Birthday Highlight:

Sam Smith was born today in 1992, making them 28 today. Sam has won four Grammy awards including Best Pop Vocal Album for In the Lonely Hour and Song of the Year for "Stay with Me". They also co-wrote and performed "Writing's on the Wall" - the theme song to Spectre, the 24th James Bond film. Though Smith hasn't been on this Earth as long as most of our artists featured in History Highlights, they've garnered mega-success on the U.K. and U.S. charts. Fun fact: Smith is the third-cousin of singer Lily Allen and actor Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy of Game of Thrones).

Also, Today In:

1969 - The Beatles' single "Get Back" was certified Gold by the RIAA. Selling more than a million copies, "Get Back" hit No. 1 in the U.S. within a week of its release.

1976 - Keith Richards smashed his Bentley into a highway divider in Newton Pagnell, England, a town about 50 miles north of London. Police discovered a few substances in his vehicle and Richards was charged with possession of cocaine and marijuana.

1973, Stevie Wonder went to No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life". The song earned Wonder a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

1973 - "Kodachrome," a big hit for Paul Simon, was released.

1978 - Dire Straits released their first major label single, "Sultans Of Swing", recorded on a £120 budget — about $180.

1979 - Supertramp went to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with Breakfast In America, the group's only U.S. No. 1. It featured three Billboard hit singles: "The Logical Song", "Goodbye Stranger" and "Take the Long Way Home".

1988 - James Brown was arrested for the fifth time in 12 months, following a car chase near his home. Brown was charged with assault, resisting arrest and being in charge of illegal weapons, and was given a six-year jail sentence.

1990 - Madonna started a three-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with 'Vogue'. Originally planned as a B-side, it became the singer's eighth U.S. No. 1 and seventh U.K. No. 1 hit.

2001 - Mike Sammes, founder of The Mike Sammes Singers, died at age 73. He worked with Tom Jones, Cliff Richard and featured on The Beatles, 'I Am The Walrus' and 'The Long And Winding Road.'

2016 - John Berry, a founding member of the Beastie Boys died at the age of 52. Berry originally formed the four-piece hardcore punk band, the Young Aborigines, in 1978 who later became the Beastie Boys and came up with the name for the group.

2018 - Reggie Lucas died aged 65. Lucas is best-known for having produced the majority of Madonna's 1983 self-titled debut album, and for playing with Billy Paul and Miles Davis's electric band in the first half of the 1970s.

Birthdays:

Joey Ramone was born today in 1951.

Pete Townshend is 71.

AC/DC drummer Philip Rudd is 62.

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