History Highlight

Sebastian Philip Bierk, better-known as Sebastian Bach, was born today in 1968, making him 50 today. He was the frontman for heavy metal band Skid Row from 1987 to 1996, whose first two albums Skid Row (1989) and Slave to the Grind (1991) certified multi-platinum, the latter of which reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200. After Skid Row, Bach continued with a solo career, acting on Broadway (and in a touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar that Brian saw in ~2002), and has made appearances in film and television (notably, on the WB television show Gilmore Girls as "Gil", the lead guitarist in Lane Kim's band, Hep Alien.)

Also, Today In:

1956 - Elvis Presley appeared on ABC-TV's The Milton Berle Show live from the flight deck of the USS Hancock in San Diego, Calif. Presley performed "Heartbreak Hotel", "Shake Rattle And Roll" and "Blue Suede Shoes." It was estimated that one out of every four Americans saw the show.

1961 - The Marcels started a three-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with the Rodgers and Heart song "Blue Moon."

1971 - The Temptations scored their second U.S. No. 1 with "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)".

1976 - A then-unknown Sex Pistols opened for The 101ers at The Nashville Room in London. (The 101ers were a pub rock band, notable as being the band that Joe Strummer left to join The Clash).

1976 - Johnnie Taylor started a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Disco Lady", his 10th U.S. Top 40 hit.

1990 - Jazz singer Sarah Vaughan died of lung cancer.

2007 - Keith Richards denied that he snorted the ashes of his late father during a drugs binge. Jane Rose, Richards' manager, told MTV News the remarks were made "in jest", and she could not believe they had been taken seriously.

2008 - Morrissey accepted a public apology in court from the now-defunct monthly music magazine The Word, after it suggested he was a racist and a hypocrite.

2011 - Adele broke the record for the longest time at No. 1 in the UK album chart by a female solo artist after her second album, 21, spent 10 consecutive weeks at the top of the chart. The previous record was held by Madonna with her first greatest-hits album, The Immaculate Collection, in 1990.

2015 - Bob Burns, the drummer who was in the original lineup of Lynyrd Skynyrd, died in a car crash in Georgia. He appeared on the band's "Sweet Home Alabama," "Gimme Three Steps" and "Free Bird".

Birthdays:

Actress and singer Doris Day is 96. Her best-known hit is the 1956 single, "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)".

Tony Orlando is 74. His best-known hits include the 1971 No. 1 single "Knock Three Times" and the 1973 No. 1 single "Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree".

Simon Raymonde of Cocteau Twins is 56.

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