History Highlight:

Today in 1987, George Michael released his first solo album, Faith. Packed with hits ("I Want Your Sex," "Father Figure," the title track), it went to No. 1 in both the U.K. and U.S., and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. In 2003, the album was ranked number 480 on Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". In addition to playing a large number of instruments on the album, Michael wrote and produced every track on the recording except for one, "Look at Your Hands", which he co-wrote with David Austin.

Today In:

1964 - Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman" was certified Gold after spending 15 weeks on the singles chart.

1970 - Jim Morrison of The Doors was sentenced to six months in jail and fined $500 for exposing himself during a concert in Miami.

1971 - Pink Floyd released their sixth studio album, Meddle, in the U.S. The U.K. release would follow on Nov. 13.

1975 - Bob Dylan performed the first show of his Rolling Thunder Revue at the War Memorial Auditorium in Plymouth, Massachusetts, which later became the subject of two documentaries.

1982 - Australian band Men At Work went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Who Can It Be Now,'' the group's first U.S. No. 1.

1990 - Axl Rose was released on $10,000 bail after being arrested for allegedly hitting a neighbor over the head with a bottle. The incident happened after a complaint to the police about loud music coming from the singer's house.

1998 - All four original members of Black Sabbath reunited to perform "Paranoid" on Late Night with David Letterman. Prior to that date, Black Sabbath had not appeared on television since 1976.

1999 - Santana's Supernatural album went to No. 1 in America, giving the group its first chart-topping album in 28 years.

2002 - Jason William Mizell, better known as Jam Master Jay, was murdered by an unknown assassin's single bullet at his recording studio in Queens, New York. Jam Master Jay was the DJ of Run-D.M.C., who. became one of the biggest hip-hop groups in the 1980s and are credited with breaking hip-hop into mainstream music.

2003 - Steve O'Rourke suffered a stroke and died in Miami. O'Rourke had managed Pink Floyd since 1968, and was the executive producer for their 1982 film The Wall.

2010 - Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) made a rare public appearance, performing "Peace Train" at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, which was organized and hosted by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Midway through the song, Colbert interrupted him and introduced Ozzy Osbourne, who started performing "Crazy Train." Stevens and Osbourne went back and forth, resulting in a strange and hilarious train wreck.

2016 - With the Cubs in the World Series for the first time since 1945 (they hadn't won since 1908), longtime fan Eddie Vedder lead the crowd in "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" during the seventh-inning stretch.

2016 - American songwriter Curly Putman died aged 85. He wrote "Green, Green Grass of Home" which was covered by many artists including Elvis Presley, Johnny Darrell, Gram Parsons, Joan Baez, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Porter Wagoner, Merle Haggard, Joe Tex and Tom Jones. He also co-wrote (with Bobby Braddock), "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" made famous by Tammy Wynette.

Birthdays:

Eddie Holland of Motown's legendary Holland-Dozier-Holland production team is 80.

Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, and The Great Society is 80.

Otis Williams of The Temptations is 78.

Gavin Rossdale is 54.

Eels bassist Tommy Walter is 49.

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