1946
TV scorer Mark Snow is born in Brooklyn, N.Y. He’s best known for his theme to The X-Files.

1964
The Supremes top the singles chart for the first time with "Where Did Our Love Go?"

1967
The Beatles go see the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at Univeristy College. At a press conference, the Maharishi, with the Beatles seated next to him, gives strong and sincere answers to the press' sarcastic and sometime silly questions. The Beatles announce they have given up drugs as Paul McCartney explains, "It was an experience we went through. We don't need it anymore. We're finding different ways to get there."

1967
To reassure us that the world isn’t falling apart around our ears, the Jimi Hendrix Experience release the single "Purple Haze."

1967
Simon & Garfunkel's "Fakin' It" peaks at #23 on the pop chart.

1968
Apple Corps releases its first products: five singles including the Beatles' "Hey Jude" backed by "Revolution." It becomes the band's biggest hit.

1968
Jeannie C. Riley's "Harper Valley P.T.A." is certified gold.

1970
The strife-ridden Isle of Wight Festival kicks off in England. Thousands turn up expecting the concert to turn into a free festival, only to discover organizers have surrounded the place with a large metal fence. The freeloaders spend most of their time banging on the fence demanding entry. Meanwhile, the promoters don’t have enough money to pay their acts. During Joni Mitchell’s set, one audience member grabs the mike to say the festival has turned into a "hippie concentration camp," causing Mitchell to burst into tears.

1970
Duane Allman starts recording as a member of Eric Clapton's new band, Derek & the Dominoes. A double album is finished in less than 10 days. Clapton calls Allman "the catalyst" of the whole project.

1970
No. 1 Hit: "War," Edwin Starr. The song earns Starr a Grammy as Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.

1972
Argent's "Hold Your Head Up" peaks at #5 on the chart.

1972
The Hollies' Distant Light enters the chart. The album contains the hit single, "Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)."

1976
Aerosmith is featured on the cover of Rolling Stone.

1977
The Pretenders play their first public gig, opening for Strangeways.

1978
The first Canada Jam Festival in Ontario includes sets by the Doobie Brothers, the Commodores, Kansas, Dave Mason, and the Atlanta Rhythm Section.

1979
Phil Collins joins Peter Gabriel onstage at the Redding Festival for a version of the Genesis classic, "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway."

1980
Cheap Trick bassist Tom Peterson quits the group due to the inevitable "personal and musical differences." He is replaced by Pete Comita. However, he returns to the group in 1988.

1980
No. 1 Hit: "Sailing," Christopher Cross. The single wins Grammy Awards as record and song of the year.

1983
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, starring popsters David Bowie and Ryuichi Sakamoto, opens in America. Leonard Maltin says of the Japanese prison camp drama, "Quite rewarding for those willing to stick with it, but it does take some effort."

1987
Sonny Bono announces he is running for mayor of Palm Springs. He wins.

1989
Don Henley's "The End of the Innocence" peaks at #8 on the pop singles chart.

1989
Ringo Starr wins a court order to prevent a record producer from releasing material Starr considered to be of inferior quality due to the impaired state Starr was in when it was recorded.

1990
Randy Newman wins an Emmy for composing music for Cop Rock.

1990
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble play Alpine Valley, Wis. For an encore, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughan, and Robert Cray join the band for a jam. Flying to Chicago the next morning, Vaughan is killed when his helicopter crashes.
Stevie Ray Vaughan "Texas Flood"

1995
Ronnie White of the Miracles dies at age 57 of leukemia. White wrote the Temptations' hit "My Girl" with Smokey Robinson. The Miracles racked up 29 top 40 songs including "Love Machine" between 1960 and 1977 and gave the Motown record label its first million-seller with the 1961 hit "Shop Around."

1997
My Soul, Coolio's follow-up to 1995’s multi-platinum Gangsta's Paradise, is released on Tommy Boy.

1997
Boyzone begin a tour of Southeast Asia in Bangalore, India. It is a first-time tour launch for the region by an international act.

2000
Gov't Mule bassist and former Allman Brothers Band member Douglas Allen Woody is found dead in a motel in the New York borough of Queens. He is 44. Allen Woody was widely loved and admired among professional musicians and fans of Southern rock everywhere and is sorely missed by all who knew him.

2000
Pam Tillis joins the Grand Ole Opry. The former Country Music Association female vocalist of the year is inducted by Marty Stuart during the TNN-televised portion of the show.

2000
The Backstreet Boys' online alter egos, the Cyber Crusaders, debut online with a party at Hard Rock Live in Orlando, Fla. Pioneering Marvel Comics artist Stan Lee's Stan Lee Media designed 22 online cartoons featuring the Backstreet Boys' likenesses, which can be viewed at the Backstreet Project Web site.

2000
Following a Creed show in Camden, N.J., a man has his hand nearly cut off by an axe-wielding attacker.

2003
Michael Jackson announces he will open his Neverland Ranch for one day only in December. Lucky invitees will have to pay $5000 to see where the King of Pop’s baboons frolic.

2003
Skechers announces it has signed an endorsement deal with Christina Aguilera. Fellow pop strumpet Britney Spears previously sued the shoe company for failing to make good on a separate marketing deal.

2003
Sean "P. Diddy" Combs is sued by a Queens woman who claims bouncers at his Manhattan restaurant roughed her up. The plaintiff wants $5 million in damages.

2004
'80s hit-maker Laura Branigan ("Gloria") dies of a brain aneurysm at her home in East Quogue, N.Y. She was 47.

2005
Lil' Jon is the big winner at the 2005 BMI Urban Awards, held at the Grand Ballroom of the Fontainebleau Resort in Miami Beach.

2005
Voivod guitarist Denis D'Amour, better known to fans as Piggy, dies at a Montreal hospital after a battle with colon cancer. He is 45.

August 26 Birthdays

• Lee Deforest 1873
• Christopher Isherwood 1904
• Albert Sabine 1906
• Jim Davis 1915
• Ronnie Graham 1919
• Georgia Gibbs 1920
• Ben Bradlee 1921
• Irving R. Levine 1922
• Jan Clayton 1925
• Ben J. Wattenberg 1933
• Heinsohn 1934
• Geraldine Ferraro 1935
• Don Bowman 1937
• Bill White 1939
• Vic Dana 1942
• Swede Savage 1946
• Valerie Simpson 1948
• Bob Cowsill (The Cowsills) 1949
• Michael Jeter 1952
• Brett Cullen 1956
• Alex Trevino 1957
• John O'Neill 1957
• Jet Black (The Stranglers) 1958
• Branford Marsalis 1960
• Jimmy Olander (Diamond Rio) 1961
• Chris Burke 1965
• Adrian Young (No Doubt) 1969
• David Grubka 1972
• Macaulay Culkin 1980

What others are saying

There are no comments yet. Be the first to post one!