1999 Trace Adkins plays his first concert since breaking his ankle and undergoing surgery for tendon damage. Adkins ignores doctors’ warnings to remain seated and walks around the stage so fans throughout the venue can get a good look at him.
1996 Composer, Toru Takemitsu dies at the age of 66.
1993 Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” from the soundtrack to “The Bodyguard” tops Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart for the 14th week, displacing “End of the Road” from Boyz II Men as the longest-running No. 1 song of the rock era. The song is displaced the following week by “A Whole New World” from the movie “Aladdin.” In 1995, Boyz II Men ties Houston’s record with “I’ll Make Love to You.”
1992 Singer Paula Abdul and actor Emilio Estevez announce their engagement. It is the first marriage for both.
1991 Quincy Jones wins six Grammys, including album of the year, for “Back on the Block.” He has won more Grammy Awards than any other individual in pop music.
1981 No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “9 to 5,” Dolly Parton. The single is the title song to the film starring Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.
1976 Four sets of Kiss footprints are placed in the sidewalk outside of Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
1967 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana is born.
1966 No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’,” Nancy Sinatra. The singer is the oldest of Frank and Nancy Sinatra’s three children.
1951 Randy California (Randy Wolfe) of Spirit is born in Los Angeles.
1946 Jerome Geils is born in New York City. The J. Geils Band’s biggest hit is the million-selling song “Centerfold,” which tops Billboard’s Hot 100 for six weeks in 1982.
1939 Barbara Ellis of the Fleetwoods is born in Olympia, Wash.