History Highlight:

John Winston Lennon was born on this day in 1940. Lennon is one of the most famous and iconic musicians of all time, best-known as one of the members of the Beatles, for his subsequent solo career and for his political activism. Starting with 1967's "All You Need Is Love", his songs were adopted as anthems by the anti-war movement including "Give Peace a Chance", "Instant Karma!", "Imagine" and "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)". John would have been 83 today had his life not been taken on December 8, 1980. 

Also, Today In: 

1961 - Ray Charles started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Hit The Road Jack." 

1964 - The Beach Boys recorded "Dance Dance Dance," with Glen Campbell playing the lead-guitar intro. It would go on to become the Beach Boys' 12th Top 40 hit. 

1964 - Because of an anti-apartheid embargo by the British Musicians' union, the Rolling Stones cancelled a South African tour. 

1965 - The Beatles started a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with the Paul McCartney ballad 'Yesterday' giving the group their tenth U.S. No. 1. It was first released on the album Help! in August 1965, except in the United States, where it was issued as a single in September. With more than 2,200 cover versions, it is one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded music and was also voted the No. 1 pop song of all time by MTV and Rolling Stone magazine. In 1997, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. 

1973 - Elvis Presley and Priscilla divorced after six years of marriage. Priscilla was awarded property, $725,000 cash and $4,200 a month support. 

1975 - Sean Taro Ono Lennon was born, the only child of John Lennon by Yoko Ono; John and Sean share the same birthday (John was 35 when Sean was born). Sean went on to become a singer, songwriter, musician and actor. 

1976 - Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "A Fifth Of Beethoven," a disco rendition of the composer's Symphony No. 5, Op. 67, First Movement. 

1976 The Sex Pistols signed to EMI records for £40,000 ($68,000). The contract was terminated three months later with the label stopping production of the 'Anarchy In The UK' single and deleting it from its catalogue. EMI later issued a statement saying it felt unable to promote The Sex Pistols records in view of the adverse publicity generated over the last few months. 

1978 - Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel died of cancer at age 49. Artists who have recorded Brel's songs include Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Dusty Springfield, David Bowie and Nina Simone. 

1984 - The popular children's show "Thomas The Tank Engine And Friends" begins its run on BBC-TV, featuring a narrator by the name of Ringo Starr. 

1985 - On what would have been John Lennon's 45th birthday, a section of Central Park in New York City was christened "Strawberry Fields" in his memory. 

1986 Little-known Kenny G makes his first appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, but instead of playing his cover of Junior Walker's "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)" as agreed, he goes off script and plays his own composition, "Songbird." Impressed by the reaction, Arista Records issues the song as a single and it becomes a hit, setting the stage for more instrumental sax songs from Kenny G and the emergence of the Smooth Jazz format. 

1993 - Nirvana entered the U.S. album chart at No. 1 with In Utero, their third and final studio album. 

1999 Jazz vibraphonist Milt "Bags" Jackson dies in Teaneck, New Jersey, at age 76. Jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie discovered him in 1946 when he hired him for his sextet. 

2000 - Dennis DeYoung of Styx, unable to tour because of debilitating fatigue, sues the band for touring without him. The suit is eventually settled, but DeYoung never returns to the fold. Styx carries on without him but leaves most of his songs out of the setlists. 

2001 - Bono, Michael Stipe, and Moby make unannounced appearances in New York at the second of two anti-violence benefit concerts organized by the Beastie Boys. 

2003 - Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O, a very frenetic performer, is hurt when she tumbles off the stage at a show in Sydney and a monitor lands on her head. After one more song she's taken to the hospital, but two days later she performs from a wheelchair when the band return to the same venue for a festival. 

2006 - The Bad Brains kicked off a three-night residency at CBGB's, during the famed music venue's last week of operation. 

2007 - The Imagine Peace Tower was officially unveiled near Reykjavik, Iceland. The memorial to John Lennon from his widow, Yoko Ono, consists of a tall "tower of light" projected from a white stone monument that has the words "Imagine Peace" carved into it in 24 languages. 

2007 - LeAnn Rimes releases her ninth studio album, Family, which features the hit singles "Nothin' Better To Do" and "What I Cannot Change." 

2007 - Josh Groban releases his Christmas album Noël. It becomes the top-selling album of 2007 and one of the best-selling Christmas albums of all time. 

2008 - Paul McCartney (a vegetarian for 30 years) was said to be furious when he heard that a Liverpool branch of McDonald's restaurant displayed his picture, accusing them of using it to attract customers. Sir Paul was quoted as saying "What sort of morons do McDonald's think Beatles fans are?" 

2018 - Mondo Scripto, the first-ever lyrics and drawing exhibition by Bob Dylan, opens at the Halcyon Gallery in London. 

Birthdays: 

The Who bassist John Entwhistle was born today in 1944. 

Jackson Browne is 75. 

Sharon Osbourne is 71. 

Thomas Wydler from Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds is 64. 

Pogues accordionist James Fearnley is 69. 

PJ Harvey is 54. 

Sean Lennon (with the same birthday as his dad) is 48. 

Nona Hendryx is 79. 

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