History Highlight:

Helen Folasade Adu, known better as Sade, was born today in 1959, making her 60. She was born in Ibadan, Nigeria and brought up in Essex, England. First known as a fashion designer and part-time model, she joined the band Pride in the early 1980s, then after gaining attention as a performer, she formed the band Sade, and secured a recording contract with Epic Records in 1983. The band released Diamond Life a year later, which became one of the best-selling albums of the era, and the best-selling debut ever by a British female vocalist. The album yielded four singles: "Your Love is King", "When Am I Going To Make a Living", "Smooth Operator", and "Hang On To Your Love". She was most recently in the news for having a song "The Big Unknown" on the November-released movie "Widows".

Also, Today In:

1965 - Beatles manager Brian Epstein, in Britain's Melody Maker magazine, was quoted as saying "I give The Beatles two or three years more at the top."

1973 - Bruce Springsteen appeared at Villanova University, Philadelphia to an audience of 25 people.

1978 - Sex Pistol Sid Vicious fell through a glass door at a San Francisco hotel, took a drug overdose and was rushed to hospital. In other words, it was a typical Tuesday.

1979 - Cher's divorce from Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers became final.

1979 - Roger Miller sang a medley of songs on The Muppet Show. He also sang "In the Summertime" in a patch of musically-skilled watermelons and dropped the bombshell news that he, like the all-chicken cast of Vet's Hospital, once suffered from "Cluckitis."

1980 - Paul McCartney was jailed in Japan for marijuana possession after bringing a half pound of pot into the country.

1988 - George Harrison hit No. 1 with "Got My Mind Set On You," becoming the act with the longest time between No. 1 hits as it had been 24 years since "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)." The Beach Boys broke this record when "Kokomo" hit No. 1.

1992 - Eric Clapton recorded Eric Clapton Unplugged for MTV. The album won six Grammy Awards, including Record Of The Year.

1996 - Wayne Newton performed his 25,000th show in Las Vegas.

1996 - Jamaican authorities opened fire on Jimmy Buffett's seaplane, mistaking it for a drug trafficker's plane. U2 singer Bono was also on the plane; neither singer was injured in the incident. The lesson, clearly, is don't go anywhere near Jimmy Buffett, ever.

1999 - At the inaugural ball for Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, America played "Ventura Highway." Warren Zevon and Delbert McClinton also perform.

2000 - It was reported that Mick Jagger had lost the chance of a knighthood because of his errant ways. British Prime Minister Tony Blair had second thoughts about the message it would give about family values.

2002 - A section of Interstate 80 in California was renamed the "Sonny Bono Memorial Freeway."

2008 - Radiohead was forced to abandon an intimate gig at Rough Trade East records in London after police raised safety fears. The band moved the gig to a nearby club after over 1,500 fans turned up after the event was announced in the morning promising tickets to the first 200 fans.

Birthdays:

Robert Lenard "Bob" Bogle, a founding member of the instrumental combo The Ventures, was born today in 1934.

Maxine Jones of En Vogue is 57.

Brendan O'Hara, drummer for Teenage Fanclub and Mogwai, is 49.

Aaliyah was born today in 1979.

Nick Valensi, guitarist for The Strokes, is 38.

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