- Jerry Garcia of Grateful Dead was born on August 1, 1942 in San Francisco, California. He was inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Grateful Dead in 1994. He died of a heart attack on August 9, 1995.
- Death Cab for Cutie announce fall tour to promote new album Codes and Keys. http://is.gd/aMRni0
- Kings of Leon cancel their remaining tour following singer Caleb Followill's heat exhaustion episode on July 29.
- Rick Derringer was born on August 5, 1947 in Fort Recovery, Ohio. His band The McCoys recorded "Hang on Sloopy" in the summer of 1965 when he was seventeen and it became a number one single.
- CERN physicist Tim Berners-Lee published the first website twenty years ago on August 6, 1991. http://info.cern.ch/ http://is.gd/AkxYHQ
- John Lennon was quoted saying "The Beatles are more popular than Jesus" in an interview with Datebook magazine. The remark caused an uproar in August 1966 and prompted protesters burned The Beatles records and radio stations banned their music. Lennon later apologized for his statement in a Chicago press conference on August 11.
- Jani Lane, former frontman of Warrant, was found dead on August 11 in Woodland Hills, CA. He was 47.
- Les Paul June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009.
- Larry Graham, the bass player of Sly & the Family Stone, was born on August 14, 1946.
- Woodstock Festival was held in White Lake, New York from August 15 to August 18, 1969. The three-day peace and music fair include rock n' roll's most memorable performances from Joan Baez, Santana, Janis Joplin, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, The Band, Crosby Still Nash & Young, and Jimi Hendrix.
- Elvis Presley died on August 16, 1977 at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee.
- Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was born on August 20, 1942 in Covington, Tennessee. (deceased August 10, 2008)
- Blues man John Lee Hooker was born on August 22, 1917 in Mississippi. (deceased June 21, 2001)
- Songwriter Jerry Leiber died on August 22 at age 78. http://is.gd/FMGhvN
- Keith Moon best known as the drummer of The Who was born on August 23, 1946 in Middlesex, England. (deceased September 7, 1978)
- Stevie Ray Vaughn died in a helicopter crash on August 27, 1990 in Eats Troy, Wisconsin.
- Red Hot Chili Peppers set to release tenth studio album I'm With You with a new guitarist, Josh Klinghoffer, on August 30. http://is.gd/9frcvh
- Mary Shelley was born on Aug 30, 1797. Frankenstein was published in 1818.
- David Bowie's Space Oddity turns into a children's book by Andrew Kolb. http://kolbisneat.com/spaceoddity.htm http://is.gd/3J5yQZ
- The Beach Boys' lost record The Smile Sessions is set to be officially released for the first time on November 1st. http://is.gd/BbmDah
