History Spotlight:

Michael Trent Reznor (known professionally as Trent Reznor) was born today in 1965, making him 54 today. He is the founder, lead vocalist, and principal songwriter of Nine Inch Nails, which he founded in 1988 and has released nine albums with. He and his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, are members of the group How to Destroy Angels and Reznor has been associated with the bands Option 30, The Urge, The Innocent, Exotic Birds, Marilyn Manson and Saul Williams. Reznor also scored the David Fincher films The Social Network (2010), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), and Gone Girl (2014), winning the Academy Award for Best Original Score for The Social Network and the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. And most recently, Reznor scored the 2019 Netflix film Bird Box.

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.

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.

Birthdays:

Legendary American blues musician Taj Mahal is 77.

British Drummer Bill Bruford of Yes and King Crimson is 70.

Simon Fuller (creator of American Idol) is 59.

Enya is 58.

Jordan Knight of NKOTB is 49.

Josh Homme is 46.

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