History Highlight:

Today in 1978, Joy Division made their live debut when they played Pips in Manchester, England. Originally named Warsaw, the band was made up of singer Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bass player Peter Hook, and drummer Stephen Morris. Curtis, who suffered from epilepsy and had trouble performing live, grew increasingly depressed over the band's few active years and committed suicide the night before their first American tour, at the age of 23.

Also, in:

1975 - A year and a half after its initial release, Lynyrd Skynyrd peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with "Free Bird", which became the band's anthem.

1975 - The Carpenters went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with their version of The Marvelettes' 1961 hit "Please Mr. Postman".

1983 - The Allman Brothers Band bassist Lamar Williams died of lung cancer at age 34. He joined the band in 1972 after the death of original bassist Berry Oakley.

1986 - Dire Straits reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with "Walk of Life", their final top ten single in the U.S.

1991 - Paul McCartney recorded his Unplugged concert for MTV, where he performed such Beatles songs as "Here, There and Everywhere" and "And I Love Her". Unlike other artists who appeared on the show with acoustic instruments plugged into amplifiers, McCartney played the show with all instruments actually unplugged. Microphones were placed close to the instruments to pick up the sound. The performance was released as an album: Unplugged (The Official Bootleg).

1992 - U2 peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with "Mysterious Ways" which was their fourth top ten single in the U.S.

1999 - The Rolling Stones kicked off their No Security Tour at the Oakland Arena. This was their first arena tour in twenty years.

2006 - Motley Crue received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for their achievements in music.

2011 - A former Miss Canada finalist became the first person in the world to graduate with a Masters degree in The Beatles.

Birthdays:

Etta James was born in 1938.

Robert Finch, singer with KC and the Sunshine Band, is 64.

Gary Tibbs, bassist for Roxy Music is 60.

Alicia Keys is 37.

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