In mid-1965, the City Of Angels was recovering from the pain and trauma of the Watts Rebellion, a series of violent riots that ravaged Watts, a predominantly Black neighborhood in South Los Angeles. 

The riots began after a minor traffic stop turned into a full-on melee between police officers and the surrounding crowd, which grew increasingly angrier by the cops' heavy use of force against those involved in the incident and innocent bystanders. The altercation sparked a six-day revolt, taking place Aug. 11-16, 1965, which would later become known as the Watts Rebellion, also known as the Watts riots and the Watts Uprising.

The riots made a severely detrimental impact on Watts: Involving some 34,000 people total, the uprising ultimately left 34 people dead, most of them Black citizens, and resulted in 1,032 injuries and 4,000 arrests. By the time the riots concluded, 1,000 buildings were destroyed, causing $40 million in damages. At one point, the Watts Rebellion was "the largest urban rebellion in the United States in the 1960s," according to BlackPast.org. 

Looking to recover from the violent episode, members of Watts and other Los Angeles-area communities wanted to focus on healing.

Enter the Watts Summer Festival, which GRAMMY.com explores in the inaugural episode of our newly launched History Of video series. 

Watch the debut episode below. 

Founded in 1966 by community activist and Watts native son Tommy Jacquette, the Watts Summer Festival launched as a celebration of Black heritage and culture. Self-described as "one of the positive outcomes of the 1965 Watts Revolt," the event is one of the earliest urban community festivals in Los Angeles. 

Throughout the decades, the festival has featured icons from the Black community, including U.S. Rep Maxine Waters, GRAMMY-nominated singer-songwriter Charles Wright, renowned funk drummer Frankie "Kash" Waddy (Parliament-Funkadelic, James Brown) and boxing legend and activist Muhammad Ali, the latter of whom served as the festival's grand marshal in 1967. (U.S. politician and activist Sargent Shriver, the founder of Peace Corps and the "architect" of the War On Poverty, was the festival's inaugural grand marshal in 1966.)

Muhammad Ali as grand marshal of the Watts Summer Festival parade in 1967 | Photo: John Malmin / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

In 1972, the Watts Summer Festival and founder Jacquette partnered with the seminal Stax Records to produce Wattstax, a benefit concert commemorating the seventh anniversary of the Watts Rebellion. Held at the massive Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Aug. 20, 1972, Wattstax featured a stacked lineup comprising the label's star acts, including The Staple Singers, Isaac Hayes, The Bar-Kays and others, as well as civil rights activist and politician Jesse Jackson who delivered his "I Am Somebody" speech. Known as the "Black Woodstock," attracting more than 100,000 mostly Black concertgoers, the Wattstax concert produced the double-LP album, Wattstax: The Living Word, and the Golden Globe-nominated documentary, Wattstax, both of which were released in 1973.

U.S. poster art for Wattstax documentary (1973) | Photo: LMPC via Getty Images

To this day, the Watts Summer Festival continues to honor the history and culture that make the Black experience unique and special. The event's regular activities and attractions, which include dancers, arts and crafts booths, musical acts and informational displays, spotlight the African, African American and wider Black diaspora. The event also features the beloved festival parade and the Miss Watts Beauty Pageant.

Still held annually on the second weekend of August, the anniversary of the Watts Rebellion, the Watts Summer Festival, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2016, remains a beacon of hope and a celebratory relic for a community that proudly rose from the ashes and continues to prosper. 

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Record Store Day 2019 will arrive on April 13 and this year's RSD Ambassadors are Pearl Jam. Past ambassadors include Dave Grohl, Metallica, Run The Jewels (Killer Mike and El-P), and 61st GRAMMY Awards winner for Best Rock Song St. Vincent.

McCready was also the 2018 recipient of MusiCares' Stevie Ray Vaughan Award. 

The band was formed in 1990 by McCready, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, and Eddie Vedder, and they have played with drummer Matt Cameron since 2002. They have had five albums reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and four albums reach No. 2.

"Pearl Jam is honored to be Record Store Day's Ambassador for 2019. Independent record stores are hugely important to me," Pearl Jam's Mike McCready said in a statement publicizing the peak-vinyl event. "Support every independent record store that you can. They're really a good part of society. Know if you love music, this is the place to find it."

With a dozen GRAMMY nominations to date, Pearl Jam's sole win so far was at the 38th GRAMMY Awards for "Spin The Black Circle" for Best Hard Rock Performance.

Pearl Jam will be performing on March 3 in Tempe, Ariz. at the Innings festival, on June 15 in Florence, Italy at the Firenze Rocks Festival and at another festival in Barolo, Italy on June 17. On July 6 Pearl Jam will headline London's Wembley Stadium.

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There's big news today for punk-rock fans aware that the Misfits made much more than just T-shirts.

The massively influential punk band announced a special show touted as the "only 2017 performance in this world… or any world" and billed as "The Original Misfits" in Los Angeles at the Forum on Dec. 30.

