History Highlight:

Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, Desaparecidos, Monsters of Folk, and Better Oblivion Community Center is 44. Oberst was born Feb. 15, 1980, in Omaha, Nebraska. A precocious and prolific songwriter, Oberst began his music career in his teens in a talent-rich local scene. He quickly became the featured artist on Saddle Creek Records, which has become one of the preeminent indie labels in the U.S. Over his career, Oberst has built a reputation as one of the most-unique voices and heartfelt writers in modern music. He embraces a wide range of styles in his work, including folk, punk, country, and synth-pop.

Also, Today In:

1964 - The Beatles scored their first U.S. No. 1 album with Meet The Beatles! The album stayed at No. 1 for eleven weeks.

1965 - The much loved and respected crooner/jazz singer and pianist Nat King Cole died of complications following surgery for lung cancer in Santa Monica. He was 48. First famous for his jazz piano stylings, he also had an unforgettable voice and was one of the first African Americans to host a national television variety show, "The Nat King Cole Show".

1969 - Rolling Stone's front cover features an article on "groupies" - introducing a new term to the popular lexicon.

1969 - Sly and the Family Stone's "Everyday People" zoomed to No. 1 on the singles chart. The song is one of Sly Stone's pleas for peace and equality between differing races and social groups, a major theme and focus for the band.

1971 - The Who debut a new rock opera called "Lifehouse" at the Young Vic Theatre in London. The project is shelved after a short run of shows, but some of the songs, including "Baba O'Riley," "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Behind Blue Eyes", become Who standards after being included on the album Who's Next.

1977 - Sid Vicious replaced Glen Matlock on bass with the Sex Pistols.

1987 - Ben and Jerry's introduces a new flavor: Cherry Garcia, named after the Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia.

1994 - A federal court jury ruled Michael Jackson did not steal the idea for his hit song "Dangerous" from a Denver woman who had sent him a demo tape.

1999 - Blondie released their seventh studio album, No Exit. The band’s first album in 17 years yielded the hit “Maria.”

2013 - Chubby Checker launched a $500,000 lawsuit against Hewlett-Packard for including an app on its phones and tablets that was not only named after the 71-year-old musician, but measured a man's manhood based on his shoe size.

2016 - In her Grammy acceptance speech for Album of the Year, Taylor Swift warned of "people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame." This was in response to Kanye West, who rapped about Swift in his song "Famous."

2016 - Denise Katrina Matthews, better known as Vanity, died at the age of 57 after years of health problems. Vanity was the lead singer of the female trio Vanity 6 from 1981 until it disbanded in 1983, and the group was known for their song "Nasty Girl". She also had two solo albums and a film career and was connected professionally and romantically to Prince after meeting him in 1982 when she was Rick James' date at the American Music Awards.

Birthdays:

Hank Locklin ("Send Me the Pillow You Dream On" and "Please Help Me, I'm Falling") was born today in 1918.

Brian Holland of Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting/production team is 83.

Mick Avory, drummer for The Kinks, is 80.

John Helliwell, saxophonist with Supertramp, is 79.

Melissa Manchester is 73.

Ali Campbell, singer with UB40, is 65.

Mikey Craig, bassist with Culture Club, is 64.

Jane Child is 57.

Birdman is 55.

Brandon Boyd of Incubus is 48.

Ronnie Vannucci Jr., drummer with The Killers, is 48.

Matt Hoopes, lead guitarist of Relient K, is 43.

Megan Thee Stallion is 29.

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.