August 23rd: The Biggest Music Headlines

Scroll down the page to see all the music headlines, stories and events for August 23 throughout music history

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Madonna’s Record-Breaking Tour Kicks Off In Wales

On August 23, 2008, Madonna kicked off her Sticky & Sweet Tour at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. The 86-date run went on to became the highest-grossing tour ever by a solo artist, amassing over $280 million (and surpassing Madge’s previously-held record with the 2006 Confessions Tour). The Sticky & Sweet setlist paired The Material Girl’s biggest hits, including “Like A Prayer,” along with newer songs, like “Candy Shop” and “Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You.”

In 2019, Taylor Swift released her seventh studio album, Lover. In addition to being her sixth consecutive No.1 debut on the Billboard 200, all 18 tracks on the LP charted on the Hot 100, breaking the all-time record for the most simultaneous entries by a female artist. Lover went on to be named the best-selling studio album of 2019 and received several Grammy nominations, including Best Pop Vocal Album, Song of the Year (“Lover”), and Best Pop Solo Performance (“You Need to Calm Down”).

In 1963, The Rolling Stones made their debut on the UK’s Ready, Steady, Go!, performing their first single, “Come On.” Between 1963 and 1966, the band would make a total of 20 appearances on the TV show.

In 1969, Liverpool rock band Ibex played a gig at the Octagon Theatre in Lancashire, UK. On vocals was Freddie Bulsara (soon to be known as Freddie Mercury), who had joined the band earlier that year.

In 1970, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground performed together for the last time at the legendary New York City club, Max’s Kansas City. Following his departure, Reed would enjoy a successful solo career.

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BORN ON AUGUST 23:

1946: Keith Moon (The Who)
1949: Rick Springfield
1951: Jimi Jamison (Survivor)
1962: Shaun Ryder (Happy Mondays, Black Grape)
1978: Julian Casablancas (The Strokes)
1981: Natalie Horler (Cascada)
1986: SkyBluone (LMFAO)

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Keep scrolling for all of our August 23 birthdays.

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August 23rd

On this day in music

23 Aug 2024 Foo Fighters announced that they did not permit for Donald Trump to use ‘My Hero’ at a Rally in Glendale, Arizona when he brought Robert F. Kennedy Jr. onto the stage and would donate any royalties from the event to the current Harris Campaign. A Foo Fighters spokesperson stated they were not asked permission to use the track and if they were, they would not have granted it.
23 Aug 2023 American songwriter and record producer Bob Feldman died age 83. He wrote several hits with with fellow writers Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer including the 1963 hit 'My Boyfriend's Back' by The Angels. In 1964, in response to the "British Invasion", they formed their own group, The Strangeloves, who had a hit with 'I Want Candy'. With Goldstein and Gottehrer, Feldman also co-wrote 'Sorrow', first recorded by The McCoys and later a hit for both The Merseys and David Bowie. The three also produced the McCoys 1965 hit 'Hang On Sloopy'.
23 Aug 2021 John Lydon lost a High Court battle to stop the Sex Pistols music from being used in a new TV drama. Former drummer Paul Cook and guitarist Steve Jones had sued Lydon after he tried to veto the use of the punk group's songs in a show directed by Danny Boyle. The TV drama, simply called Pistol, began filming in March based on Jones's 2016 memoir, Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol.
23 Aug 2019 Taylor Swift released her seventh studio album Lover, her first album after parting ways with her former label, Big Machine Records. All of the album's 18 tracks charted on the Hot 100, breaking the all-time female record for the most simultaneous entries. Lover topped the charts in Australia, Canada, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and several others. It was Swift's sixth No.1 album on the US Billboard chart.
23 Aug 2013 A man found in the pool house at Jennifer Lopez's mansion in the exclusive Hamptons area of New York was charged with stalking. According to police, the singer had a restraining order against John Dubis, who was a retired firefighter, was also charged with burglary, criminal contempt and possessing burglary tools.
23 Aug 2008 Madonna kicked off her 86-date Sticky & Sweet Tour at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff Wales. It became the highest grossing tour by a solo artist, breaking the previous record Madonna achieved with her 2006 Confessions Tour. Madonna's first venture with Live Nation, was estimated to have grossed $280 million.

