History Highlight:

Today in 2012, Etta James, most often remembered for her signature song "At Last" which reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B chart, died from complications of leukemia at age 73. She also placed nine other songs in the American Top 40, won three Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

Also, Today In:

1964 - The Beatles' debut U.S. album, Meet The Beatles, was released.

1965 - The Rolling Stones and The Kinks made their first appearance on ABC-TV's Shindig!.

1968 - Despite his supposed falling out with the New York-Cambridge folk singer circle, Bob Dylan joined Pete Seeger, Judy Collins, Arlo Guthrie, Odetta, Richie Havens, Ramblin' Jack Elliot and The Band in commemorating the late Woody Guthrie.

1979 - Eric Clapton peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with "Promises" which was Clapton's third top ten single as a solo artist in the U.S.

1980 - Pink Floyd's The Wall began a 15-week run as the No. 1 album on the U.S album chart.

1982 - Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off a bat during a concert at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines, IA. Osbourne thought it was a rubber bat, so he bit its head off and was taken to a hospital after the concert to undergo a rabies injection.

1983 - Def Leppard released their third album Pyromania which went on to reach No. 2 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart and sell ten million copies in the U.S.

1986 - Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder performed together at a concert in Washington, D.C. commemorating the first Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the U.S.

1988 - The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Bob Dylan and The Supremes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1994 - Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream was #20 on the Billboard album chart. It would go on to sell four million copies.

Birthdays:

Leadbelly (Huddi William Ledbetter), blues musician, who wrote "Goodnight Irene", "The Rock Island Line", and '"The Midnight Special" was born today in 1889.

Ron Townson of The 5th Dimension was born today in 1933.

Billy Powell, singer from The O'Jays, ("Love Train") was born today in 1942.

Ian Hill, bassist for Judas Priest, is 65 today.

Paul Stanley, singer and guitarist for Kiss, is 64 today.

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