History Highlight:

Today in 1957, Jerry Lee Lewis made his TV debut on The Steve Allen Show. On the show, he played "Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On" and showcased some of the moves he was known for - slamming on the keys, aggressively head banging and kicking the piano bench away. With the nickname "The Killer" and known as "rock & roll's first great wild man", Lewis's "Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On" skyrocketed him to fame, and he followed up the song with hits "Great Balls of Fire", "Breathless" and "High School Confidential". However, Lewis's rock and roll career faltered in the wake of his marriage to his 13-year-old cousin when he was 22 years old and he had little success in the charts following the scandal.

Also, Today In:

1954 - The first press interview with Elvis Presley, aged 19 at the time, was published in the Memphis Press-Scimitar.

1969 - Police in Moscow reported that thousands of public phone booths had been vandalized after thieves were stealing parts of the phones to convert their acoustic guitars to electric. A feature in a Russian youth magazine had shown details on how to do this.

1970 - The Australian western film Ned Kelly opened; it marked Mick Jagger's acting debut.

1973 - More than 600,000 people turned out to see the Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers Band and others in concert at the Summer Jam festival in Watkins Glen, N.Y.

1987 - The surviving members of The Beatles, together with Yoko Ono, sued Nike and Capitol Records over the use of "Revolution" in a sneaker commercial.

1992 - Rapper Ice T announced that Warner Brothers Records would pull the controversial song "Cop Killer" from all future copies of his Body Count album. The song had been the target of protests by law enforcement groups who said it encouraged the killing of police. Ice T said he would give away recordings of "Cop Killer" at his concerts. Ice T would later join the cast of the NBC police drama, Law and Order, where he plays the role of police detective Odafin "Fin" Tutuola.

1993 - Natalie Merchant sang for the last time with 10,000 Maniacs before embarking on a solo career.

2006 - Prince's second wife Manuela Testolini Nelson filed for divorce. His first marriage, to dancer Mayte Garcia, took place in 1996 but only lasted two years.

2011 - Meatloaf passed out onstage at Pittsburgh's Trib Amphitheater during an apparent asthma attack. After about 10 minutes, he was able to breathe normally again and was able to finish the show.

Birthdays:

Pink Floyd keyboardist and vocalist Rick Wright was born today in 1945.

Singer-songwriter Jonathan Edwards was born today in 1946.

Pulp drummer Nick Banks is 50.

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