History Highlight:

Today in 1993, Time magazine puts Eddie Vedder on the cover with the headline "All The Rage." Both Vedder and Kurt Cobain refused to speak with the magazine for the story, but they run it anyway in an attempt to explain why young people are listening to such angry music. The same story also quotes Kat Bjelland of Babes in Toyland: “Even the theatrical group Kiss — whose members wore demonic makeup onstage — is cited as an influence by today's alternative rockers. ‘I had the worst crush on the God of Thunder, (Kiss bassist) Gene Simmons,’ says Kat Bjelland, lead singer for the punkette group Babes in Toyland. "They appealed to me because they're really basic. Plus they're so evil!" 

Today In:

1964 - The Rolling Stones made their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. So many people complained (they hadn't washed their hair! Mick Jagger wore a sweatshirt!) that Sullivan said he'd never invite them back, but they made another appearance in 1965.

1968 - The original release of the Jimi Hendrix Experience double album Electric Ladyland caused a bit of a stir. The cover featured Jimi surrounded by naked women. It is now a collectors item.

1969 - “Sugar Sugar” by The Archies was at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart. It stayed at the top for eight weeks, and was also No. 1 in the U.S., selling over six million copies worldwide.

1970 - Speaking at a U.S. radio conference, President Richard Nixon asked programmers to ban all songs containing drug references.

1970- Led Zeppelin's LP Led Zeppelin III hits No. 1. 

1975 - Art Garfunkel was at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart with his version of “I Only Have Eyes For You.”

1975 - Paul Simon issues his fourth solo album, Still Crazy After All These Years. "Gone At Last," "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover," and the title track all reached the U.S. Top 40, and the album hit No. 1, Simon's first to do so. 

1980 - Barbra Streisand scored her fourth U.S. No. 1 album with Guilty.

1986 - For the first time in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, the top three spots were held by female solo acts. Cyndi Lauper's “True Colors” held down the No. 1 position, followed by Tina Turner's “Typical Male” at No. 2 and Janet Jackson's “When I Think Of You” at No. 3.

1986 - Bon Jovi went to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with Slippery When Wet.

1986 - Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits broke his collarbone after crashing in a celebrity car race before the Australian Grand Prix.

1992- Roger Miller died of died of lung and throat cancer in hospital in Los Angeles. Scored the 1965 U.K. No. 1 and U.S. No. 4 single “King Of The Road.” Miller won 11 Grammy Awards as a songwriter and seven Tony Awards for writing the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

1993 - Tears For Fears played the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. Radiohead opened.

1997 - After falling over on stage when reaching for a guitar pick, Johnny Cash announced during a gig in Michigan that he was suffering from Parkinson's disease.

1999 - As bluegrass music starts to take off in America, Dolly Parton released The Grass Is Blue. The album gives her career a boost and wins the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album.

2003 - Johnny Cash's step-daughter, Rosey Nix Adams, and her fiddle player Jimmy Campbell were found dead on their tour bus in Clarksville, Tennessee, from Carbon monoxide poisoning. Heaters that had been left on were blamed for the accident.

2004 - Legendary BBC Music DJ John Peel died in Cuzco, Peru, of a heart attack, aged 65.

2008 - Britney Spears returns to the top of the Hot 100 with Womanizer, her first No. 1 on that chart since her debut single, ...Baby One More Time, in 1999.

2014 - Jack Bruce of Cream died of liver disease at age 71.

Birthdays:

Today in 1951, Richard Lloyd was born, making him 72 today. He is best-known as a founding member of the band Television. In his early teens, he studied drums with William Kessler, who was the ghostwriter for Cozy Cole, one of the famous big-band drummers. A few years later he turned to the guitar. An early fixture of CBGB and the 1970s New York rock scene, Television is considered influential in the development of punk and alternative music.

Glenn Tipton of Judas Priest is 76.

Drummer Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers (and doppelganger of Will Ferrell) is 62.

Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies is 53.

Neil Fallon of Clutch is 52. 

Katy Perry is 39.

Ciara is 38.

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.