23 Aug 2007 Comedy writer Buddy Sheffield, sued Disney alleging that he originally came up with the idea for Hannah Montana but was never compensated by Disney. In the lawsuit, Sheffield claimed that he pitched an idea for a TV series with the name of ‘Rock and Roland’ to Disney Channel in 2001 with the plot of a junior high student who lived a secret double life as a rock star.
23 Aug 2005 Les McKeown the lead singer of the Bay City Rollers appeared in court charged with drugs offences. McKeown, aged 49, was accused of conspiring with four other people, including the band's drummer Pat McGlynn, to supply cocaine. He was arrested in Dalston, east London, in June as part of a major police operation.
23 Aug 2003 Lee Ryan of boy band Blue was banned from driving for 18 months after admitting drink-driving. Ryan was also ordered to pay a £2250 fine at Tower Bridge magistrate's court London.
23 Aug 1986 Jamaican singer Boris Gardiner started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'I Want to Wake Up with You'. Written by Nashville songwriter Ben Peters, it was first recorded by American country artist Mac Davis, and released in March 1980, titled as 'I Wanta Wake Up With You'. Gardiner's version became the third best-selling single of 1986 in the UK. It also reached No. 1 in Australia.
23 Aug 1980 The Heatwave Festival in Toronto, Canada took place with Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, The B-52's, The Pretenders, Rockpile and The Rumour. Tickets cost $30, with only 50,000 people attending the festival lost over $1 million.
23 Aug 1980 David Bowie was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Ashes To Ashes' his second UK No.1. Taken from the Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) album, the song continued the story of Major Tom from Bowie's 'Space Oddity'. The video for 'Ashes to Ashes' was one of the most iconic of the 1980s and costing £250,000, it was at the time the most expensive music video ever made.

23 Aug 1975 Joy Division singer Ian Curtis married Deborah Woodruff, whom he met while still at school, when he was 19 and she was 18. They remained married until his untimely death at 23.
23 Aug 1971 Diana Ross was at No.1 on the UK singles chart 'I'm Still Waiting', the singers first solo UK No.1. The song which spent four weeks at the top of the charts was released after BBC Radio 1 DJ Tony Blackburn featured it heavily on his morning programme.
23 Aug 1970 The Velvet Underground performed together for the last time when they appeared at the New York Club Max's Kansas City. Andy Warhol associate Brigid Polk recorded this show (and other nights at the club) on a mono portable cassette recorder. These tapes would later be released as the album Live at Max's Kansas City. Reed worked as a typist for his father for the next two years, at $40 per week.
23 Aug 1969 Ibex, featuring vocalist Freddie Bulsara (later known as Freddie Mercury) played a gig at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton, Lancashire, UK. Ibex was a pre-Queen band consisting of Bulsara on vocals, Mike Bersin on guitar, John Taylor on bass, and Mick Smith on drums.
23 Aug 1969 Johnny Cash started a four-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Johnny Cash At San Quentin'. The album was a recording of a live concert given to the inmates of San Quentin State Prison and was the follow-up to Cash's previous live album, the critically acclaimed and commercially successful At Folsom Prison.
23 Aug 1969 The Rolling Stones started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Honky Tonk Women' the group's fifth US No.1. The song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards was inspired by Brazilian gauchos at the ranch where Jagger and Richards were staying in Matao, Sao Paulo. In the UK, the song was released the day after the death of founding member Brian Jones, and it remained on the charts for seventeen weeks, peaking at No.1 for five weeks.

