History Highlight:

Today in 1994, Bush released their debut album Sixteen Stone, a 90s grunge staple which took off in America but was largely ignored in their native England. Becoming the band’s most popular album, the release peaked at number four on the U.S. Billboard 200 while also containing several successful singles like Comedown, Machinehead and Glycerin.  

Also, Today In:

1949 - Blues artist Lead Belly died. He was best-known for his strong vocals, virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the folk standards he introduced which dealt with topics ranging from liquor to prison life to racism to cowboys to politics. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2008.

1969 - The Rolling Stones performed a free concert at the Altamont Speedway in northern California with support from Jefferson Airplane, Santana, The Flying Burrito Brothers and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. The Grateful Dead were also scheduled to perform following CSNY, but declined to play shortly before their scheduled appearance due to the increasing violence at the venue. And in fact, that's what the event is best-known for -- its considerable violence, including the stabbing death of Meredith Hunter and three accidental deaths: two caused by a hit-and-run car accident, and one by LSD-induced drowning in an irrigation canal. Many concert goers were injured, numerous cars were stolen, and there was extensive property damage.

1969 - Led Zeppelin made their debut on the US singles chart with "Whole Lotta Love", which went on to make No.4 on the chart and was the first of six Top 40 singles for the group in the US.

1969 - Steam's hit "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" hit No. 1 in America.

1973 - The Steve Miller Band received their first Gold album for The Joker which went on to sell one million copies in the U.S.

1975 - Paul Simon went to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with Still Crazy After All These Years, his first U.S. No. 1 solo album.

1978 - Sex Pistol Sid Vicious smashed a glass in the face of Patti Smith's brother Todd Smith during a fight at New York City club Hurrah.

1980 - U2 performed their first concert in North America at The Ritz in New York City.

1986 - Ringo Starr became the first Beatle to get into advertising after signing a seven-figure deal to be the spokesperson for a wine cooler company.

1988 - Roy Orbison, in the midst of a career resurgence thanks to his supergroup the Traveling Wilburys, died of heart failure at age 52. His album Mystery Girl, completed at the time of his death, was released in January 1989.

1994 - Bush released their debut album Sixteen Stone, which took off in America but was largely ignored in their native England.

1995 - Michael Jackson collapsed and was treated for dehydration while rehearsing for the HBO special Michael Jackson: One Night Only at The Beacon Theater in New York.

1995 - Coolio wins Single Of The Year for "Gangsta's Paradise" at the Billboard Music Awards. When he performs the song at the ceremony, he is joined by Stevie Wonder, whose "Pastime Paradise" is the basis for Coolio's track.

1995 - Four months after the death of guitarist Jerry Garcia, the Grateful Dead announced that they were splitting up. They would tour again from 1998-2002 as The Other Ones and in 2003 and 2009 as The Dead.

1995 - Coolio won Single Of The Year for "Gangsta's Paradise" at the Billboard Music Awards. When he performed the song at the ceremony, he was joined by Stevie Wonder, whose "Pastime Paradise" was the basis for Coolio's track.

1997 - Metallica entered the Billboard 200 Album Chart at number one with their seventh studio album ReLoad which spent one week on top of the chart and went on to sell four million copies in the U.S. This was Metallica's third album to debut at number one in the U.S.

2009 - Bruce Springsteen was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors for his contributions to American culture. President Barack Obama said "I'm the President, but he's The Boss."

2011 - Singer/songwriter Dobie Gray died in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 71. His hit records included 'The 'In' Crowd' in 1965 and 'Drift Away', which was one of the biggest hits of 1973, and went on to sell over one million copies.

2013 - The electric guitar played by Bob Dylan at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival was sold at an auction in New York for $965,000. The Fender Stratocaster had been in the possession of a New Jersey family for 48 years after Dylan left it on a private plane.

2015 - Carole King was celebrated at the Kennedy Center Honors, where 73-year-old Aretha Franklin brought the audience to its feet with her rendition of "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman," one of many classic songs written by King.

2018 - English singer, songwriter and guitarist Pete Shelley died at 63.

Birthdays:

Mike Smith, singer for The Dave Clark Five, was born today in 1943.

Randy Rhoads, guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne, was born today in 1956.

Peter Buck, guitarist for R.E.M., is 67.

Pixies drummer Dave Lovering is 62.

Ulf Ekberg, keyboardist from Ace of Base, is 53.

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