History Spotlight:

Today in 1991, American jazz trumpeter, bandleader and composer Miles Davis died of a stroke and pneumonia. His 1959 album, Kind of Blue, is considered one of the greatest jazz records of all time, and Davis is considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.

Also, Today In:

1968 - The Beatles started a nine-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Hey Jude." The Paul McCartney song, written about John Lennon's son Julian, gave the group their 16th U.S. No. 1 and the biggest-selling single of 1968.

1974 - Bad Company went to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with their self-titled debut album. They produced six albums together before disbanding in 1983.

1974 - Canadian singer Andy Kim went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Rock Me Gently." Kim was the co-writer of The Archies' song, "Sugar Sugar."

1991 - On the week their album, Nevermind, was released, Nirvana made an appearance at the Tower Records store in New York City and then played a show at The Marquee Club in New York.

2002 - Tina Turner's hometown — made famous in her song, "Nutbush City Limits" — named a stretch of State Highway 19 the "Tina Turner Highway." Turner lived in Nutbush, Tenn., a small town about 50 miles northeast of Memphis, until she was 17.

2009 - Lucy Vodden, the childhood pal of John Lennon's son Julian, passed away at the age of 46 after battling lupus. She was the inspiration for The Beatles' track, "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," written mostly by John after Julian showed his father a nursery-school drawing he made and called "Lucy - in the sky with diamonds," depicting his classmate.

Birthdays:

Influential television host Ed Sullivan was born in New York today in 1901.

Ben E. King was born today in 1938.

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