23 Aug 1968 During a North American tour The Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared at Singer Bowl, Flushing Meadow Park, New York. Also on the bill was Soft Machine and Big Brother and the Holding Company (featuring Janis Joplin). The concert was part of the New York Rock Festival and drew a crowd of roughly 18,000 fans.
23 Aug 1967 Enjoying a wild birthday party Keith Moon drummer with The Who drove his Lincoln car into a Holiday Inn swimming pool. As the party had become out of control, the police were called to put an end to the festivities. Moon, ever keen to avoid the boys in blue snuck outside and got into a Lincoln Continental Limousine and attempted to make a getaway. Unfortunately, in his inebriated state he released the handbrake, and began rolling towards the pool. Moon simply sat back and waited, as the car crashed through the fence around the pool and into the water.
23 Aug 1966 On their final tour of America, The Beatles performed at Shea Stadium in New York City, New York. Unlike the previous year's performance, which had sold out, there were 11,000 empty seats in the 55,600 seat stadium. The Beatles earn more than the previous year, receiving $189,000 for their performance.
23 Aug 1966 The Beatles were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with the double a sided 'Yellow Submarine - Eleanor Rigby'. The group's eleventh No.1. Paul McCartney said he came up with the name Eleanor from actress Eleanor Bron, who had starred with The Beatles in the film Help! Rigby came from the name of a store in Bristol, Rigby & Evens Ltd, Wine & Spirit Shippers.
23 Aug 1965 Security guards at Granada TV studios in Manchester, England, hosed down over 200 Rolling Stones fans after they broke down barriers while waiting for the band to arrive to film an appearance on the television show Scene at 6.30.
23 Aug 1963 The Rolling Stones appeared on UK TV show Ready, Steady, Go! for the first time, performing their debut single 'Come On.' The group made a total of 20 appearances on the British rock/pop music television programme, which was broadcast every Friday evening from 9 August 1963 until 23 December 1966.

23 Aug 1962 John Lennon married Cynthia Powell at Liverpool's Mount Pleasant register office. He then played a gig that night with The Beatles at Liverpool's Riverpark Ballroom.

Born on this day in music

23 Aug 1989 British singer-songwriter Lianne La Havas. La Havas' debut studio album, Is Your Love Big Enough? (2012), earned her a nomination for the BBC's Sound of 2012 poll and an award for the iTunes Album of the Year 2012. She was nominated once for a Grammy Award in 2016 and twice for the Brit Awards, in 2017 and 2021.
23 Aug 1986 SkyBluone (Skyler Austen Gordy), one half of LMFAO who had the 2011 world wide hits 'Party Rock Anthem' and 'Sexy And I Know It'.
23 Aug 1981 Natalie Horler, singer, Cascada, German dance group. 2007 hit ‘Everytime We Touch’ won them a World Music Award in 2007. 2009 UK No.1 single ‘Evacuate the Dancefloor’.
23 Aug 1979 Richard Neville, singer from English boy band Five, who had the 1998 UK No.2 single 'Everybody Get Up' and the 1999 UK No.1 single 'Keep On Movin'. Their single 'When the Lights Go Out', (1998) became an international hit, peaking at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, No. 4 in the UK, and within the top ten of six further countries.
23 Aug 1978 Julian Casablancas, guitarist, singer, and songwriter from the American rock band The Strokes who had the 2001 UK No.14 single 'Last Nite' and the 2001 UK No.2 album Is This It. Casablancas released a solo studio album, Phrazes for the Young, in 2009, and has released three albums with the experimental rock band the Voidz.
23 Aug 1974 American rapper and singer-songwriter Shifty Shellshock (real name Seth Brooks Binzer). With Crazy Town he had the 2001 US No.1 single 'Butterfly'. Binzer struggled with addiction throughout his career and appeared on the reality television series Celebrity Rehab and Sober House. He was found dead at his home in Los Angeles on 24 June 2024, at the age of 49, from an accidental drug overdose.

