History Highlight:

Today in 2009, at a ceremony at the White House in Washington D.C., President Barack Obama honored Stevie Wonder, his musical hero, with America's highest award for pop music, the Library of Congress' Gershwin Prize. The president said the Motown legend had been the soundtrack to his youth, adding that he doubted his wife would have married him if he hadn't been a fan. Wonder's song, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” had been the theme song during Obama's presidential campaign.

Also, Today In:

1957 - Buddy Holly and The Crickets taped "That'll Be The Day" at their first session with producer Norman Petty at his studio in the eastern New Mexico town of Clovis. It would become Holly's biggest hit, rising to No. 2 on the singles chart.

1967 - The Spencer Davis Group peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with "Gimme Some Lovin'" which was their first top-10 single in the U.S.

1972 - Led Zeppelin appeared in front of more than 25,000 fans at the Western Springs Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand, the group's first-ever gig in New Zealand (and the largest crowd ever to attend a concert on the island). News reviews the next day reported the band could be heard more than five miles from the stadium.

1977 - Peter Gabriel released his debut solo studio album, Peter Gabriel. It features the singles "Solsbury Hill" and "Modern Love."

1977 - Ultravox released their debut studio album, Ultravox!. It features the single "Dangerous Rhythm."

1980 - Bob Seger released his 11th studio album, Against the Wind, which was his third album with The Silver Bullet Band. The album went on to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart and sell five million copies in the U.S.

1982 - Alabama released their sixth studio album, Mountain Music. It features the singles "Mountain Music," "Take Me Down," and "Close Enough to Perfect."

1984 - "Jump" by Van Halen started a five-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart. The song was released in December 1983 as the lead single from their album 1984 and is Van Halen's most successful single to date, reaching No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Fun fact: David Lee Roth dedicated the song to martial artist Benny "The Jet" Urquidez, of whom he was a student, as evidenced by Roth’s kicks and jumps in the song’s music video.

1985 - Tears for Fears released their second studio album, Songs from the Big Chair. It includes the tracks “Shout,” “Mothers Talk,” “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” and “Head Over Heels.” Although Tears for Fears’ 1983 debut album The Hurting reached No. 1 in the band’s native Britain, Songs from the Big Chair marked Tears for Fears’ global breakthrough. Adopting a more guitar-oriented, pop-rock sound while still tackling socially and politically conscious issues in the lyrics, Songs from the Big Chair rocketed to No. 1 in the album charts of the United States, Canada, the Netherlands and Germany. Not only is Songs from the Big Chair Tears for Fears’ most commercially successful album, it consistently lands in lists of the best albums of the 1980s.

1985 - U2 launched their first full-scale arena tour of North America, starting at the Dallas Reunion Arena in Texas.

1992 - TLC released their debut studio album, Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip. It features the singles "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg," "Baby-Baby-Baby," "What About Your Friends," and "Hat 2 da Back."

1995 - Madonna started a seven-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Take A Bow." The track, which was co-written with Babyface, became a No. 16 hit in the U.K.

1995 - At a private party for 1,200 select guests on the closing night of the Frank Sinatra Desert Classic golf tournament, Frank Sinatra sang before a live audience for the very last time. His closing song was "The Best is Yet to Come."

1997 - Elliott Smith released his third studio album, Either/Or. It features the singles "Speed Trials" and "Ballad of Big Nothing."

1997 - White Town released their second studio album, Women in Technology. It features the singles "Your Woman," "Wanted," and "Undressed."

1997 - Sneaker Pimps released their debut studio album, Becoming X, in the U.S. It features the singles "Tesko Suicide," "Roll On," "6 Underground," "Spin Spin Sugar," and "Post-Modern Sleaze."

1997 - Marcy Playground released their self-titled debut studio album, Marcy Playground. It features the singles "Poppies," "Saint Joe on the School Bus," "Sex and Candy," and "Sherry Fraser."

1997 - Sister Hazel released their second studio album, ...Somewhere More Familiar. It features the singles "All for You," "Concede," and "Happy."

1998 - Bob Dylan won three Grammys, including one for Best Album for Time Out Of Mind. During Dylan's performance of the song "Love Sick," Michael Portnoy, hired as a background dancer, ripped his shirt off and jumped in among the band, revealing the words "Soy Bomb" painted on his chest.

2002 - Clinic released their second studio album, Walking with Thee. It features the singles "Walking with Thee" and "Come into Our Room."

2003 - Evan Dando released his debut solo studio album, Baby I'm Bored. It features the singles "Stop My Head" and "It Looks Like You."

2007 - Kaiser Chiefs went to No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart with "Ruby," taken from their second album, Yours Truly, Angry Mob.

2011 - Lykke Li released her second studio album, Wounded Rhymes. It features the singles "Get Some," "I Follow Rivers," "Sadness Is a Blessing," and "Youth Knows No Pain."

2012 - Blues musician Louisiana Red died at the age of 79 in Hanover, Germany.

2013 - Atoms for Peace (Thom Yorke, Flea, Nigel Godrich, Joey Waronker, and Mauro Refosco) released their debut studio album, Amok. It features the singles "Default," "Ingenue," "Judge, Jury and Executioner," and "Before Your Very Eyes..."

2013 - Palma Violets released their debut studio album, 180. It features the singles "Best of Friends," "Step Up for the Cool Cats," and "We Found Love."

2014 - St. Vincent released her fourth studio album, a self-titled album. It features “Birth in Reverse,” “Digital Witness,” “Prince Johnny,” and “Regret.”

2014 - Schoolboy Q released his third studio album, Oxymoron. It features “Collard Greens,” “Man of the Year,” “Studio,” and “Hell of a Night.”

2019 - Publicist and talent manager Kenneth Pitt died at the age of 96. He managed the career of musicians including David Bowie in the late 1960s (Pitt managed Bowie at the time of his first hit, 'Space Oddity' in 1969), and was responsible for publicizing American musicians and bands touring the U.K. including Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, and Jerry Lee Lewis.

2019 - Mark Hollis, English musician and singer-songwriter, died at age 64. He achieved commercial success and critical acclaim in the 1980s and 1990s as the co-founder, lead singer and principal songwriter of the band Talk Talk. Hollis wrote or co-wrote most of Talk Talk's music, including hits like “It's My Life” (1984) and “Life's What You Make It” (1986).

Birthdays:

Bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley of the Stanley Brothers was born today in 1927.

Country singer Faron Young, whose song “Hello Walls” spent nine weeks at the top of Billboard’s country singles chart in 1961, was born today in 1932.

George Harrison was born today in 1943.

John Doe of X is 73.

Stuart Wood of the Bay City Rollers is 69.

Mike Peters of The Alarm was born today in 1959.

Brian Baker of Minor Threat is 61.

Canadian singer-songwriter Daniel Powter, whose 2005 single “Bad Day” spent five weeks at No. 1, is 55.

Rashida Jones — daughter of Quincy Jones (and partner to Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig), who created the 2018 Grammy-winning documentary Quincy — is 50. She has provided backing vocals for Maroon 5’s first two studio albums, and appeared in music videos for Aaliyah and Foo Fighters. Jones is well known for her acting work in The Office, Parks and Recreation, Angie Tribeca and Black Mirror, among other roles.

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