History Spotlight:

Today in 2017, Chris Cornell took his own life in Detroit after performing at a show with Soundgarden. Cornell was known for his role as one of the architects of the 1990s grunge movement, and for his near four octave vocal range as well as his powerful vocal belting technique. He released four solo studio albums as well as working with Audioslave and Temple of the Dog.

Also, Today In:

1963 - Relative newcomers Bob Dylan and Joan Baez appeared with Pete Seeger at the first Monterey Folk Festival.

1969 - Joni Mitchell was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, on sale for $.35.

1974 - Ray Stevens' "The Streak" hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts

1987 - A fire destroyed Tom Petty's house in Los Angeles; the cost was estimated at $800,000.

1989 - Rolling Stone ex-bassist Bill Wyman opened the first of his Stones-themed restaurants, Sticky Fingers, in London.

1990 - Nirvana played the last date of a North American tour in Idaho. This was Chad Channing's final gig with the band; drummer Dave Grohl replaced him in Sept of this year after his band Scream had split-up.

2012 - Donna Summer, the 1970s pop singer known as the "Queen of Disco", died of lung cancer. Summer is estimated to have sold 130 million records worldwide during her career, including four number-one singles in the United States within a 13-month period. Her hits included "Bad Girls," "Hot Stuff," "On The Radio," "I Feel Love" and "Love To Love You Baby."

2013 - Bob Dylan was made an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Dylan, who was unable to attend the New York ceremony, said he felt extremely honored to be admitted. Dylan's induction was decided by a vote of the Academy's 250 members.

2016 - American Texas country and folk singer-songwriter Guy Clark died in Nashville following a lengthy battle with lymphoma. He wrote songs for Johnny Cash, Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Jeff Walker, Jimmy Buffett, Lyle Lovett and many other artists.

Birthdays:

Legendary American blues musician Taj Mahal is 76.

British Drummer Bill Bruford of Yes and King Crimson is 69.

Simon Fuller (creator of American Idol) is 58.

Enya is 57.

Trent Reznor is 53.

Jordan Knight of NKOTB is 48.

Josh Homme is 45.

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