Birthday Highlight:

Neil Young is 70 today. Born in Toronto in 1945, Young began performing in a group in Winnipeg before he moved to California in 1966, where he co-founded the band Buffalo Springfield together with Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. In 1969, Young joined Crosby, Stills & Nash — which consequently earned the group its other moniker, Crosby Stills Nash and Young. As a solo artist, Neil Young released his first album in 1968 and has since forged a successful and acclaimed career that spans more than 45 years and 35 studio albums, with a continuous and uncompromising exploration of musical styles. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website describes Young as "one of rock and roll's greatest songwriters and performers." He was inducted into the Hall of Fame twice: as a solo artist in 1995 and as a member of Buffalo Springfield in 1997.

Also, Today In:

1962 - The Beatles appeared at the Star Club, Hamburg, Germany, sharing the bill with Little Richard.

1966 - The Monkees debut album started a 13-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart, selling over 3 million copies in three months.

1970 - In New Orleans, The Doors performed what would be their last show with Jim Morrison. The surviving members of the band recalled Morrison seemingly losing all of his energy as their final concert together came to a close.

1983 - Lionel Richie started a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "All Night Long." The song became Motown's biggest seller to date.

1984 - Madonna released her Like A Virgin album.

1988 - U2 started a six-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with their sixth studio album, Rattle And Hum, which went on to sell more than 14 million copies.

1990 - Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood broke both his legs after his car crashed on an expressway in England. Wood was trying to wave other cars past his when he was run over.

2000 - Destiny's Child started an 11-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Independent Women Part 1."

2002 - Die-hard Beatles fans were enraged after Paul McCartney altered the song writing credits on his Back In The US 2002 album, changing them to "McCartney/Lennon" from the original "Lennon/McCartney."

2004 - The funeral of legendary BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel (who was an inspiration to The Current's own Mark Wheat) took place at St. Edmundsbury Cathedral in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England. Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey and The White Stripes were among the mourners, and Sir Elton John left a wreath of yellow roses.

2014 - After a high-profile move by Taylor Swift to pull her entire back catalogue from the song-streaming service Spotify, the company's chief executive Daniel Ek defended its business model, saying it had paid out $2 billion to the music industry to that date.

More Birthdays:

Booker T. Jones is 71.

Blue Öyster Cult guitarist Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser is 68.

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, and Wikipedia.

Related

• Neil Young - official site