History highlight:

On this day in 1994, Blur released their acclaimed third studio album, Parklife. In 1990, frontman Damon Albarn told a writer for British music magazine Mojo: "When our third album comes out, our place as the quintessential English band of the '90s will be assured. That is a simple statement of fact. I intend to write it in 1994." He was pretty much right on, though Oasis might have a few words. Parklife quickly became a definitive record in the Britpop movement of the mid-’90s It features “Girls & Boys,” the title track, “To the End,” “End of a Century,” and “Tracy Jacks” as singles.

Also, today in:

1923 - Blues guitar legend Albert King was born. One of 13 children, he was born Albert King Nelson in Indianola, Miss., and his family moved to Arkansas when he was eight years old. King made his first guitar out of a cigar box, a branch from a shrub, and a strand of broom wire; he later bought a real guitar for $1.25. He learned to play it himself, left-handed with the strings upside down. He developed a distinct, powerful string-bending style and would become known as one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with B.B. King and Freddie King). Also admired for his soulful, smoky vocals, Albert King is probably best known for his 1967 single, "Born Under a Bad Sign." King died of a heart attack at home in Memphis, Tenn., in 1992. He had played his last show two days earlier, in Los Angeles.

1955 - The UN's commission on narcotics released a report stating that there is a "definite connection between increased marijuana smoking and that form of entertainment known as bebop and rebop."

1960 - Elvis Presley scores his first No. 1 single of the 1960s (and the 13th of his career) when "Stuck on You" hits the top spot.

1970 - The No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit was the Jackson 5's "ABC."

1970 - Chicago blues pianist Otis Spann died at age 40 of liver cancer. HIs grave went unmarked for nearly 30 years until blues enthusiasts united to raise money for a headstone. Unveiled in 1999, it reads "Otis played the deepest blues we ever heard — he'll play forever in our hearts".

1974 - Pamela Courson, who was Jim Morrison's girlfriend (and the one who found him dead in a bathtub), died of a heroin overdose.

1977 - Elvis Presley made what turned out to be the final recordings of his life. Three songs taped at a concert in Saginaw, Michigan, would appear, in extensively remixed versions, on Moody Blue, the last album released during his lifetime.

1979 - Rock & Roll High School, a film featuring the Ramones, made its debut. The two main Ramones songs in the film — the title song and "I Want You Around" — were remixed by Phil Spector for the soundtrack album. The original Ed Stasium mixes were not issued until the 1988 compilation album Ramones Mania and the 1999 compilation album Hey! Ho! Let's Go: The Anthology, respectively.

1988 - Soul Asylum’s major label debut, Hang Time, is released on A&M Records.

1992 - "Jump" by Kris Kross hit No. 1 in the US, where it stayed for eight weeks.

1994 - Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys was sentenced to 200 hours of community service for attacking a TV cameraman during the memorial services for actor River Phoenix the previous November.

1994 - A jury rules that Michael Bolton's 1991 hit "Love Is a Wonderful Thing" plagiarizes The Isley Brothers 1966 song of the same name and awards $5.4 million in damages, the largest ever in a music plagiarism case.

1995 - Ginger Rogers, Academy Award-winning actress and longtime dance partner of Fred Astaire, died at age 83 of a heart attack.

1996 - A pair of skin-tight trousers owned by Queen singer Freddie Mercury were sold at a pop memorabilia sale in London.

2002 - Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes of TLC died when the vehicle she was driving in swerved off the road. Rising to fame in the early '90s, Lopes' rapping and background vocals can be heard on TLC recordings, but she also has more co-songwriting credits than the other members. She designed the group’s outfits and brought concepts to their image, album titles, artworks and music videos. TLC won four Grammy Awards, and during her short solo career, Lopes scored two US top-10 singles with "Not Tonight" and "U Know What's Up.”

2003 - The parents of the late Doors frontman, Jim Morrison, sued the remaining members for touring with a new singer as "The Doors 21st Century" using the band's image and logo.

2007 - "Monster Mash" singer Bobby "Boris" Pickett died at age 69 of complications from leukemia.

2008 - Phil Collins announced his retirement from releasing albums and touring. A few years later, he would retire from the business completely to spend time with his family.

2014 - Spotify removed an album of silence by American funk band Vulfpeck from its streaming site. The band's fourth record, Sleepify, was made up of 10 tracks of silence which they encouraged fans to stream on repeat overnight. The idea was aimed at generating money so that the band could go on tour and not charge admission fees.

2014 - Blur/Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn released his solo debut album, Everyday Robots.

2016 - Motley Crue co-founder Nikki Sixx launched a campaign asking Google to pay musicians more money when their videos appeared on YouTube. The bass player was urging Google to remember its former slogan — "Don't be evil" — in its dealings with artists.

2018 - Kanye West tweets his love for Donald Trump, resulting in criticism from fans. A stark contrast how many of his fans feel, Trump replies, "Thank you Kanye, very cool!" (The tweet is referenced in The 1975’s 2018 song, “Love It If We Made It”.)

2023 - Harry Belafonte died at the age of 96 in New York City.

Birthdays:

On this day in 1917, Ella Fitzgerald, the Queen of Jazz, was born in Newport News, Va. Fitzgerald is one of the most renowned jazz singers in history, thanks to her warm, sweet voice and signature scatting technique. She first sang publicly at the Apollo Theater’s Amateur Night, where the crowd warmly received her rendition of Hoagy Carmichael’s “Judy.” Within a couple years, she had started touring with Chick Webb and had released songs on the Decca label. Throughout her career, Fitzgerald released hits including “A-Tisket, A-Tasket,” “Dream A Little Dream,” and “Someone To Watch Over Me.” She performed alongside stars including Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Sinatra and Count Basie. Fitzgerald died in 1996 after being diagnosed with diabetes and undergoing multiple major surgeries.

Blues guitarist and singer Albert King was born today in 1923.

Jerry Leiber, of the Leiber and Stoller songwriting team, was born today in 1933.

Mike Kogel, singer for Los Bravos (“Black Is Black”), is 80.

Bjorn Ulvaeus of ABBA is 79.

Stu Cook, bassist with Creedence Clearwater Revival, is 79.

Steve Ferrone, former drummer with the Average White Band and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, is 74.

Fish, singer for Marillion, is 66.

Paul Baloff, former Exodus singer, was born today in 1960.

Paul Wassif is 61.

Andy Bell, lead singer of Erasure, is 60.

Eric Avery, co-founder of Jane's Addiction, is 59.

Ben (drummer) and James (bassist) Johnston of Biffy Clyro are 44.

Jay Park is 37.

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