This Day in Top 40 History: February 4

Breakthrough Hits and Milestones

• 1966: The Rolling Stones release "19th Nervous Breakdown" in the UK after releasing it in the U.S., reaching No. 2 on both charts. 
• 1984: Culture Club begins a three-week at No. 1 run of the finger-snapping "Karma Chameleon." This song also hit #1 on the UK charts.
• 1986: Janet Jackson released her third studio album, Control. It would become her first record to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. This project also enabled her to score at least five Top 40 singles in the U.S., including the title track and “When I Think of You,” her first No. 1 single.
• 1992: Sir Mix-a-Lot dropped his third album, Mack Daddy. It peaked at No. 9 in the U.S. and earned him a GRAMMY Award in 1993. In addition, it produced Sir Mix-a-Lot's only No. 1 hit on the Hot 100, “Baby Got Back.” The album's “One Time's Got No Case” reached No. 10 on the Hot Rap Songs chart.
• 1997: The Offspring released their fourth studio LP, Ixnay on the Hombre. It landed in the Top 10 in the U.S. and spawned “Gone Away” and “I Choose,” which reached No. 1 and No. 5 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. 
• 2024: Taylor Swift's Midnights wins Album of the Year GRAMMY. This win gave Swift her fourth Album of the Year Grammy.

Cultural Milestones

• 1941: John Steel was born in Gateshead, England. Most people recognize him as a founding member and the drummer of the Animals, who have placed at least 15 Top 40 hits on the UK Singles Chart, including “House of the Rising Sun,” which hit No. 1, “Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood,” and “We Gotta Get Out of This Place.”
• 1959: After the death of Buddy Holly and Richie Valens in 1959, musical artists Frankie Avalon, Fabian, and Jimmy Clanton replaced the artists as headliners for the Winter Dance Party tour.
• 1977: Gavin DeGraw was born in South Fallsburg, New York. He is best known for his single “I Don't Want to Be,” which stalled at No. 10 on Billboard's Hot 100. The song also served as One Tree Hill's theme song. DeGraw's Top 40 hits features “Not Over You” and “In Love With a Girl,” too.
• 2008: Members of the Grateful Dead hold a benefit concert to support presidential candidate Barack Obama, who became the nation's first Black president.
• 2016: Prince Charles knighted Van Morrison at Buckingham Palace, making him Sir George Ivan Morrison. This honor appreciated the “Domino” singer's contributions to music in Northern Ireland. With it, he joined the long list of artists who have been knighted, such as Paul McCartney, Elton John, and Mick Jagger.
• 2020: Stevie Wonder sings "Happy Birthday" to activist Rosa Parks on her 89th birthday and to honor the premier of her movie, The Rosa Parks Story.
• 2016: Prince Charles knighted Van Morrison at Buckingham Palace, making him Sir George Ivan Morrison. This honor appreciated the “Domino” singer's contributions to music in Northern Ireland. With it, he joined the long list of artists who have been knighted, such as Paul McCartney, Elton John, and Mick Jagger.

Notable Recordings and Performances

• 1966: Bob Dylan performs in Louisville, Kentucky, on his first stop of a world tour. He would use all-electric instruments during this tour for the first time.
• 1968: The Beatles invited two young female fans to help with vocals on the song "Across the Universe" recorded at Abbey Road studios in London, England. NASA beamed this song into space in 2008.
• 2017: At Birmingham's Genting Arena, Black Sabbath played Paranoid,” “War Pigs,” and other hits during the final show of their farewell tour. The lineup featured founding members of the band, including Geezer Butler and Ozzy Osbourne. 
• 2025: Drake hit it out of the park at Perth's RAC Arena in Australia. This marked the beginning of his Anita Max Win Tour, which revolved around Anita Max Win, his online gambling alter ego. The setlist for this event featured hits such as “Hotline Bling” and “God's Plan.” It's worth mentioning that the Canadian singer postponed the tour later that month, citing scheduling conflicts. 

Industry Changes and Challenges

• 1983: Karen Carpenter of the group The Carpenters dies from complications of anorexia. Some believe the pressure of image looks and weight can have a detrimental, and often fatal, impact on stars and performers.
• 1999: Rykodisc became the first major independent music label to adopt the MP3 format. On the same day, the company also announced that it had partnered with GoodNoise to distribute 170+ songs from its catalog, which featured Top 40 artists such as David Bowie and Elvis Costello.
• 2008: John Mellencamp accused a presidential nominee of using their music at a campaign rally without the artist's authorization. Other artists have also had their music played without authorization at a campaign rally.
• 2010: A flute riff on the song "Down Under" by the Australian band Men at Work plagiarized a 1932 classic song, "Kookaburra."
• 2021: Los Angeles native Nolan Porter died in his home at 71. Among his most notable hits was “If I Could Only Be Sure,” which cracked the Top 30 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart. Notably, Porter stopped recording songs in the early 1970s, but continued performing at nightclubs in California and other parts of the world.