Music Almanac: July 16
- 1933 - Sollie McElroy (Flamingos) (d. 1995)
- 1938 - Tony Jackson (Searchers) (d. 2003)
- 1941 - Desmond Dekker (d. 2006)
- 1944 - Tom Boggs (Box Tops) (d. 2008)
- 1948 - Rubén Blades (6a)
- 1949 - Alan Fitzgerald (Montrose, Night Ranger) (63)
- 1949 - Ray Major (Mott the Hoople) (63)
- 1952 - Stewart Copeland (Police) (60)
- 1971 - Ed Kowalczyk (Live) (41)
- 1974 - Jeremy Enigk (Sunny Day Real Estate) (38)
- 1978 - TJ (born Tito Jackson) (3T) (34)
Deaths
- 1981 - Harry Chapin - Car accident (38)
- 1996 - John Panozzo (Styx) - Cirrhosis of the liver and gastrointestinal hemorrhaging (47)
- 2003 - Celia Cruz - Brain cancer (78)
- 2008 - Jo Stafford - Congestive heart failure (90)
- 1962 - The Beach Boys signed with Capitol Records.
- 1966 - Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker formed Cream.
- 1967 - The lineup for this year's Newport Folk Festival included Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, Janis Ian, Leonard Cohen, Tom Paxton and Eric Anderson.
- 1968 - The Fillmore West reopens in the former Carousel Ballroom in San Francisco. Bill Brother & the Holding Company and Sly and the Family Stone play opening night.
- 1972 - Smokey Robinson appeared for the last time with the Miracles in Washington, DC.
- 1976 - Loggins and Messina announce they are breaking up.
- 1976 - The Allman Brothers Band splits up.
- 1980 - The documentary No Nukes premiers in New York.
- 1984 - Roger Waters opened his Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking Tour in Stockholm, Sweden.
- 1989 - Tom Jones lost a paternity suit in New York and was ordered to pay child support to 27-year-old Katherine Berkery.
- 1991 - Miles Davis is knighted in France.
- 1992 - Charlie Watts walked off of the Late Show with David Letterman after having a disagreement with a producer.
- 1993 - A drug possession charge against members of Guns N' Roses is thrown out of a Buenos Aires court when its discovered that the illegal pills were just vitamins.
- 1995 - Queen Latifah was in a car that was car-jacked with her bodyguard shot and wounded.
- 1995 - Wayne Osmond of the Osmonds had surgery for a brain tumor.
- 2000 - The Spice Girls, the Coors and the Manic Street Preachers were among the artists to sign a petition to the European Commission to end piracy on the internet.
- 2002 - Buckcherry breaks up after lead Joshua Todd quits.
- 2002 - A 26-year-old woman is killed after falling 30 feet during a Fatboy Slim show in Brighton, England.
- 2003 - The reunited Duran Duran play their first American show in Orange County, CA.
- 2003 - Santana ends their Supernatural Tour and donates $2 million to fight AIDS in South Africa.
- 2003 - Chrissie Hynde is arrested while blocking a Paris street with other members of PITA, protesting a Kentucky Fried Chicken.
- 2009 - Two stage workers were killed while assembling the stage for a Madonna concert in France.
Recorded
- 1959 - Poison Ivy - Coasters
- 1963 - Catch a Wave and In My Room - Beach Boys
- 1967 - (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher - Jackie Wilson
- 1969 - Okie From Muskogee - Merle Haggard
- 1966 - Summer in the City - Lovin' Spoonful (single)
- 1969 - I'm Free - Who (single)
- 1971 - Acquiring the Taste - Gentle Giant
- 1973 - Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (soundtrack) - Bob Dylan
- 1974 - On the Beach - Neil Young
- 1982 - The Envoy - Warren Zevon
- 1983 - Kill 'em All - Metallica
- 2002 - Busted Stuff - Dave Matthews Band
Broadcasts
- 1958 - American Bandstand - Johnny Hartman, Big Beats
- 1959 - American Bandstand - Kenny Loran
- 1962 - American Bandstand - Freddie Cannon
- 1965 - Where the Action Is - Bobby Rydell, Steve Alaimo, Paul Revere & the Raiders
- 1966 - American Bandstand - Kelly Garrett, Danny Hutton
- 1969 - Dick Cavett Show - Janis Joplin
- 1969 - Tonight Show - Diana Ross & the Supremes (guest host)
- 1976 - Midnight Special - Helen Reddy (host), Elvin Bishop, B.B. King, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Flora Purim, Tribute to Harry Chapin
- 1977 - American Bandstand - Joe Tex
- 1999 - Today Show - Beach Boys
Number Ones – U.S. Singles
- 1966 - Hanky Panky - Tommy James & the Shondells (2 weeks)
- 1977 - Da Doo Ron Ron - Shaun Cassidy (1 week)
- 1977 - Barry Manilow Live - Barry Manilow (1 week)
- 1994 - The Lion King - Soundtrack (9 weeks)
- 2005 - Somewhere Down in Texas - George Strait (1 week)
Number Ones – U.S. R&B Singles
- 1977 - Easy - Commodores (1 week)
- 1988 - Roses Are Red - The Mac Band Featuring the McCampbell Brothers (1 week)
Number Ones – U.S. Country Singles
- 1955 - I Don't Care - Webb Pierce (12 weeks)
- 1977 - It Was Almost Like a Song - Ronnie Milsap (3 weeks)
- 1983 - The Closer You Get - Alabama (1 week)
- 1988 - If You Change Your Mind - Rosanne Cash (1 week)
- 1994 - Foolish Pride - Travis Tritt (1 week)
Number Ones – U.K. Singles
- 1964 - It's All Over Now - Rolling Stones (1 week)
- 2000 - Live is a Rollercoaster - Ronan Keating (1 week)
- 1977 - The Johnny Mathis Collection - Johnny Mathis (4 weeks)
- 1994 - Music For the Jilted Generation - Prodigy (1 week)
- 2000 - Parachutes - Coldplay (1 week)