died at the age of 70. The Philadelphia quartet placed five songs on the Billboard Hot 100, including "The Wah-Watusi" (#2 in 1962), "Don't Hang Up" (#4 in 1962) and "South Street" (#3 in 1963). After her time with The Orlons, Hightower moved to England and released several singles and at least two albums. In 1971, she was a backing vocalist on John Lennon's Hot 100 #11 hit, "Power to the People"

2020 - ClassicBands.com

August 2
Steve Holland, guitarist who rose to fame with Southern rockers Molly Hatchet, passed away after a long illness. He was 66.

2021 - ClassicBands.com

August 2
Paul Cotton, a guitarist for Poco, who penned their 1979, #20 hit, "Heart Of The Night", passed away at the age of 78. After taking Jim Messina's place in 1970, he left the band in 1987, but rejoined in the early '90s, staying in the lineup until 2010. The guitarist also released five solo albums, from 1990's "Changing Horses" through 2014's "100% Paul Cotton".

2024 - ClassicBands.com

August 2
Aerosmith took to social media to announce their retirement from touring due to Steven Tyler's ongoing vocal cord injury. Over the course of their fifty year recording career, the band placed nineteen albums on the Billboard 200 chart and added twenty-three singles that made the Top 40. They were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.



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