19 JULY
Featured Events
2013 Pearl Jam play a sold-out show at Wrigley Field in Chicago, the first American stop touring behind their 10th studio album, Lightning Bolt. Seven songs in, the show is delayed by... lightning. After midnight, the band returns to the stage and plays a rousing set, as the place is still packed.
1995 Clueless debuts in theaters, reviving the teen movie genre and boosting the film career of Alicia Silverstone, who appeared in the music video for Aerosmith's "Cryin'." The accompanying soundtrack gives retro hits a modern makeover, with the pop-punk act The Muffs covering Kim Wilde's "Kids In America."More
1985 Joan Jett calls up-and-coming heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson before his fight with Larry Sims, which Tyson wins handily. The superstitious Tyson insists on getting a call from Jett before every fight, which he does until breaking tradition for his bout against Buster Douglas on February 11, 1990 - Tyson's first loss.More
1966 Doing it his way, the 50-year-old Frank Sinatra marries the 20-year-old actress Mia Farrow in New York, causing a predictable media event. The marriage lasts just two years.
1958 The Drifters manager George Treadwell, who owns the name, fires the group and replaces them with members of The Five Crowns. When Ben E. King joins the group a short time later, The Drifters become consistent hitmakers, scoring with "There Goes My Baby," "This Magic Moment" and "Save The Last Dance For Me."
1947 Queen guitarist (and astrophysicist) Brian May is born in Hampton, Middlesex, England.
19 JULY
In Music History
2017 Performing barefoot as usual, singer-songwriter Barbara Weldens is electrocuted on stage at Gourdon, France and dies from cardiac arrest.
2014 Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden launch a co-headlining tour at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, Nevada.
2013 Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine takes the stage at a tiki bar in London, where she downs a tequila shot while singing "Get Lucky" before crowd-surfing away. It's a wild period in her life that inspires the band's next album, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, particularly the track "Ship To Wreck."
2011 Rebecca Black, the world's most ironic celebrity, cashes in on her worldwide viral Internet fame by launching her own record label, RB Records, and her first single on the label, "My Moment." The song fails to get the same attention as her breakout hit, "Friday."
2004 James Lowe and Mark Tulin of the Electric Prunes, famous for their 1967 garage-psych hit "I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night," sue their former label and publishing company for over one million dollars in unpaid royalties.
2002 It's "Solomon Burke Day" in Philadelphia in honor of their native singer.
2002 Movin' Out, a stage musical dedicated to the songs of Billy Joel, premieres in Chicago.
2001 Mariah Carey makes a surprise appearance on MTV's Total Request Live where she comes off as rather unhinged, rambling aimlessly and doing a striptease for the host, Carson Daly.More
2001 Soul singer Judy Clay dies at age 62 from injuries sustained in a car accident.
2000 Shel Talmy, who produced the first Who album, My Generation, puts the master tapes up for auction on eBay for $500,000. As intended, it gets the attention of the band, who buy them (for significantly less) and in 2002 release the My Generation: Deluxe Edition CD using the tapes.
1999 Lou Bega releases his debut album, A Little Bit of Mambo.
1997 The Fat Of The Land by The Prodigy becomes the first album by an electronic group to hit #1 in America.
1997 Performing as Nimrod (the name of their upcoming album), Green Day play a secret show at The Viper Room in Los Angeles, where they premiere their song "Hitchin' A Ride."
1993 Producer Fred again is born Frederick Gibson in South London. After being mentored by Brian Eno, he produces tracks for Ed Sheeran, Rita Ora, and many other popular artists. In 2019, four of his productions hit #1 on the UK Singles chart.
1993 Smashing Pumpkins release their album Siamese Dream, planting their flag in the fecund field of alternative rock. Tracks like "Today" and "Disarm" get lots of airplay, earning the band a headlining slot on Lollapalooza 1994.
Genesis Has Only #1 With "Invisible Touch"
1986Genesis have their first (and only) #1 Hot 100 hit as "Invisible Touch" tops the chart.
Several bands have had #1 hits and then seen one or more individual members top the chart as solo artists, but this is the first time an artist has reached the summit solo, and then with a band. Phil Collins became one of the biggest hitmakers of the decade when he launched a solo career in the '80s, but he didn't leave his band behind. After three huge albums and four #1 hits, he picks up with Genesis for the Invisible Touch album, which is radio catnip - a far cry from the prog-rock Genesis of yore. The title track has lyrics written by Collins and influenced by the Sheila E. hit "The Glamorous Life," a Prince composition about a girl with expensive tastes. In the Genesis song, the girl has a bewildering power over the singer, who knows she's bad news but can't resist. The next week, "Invisible Touch" is replaced at the top by "Sledgehammer," the first chart-topper from Peter Gabriel, the original lead singer in Genesis.
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