Birthday Highlight:

Today in 1947, Michael John Kells (Mick) Fleetwood was born. He is best known as the drummer, co-founder, and leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Born in Redruth, Cornwall, Fleetwood lived in Egypt and Norway for much of his childhood. Choosing to follow his musical interests, Fleetwood travelled to London at the age of 15, eventually forming the first incarnation of Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer and Bob Brunning. His surname was merged with that of the group's bassist John "Mac" McVie to form the name of the band. After several album releases and line-up changes, the group moved to the United States in 1974. Fleetwood then invited Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks to join. Fleetwood's own determination to keep the band together was essential to the band's longevity. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Fleetwood Mac in 1998.

Also, Today In:

1958 - Nina Simone releases her debut album, Little Girl Blue.

1965 - John Lennon's second book of poetry and drawings, A Spaniard in the Works, was published.

1967 - The Monkees went to No. 1 on the U.S. album charts with Headquarters, the group's third chart topper. The album was the first with substantial songwriting and instrumental performances by members of the group itself, rather than by session musicians and professional songwriters. As of 2008, Headquarters had sold seven million copies in the United States and achieved global sales of 11.6 million. It is included in the 2006 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

1989 - Paul McCartney scored his seventh U.K. No. 1 solo album with Flowers in the Dirt.

1994 - Weezer released "Undone - The Sweater Song," the first single from their debut album, Weezer (aka The Blue Album).

1995 - Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder left the stage due to illness after only seven songs during an outdoor concert in San Francisco. To the delight of some, but mostly dismay to the younger fans, Neil Young stepped up to finish the show.

1999 - Eric Clapton put 100 of his guitars up for auction at Christie's in New York City to raise money for his drug rehab clinic, the Crossroads Centre in Antigua. His 1956 Fender Stratocaster — named Brownie, which was used to record the electric version of "Layla" — sold for a record $497,500. The auction helped raise nearly $5 million for the clinic.

2000 - Kiss auctioned off $888,000 worth of costumes, instruments and tour memorabilia, including Gene Simmons' Psycho Circus tourwear (including codpiece), which went for $32,200.

2007 - The White Stripes went to No. 1 on the U.K. album chart with Icky Thump, the duo's sixth and final studio album. Icky Thump won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 2008.

2011 - Beyoncé releases 4. It's her fourth album; the title also references her favorite number, as she was born on September 4 and married on April 4.

2014 - A working draft of Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" set a record at auction after selling for $2 million at Sotheby's. The manuscript, said to be the only known draft of the final lyrics, was written in pencil in 1965 by the 24 year-old Dylan.

2016 - A jury concluded that Led Zeppelin did not copy the opening chords of "Stairway To Heaven" from the Spirit, saying the riff Led Zeppelin was accused of taking from Spirit's 1967 song "Taurus" was not intrinsically similar to Stairway's opening. During the trial, defence lawyers argued the chord progression in question was very common and had been in use for more than 300 years.

Birthdays:

Arthur Wilton Brown, also known as The God of Hellfire, is 80.

Legendary guitarist Jeff Beck (Yardbirds, Jeff Beck Group) is 78.

Colin Blunstone, lead singer of the Zombies, is 77.

Andy McCluskey of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark is 63.

Curt Smith, of Tears for Fears, is 61.

Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star is 56.

Solange is 36

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