On This Day, July 26 in Music History
EVENTS ON JULY 26 IN MUSIC HISTORY
On this day July 26 in 1960 – R&B and soul singer Sam Cooke released ‘Chain Gang’ as a single on RCA Victor. The song was his biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100 where it peaked at No.2.
1962 – Frank Ifield hit No.1 on the UK Singles chart with his version of the 1941 popular song ‘I Remember You’ for the first of seven consecutive weeks. In the US the song peaked at No.5.
1969 – Blood, Sweat & Tears returned for a a four-week run at No.1 on the US Billboard 200 chart with their eponymous second studio album on this day July 26 in music history.
1975 – Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart with ‘The Hustle’. The song was also a chart-topper in Canada and Spain that year.
1975 – The Eagles started a five-week stint at number one in the US with their fourth studio album ‘One of These Nights’ on this day July 26.
1975 – Sibling music duo Carpenters returned for a three-week stint at number one on the UK Albums chart with their sixth studio release ‘Horizon’.
1980 – With their seventeenth studio album ‘Emotional Rescue’, The Rolling Stones hit No.1 in the US on this day July 26 for the first of seven consecutive weeks.
1980 – With ‘Use It Up and Wear It Out’, disco group Odyssey started a two-week run at number one on the UK Singles chart.
1986 – The soundtrack album to the action movie ‘Top Gun’ starring Tom Cruise started a three-week run at No.1 in the US on this day July 26 in music history. It features songs such as ‘Danger Zone’, ‘Take My Breath Away’, ‘Mighty Wings’, etc.
1986 – Peter Gabriel scored his first solo number one single in the US with ‘Sledgehammer’. The song was a Top 10 hit in sixteen countries worldwide that year, including a No.1 in Canada.
1990 – American keyboardist, songwriter and vocalist Brent Mydland died on this day July 26, aged 37 of a drug overdose. Best remembered for his work with the Grateful Dead from 1979 until 1990.
1992 – American singer Marry Wells died at the age of 49 from cancer. Best remembered for hit songs such as ‘Two Lovers’, ‘My Guy’, and ‘The One Who Really Loves You’.
1997 – Puff Daddy, Faith Evans & 112 returned for a three-week stint at No.1 in the UK on this day July 26 with ‘I’ll Be Missing You’. The song topped over 20 charts worldwide and it won a Grammy Award.
1997 – The soundtrack album to the film ‘Men in Black’ starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones topped the US Billboard 200 chart.
2008 – Swedish singer-songwriter, DJ and producer Basshunter topped the UK Albums chart with ‘Now You’re Gone – The Album’ on this day July 26 in music history.
2013 – American guitarist, singer-songwriter, and sound engineer John Weldon “J.J.” Cale died at the age of 74 from a heart attack.
2014 – Singer-songwriter Sia went to number one in the US with her sixth studio album ‘1000 Forms of Fear’ on this day July 26. Also a chart-topper in Canada and her home country of Australia.
2014 – With their debut single ‘Rude’, Canadian band Magic! started a six-week stint at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
2014 – Pop duo Rixton now known as Push Baby reached number one on the UK Singles chart on this day July 26 with ‘Me and My Broken Heart’.
2018 – Canadian rapper Drake started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK Singles chart with ‘In My Feelings’ on this day July 26 in music history.
2021 – Co-founder and drummer of the heavy metal band Slipknot, Nathan Jonas “Joey” Jordison, died at the age of 46 from a rare neurological condition.
2023 – Irish singer, songwriter and activist Sinéad O’Connor died on this day July 26 at the age of 56. Best remembered for her worldwide chart-topping single ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’.
BORN ON JULY 26 IN MUSIC HISTORY
1914 – Trumpeter, composer and big band leader Erskine Hawkins was born in Birmingham, Alabama on this day July 26 in music history. Best known for composing the jazz standard ‘Tuxedo Junction’.
1928 – American talent manager Joseph “Joe” Jackson was born in Fountain Hill, Arkansas. Best known as the patriarch of the Jackson family of musicians and entertainers.
1938 – R&B and soul singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist Robert “Bobby” Hebb was born on this day July 26 in Nashville, Tennessee. Best known for his 1966 hit song ‘Sunny’.
1940 – American singer-songwriter Darrow Brown also known professionally as Dobie Gray was born in Simonton, Texas. Best known for the hit singles ‘Drift Away’ and ‘The ‘In’ Crowd’.
1941 – Singer and actress Darlene Wright was born on this day July 26 in Los Angeles, California. She rose to fame as the lead vocalist of the girl group The Blossoms before establishing herself as a solo artist.
1941 – Singer and songwriter Alfred Jesse Smith better known professionally as Brenton Wood was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. Best known for the hit singles ‘Gimme Little Sign’ and ‘The Oogum Boogum Song’.
1941 – English singer and songwriter Patrick Cahill also known professionally as Neil Landon was born in Kirdford on this day July 26 in music history. He rose to fame as the co-founder of the band Fat Mattress.
1943 – Singer and songwriter Michael “Mick” Jagger was born in Dartford, England. Best known as the co-founder and frontman of The Rolling Stones.
1944 – American singer, songwriter and model Betty Davis was born Betty Gray Mabry on this day July 26 in Durham, North Carolina.
1949 – Drummer, singer, songwriter and founding member of the rock band Queen, Roger Taylor was born on this day in King’s Lynn, England.
1950 – English singer, keyboardist, composer and arranger Duncan Mackay was born on this day July 26 in Leeds.
1961 – American singer and songwriter Gary Cherone was born in Malden, Massachusetts. Best known for fronting the rock bands Boston, Extreme, and Van Halen.
1967 – American DJ Timothy Barnwell also known by his stage name Headliner was born in New Jersey on this day July 26 in music history. He rose to fame as a member of the hip hop group Arrested Development.
1980 – Guitarist, singer and songwriter Dave Baksh also known as Dave Brownsound was born on this day in Ajax, Canada. Best known as a founding member of the rock band Sum 41
1993 – Rapper and songwriter Michael Omari Owuo better known by his stage name Stormzy was born on this day July 26 in London, England.
1993 – Co-founder and frontwoman of the rock band Pretty Reckless, Taylor Momsen was born on this day in St. Louis, Missouri.