- Jan 2 Dutch premiere of musical "Hair" in Amsterdam
- Jan 3 "Jimmy" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 84 performances
- Jan 3 "Mame" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 1508 performances
- Jan 4 Beatles last recording session at EMI studios
- Jan 31 Grateful Dead members busted on LSD charges
- Feb 4 "Charles Aznavour" opens at Music Box Theater NYC for 23 performances
- Feb 4 "Gantry" opens at George Abbott Theater NYC for 1 performance
- Feb 7 "Jingle Jangle" hits #10 on the pop singles chart by Archies
Event of Interest
Feb 11 John Lennon pays £1,344 fines for 96 protesting South African rugby team playing in Scotland
John Lennon
- Feb 14 "Gantry" closes at George Abbott Theater NYC after 1 performance
- Feb 22 "Charles Aznavour" closes at Music Box Theater NYC after 23 performances
- Feb 26 "Georgy" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 4 performances
- Feb 26 Beatles release "Beatles Again" aka "Hey Jude" album
- Feb 28 "Georgy" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 4 performances
Film Release
Mar 5 "Airport" based on the book by Arthur Hailey, directed by George Seaton and starring Burt Lancaster and Dean Martin is released
Burt Lancaster
Dean Martin
- Mar 6 Beatles release single "Let it Be" in UK
Music Recording
Mar 10 Barbra Streisand records "The Singer" and "I Can Do It"
Barbra Streisand
- Mar 11 12th Grammy Awards: Aquarius, Crosby Stills & Nash, Peggy Lee win
- Mar 15 Gary Geld & Peter Udell's "Purlie" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 689 performances
- Mar 21 15th Eurovision Song Contest: Dana for Ireland wins singing "All Kinds of Everything" in Amsterdam
- Mar 23 "Hello Darlin'" single released by Conway Twitty (Billboard Song of the Year 1970)
Music Premiere
Mar 26 Musical "Minnie's Boys", starring Shelley Winters as the mother of the Marx Brothers, and Drama Desk Award winner Lewis J. Stadlen as Groucho, opens at the Imperial Theater, New York City; runs for 80 performances
Shelley Winters
- Mar 29 "Look to the Lilies" opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC for 25 performances
Album Release
Mar 30 Miles Davis's influential double album "Bitches Brew" released
Miles Davis
- Mar 30 Strouse, Adams, Comden & Green's musical "Applause", an adaptation of the 1950 film "All About Eve", premieres in NYC, runs for 900 performances
- Apr 1 John Lennon and Yoko Ono release hoax they are having dual sex change operations
- Apr 8 "Cry for Us All" opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 8 performances
Event of Interest
Apr 10 Paul McCartney officially announces the split of The Beatles
Paul McCartney
Music Awards
Apr 13 5th Academy of Country Music Awards: Merle Haggard and Tammy Wynette win
Merle Haggard
Tammy Wynette
- Apr 14 "Boy Friend" opens at Ambassador Theater NYC for 119 performances
- Apr 15 "Cry for Us All" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 8 performances
- Apr 17 Paul McCartney's 1st solo album "McCartney" is released
- Apr 19 "Look to the Lilies" closes at Lunt-Fontanne NYC after 25 performances
- Apr 22 "Park" opens at John Golden Theater NYC for 5 performances
- Apr 25 "Park" closes at John Golden Theater NYC after 5 performances
- Apr 26 "Company" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 690 performances
- May 7 "Long & Winding Road" becomes Beatles' last American release
- May 8 Beatles release "Let it Be" album
- May 13 Beatles movie "Let it Be" premieres
Event of Interest
May 16 Grover Henson Feels Forgotten by Bill Cosby hits #70
Bill Cosby
- May 18 Beatles' last released LP, "Let It Be", released in US
- May 20 Beatles' "Let it Be" movie premieres in UK
- May 23 Grateful Dead's 1st performance outside US (England)
- May 24 Peter Green quits Fleetwood Mac to join a religious cult
- May 30 "Minnie's Boys" closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 80 performances
- Jun 1 "Everything Is Beautiful" by Ray Stevens hits #1
- Jun 3 Ray Davies of The Kinks travels round trip NY-London to change 1 word in "Lola," (Coca-Cola to Cherry Cola) because of BBC commercial reference ban
- Jun 7 The Who's "Tommy" is performed at NY's Lincoln Center
Music Concert
Jun 12 Rocker and blues singer Janis Joplin debuts in Kentucky
Janis Joplin
Event of Interest
Jun 23 Rocker and singer Chubby Checker arrested for marijuana possession
Chubby Checker
Event of Interest
Aug 4 Jim Morrison arrested for drunkenness
Jim Morrison
- Aug 7 Christine Perfect (McVie) joins Fleetwood Mac
Jim Morrison's Trial
Aug 10 Jim Morrison's trial for "lewd and lascivious behavior" begins in Miami
Learn More
Event of Interest
Aug 25 Elton John's 1st US appearance (Troubador - West Hollywood, Los Angeles, California)
Elton John
Music Recording
Aug 27 Jimi Hendrix creates his last studio recording at Electric Lady Studios in New York, an instrumental called "Slow Blues"
Jimi Hendrix
- Aug 28 "I'll Be There" single by The Jackson 5 is released (Billboard Song of the Year 1970)
Event of Interest
Sep 3 Bill Haley & His Comets reject $30,000 for 15 date tour of Australia
Bill Haley
- Sep 4 Russian ballerina Natalia Makarova defects to the West while on tour with the Kirov Ballet in London and is granted political asylum
Event of Interest
Sep 15 Decca awards Bing Crosby a 2nd platinum disc for selling 300 million
Bing Crosby
- Sep 20 Jim Morrison found guilty of "open profanity and indecent exposure" after allegedly exposing himself at a concert in Miami in 1969
Album Release
Sep 25 Ringo Starr releases his album "Beaucoups of Blues"
Ringo Starr
- Sep 28 TV game show "Words & Music" debuts on NBC
- Oct 1 63 arrested in riot to buy Rolling Stone tickets in Milan, Italy
- Oct 3 "Coco" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 333 performances
- Oct 14 4th Country Music Association Award: Merle Haggard wins
- Oct 27 "Light, Lively & Yiddish" opens at Belasco Theater NYC for 87 performances
- Oct 31 Jim Morrison is sentenced to six months in jail and a $500 fine for indecent exposure and open profanity, though remains free on a $50,000 bond pending appeal
- Nov 3 "President's Daughter" opens at Billy Rose Theater NYC for 72 performances
- Nov 7 "Purlie" closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 689 performances
Music Premiere
Nov 10 Richard Rodgers and Martin Charnin's musical "Two by Two" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 343 performances
Richard Rodgers
- Nov 17 Elton John performs a live studio concert broadcast for WABC in New York City, later released as his 11-17-70 album
Music Single
Nov 23 George Harrison releases "My Sweet Lord" single in the US
George Harrison
- Nov 27 George Harrison releases his triple album set "All Things Must Pass"
- Nov 29 Charles Ives' "Yale-Princeton" premieres
- Dec 2 Michael Tippett's opera "The Knot Garden" premieres in London
- Dec 18 "Me Nobody Knows" opens at Helen Hayes Theater NYC for 587 performances
Elvis Meets Nixon
Dec 21 Elvis Presley meets US President Richard Nixon in the White House - the image of this meeting is the most requested photo from the entire National Archives
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- Dec 27 "Hello, Dolly!" closes at St James Theater NYC after 2844 performances
- Dec 28 "Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen" opens at Majestic NYC for 19 performances
- Dec 31 Paul McCartney files a lawsuit to dissolve The Beatles