23 Aug 1967 Jamaican singer Cedella Marley, who with Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers, had the 1988 UK No.22 single 'Tomorrow People'. She is the daughter of reggae singers Bob Marley and Rita Marley.
23 Aug 1962 English musician and singer-songwriter Shaun Ryder, best known as the lead singer of the Happy Mondays and Black Grape. He was the runner-up of the tenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! Ryder's struggle with drugs led to the break-up of Happy Mondays in 1992. The film 24 Hour Party People featured the (semi-fictional) story of Shaun Ryder's youth and the life of Happy Mondays whilst signed with Factory Records in the late '80s and early '90s.
23 Aug 1961 Dean DeLeo, American guitarist with Stone Temple Pilots, Talk Show and Army of Anyone. His younger brother, bass guitarist Robert DeLeo, was also a member of the band.
23 Aug 1959 Scottish musician, producer and record label owner Edwyn Collins. With the post-punk band Orange Juice, he had the 1983 UK No.8 single 'Rip It Up' (noted as the first British hit single to feature a bass line from the Roland TB-303 synthesiser), and the solo 1995 UK No.4 single 'A Girl Like You' which became a worldwide hit. Collins was the co-founder of the indie record label Postcard Records and co-founded a second label, Analogue Enhanced Digital, in 2011.
23 Aug 1954 Mark Avsec, keyboardist, songwriter with American funk rock band Wild Cherry, who had the 1976 US No.1 & UK No.7 single 'Play That Funky Music'.
23 Aug 1953 Bobby G, singer with British pop group Bucks Fizz who had the UK hits 'Making Your Mind Up' (1981), 'The Land of Make Believe' (1981) and 'My Camera Never Lies' (1982) and became one of the top-selling groups of the 1980s.

23 Aug 1951 Jimi Jamison, Survivor, (1982 US & UK No.1 single 'Eye Of The Tiger') and as the voice and co-writer of the theme song for Baywatch. Jamison died at the age of 63 on August 31, 2014 in Memphis, Tennessee. from a heart attack.
23 Aug 1949 Australian-American musician and actor Rick Springfield, who had the 1981 US No.1 & UK No.43 single 'Jessie's Girl' for which he received the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. He portrayed Noah Drake on the daytime drama General Hospital (1981–1983, 2005–2008, 2012), returning in 2013 for the show's 50th anniversary with his son, actor Liam Springthorpe.
23 Aug 1947 Linda Thompson, English folk rock singer in collaboration with her then husband and fellow British folk rock musician, guitarist Richard Thompson, and later as a solo artist.
23 Aug 1946 English drummer Keith Moon from The Who. After playing with a local band, the Beachcombers, he joined the Who in 1964 before they recorded their first single. With The Who he scored the 1965 UK No.2 single 'My Generation' plus over 20 other Top 40 hits, and the 1967 US No.9 single 'I Can See For Miles' and rock opera albums 'Tommy' and 'Quadrophenia'. Moon was voted the second-greatest drummer in history by a Rolling Stone readers' poll. He has been credited as one of the earliest rock drummers to regularly employ double bass drums in his setup. Moon died on 7th September 1978 after taking 32 clomipramine tablets.
23 Aug 1942 Roger Greenaway, singer, songwriter, member of David & Jonathan and the Kestrels. Best known for his songwriting collaborations with Roger Cook: 'My Baby Loves Lovin', (White Plains); 'Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress', 'Gasoline Alley Bred', (The Hollies); 'You've Got Your Troubles', (The Fortunes); 'Melting Pot, Good Morning Freedom' (Blue Mink); and 'Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart' (Gene Pitney).
23 Aug 1940 Vicki Brown, English pop, and rock singer. She is best known for her membership of both The Vernons Girls and The Breakaways, and as one of the UK's most enduring backing vocalists. She appeared on many hits including The Jimi Hendrix Experience version of 'Hey Joe', Petula Clark's hit, 'Downtown', The Who's Tommy – film soundtrack, George Harrison's Cloud Nine. She was the first wife of singer and musician Joe Brown and mother of the singer Sam Brown. She died of breast cancer on 16 June 1991 aged 50.