History Highlight:

Today in 1967, the Monterey Pop Festival began in Monterey, CA. Within three days, 50,000 people saw the first major appearances of Jimi Hendrix, The Who and Janis Joplin. Additional performers included The Byrds, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and Buffalo Springfield.

Also, Today In:

1965 - Bob Dylan recorded "Like A Rolling Stone" at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City, in the sessions for the forthcoming Highway 61 Revisited album.

1976 - The Jackson 5's four-week summer variety television show premiered on CBS. The program featured the group, plus sisters Latoya, Rebbie and Janet.

1980 - "The Blues Brothers", starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, premiered in Chicago. Directed by John Landis, the film follows two ne'er-do-well Chicago-area brothers who are suddenly inspired to perform a philanthropic act, putting their musical talent to good use as the source of their generosity and redemption. The music-infused film features cameo appearances by such artists as Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles and John Lee Hooker, among others.

1982 - Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, 25, died of a heroin overdose in London. Chrissie Hynde subsequently dedicated "Back On The Chain Gang" to him.

1990 - Swedish duo Roxette started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "It Must Have Been Love." The song, which featured in the film Pretty Woman, became the duo's third U.S. No. 1 single.

1993 - The U.S. Postal Service released a set of seven stamps featuring rock and blues legends such as Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, Otis Redding, Dinah Washington and Elvis Presley.

1994 - Oasis played a gig at a club in Paris, marking the band's first gig outside the U.K.

1994 - Kristen Pfaff of Hole died of an overdose. Prior to Hole, Pfaff was the bassist and backing vocalist for Minneapolis-based band Janitor Joe.

1996 - Rage Against The Machine, Beastie Boys, Smashing Pumpkins, Fugees, Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Lee Hooker, Beck, Sonic Youth, Yoko Ono, De La Soul and Richie Havens all appeared at the two-day Tibetan Freedom Concert in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. A sell-out crowd of more than 100,000 made it the largest U.S. benefit concert since Live Aid in 1985.

2002 - A remixed version of Elvis Presley's 1968 single "A Little Less Conversation" hit No. 1 in the U.K., released as part of a plan by his estate to regain the U.K. record for number ones from The Beatles.

2004 - The three surviving original members of the New York Dolls performed together for the first time since 1975 at the first of two shows at London Royal Festival Hall. The concerts were spearheaded by The Smiths' frontman, Morrissey, who was once the president of the Dolls' U.K. fan club. The band continued to record and perform in various incarnations after the reunion.

2010 - Gary Shider passed away from cancer. He was musical director of the P-Funk All-Stars and as a member of Parliament-Funkadelic he scored the hit "One Nation Under A Groove".

Birthdays:

Motown producer and songwriter Lamont Dozier is 79.

O' Jays lead vocalist Eddie Levert is 78.

Grammy-nominated Canadian crooner Gino Vanelli is 68.

Tupac Shakur was born today in 1971.

Ben Kweller is 39.

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