History Highlight

Today in 1990, Janet Jackson played the first night on her 120-date "Rhythm Nation" world tour at the Miami Arena in Florida. As part of the show, Jackson had a live panther on stage, but after concerns were raised over safety of the crowds and several incidents of the panther urinating on the stage, Jackson got rid of the cat in the summer leg of the tour.

Also, Today In:

1966 - Gene Clark of The Byrds announced he was leaving the group due to his fear of flying.

1967 - Working at Abbey Road studios, London, The Beatles started recording a new John Lennon song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". The song was inspired by a drawing his 3 year-old son Julian returned home from school with one day. The picture, which was of a little girl with lots of stars, was his classmate - Lucy O'Donnell.

1975 - The Eagles went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Best Of My Love", the first of five U.S. No. 1's for the band.

1980 - Blondie were at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart with"'Atomic" the group's third U.K. No. 1 single from their album Eat To The Beat.

1984 - Prince recorded "When Doves Cry" from the album Purple Rain. It was a worldwide hit, and his first American No. 1 single, topping the charts for five weeks.

1989 - Madonna started a $5 million sponsorship deal with Pepsi Cola.

1991 - Frank Smith from Air Supply died of pneumonia in Melbourne, Australia.

1994 - Nirvana played their final ever concert when they appeared at The Terminal Einz in Munich, Germany.

1995 - Bruce Springsteen's "Streets of Philadelphia" won three Grammys for Song of the Year, Best Male Vocal Performance and Best Rock Song.

1995 - During a gig at the Patinoire Auditorium in Lausanne, Switzerland, R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry collapsed on stage from a ruptured brain aneurysm. He recovered and later re-joined the band.

1997 - "Bowie Bonds" were issued on the U.S. Stock Exchange. Linked to David Bowie's back catalogue albums with money earned on the bonds via interest from royalties, investors could expect to make an 8 percent profit in about 10 years.

Birthdays:

Harry Belafonte is 90.

Jerry Fisher of Blood, Sweat & Tears is 75.

Mike D'Abo of Manfred Mann is 73.

Roger Daltrey of The Who is 73.

Christina Bergmark of The Wannadies is 48.

Kesha Rose Sebert (Kesha) is 30.

Justin Bieber is 23.

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