This will be the first Misfits show featuring original singer Glenn Danzig and original bassist Jerry Only with long-time guitarist Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein since the band reunited for a pair of Riot Fest appearances in Chicago and Denver in 2016. Last year's Riot Fest gigs, which featured drummer Dave Lombardo, marked the first time in 33 years the original Misfits members played together.

"OK Los Angeles, you've waited almost 35 years for this, here's your chance to see the "Original Misfits" in this Exclusive L.A. only performance." said Glenn Danzig. "No Tour, No BS, just one night of dark metal-punk hardcore brutality that will go down in the history books. See you there."

Tickets for this "one night only" show go on sale Friday, August 25.

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On Oct. 10 Lady Gaga announced she is devoting her $1 million donation in support of those impacted by the recent hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico and the earthquakes in Mexico, to a specific cause — the mental and emotional well being of children and youth.

Gaga announced on her Born This Way Foundation website she will support Save the Children’s Journey of Hope program, which uses a variety of tools to help young people deal with trauma in the wake of natural disasters.

"Through a curriculum that includes cooperative play, discussion, art, meditation, and mindfulness practices, young people learn to recognize and understand their emotions and develop healthy coping skills," Gaga wrote. "Tens of thousands of youth have benefited from the program since it’s development in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and Save the Children is working to bring it to hundreds of thousands more in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico."

The announcement came on World Mental Health Day, and the Fame Monster has invited all of us to step up and consider making a contribution to the Journey of Hope program to support to mental and emotional needs of children.

"Mental health is just as vital to our wellbeing as physical health. That’s true for each of us, everyday, but it’s especially important for those coping with disaster and recovering from trauma," wrote Lady Gaga. "We must do everything within our power to support the full, vibrant recovery of these communities, from meeting their immediate needs to helping them to rebuild sustainably."

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The 2020 GRAMMYs are just around the corner, and now the nominations are in for the coveted honor of Best Rap Album. While we'll have to wait until the 62nd GRAMMY Awards air on CBS on Jan. 26 to find out who will win, let's take a look at which albums have been nominated for Best Rap Album.

Revenge of the Dreamers III – Dreamville                                                                        

Dreamers III, the third installment in the label’s Revenge of the Dreamers compilation series, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and achieved gold status this past July. In addition to a Best Rap Album nod, Dreamers III is also nominated for Best Rap Performance next year for album track “Down Bad,” featuring J.I.D, Bas, J. Cole, EARTHGANG, and Young Nudy.

Championships – Meek Mill

In many ways, Championships represents a literal and metaphorical homecoming for Meek Mill. Released in November 2018, Championships is the Philadelphia rapper’s first artist album following a two-year prison sentence he served after violating his parole in 2017. Championships, naturally, sees Meek tackling social justice issues stemming from his prison experience, including criminal justice reform. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, his second chart-topper following 2015’s Dreams Worth More Than Money, and reached platinum status in June 2019. Meek Mill's 2020 Best Rap Album nod marks his first-ever GRAMMY nomination.

i am > i was – 21 Savage

Breakout rapper and four-time GRAMMY nominee 21 Savage dropped i am > i was, his second solo artist album, at the end of 2018. The guest-heavy album, which features contributions from Post Malone, Childish Gambino, J. Cole, and many others, has since charted around the world, topped the Billboard 200 – a first for the artist – in the beginning of 2019, and achieved gold status in the U.S. As well, nine songs out of the album’s 15 original tracks landed on the Hot 100 chart, including multi-platinum lead single “A Lot,” which is also nominated for Best Rap Song next year. 21 Savage’s 2020 Best Rap Album nomination, which follows Record of the Year and Best Rap/Sung Performance nods for his 2017 Post Malone collaboration, "Rockstar,” marks his first solo recognition in the top rap category.

IGOR – Tyler, The Creator

The eccentric Tyler, The Creator kicked off a massive 2019 with his mid-year album, IGOR. Released this past May, IGOR, Tyler’s fifth solo artist album, is his most commercially successful project to date. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, marking his first time topping the coveted chart, while its lead single, "Earfquake,” peaked at No. 13, his highest entry on the Hot 100. Produced in full by Tyler and featuring guest spots from fellow rap and R&B stars Kanye West, Lil Uzi Vert, Solange, and Playboi Carti, among many others, IGOR follows the rapper’s 2017 album, Flower Boy, which received the Best Rap Album nod that same year.

The Lost Boy – YBN Cordae

Emerging rapper YBN Cordae, a member of the breakout YBN rap collective, released his debut album, The Lost Boy, to widespread critical acclaim this past July. The 15-track release is stacked with major collaborations with hip-hop heavyweights, including Anderson .Paak, Pusha T, Meek Mill, and others, plus production work from J. Cole and vocals from Quincy Jones. After peaking at No. 13 on the Billboard 200, The Lost Boy now notches two 2020 GRAMMY nominations: Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song for album track “Bad Idea,” featuring Chance the Rapper.