History Spotlight:

Today in 2006, Syd Barrett died from complications arising from diabetes at age 60. The singer, songwriter and guitarist was one of the founding members of Pink Floyd, and active as a rock musician for only about seven years before he went into seclusion. After leaving music, Barrett continued with painting and dedicated himself to gardening. Pink Floyd wrote and recorded several tributes to him, most notably the 1975 album Wish You Were Here, which included "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", as an homage to Barrett.

Also, Today In:

1962 - David Rose and his Orchestra went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "The Stripper."

1967 - The Monkees begin a U.S. tour with Jimi Hendrix opening.

1968 - Three years after Eric Clapton's departure and eight months after Jeff Beck left the band, The Yardbirds disbanded, guitarist Jimmy Page put together a new lineup to fulfill some contractually obligated concerts and began referring to the group as The New Yardbirds. The Who's drummer Keith Moon was dubious about the band's prospects, and he jokingly suggested that they change their name to "Led Zeppelin," as in, "They'll go over like a lead balloon." The New Yardbirds — Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham and John Paul Jones — soon did change their name to Led Zeppelin.

1969 - George Harrison recorded his new song "Here Comes the Sun" with just two other Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, at Abbey Road in London. John Lennon was absent recovering from a car crash in Scotland.

1971 - The Carpenters debuted their variety summer replacement series "Make Your Own Kind Of Music" on NBC.

1973 - Billy Preston started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Will It Go Round In Circles."

1973 - Paul McCartney & Wings released "Live And Let Die."

1975 - Keith Richards was charged with possession of a weapon and reckless driving in Arkansas. Hundreds of teenage girls gathered outside the jail where he was being detained and raised a ruckus.

1980 - The original Led Zeppelin lineup performed its final show.

1984 - Bruce Springsteen went to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with Born In The USA. The album went on to spend a total of 139 weeks on the U.S. chart. Its also one of three albums (Michael Jackson's Thriller and Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814) to produce seven top-ten U.S. singles.

1984 - Prince started a five-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "When Doves Cry," his first U.S. No.1, which went on to sell over 2 million copies.

1989 - It was announced that for the first time, compact discs were out selling vinyl albums.

1992 - Spinal Tap capped their reunion tour with a sold-out show at Royal Albert Hall in London.

1998 - Barenaked Ladies released their fourth studio album, Stunt. It was the Canadian band's breakthrough record in the U.S., where it landed at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

2001 - Fred Neil, a folk singer-songwriter known for writing Harry Nilsson's hit "Everybody's Talkin'," died during a battle with skin cancer at age 65.

2007 - Live Earth, a series of concerts to initiate action against global warming, took place around the world.

2009 - Michael Jackson's funeral was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Most TV networks covered the event, where Kobe Bryant, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Hudson, Magic Johnson, John Mayer, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, Usher and Stevie Wonder all participated.

2015 - Climate scientists from five leading universities found that 163 of Bob Dylan's 542 songs reference the climate - almost a third - making him the musician most likely to mention the weather in his lyrics. The Beatles came in at number two, mentioning the weather in 48 of the 308 songs they wrote.

Birthdays:

Ringo Starr is 80.

David Hodo (the construction worker in The Village People) is 73.

Mark White of the Spin Doctors is 58.

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