- Jerry Garcia of Grateful Dead was born in San Francisco on August 1, 1942. 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.
- Bob Dylan talked about his upcoming new album Tempest. (Rolling Stone)
- The Stone Roses to release new studio album in 2013. (The Sun)
- Thom Yorke's Atoms For Peace unveil remix of the track Other Side - Stuck Together. (NME)
- Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was born near Horsham, West Sussex, England on August 4, 1792.
- Rick Derringer was born in Fort Recovery, Ohio on August 5, 1947. His band The McCoys recorded Hang on Sloopy in the summer of 1965 when he was 17 and it became a number one single.
- CERN physicist Tim Berners-Lee published the first website 21 years ago on August 6, 1991. (Wired)
- 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 in Woodland Hills, CA on August 11. He was 47.
- Les Paul died on 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 at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee on August 16, 1977.
- Singer Scott McKenzie was dead in Los Angeles on August 18. He is best known for his 1967 hit single San Francisco. (MSNBC)
- French impressionist artist Gustave Caillebotte was born on August 19, 1848.
- Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was born in Covington, Tennessee on August 20, 1942.
- Singer of Alice In Chains, Layne Staley, was born in Kirkland, Washington on August 22, 1967.
- Blues man John Lee Hooker was born in Mississippi on August 22, 1917.
- Songwriter Jerry Leiber died on August 22, 2011 at age 78. (LA Times)
- Keith Moon best known as the drummer of The Who was born in Middlesex, England on August 23, 1946.
- Scottish rocker Edwyn Collins was born on August 23, 1959.
- Stevie Ray Vaughn died in a helicopter crash in Eats Troy, Wisconsin on August 27, 1990.
- Hip-hop mogul Chris Lighty committed suicide on August 30. The 44 year old manager of Mariah Carey, Sean Diddy Combs and 50 Cent was found dead in his Bronx apartment with a gunshot wound to the head. (Spinner)
- Mary Shelley was born on Aug 30, 1797. Frankenstein was published in 1818. He's the wife of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.
- Ernest Rutherford was born in New Zealand on August 30, 1871. He is the father of nuclear physics.
