History Highlight:

Today in 1996, Alanis Morissette won album of the year for Jagged Little Pill and best female rock vocal and best song for "You Oughta Know". The album, which was her international debut, topped the charts in ten countries, is one of the best-selling albums of all time, and made Morissette the first Canadian to achieve double diamond sales. She was also the youngest artist to ever win the Album of the Year, a record she held until 2010, when Taylor Swift won the prize for Fearless.

Also, Today In:

1968 - 25-year-old Frankie Lymon, lead singer of The Teenagers, died of a heroin overdose in his grandmother's New York home.

1970 - Led Zeppelin played a gig in Copenhagen as The Nobs after Eva Von Zeppelin - a relative of the airship designer - threatened to sue if the family name was used in Denmark.

1970 - Simon and Garfunkel started a six-week run at the top of the U.S. singles chart with "Bridge Over Troubled Water", also No. 1 in the U.K. in March the same year. The song is featured on their fifth studio album, Bridge over Troubled Water, was composed by Paul Simon, and is often thought of as the duo's signature song.

1976 - Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years" was named Best Pop Vocal Performance and Album Of The Year at the 18th annual Grammy Awards. In his acceptance speech, Simon told the audience "I'd like to thank Stevie Wonder for not releasing an album this year."

1977 - Ray Charles was attacked by a member of his audience who tried to strangle him with a rope.

1982 - Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham collapsed during the band's European tour suffering from heroin withdrawal.

1984 - Michael Jackson won a record seven Grammy awards including Album of the year for Thriller; Record of the year and Best rock vocal performance for "Beat It"; Best pop vocal performance, Best R&B performance and Best R&B song for "Billie Jean", and Best Recording For Children for "E.T The Extra Terrestrial".

1989 - Bob Dylan recorded the first sessions for the Oh Mercy album at The Studio, New Orleans, Louisiana.

1995 - Jewel released her debut album, Pieces of You.

1996 - Nirvana's Unplugged won best alternative album and Coolio won best rap performance with "Gangsta's Paradise" at the Grammys.

1998 - Cornershop went to No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart with "Brimful Of Asha". This song is based upon the history of film culture in India; "Asha" refers to Asha Bhosle, one of the most famous pop/film-score vocalists of India.

1998 - Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On," from the movie Titanic, went to No. 1 in the U.S. The film had been No. 1 at the box office since December 21, 1997.

2008 - Mike Smith (lead vocalist, keyboardist for The Dave Clark Five) died of pneumonia at age 64.

2012 - The Malaysian Government canceled a concert by Erykah Badu scheduled for the following day due to her tattoos, including one with the word "Allah" in Arabic.

2016 - At the Oscars, Lady Gaga was introduced by then-Vice President Joe Biden and performed "Til It Happens To You" joined by a group of sexual assault survivors. A few minutes later, it lost the Best Song award to Sam Smith's "Writing's On The Wall."

Birthdays:

Rolling Stone Brian Jones was born today in 1942.

Cindy Wilson of the B-52s is 61.

Nigel Godrich, producer for Radiohead and Beck and Atoms for Peace, is 47.

Jake Bugg is 24.

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