Birthday Highlight:

John Robert "Joe" Cocker was born today in 1944. Known for his cover of the Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends", he famously performed the song live at Woodstock in 1969 and his version also became the theme song for the TV series The Wonder Years. He is also known for his 1974 cover of "You Are So Beautiful", which reached No. 5 in the U.S. Cocker had an extremely distinctive, gravely voice which was often paired with spastic movements and stage antics, and he was ranked No. 97 on Rolling Stone's 100 greatest singers list.

Also, Today In:

1954 - A single that proved to be a turning point in popular music, "Rock Around The Clock" by Bill Haley & The Comets, was released.

1964 - Rudy Lewis of The Drifters died at age 28 under mysterious circumstances the night before the group was set to record "Under the Boardwalk". Former Drifters backup singer Johnny Moore was brought back to perform lead vocals for the recording session.

1967 - The Young Rascals started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Groovin".

1978 - Paul McCartney went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "With A Little Luck", his sixth solo U.S. No. 1.

1997 - Foo Fighters released their second album The Colour And The Shape.

1998 - Frank Sinatra's funeral was held at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills, Calif. Among those paying their respects were Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

2003 - Soul singer James Brown was pardoned for his past crimes in South Carolina.

2006 - Heavy metal monsters Lordi became Finland's first-ever Eurovision Song Contest winners after their song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" won in Athens.

2008 - Congress passed a resolution designating May 13 as Frank Sinatra Day to honor Sinatra's contributions to American culture.

2012 - Robin Gibb, one-third of the Bee Gees and a singer-songwriter who helped to turn disco into a global phenomenon by providing the core of the soundtrack to 'Saturday Night Fever', died from cancer at age 62.

2013 - Ray Manzarek, keyboard player and founder member of the The Doors, died at age 74.

2015 - The Rolling Stones played a surprise gig at the 1,300-capacity Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles during which they performed the entire Sticky Fingers album. The audience included Jack Nicholson, Bruce Willis, Harry Styles, Leonard Cohen and Patricia Arquette.

Birthdays:

Cher is 74.

Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go's is 62.

Dan Wilson is 59.

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