Categories
Today in Music History

July, 2

  • 1999 Mark Sandman, lead singer of idiosyncratic rock band Morphine, dies from a heart attack onstage at the Diardini del Principe music festival in Palestrina, Italy. He is 47.
  • 1999 Latin pop star Enrique Iglesias gives a free public performance in front of the Lincoln Center Plaza in New York.
  • 1998 A bipartisan group of Michigan legislators is successful in defeating a restrictive live music performance bill. S.B. 1100, introduced earlier in the year, would have allowed Michigan community governments to determine whether a live performance at a music venue is harmful to minors and to restrict access to minors unless they are accompanied by a parent or guardian.
  • 1992 Mick Jagger’s daughter Jade gives birth to a daughter. She is the first grandchild for the 48-year-old Rolling Stone.
  • 1991 Several people are injured at a Guns N’ Roses concert in Maryland Heights, Mo., a St. Louis suburb. Lead singer Axl Rose is charged with third-degree assault and property damage but doesn’t turn himself in for a year.
  • 1984 No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “When Doves Cry,” by the artist then known as Prince. The song is the first single released from Prince’s “Purple Rain” LP and his biggest hit, selling more than 2 million copies and topping the pop chart for five weeks.
  • 1973 No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Will It Go Round in Circles,” Billy Preston.
  • 1963 No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Easier Said Than Done,” The Essex. The members of the group are all U.S. Marines, including lead singer Anita Humes.
  • 1956 Elvis Presley records “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Hound Dog” and “Anyway You Want Me” in New York. It marks the first time he uses the Jordanaires as background singers. The two-sided hit “Don’t Be Cruel/Hound Dog” tops Billboard’s Hot 100 for 11 weeks, setting a record in the rock era that stands until 1992.
  • 1943 No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Comin’ in on a Wing and a Prayer,” The Song Spinners.