August 29

Births

1920: Charlie "Bird" Parker (Jazz Sax Player)

1924: Dinah Washington (Blues & Jazz Singer)

1953: Rick Downey (Drummer & Vocalist for Blue Oyster Cult)

1955: Diamanda Galas (Performance Artist)

1956: GG Allin (Punk Rocker)

1958: Michael Jackson (Singer)

1958: Elizabeth Fraser (Vocals for Cocteau Twins)

1960: Tony MacAlpine (Guitarist)

1968: Me'Shell NdegéOcello (Singer & Rapper)

1975: Kyle Cook (Guitarist for Matchbox 20)

1980: David Desrosiers (Bass for Simple Plan)

1986: Lea Michele (Glee Singer)

Events

1958: The first of Alan Freed's Big Beat revues is held at Brooklyn, New York's Fox Theatre, featuring Chuck Berry, Billy Haley and his Comets, Frankie Avalon, The Elegants, Bobby Freeman, and Jimmy Clanton.

1964: In a clear case of rock and roll being saved by the British Invasion, Billboard magazine notes that guitar sales are the highest they've been since the advent of Elvis Presley.

1966: The last episode of ABC-TV's musical variety show Hullabaloo airs, featuring guest stars Lesley Gore, Paul Anka, Peter and Gordon, and The Cyrkle.

1966: The Beatles play the last live gig for a paying audience, winding up their last world tour at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The show, which ends with a cover of Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally," is filmed by Beatles press officer Tony Barrow. Afterwards George Harrison is heard half-joking, "Well, that's it. I'm not a Beatle anymore."

1969: Bob Seger divorces his first wife after only ten months of marriage.

1976: Jimmy Reed died in San Francisco following an epileptic seizure just before his 51st birthday. Reed was a major influence on The Rolling Stones, he had the 1957 hit ‘Honest I Do’ in 1957 and ‘Baby What You Want Me To Do’ in 1960.

1977: Three men are arrested in Memphis after attempting to steal Elvis Presley's recently-deceased body from a Memphis mausoleum, causing the Presley family to move his body to its present location in the "meditation garden" at Graceland.

1986: The American Bandstand studio located at 4548 Market Street in Philadelphia, PA is entered into the US National Register of Historic Places.

1987: Rick Astley's debut hit 'Never Gonna Give You Up', started a five-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart. It became the biggest selling single of 1987 and the song won Best British Single at the 1988 Brit Awards.

1990: Elton John enters rehab in Chicago to combat his bulimia and his various drug and alcohol addictions.

1992: U2 became only the second act ever (Billy Joel was the first) to play at The Yankee Stadium in New York City, during their sold out Zoo TV tour.

1995: The US Internal Revenue Service places a lien on Aretha Franklin's home for $600,000 in back taxes.

1995: K.T. Oslin undergoes quadruple-bypass heart surgery at Nashville's St. Thomas Hospital.

2002: Alan Jackson collects a whopping 10 nominations for the 36th annual Country Music Association awards, breaking a 32-year-old record held by Merle Haggard.

1996: Isaac Hayes, who co-wrote the Stax classic "Soul Man," sent a protest letter to presidential candidate Bob Dole requesting Dole to stop using his song, which his supporters had changed to "I'm A Dole Man."

2005: Fats Domino, now 77, is rescued from his Ninth Ward home in New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

2008: US rapper DMX pleaded guilty to trying to buy cocaine and cannabis in Miami. The 37-year-old singer, real name Earl Simmons, entered the plea in a Florida court and was sentenced to time served. Simmons was still in custody awaiting extradition to the state of Arizona on outstanding drug and animal cruelty charges.