Pick a Day

29 AUGUST

In Music History

2021 Lee "Scratch" Perry, a transgressive reggae musician who produced albums for Bob Marley, The Clash, and many others, dies at 85.

2013 Fergie and her husband Josh Duhamel have their first child: a boy named Axl. She says the name came to her in a dream where she was watching Axl Rose perform.

2011 Delta bluesman David "Honeyboy" Edwards dies of congestive heart failure in Chicago, Illinois, at age 96.

2009 Two months after Michael Jackson's death on what would have been his 51st birthday, 13,597 people in Mexico City perform the Thriller dance, establishing a new Guinness World Record.

2006 Rockabilly singer/songwriter Jumpin' Gene Simmons dies after a long illness in Tupelo, Mississippi, at age 73.

2004 Jet take home the award for Best Rock Video for "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" at the MTV Video Music Awards and perform the song live during the strangely un-hosted ceremony at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida.

2002 Enrique Iglesias and the tennis star Anna Kournikova show up as a couple for the first time when they attend the MTV Video Music Awards, where Eminem takes Video Of The Year for "Without Me."

2002 Pepsi pull their commercial with Ludacris after Bill O'Reilly blasts the rapper on his show The O'Reilly Factor for "peddling antisocial behavior." Luda does just fine: His next three albums go to #1 and he lands a role in the Fast & Furious franchise.

1999 HBO premieres Cher: Live In Concert From Las Vegas. The singer performed at the sprawling MGM Grand Las Vegas, the second largest hotel in the world (by number of rooms).

1998 Country/rockabilly musician Charlie Feathers dies of complications from a stroke-induced coma in Memphis, Tennessee, at age 66. Known for '50s hits like "Peepin' Eyes."

1995 Junior M.A.F.I.A. release their debut album, Conspiracy. The group is led by The Notorious B.I.G. and also features newcomer Lil' Kim, one of the few female rappers to be part of a group. Two hits emerge from the album: "Player's Anthem" and "Get Money."

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

1994 During the Meat Puppets set opening for Stone Temple Pilots at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, the famous DJ Howard Stern joins them on stage to jam on "Lake of Fire."

1993 Liam Payne of One Direction is born in Wolverhampton, England. After the band's 2016 split he releases a successful solo album in 2019 but is plagued by addiction and mental health issues, leading to his death in 2024 at 31 when he falls from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires.

1990 After soundcheck for her concert in Saratoga Springs, New York, Sinead O'Connor dons a disguise and joins protesters outside the venue. The hubbub is over her concert from a week earlier when she asked that the National Anthem not be played before her performance.