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Here’s some events that happened on July 26:

July 26, 1969 – Johnny Cash released the single, ‘A Boy Named Sue’, a song written by Shel Silverstein. Cash was at the height of his popularity when he recorded the song live at California’s San Quentin State Prison at a concert on February 24, 1969. The song tells the tale of a young man’s quest for revenge on a father who abandoned him at 3 years of age and whose only contribution to his entire life was naming him Sue.

July 26, 1986 – Peter Gabriel went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Sledgehammer’, a No.4 hit in the UK. The song’s music video has won a number of awards, including a record nine MTV Awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards, and Best British Video at the 1987 Brit Awards. Gabriel was also nominated for three Grammy Awards. As of 2011, ‘Sledgehammer’ is the most played music video in the history of.

July 26, 2017 – A jury awarded Quincy Jones $9.4 million in royalties for the use of songs he produced in two Cirque du Soleil shows and the ‘This Is It’ documentary. Jones filed suit in 2013, asking for $30 million.

Guitar Center, Collective Media and DirectTV have partnered up for a new TV special with performances and conversations with some pretty damn good musicians.   The show will premier on August 21st on DirectTV’s The 101 Network at 9:00pm ET and will be filmed in front of a live audience.  The first up will be the great Peter Gabriel.  You can check out a preview here: Sessions

This sounds a little strange but coming from Peter Gabriel, I know it will have an interesting twist.  His new album “Scratch My Back” is due out on February 15th and will have orchestral covers from Neil Young, Radiohead, Arcade Fire, David Bowie and others.  After this album all the artists that he is covering will put out an album covering Gabriels songs on an album titled “I’ll Scratch Yours.”  Check out the track list.

“Heroes” (David Bowie)
“The Boy in the Bubble” (Paul Simon)
“Mirrorball” (Elbow)
“Flume” (Bon Iver)
“Listening Wind” (Talking Heads)
“The Power of the Heart” (Lou Reed)
“My Body Is a Cage” (The Arcade Fire)
“The Book of Love” (The Magnetic Fields)
“I Think It’s Going To Rain Today” (Randy Newman)
“Apres Moi” (Regina Spektor)
“Philadelphia” (Neil Young)
“Street Spirit” (Radiohead)

On February 15, 2010 Peter Gabriel is releasing a covers album called ‘Scratch My Back’ and was recorded only an orchestra and vocals.  Here’s the tracklisting

Heroes (David Bowie)
The Boy In The Bubble (Paul Simon)
Mirrorball (Elbow)
Flume (Bon Iver)
Listening Wind (Talking Heads)
The Power Of The Heart (Lou Reed)
My Body Is A Cage (Arcade Fire)
The Book Of Love (The Magnetic Fields)
I Think It’s Going To Rain Today (Randy Newman)
Apres Moi (Regina Spektor)
Philadelphia (Neil Young)
Street Spirit (Fade Out) (Radiohead)