History Highlight:

Brian May, guitarist for Queen, is 70 today. Best known as the lead guitarist of Queen, he is also famous for primarily using a home-built electric guitar called the Red Special that he designed with his dad when he was a teenager in the early 1960s. We have Brian to thank for the epic Queen compositions "We Will Rock You", "Tie Your Mother Down", "I Want It All", "Fat Bottomed Girls", "Flash", "Hammer to Fall", "Save Me", "Who Wants to Live Forever" and "The Show Must Go On".

Also, Today In:

1958 - The Drifters manager George Treadwell, who owned the group's name, fired the group and replaced them with members of The Five Crowns. When Ben E. King joined the group a short time later, The Drifters became consistent hitmakers, scoring with "There Goes My Baby," "This Magic Moment" and "Save The Last Dance For Me."

1965 - The Beatles "Help!" b/w "I'm Down" single was released.

1966 - 50-year old Frank Sinatra married 20-year old Mia Farrow in New York.

1972 - Rolling Stones Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were arrested in Warwick, Rhode Island on charges of assault after a fight broke out with a newspaper photographer.

1976 - Deep Purple split up for the first time. The group would later reunite in 1984 with the Mark II lineup.

1975 - Aerosmith peaked at number thirty-six on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with "Sweet Emotion", their first top forty hit.

1980 - Billy Joel reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart for the first time with "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" which spent two weeks on top. Joel's album Glass Houses was still number one on the album chart as well at the time.

1981 - The mayor of Odessa, TX, declared it Roy Orbison Day. Orbison was given the keys to the city, and performed in Odessa for the first time in 15 years.

1985 - Joan Jett called up-and-coming heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson before his fight with Larry Sims, which Tyson won handily. The superstitious Tyson insisted on getting a call from Jett before every fight, which he did until breaking tradition for his bout against Buster Douglas on February 11, 1990 - Tyson's first loss.

1986 - Genesis reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart for the first and only time with "Invisible Touch" which spent one week on top of the chart.

1989 - After authorities found over $40,000 in cash and checks in his cell at the Stevenson Correctional Institute in South Carolina, James Brown was moved to a cell with tighter security.

1991 - Ex-Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler filed a lawsuit against his former band claiming that he was pressured to use drugs from the band and fired when he entered rehab. The lawsuit would later be settled out of court in 1993.

2011 - Rebecca Black, the world's most ironic celebrity, cashed in on her worldwide viral Internet fame by launching her own record label, RB Records, and her first single on the label, "My Moment." The song failed to get the same attention as her breakout hit, "Friday."

2013 - Pearl Jam played a sold-out show at Wrigley Field in Chicago, the first American stop touring behind their 10th studio album, Lightning Bolt. Seven songs in, the show was delayed by...lightning. After midnight, the band returned to the stage and played a rousing set, as the place was still packed.

Birthdays:

R&B and Jazz guitarist Phil Upchurch (who recorded with B.B King, Curtis Mayfield and many others) is 76.

Commander Cody is 73.

Bernie Leadon, guitarist for Eagles, is 70.

Keith Godchaux, keyboardist for The Grateful Dead, was born today in 1948.

Allen Collins, guitarist for Lynyrd Skynyrd, was born today in 1952.

Kevin Haskins, drummer for Bauhaus, Tones on Tail and Love & Rockets is 57.

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