Events in Music
- Aug 1 Beatles' single "A Hard Day's Night" goes #1 & stays #1 for 2 weeks
- Aug 5 Beatles record a cover of Little Willie John's "Leave My Kitten Alone"; not released until 1995's "Anthology"
- Aug 8 1st Rolling Stones concert in Netherlands at The Kurhaus of Scheveningen, in The Hague
- Aug 8 Dutch Opera forms in Amsterdam
- Aug 8 N. Richard Nash, Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones' musical "110 in the Shade", based on Nash's drama "The Rainmaker", closes at Broadhurst Theater, NYC after, 330 performances
- Aug 11 "A Hard Days Night" a musical comedy film featuring the Beatles released in the US
- Aug 18 The Beatles arrive in San Francisco on their second US visit
- Aug 22 Supreme's "Where Did Our Love Go" reaches #1
Film Premiere
Aug 27 Walt Disney's musical film "Mary Poppins" directed by Robert Stevenson, starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, with songs by Richard and Robert Sherman, premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, California; wins 5 Academy Awards
Theatrical Finale
Aug 29 James Baldwin's stage drama "Blues for Mister Charlie", directed by Burgess Meredith, closes at the ANTA Playhouse, NYC, after 148 performances
Musical Finale
Aug 29 Stephen Sondheim's musical "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", starring Zero Mostel, and Jack Gilford, closes at Alvin Theater, NYC, after 965 performances and 6 Tony Awards
Birthdays in Music
- Aug 1 Adam Duritz, American rock singer-songwriter, and keyboardist (Counting Crows - "Mr. Jones"; "Accidentally in Love"), born in Baltimore, Maryland
- Aug 1 Nick Christian Sayer, British rock guitarist (Transvision Vamp - "Velveteen"; "Baby I Don't Care"), born in England
Adam Yauch (1964-2012)
Aug 5 American rap-rock vocalist (Beastie Boys -"(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)"), born in Brooklyn, New York
- Aug 10 Aaron Hall, American songwriter
- Aug 11 Hamish Seelochan, British R&B and pop vocalist (The Pasedenas - "Riding on the Train"), born in England [some source cite birthday as May 19]
- Aug 13 Ian Haugland, Norwegian heavy metal drummer (Europe - "The Final Countdown"), born in Storslett, Nordreisa, Norway
- Aug 17 Colin James, Canadian singer-songwriter, born in Regina, Saskatchewan
- Aug 18 Andi Deris, German heavy metal vocalist (Helloween, 1994-present), born in Karlsruhe, West Germany
- Aug 18 Edith Frost, American singer and songwriter, born in San Antonio, Texas
- Aug 19 Tom Rust, British jazz vocalist, born in Manchester, England
- Aug 20 Miljenko "Dino" Dvornik, Croatian singer known as "the Croatian King of Funk", born in Split, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia (d. 2008)
- Aug 24 Oteil Burbridge, American bassist (Allman Brothers Band, 1997-2014; Dead & Company, 2015-present), born in Washington, D.C.
- Aug 24 Pebbles [Perri Reid (née McKissack)], American pop singer ("Girlfriend"), minister, and gospel singer, born in Oakland, California
Weddings in Music
John Coltrane
Aug 4 Jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane (35) weds jazz harpist and pianist Alice Macleod
Deaths in Music
- Aug 2 José María Castro, Argentine composer, dies at 71
- Aug 14 Johnny Burnette, American rockabilly singer-songwriter and guitarist ('Train Kept A-Rollin'"; "You're Sixteen"), drowns in nighttime boating mishap at 30
- Aug 24 Maurice Schoemaker, Belgian composer (Fireworks), dies at 73
- Aug 27 Aleksey Semyonovich Zhivotov, Russian composer, dies at 59
