History Highlight:

Today in 1982, pianist, composer and innovative jazz icon Thelonious Monk died in Weehawken, New Jersey, after a long illness at age 64. Although born in North Carolina, Monk grew up in New York, where he first took trumpet lessons before switching to piano. Inspired by stride piano — a jazz style that evolved from ragtime — Monk began playing in New York clubs in the 1940s. Although some musicians (including saxophonists Coleman Hawkins and Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie) respected his talent, many bebop jazz players wrote Monk off as an eccentric given his unique name, his fondness for wearing silly hats, and his introverted personality. It wasn’t until 1955 that Monk’s innovative approach to jazz was fully embraced when he recorded two albums of jazz standards, including Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington. Now more accessible to the general public, Monk got booked at the New York jazz landmark The Five Spot accompanying sax legend John Coltrane. From that point forward, Thelonious Monk was hailed as a true jazz great, and many of his songs have become standards, including “‘Round Midnight,” “Straight No Chaser,” “52nd Street Theme,” and “Blue Monk.”

Also, Today In

1960 - Elvis earned his first Gold album for 1956's Elvis, which featured "Rip It Up," "Old Shep," "When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again" and "Ready Teddy."

1969 - Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash recorded a new version of "Girl From The North Country" together in Nashville, Tennessee, at CBS Studios. The track appeared on Dylan's Nashville Skyline album. It was originally recorded in 1963 and released on The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. The collaboration with Cash and an appearance on The Johnny Cash Show helped Nashville Skyline become one of Dylan's best-selling albums.

1971 - Singing "Fire And Rain" and "Carolina On My Mind," James Taylor made his primetime television debut on The Johnny Cash Show, which was a variety show hosted by Cash that aired on ABC from June 7, 1969, to March 31, 1971.

1975 - AC/DC released their debut album, High Voltage, in Australia. Their first internationally released album, also by that name but with a different track listing, arrived on May 14, 1976.

1975 - John Lennon released the Phil Spector-produced Rock 'n' Roll album, a collection of some of his favorite rock and R&B oldies, including "Stand By Me." It was Lennon’s final record before his self-imposed, five-year exile from making records.

1976 - The Eagles released Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975), a collection of 10 songs from their first four albums. For a while, it was certified as the top-selling album in U.S. history.

1978 - British singer-songwriter Kate Bush, at 19 years old, released her debut album, The Kick Inside. The collection of art pop features her debut single, "Wuthering Heights," which topped the U.K. singles chart for four weeks, thus making Bush the first woman artist to achieve a U.K. No. 1 with a self-written song. The production of The Kick Inside included efforts by several progressive-rock veterans, including Duncan Mackay, Ian Bairnson, David Paton, Andrew Powell, and Stuart Elliott of the Alan Parsons Project, and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. The album has been certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

1984 - Thompson Twins released their fourth studio album, Into the Gap. It features "Hold Me Now," "Doctor! Doctor!," "You Take Me Up," and "Sister of Mercy."

1984 - The musical drama Footloose opened in theaters with a soundtrack featuring Kenny Loggins, Deniece Williams, and Sammy Hagar. Two songs from the movie — Loggins’ "Footloose" and Williams’ "Let's Hear it For the Boy" — went to No. 1 in the U.S.

1992 - Shakespears Sister (thusly spelled) released their second studio album, Hormonally Yours. It features the singles "Goodbye Cruel World," "Stay," "I Don't Care," "Hello (Turn Your Radio On)," and "My 16th Apology."

1995 - Blink-182 released their debut studio album, Cheshire Cat. It features “M+M’s” and “Wasting Time.”

1998 - Destiny's Child released their debut studio album, Destiny's Child. It features the singles "No, No, No" and "With Me."

1998 - Ani DiFranco released her eighth studio album, Little Plastic Castle. It features the singles "Little Plastic Castle," "Gravel," and "Glass House."

2004 - Chromeo released their debut album, She’s In Control. It features “Needy Girl.”

2005 - Scottish rockers Franz Ferdinand became the first act ever to win the Mercury Music Prize, Brit Awards and NME awards in the same year. Franz Ferdinand have had multiple top-20 hits in the U.K. and have sold millions of albums worldwide. They have released six full-length albums, the most recent being The Human Fear, which released on January 10, 2025. Together with the American rock band Sparks, Franz Ferdinand also released a collaboration album titled FFS — an abbreviation of Franz Ferdinand and Sparks. Any similarity to other meanings of this abbreviation is purely coincidental, of course.

2006 - The Knife released their third studio album, Silent Shout. It features the singles "Silent Shout," "Marble House," "We Share Our Mothers' Health," and "Like a Pen."

2009 - Jason Isbell released his second full-length album, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit.

2010 - Mumford & Sons made their U.S. TV debut on The Late Show with David Letterman.

2010 - Two Door Cinema Club released their debut studio album, Tourist History. It features "Something Good Can Work," "I Can Talk," "Undercover Martyn," and “What You Know.”

2014 - Angel Olsen released her second studio album, Burn Your Fire for No Witness. It features "Forgiven/Forgotten," "Hi-Five," and "Windows."

2014 - Musician and sound engineer Bob Casale, best known as Devo's guitarist and keyboardist, died of heart failure. He engineered the first solo album for Police guitarist Andy Summers.

2015 - Ibeyi released their self-titled debut. It features “Oya” and “River.”

2017 - Nikki Lane released her third studio album, Highway Queen. It features the singles "Jackpot," "Highway Queen," and "Send the Sun."

2017 - Alison Krauss released her fourth solo studio album, Windy City. It features the single "Losing You."

2020 - American blues piano player and singer Henry Gray died at age 95. He performed with many artists, including Robert Lockwood Jr., Billy Boy Arnold, Morris Pejoe, The Rolling Stones, Muddy Waters, and Howlin' Wolf. He released over 60 albums including recordings for Chess Records.

Birthdays:

Singer and songwriter Tommy Edwards — who was the first African American to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “It’s All in the Game” — was born today in 1922.

Singer Bobby Lewis (who had a 1961 U.S. No. 1 single "Tossin' and Turnin") was born today in 1933.

Gene Pitney — "Town Without Pity," "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance," "Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa," "I'm Gonna Be Strong," "It Hurts to Be in Love," and "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart" — was born today in 1940.

Mexican singer José José was born today in 1948

Rickey Medlocke of Blackfoot and Lynyrd Skynyrd is 76.

Loreena McKennitt is 69.

Taylor Hawkins, drummer with Foo Fighters and Alanis Morissette, was born today in 1972.

Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day is 54. Armstrong grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and got into music at a very young age. He met his friend Mike Pritchard — later known as Mike Dirnt — at age 10, and they formed their first band together at age 15. In 1987, Armstrong and Dirnt formed the band that would become Green Day. Green Day released their first album in 1990, but it was their third album, 1994’s Dookie, that marked the band’s breakthrough. Since that time, Green Day have released a total of 14 albums, the most recent being 2024’s Saviors. And although Green Day are a California band through and through, Billie Joe Armstrong enjoys a Minnesota connection: Armstrong’s wife, Adrienne Nesser, is a Minneapolis native who graduated from Minnesota State University Mankato. The pair married in 1994, the same year Green Day rocketed to the stratosphere on the success of the Dookie album.

Paris Hilton is 45.

John Hassall, bassist with The Libertines, is 45.

Ed Sheeran is 35.

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Song Facts, the Mankato Free Press, People, Blue Note Records, and Wikipedia.