History Highlight:

Today in 1961, Jimmy Somerville was born, making him 65. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Somerville moved to London in 1980 and joined the youth group London Gay Teenage Group. Three years later, Somerville would co-found the synth-pop trio Bronski Beat, who released their debut album, The Age of Consent, in 1984. The band members — Somerville, Steve Bronski and Larry Steinbachek, all of whom were gay — wore their sexuality proudly on their sleeves as they released an album inspired by LGBTQIA+ advocacy in the face of Britain’s then-oppressive legislation regarding gay rights as compared to the rest of Europe. The album includes four hit singles: the original songs “Smalltown Boy” and “Why?,” and the cover tracks “It Ain’t Necessarily So” and “I Feel Love (Medley).” The single “Smalltown Boy” peaked at No. 3 in the U.K. singles chart and at No. 48 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

Also, Today In:

1956 - Elvis Presley started a three-day run playing 10 shows at the Paramount Theater in Atlanta.

1963 - Stevie Wonder first entered the U.S. singles chart as Little Stevie Wonder with "Fingertips Parts One and Two"; Wonder was only 13 years old, making him the youngest artist ever to top the chart. The track, which featured a young Marvin Gaye on drums, was recorded in June 1962 at the Regal Theater in Chicago and was the first live, non-studio recording to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart since 1952. On the recording, Wonder appeared to bring the song to its conclusion and the band went into the exit music — but Wonder unexpectedly changed his mind and returned to sing the "goodbye" encore. The other musicians were caught out, and the bass players had changed over to prepare for the next act on the bill; as a result, the new bass player, Larry Moses, can be heard on the recording, yelling out, "What key? What key?"

1964 - One day after graduating from high school, Dolly Parton moved to Nashville.

1968 - Herb Alpert started a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "This Guy's In Love With You," his first No. 1.

1969 - Minnesota-born singer and actress Judy Garland died of a drug overdose at age 47.

1970 - Led Zeppelin played a concert in Reykjavik on the group's one and only visit to Iceland.

1971 - Joni Mitchell released her fourth studio album, Blue, which included incredible songs like "All I Want," "Carey," "California," "River," "A Case of You" and the title track, "Blue." At only 27 years old, Mitchell had already had some intense life experiences, including putting her daughter up for adoption, which she sings about on "Little Green." Blue would be her second-to-last folk album before deciding to take her sound in a jazz direction. In a documentary that came out in 2003, Mitchell said, "I was demanding of myself a deeper and greater honesty." Today, Blue is often regarded by music critics as one of the greatest albums of all time.

1974 - Madonna, 15, goes to her first concert: David Bowie at Cobo Arena in Detroit. "I recognized myself in him somehow, and he gave me license to dream a different future for myself," she would reflect later.

1977 - James Taylor released his eighth studio album, JT. It features "Handy Man" (Taylor's final top 10 hit), "Your Smiling Face," and "Honey Don't Leave L.A."

1979 - Neil Young released his 10th album, Rust Never Sleeps. It features "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" and "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)."

1985 - Bryan Adams started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Heaven," his first No. 1 single.

1988 - Robert Palmer released his ninth studio album, Heavy Nova. It features “Simply Irresistible.”

1990 - Billy Joel became the first rock artist to perform at Yankee Stadium.

1992 - Elton John released his 23rd studio album, The One. It features the hit title track.

1993 - Liz Phair released her debut album, Exile in Guyville. It features “Never Said” and “Divorce Song.”

1993 - The Flaming Lips released their sixth studio album, Transmissions from the Satellite Heart. One of the standout tracks, "She Don't Use Jelly," became a breakthrough hit for the band and was played in heavy rotation on MTV. The album helped solidify The Flaming Lips' reputation as pioneers in the alternative music scene of the '90s and received critical acclaim for its unique blend of psychedelic influences, catchy melodies and unconventional song structures.

1993 - Tony! Toni! Toné! released their third album, Sons of Soul. It features “If I Had No Loot” and “Anniversary.”

1994 - Collective Soul’s debut studio album, Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid was released on Atlantic Records. It features “Shine.”

1995 - Ben Lee released his solo debut album, Grandpaw Would. It features “Pop Queen” and “Away With the Pixies.”

