12 February –Anna Moffo collapses onstage at Covent Garden (London) in the first act ofRigoletto, and her part is taken over, after a delay of 45 minutes, by Welsh soprano Elizabeth Vaughan.
Wax likenesses ofThe Beatles are put on display in London'sMadame Tussauds Wax Museum. The Beatles are the first pop stars to be displayed at the museum.
11 April – The Beatles hold 14 positions on theBillboard Hot 100 chart. Previously, the highest number of concurrent singles by one artist on the Hot 100 was nine byElvis Presley, December 19, 1956.
June – During a performance at the Railway,Pete Townshend ofThe Who accidentally breaks the head of his guitar on the low ceiling above the stage. This incident marks the start ofauto-destructive art by destroying guitars and drums on stage.
3 July – With their new managerPeter Meaden,The Who release their first single "Zoot Suit"/"I'm the Face" under the band name 'The High Numbers' in an attempt to appeal to a mod audience. It fails to reach the top 50 and the band reverts to calling themselves The Who.
8 August – ARolling Stones gig atScheveningen in the Netherlands gets out of control. Riot police end the gig after about fifteen minutes, upon which spectators start to fight the riot police.[11]
24 December –The Beatles gain the Christmas number one for the second year running with "I Feel Fine", which has topped the singles charts for the third week running. The Beatles have now had six number one singles in the UK alone.[15]
December – SirJohn Barbirolli records Elgar'sThe Dream of Gerontius withJanet Baker as the Angel. The first stereophonic recording of the work, it remains in the catalogues continuously following its first release.[16]
^Reed, Philip; Cooke, Mervyn, eds. (2010).Letters From A Life: The Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten, Vol. 5 1958–1965. Boydell Press.ISBN978-1-84383-591-2., p. 570
