This Day in Top 40 History: August 4

Breakthrough Hits and Milestones

• 1984: Purple Rain, Prince's soundtrack to the movie of the same name, reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200, where it stayed for 24 consecutive weeks. It remains one of the best-selling soundtracks ever, with over 25 million copies sold worldwide.
• 1987: The album Dirty Dancing: Original Soundtrack was released. It included the hit singles "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" and "Hungry Eyes." The album spent 18 weeks at the top of the album charts.
• 1990: Mariah Carey's debut single “Vision of Love” started a four-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single received three GRAMMY Award nominations and won the award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Cultural Milestones

• 1901: Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans. Armstrong had multiple chart-topping songs during his career as a jazz musician, including "Hello, Dolly!" and "What a Wonderful World."
• 1958: The Billboard Hot 100 chart was introduced. Ricky Nelson became the first artist to have a song hit No. 1 on this singles chart with "Poor Little Fool."
• 1972: Michael Jackson released his single "Ben," which was part of the soundtrack for the movie of the same name. It was Jackson's first solo song to reach No. 1 on the charts.
• 1984: Phil Collins and Jill Tavelman got married. However, like the “I Wish It Would Rain Down” hitmaker's first marriage, this union didn't last. Collins and Tavelman divorced in 1996. They share one daughter, Lily Collins, known for playing the lead role in shows such as Emily in Paris and The Last Tycoon.
• 1988: Tom Parker was born in Bolton, England. He started playing the guitar at 16 and then took his chance on the X Factor. When Parker was rejected, he went back to school, unaware that he would join one of the most successful boy bands worldwide. Parker was a member of The Wanted, whose “Glad You Came” hit No. 1 on Billboard's Pop Airplay Chart and reached No. 3 on the Hot 100. Unfortunately, he died of brain cancer at 33. 
• 1994: The Notorious B.I.G., also known as Biggie Smalls, and “Love Like This” singer Faith Evans tied the knot, barely two weeks after their paths crossed during a Bad Boy Records photoshoot. The pair remained together until the “Hypnotize” singer was murdered in March 1997. After Biggie Smalls' death, Evans found love again, with her second and third husbands, Todd Russaw and Stevie J, respectively. She divorced both of them, though. 

Notable Recordings and Performances

• 1980: John Lennon and Yoko Ono began recording Double Fantasy in New York after a five-year hiatus. The album was released just a few months before John Lennon's untimely death — it went on to chart at No. 1 and won the GRAMMY for Album of the Year.
• 2010: Paramore brought the crowd to its feet at the Festival Pier at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they sang “My Only Exception,” “Decode,” “Let the Flames Begin,” and other songs. They were on the Honda Civic Tour, which prompted fans to go green and featured supporting acts such as Tegan and Sara. 
• 2017: Short n' Sweet artist Sabrina Carpenter performed at The Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater in Florida. Her setlist for this concert featured 18 tracks, including “Feels Like Loneliness,” “Can't Blame a Girl for Trying,” “All We Have Is Love,” and “Mirage.” Notably, Carpenter was on The De-Tour summer tour that featured more than 30 dates across North America. 
• 2024: Lollapalooza 2024 concluded on this day, with headliners including SZA, Megan Thee Stallion, Blink-182, and Hozier performing over the music festival's four days.

Industry Changes and Challenges

• 1975: Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin was involved in a car accident in Rhodes, Greece, along with his family. While the “Tall Cool One” singer and his wife suffered serious injuries that included fractured bones, their kids, Carmen and Karac, sustained minor bruises. After this incident, Led Zeppelin was forced to cancel the North American tour to give Plant time to recover. Unfortunately, the latter would lose his son Karac two years later while the band toured in the U.S.
• 1990: During a New Kids On the Block concert in Canada, armed robbers broke into the stadium, threatened employees who were counting the money, and stole the proceeds from the band's souvenir sales.
• 2007: Lee Hazlewood died at 78 due to the complications of renal cancer. He produced and wrote Nancy Sinatra's first No. 1 hit in both the U.K. and the U.S., "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'." Their collaboration led to the making of several other successful singles, including “You Only Live Twice” and “Did You Ever,” both of which broke into the Top 20 in the U.K.
• 2011: After performing at a Wiz Khalifa concert in Lewiston, New York, Big Sean was arrested on charges of sexual assault. The “Bounce Back” hitmaker was released later on $500 bail, but the case remained active as the prosecutors investigated the allegations. In October of the same year, the sex abuse charges were dropped after Sean pleaded guilty to second-degree unlawful imprisonment and paid a $750 fine. 
• 2021: Forbes reported that Rihanna was the world's wealthiest female musician. Her net worth came from a combination of proceeds from her music career and her entrepreneurial pursuits in makeup and fashion.