History Highlight:

Today in 1985, the first Farm Aid benefit concert was held before a crowd of 80,000 people at the Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill. Organized by Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young, the event had been spurred on by Bob Dylan's comments at Live Aid earlier in that year that he hoped some of the money would help American farmers. The star-studded line-up of country stars included Alabama, Hoyt Axton, Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, the Charlie Daniels Band, John Denver, Bob Dylan, John Fogerty, Vince Gill, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Loretta Lynn, Roger Miller, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Willie Nelson, Charley Pride, Bonnie Raitt and Kenny Rogers.

Also, Today In:

1958 - After receiving special permission from the U.S. Army, Elvis Presley gave one last press conference at the Military Ocean Terminal in Brooklyn, N.Y. He then joined the rest of the Third Armored Division on the U.S.S. General Randall for a voyage to Bremerhaven, Germany.

1962 - The Springfields (Dusty Springfield, her brother, Tom, and their friend, Tim Field) entered the U.S. top 20 with their song, "Silver Threads and Golden Needles," thereby becoming the first British vocal group to chart that high in America.

1969 - The Band released their self-titled album, which peaked at No. 9 on the U.S. chart, and included "Rag Mama Rag," "Up on Cripple Creek" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." In 2009, the album was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry because it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and reflects life in the United States."

1976 - Bob Dylan's live album, Hard Rain, was certified Gold (500,000 copies sold) just nine days after its release.

1981 - Composer Harry Warren died at age 88. Warren wrote more than 800 songs, including "I Only Have Eyes For You," (a hit for The Flamingos and for Art Garfunkel), "That's Amore" and "Chattanooga Choo Choo." Warren's songs have been featured in more than 300 films.

1984 - John Waite went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Missing You."

1999 - Diana Ross was arrested on the Concorde aircraft after an incident at Heathrow Airport. The singer claimed that a female security guard had touched her breasts while Ross was being frisked; Ross retaliated by rubbing her hands down the security guard.

2004 - Cat Stevens, who now goes by the name of Yusuf Islam, was escorted from a diverted transatlantic flight and refused entry into America by FBI agents. The singer's name showed up on a U.S. watch list after United Airlines Flight 919 had taken off from London. The flight landed in Maine where Islam, who was traveling with his 21-year-old daughter, was detained and questioned.

Birthdays:

Deep Purple and Whitesnake vocalist David Coverdale is 65.

Mark Panker, singer for "I'm Too Sexy" hitmakers Right Said Fred, is 63.

Debbie Boone is 60.

Nick Cave is 59.

Joan Jett was born today in 1958.

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