History Spotlight:

Ten million viewers tune in to the finale of the TV series Breaking Bad, which ended with "Baby Blue," a song by Badfinger. The song represents lead character Walter White's love of his creation: blue methamphetamine. The song was written by Pete Ham, produced by Todd Rundgren, and released on Apple Records as a single in the U.S. in 1972, where it went to No. 14 on the charts.

Also, Today In:

1967 - At Abbey Road Studios in London, The Beatles mixed the new John Lennon song, "I Am the Walrus." Lennon composed the song by combining three songs he had been working on. When he learned that a teacher at his old primary school was having his students analyze Beatles' lyrics, Lennon added a verse of nonsense words.

1969 - Merle Haggard released "Okie From Muskogee," a song that protests Vietnam war protesters. The single goes on to reach No. 1 on the Country chart and No. 43 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1968 - The Supremes ditched their elegant dresses and went casual to perform "Love Child" on The Ed Sullivan Show. Diana Ross wore a sweatshirt, which was in line with the character in the song.

1973 - Grand Funk Railroad went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "We're An American Band," the group's first of two chart toppers.

1976 - Enjoying his own birthday celebrations, Jerry Lee Lewis accidentally shot his bass player, Norman Owens, in the chest. Lewis had been blasting holes in an office door. Owens survived but sued his boss.

1977 - The No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 was Meco's "Star Wars Theme / Cantina Band". To date it is the biggest-selling instrumental single in the history of recorded music, selling two million units and being the only one ever go Platinum. The original music is from the movie soundtrack by John Williams, but Meco's version was the more popular in regards to the charts. Both Mico and John Williams issued competing versions of music from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", both reaching the U.S. and Canadian Top 40, but with Williams' version being more successful than Meco's.

1980 - Kurtis Blow released his self-titled debut release on Mercury Records - the first rap album on a major label.

1984 - Prince and the Revolution started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Let's Go Crazy."

1984 - The English girl group Bananarama has their U.S. breakthrough when "Cruel Summer" peaked at No. 9 on the pop chart, thanks to the song's appearance in the summer smash The Karate Kid.

1989 - While on a motorcycle trip from Los Angeles to the Grand Canyon, Bruce Springsteen stopped in at a small saloon in Prescott, Ariz., and wound up jamming with the house band. The Boss and The Mile High Band burned through "Don't Be Cruel," "I'm On Fire," "Route 66" and a couple of other songs. One of the bartenders, Brenda Techanec, was talking about her problems paying her hospital bills. Springsteen overheard her and a week later she received $100,000 from Springsteen.

1991 - MTV played the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video for the first time, giving most Americans their first look at Nirvana. A little over a month later, the song was No. 1 on the Hot 100.

2002 - American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "A Moment Like This."

2004 - The advance U2 single, "Vertigo," was all over the radio after leaking onto the Internet.

2015 - The original contract signed by The Beatles and manager Brian Epstein sold for p365,000, ($548.000). The 1962 document was said to be one of the most important contracts in pop music, marking the beginning of the band's journey to international fame.

2018 - Blues guitarist and singer-songwriter Otis Rush died from complications of a stroke aged 84. His distinctive guitar style featured a slow-burning sound and long bent notes. His first single, 'I Can't Quit You Baby', in 1956 reached No.6 on the Billboard R&B chart. Two of his other best-known songs, are 'Double Trouble' and 'All Your Love (I Miss Loving).'

Birthdays:

America's singing cowboy, Gene Autry, was born today in 1907.

Songwriter Tommy Boyce, whose hits include "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight," "Last Train to Clarksville," "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone" and "Scooby Doo, Where Are You," was born today in 1939.

"Great Balls of Fire" singer Jerry Lee Lewis is 85.

Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad is 72.

Mick Harvey of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds is 63.

Primus bass player Les Claypool is 57.

Halsey is 26.

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