The Savoy Hotel in London played host to the 1970 Melody Maker Poll Awards, where Led Zeppelin displaced the Beatles in the most popular group category. (The first time the Beatles had not been ranked #1 in eight years). Robert Plant was also voted best male vocalist.

John Bonham and Robert Plant make a rare appearance on TV, interviewed for BBC's Nationwide.

Melody Maker stopped publication in December, 2000 after seventy-three years.

The Ford Motor Company becomes the first auto maker to offer an 8-track tape player as an option in their Mustang, Thunderbird and Lincoln models. Tapes were initially only available at auto parts stores, as home 8-track equipment was still a year away. The format's popularity declined in the 1980s, although Cheap Trick's "The Latest" was issued on 8-track in 2009, as was Dolly Parton's "A Holly Dolly Christmas" in 2020.

Big Brother And The Holding Company's LP, "Cheap Thrills" enters the Billboard 200, where it will stay for twenty-nine weeks, including eight at #1. The album would later be inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame and was ranked at #372 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time in 2020

Peter Frampton's fourth solo album, "Frampton", goes Gold. It's his commercial breakthrough LP containing the hits "Show Me the Way" and "Baby I Love Your Way".

Pink Floyd issue their ninth studio album, "Wish You Were Here". Most of the LP is taken up by "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", a nine-part tribute to founding member Syd Barrett, who left the band seven years earlier due to mental health issues. With advance sales of 250,000 in Great Britain and 900,000 in America, it would top the charts in both countries, becoming Pink Floyd's fastest-selling album ever.

Police are called to break up a crowd of rowdy teenagers following the showing of the film Rock Around The Clock at the Trocadero Cinema in London, England. The following day, The Times prints a reader's letter that says in part: "The hypnotic rhythm and the wild gestures have a maddening effect on a rhythm loving age group, and the result of its impact is the relaxing of all self control." The film is quickly banned in several English cities.

Guns N' Roses enjoyed a number one single with "Sweet Child O' Mine", written for Axl Rose's then girlfriend, Erin Everly, the daughter of The Everly Brothers' eldest sibling, Don Everly.

An episode of the American TV show Judge Judy airs in which Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten (nee Lydon) appears as the defendant in a case involving drummer Robbie Williams, who sues Rotten for wrongful termination from a recent tour. Williams had claimed that the Sex Pistols owed him $7,000. Rotten said Williams quit and was owed nothing. Judge Judy apparently found Rotten was most credible and ruled in his favor.

The Allman Brothers started a five week run at the top of the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart with "Brothers And Sisters", the group's only US #1 LP. Led by the single, "Ramblin' Man", the album sold 760,000 copies in its first three weeks.

The Guess Who play their final concert at a show in Montreal. Core members Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman would return for another tour in 1987. As time went on, a deep rift would develop between Cummings and drummer Garry Peterson, who continued to use the band's name with new players. In 2023, Cummings and Bachman would file a lawsuit to keep Peterson from using their images in ads and posters.

Jimi Hendrix makes his last major concert appearance at the Love and Peace Festival in Puttgarden, Germany. He would pass away under somewhat mysterious circumstances on September 18th, 1970

The Rolling Stones fly to Los Angeles to record "Get Off My Cloud". In a later interview, Keith Richards would say "I never dug it as a record. The chorus was a nice idea, but we rushed it as the follow-up" (to "Satisfaction").

John Lennon and Yoko Ono appear on Jerry Lewis' Muscular Dystrophy Telethon. Lewis introduced the pair by saying, "... two of the most unusual people in all the world, and I don't mean just in the world of entertainment. They fit no patterns, meet no standards except the standard of excellence. Ladies and gentlemen, John Lennon and Yoko." From the Hotel Americana in New York City, John and the Elephant's Memory band performed "Imagine", followed by Yoko singing her new song "Now or Never". The ensemble wrapped things up with a Reggae version of "Give Peace a Chance", on which Jerry Lewis joined in on trumpet.

Donovan enjoyed his only US number one hit, "Sunshine Superman", which featured then Yardbird and future Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. The single wouldn't be released in the UK for another five months, but when it was, it rose to number 3

The Beatles release "Yesterday", on which only Paul is actually playing. Although it was nominated for Song of the Year at the 1966 Grammy Awards, it lost out to Tony Bennett's "The Shadow of Your Smile". More than 2,500 cover versions of "Yesterday" exist, making it one of the most recorded songs in history. In 2012, the BBC reported that it was the fourth-most-successful song of all time in terms of royalties paid, having earned a total of £19.5 million in payments.

The Rock group Blondie, featuring former Playboy Bunny Debra Harry, sign their first major record company contract with Chrysalis Records.

The Rolling Stones release the LP "Goats Head Soup" on their own Rolling Stones label. The album, which climbed to the peak of the charts in both America and England, features the single, "Angie" which topped the Billboard Hot 100 and went to #5 on the UK's Official Chart

The three-day Texas International Pop Festival opens at the Dallas International Motor Speedway. Performers included Chicago Transit Authority, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin and Santana.

Monument Records releases Rob Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman". It will hit Billboard's number one spot just four weeks later and reach the Top Ten in fifteen other countries. The RIAA would later award songwriters Roy Orbison and Bill Dees a Gold Record for selling one million copies in the United States.