1999 - Limp Bizkit released their second studio album, Significant Other. It features “Nookie.”

1999 - The Flaming Lips released their ninth studio album, The Soft Bulletin, in the United States. It features “Race for the Prize” and “Waitin’ for a Superman.”

1999 - Missy Elliott released her second studio album, Da Real World. It features “All n My Grill” and “Hot Boyz.”

2000 - After giving himself various new identities during the 1990s, The Artist Formally Known As Prince announced he wanted to be known as Prince again.

2004 - Wilco released their fifth studio album, A Ghost Is Born. It features “I’m a Wheel,” “Spiders (Kidsmoke),” “Handshake Drugs,” and “Hummingbird.”

2008 - Coldplay went to No.1 on the U.K. singles chart with Viva La Vida, their first U.K. No. 1. History was made by this single, as it had no physical CD-single release in the U.K., being available by internet download only. The song won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 2009.

2010 - The Roots released their ninth studio album, How I Got Over.

2013 - "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke started a 13-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart.

2016 - Robert Plant told a court hearing in the "Stairway To Heaven" copyright dispute that he had a dim memory of the time the song was written. Plant also said he could not remember meeting the band Spirit, who claimed the band stole their guitar riff for “Stairway to Heaven” in the 1970s. "I don't have a recollection of almost anyone I've hung out with," Plant said, causing roars of laughter in the court. The case was brought on behalf of Spirit's late guitarist, Randy Wolfe. His estate claimed the opening riff of the 1968 song “Taurus” is fundamentally the same as the iconic opening bars of “Stairway to Heaven.”

2018 - Vinnie Paul of Pantera died at the age of 54.

2018 - Dawes released their sixth studio album, Passwords.

2019 - Sir Elton John was awarded France's highest civilian award, the Legion d'Honneur. The British musician was presented with the award by President Emmanuel Macron during a ceremony at the Elysée Palace. President Macron's office praised Sir Elton as a "melodic genius" and as one of the first artists to give a voice to the LGBT community.

2019 - Drummer and record producer Jerry Carrigan died age 75. He first achieved widespread recognition by being part of the first wave of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and later as a first-call session musician in Nashville for over three decades. Carrigan recorded with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Charlie Rich, Kenny Rogers, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Stevens and Dolly Parton.

2020 - Twenty One Pilots released a never-ending video for their song "Level of Concern" that continuously updates using footage uploaded by fans. It does end, but not until December 16, 2020 — 178 days later.

2020 - The day after Spain lifted a three-month coronavirus lockdown, the Liceu opera in Barcelona opened its season with an unusual performance: Each of the 2,292 seats was occupied by a houseplant.

2022 - The world-famous Glastonbury Festival took place in Pilton, Somerset, England. The event had been cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. The 2022 festival featured its youngest-ever solo headliner in Billie Eilish, and Sir Paul McCartney as the oldest.

Birthdays:

Singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson was born on this day in 1936. He died on Sept. 28, 2024. His hits include "Me And Bobby McGee," “Sunday Morning Coming Down” and "Help Me Make It Through The Night."

Chris Blackwell, co-founder of Island Records, is 89.

Peter Asher of Peter and Gordon is 82.

Howard Kaylan, from The Turtles, is 79.

Todd Rundgren is 78.

Larry Junstrom, bassist for .38 Special and founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, was born today in 1949.

Alan Osmond, from the American family group The Osmonds, was born today in 1949. He died on April 20, 2026.

Craig Gruber of Rainbow and Elf was born today in 1951.

Cyndi Lauper is 73. (The Morning Show team got to chat with Lauper in the basement of the Electric Fetus in 2016 and reconnected with her in 2024.)

Green Gartside of Scritti Politti is 71.

Derek Forbes of Simple Minds is 70.

INXS bassist Garry Beers is 69.

Jimmy Somerville, Bronski Beat frontman, is 65. (see highlight, above)

Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream is 64.

Nick Harper of Squeeze is 61.

Steven Page, solo artist and former member of Barenaked Ladies, is 56.

Carson Daly of TRL and the Voice is 53.

Editors guitarist Chris Urbanowicz is 45.

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