July 26 in Music History: Jimi Hendrix plays his last hometown show, The Clash release their self-titled album in the US

1968 – The Jackson 5 sign a one-year contract with Motown Records.

1968 – The Rolling Stones album Beggar’s Banquet is scheduled for release, but withdrawn by their label (Decca) over concerns with the album cover, which shows a toilet covered in graffiti. The album is later released with a picture of an invitation on the cover.

1970 – Jimi Hendrix plays his home town of Seattle for the last time, at Sicks Stadium.

1976 – After endless touring and recording as well as various addictions tearing the band apart, Three Dog Night plays their last concert in San Francisco, CA. The group will reunite in 1981, but the reunion will be short-lived.

1977 – While touring the US with Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant learns that his 5-year-old son Karac has unexpectedly died of a respiratory illness. The tour abruptly ends, and Led Zeppelin never tours the United States again.

1979 – The Clash release what was their their self-titled UK debut album as their sophomore album in the US.

1994 – Ani DiFranco releases Out of Range.

2000 – The file-sharing service Napster is ordered by a US federal judge to cease trading copyrighted music files in the next 48 hours.

Information for this post was gathered from This Day in Music, The Music History Calendar, On This Day, and Wikipedia.