August, 14

• 1999 In an unprecedented show of popularity, popsters Backstreet Boys sell all 765,000 tickets for their North American tour in just one day, generating an estimated $30 million. Tickets for the 11-week, 39-city arena tour sell out as soon as they go on sale – the vast majority within an hour.

• 1999 Tracy Byrd and his band The Only Way to Fly are on hand to entertain at the Republican Party of Iowa Straw Poll in Ames, Iowa. At the invitation of Texas Governor George W. Bush, Byrd and band play country music for Bush supporters outside the Hilton Coliseum.

• 1999 The Red Hot Chili Peppers perform with local Russian artists during a free music festival in Moscow’s Red Square. The “MTV Live With the Red Hot Chili Peppers” event marks the first time the band has performed in Russia.

• 1998 A Virginia judge issues three arrest warrants for Wu-Tang member Ol’ Dirty Bastard, a.k.a. Big Baby Jesus – one for each of the scheduled court dates that the rapper skipped. The dates are in relation to an earlier shoplifting charge.

• 1998 Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev is among the 15,000 visitors at the 10th Popkomm music fair. Gorbachev promotes the album “Russian Memories” by Ermitage, a.k.a. Munich-based Hungarian composer Leslie Mandoki. Sales of the CD benefit Gorbachev’s Green Cross charity, which supports humanitarian and ecological projects.

• 1998 PBS premiers a documentary on Robbie Robertson’s Indian heritage. “Robbie Robertson: Making A Noise – A Native American Musical Journey” features tracks from the artist’s current Capitol release, “Contact From The Underworld of Redboy,” as well as footage of him in concert and in the studio. Robertson, who earlier in the year was presented with a Lifetime Achievement award at the first Native American Music Awards, is a tireless advocate of American Indian rights.

• 1995 Members of the Grateful Dead meet and decide to cancel their fall tour in the wake of Jerry Garcia’s death.

• 1992 Tony Williams, former lead singer of the Platters, dies in Manhattan.

• 1992 Wayne Newton files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The singer, a former owner of the Alladin Hotel in Las Vegas, is one of the highest paid performers on the Vegas strip.

• 1991 Tony Orlando and wife Francine’s first child, Jenny Rose, is born in Los Angeles.

• 1985 Michael Jackson outbids Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono, at $47.5 million, to obtain catalog rights to 250 songs written by John Lennon and McCartney.

• 1976 Nick Lowe’s debut solo single, “So It Goes,” is released.

• 1967 No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “All You Need Is Love,” The Beatles. The group’s manager, Brian Epstein, dies of an accidental drug overdose while the song is No. 1.

• 1941 David Crosby is born David Van Courtland in Los Angeles. He is a member of the Byrds, then teams up with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash to form Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1968. The group wins the best new artist Grammy in 1969. CSN’s two top 10 songs are “Just a Song Before I Go” and “Wasted on the Way.”

• 1940 Dash Crofts of Seals & Crofts is born in Cisco, Texas. The group has three top 10 hits, all of which reach No. 6: “Summer Breeze” in 1972, “Diamond Girl” in 1973 and “Get Closer” in 1976.