History Highlight:
Happy Birthday to Nancy Sinatra, born in 1940, who is 85 today. The daughter of the late Frank Sinatra, Nancy began her career as a singer and actress in the early 1960s, finding success in mainland Europe and Japan. That all changed in 1966, when Nancy scored a No. 1 hit in the U.S. and U.K. with the single, "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'". Written by Lee Hazelwood, the song showcased Nancy's provocative but good-natured style, and it also popularized and made Nancy synonymous with go-go boots, a fashion item of the time. Several artists have covered the song, but Nancy Sinatra's version of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in the late 1990s, when it was included in the soundtrack of the 1997 film, "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery". 

Also, Today In: 

1963 - The Crystals' "Da Doo Ron Ron" peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. singles chart. Phil Spector produced the track, and among the backing musicians was Glen Campbell on guitar.  

1970 - Deep Purple had their van and equipment impounded by East German police while on an European tour, after mistakenly driving too close to the border.  

1974 - Paul McCartney and Wings went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Band On The Run", McCartney's third solo U.S. No. 1.  

1974 - Dolly Parton was at No. 1 on the U.S. country charts with "I Will Always Love You". The song later became a worldwide No. 1 hit for Whitney Houston in 1992 when featured in The Bodyguard.

1982 - Survivor released their third studio album, Eye of the Tiger. It features the hit title track and “American Heartbeat.”

1984 - Ghostbusters: Original Soundtrack Album was released.

1985 - Tears for Fears started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", the group's first U.S. No. 1. 

1991 - Paula Abdul's second album, Spellbound, hit No. 1 in America. The ballad "Rush, Rush" and the rosy "The Promise of a New Day" both went to No. 1 on the Hot 100.  

1991 - Bruce Springsteen married Patti Scialfa at their Beverly Hills home in California.  

1991 - Extreme went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "More Than Words." 

1991 - Color Me Bad had a No. 2 hit in the U.S. with 'I Wanna Sex You Up'. Some radio stations edited out the word "sex" with disc jockeys announcing the song “I Wanna Love You Up.”

1993 - Urge Overkill released their fourth studio album, Saturation. It features “Sister Havana” and “Positive Bleeding.”

1993 - X released their seventh studio album, hey Zeus! It features “New Life” and “Country at War.”

1993 - Bratmobile released their debut studio album, Pottymouth.

1993 - RuPaul released his debut studio album, Supermodel of the World. It features "Supermodel (You Better Work)."

1996 - Lauryn Hill and The Fugees went No. 1 with their version of the Roberta Flack 1973 hit 'Killing Me Softly'. The song composed by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel in 1971 was inspired by Lori Lieberman's poem 'Killing Me Softly with His Blues'.  

1996 - Jars of Clay hit No. 37 with "Flood" - the first Top 40 hit for a Contemporary Christian band in the Alternative Rock era. Over the next few years, a steady stream of Christian Rock bands crossed over, led by Creed. 

1999 - Pavement released their fifth studio album, Terror Twilight. It features “Spit on a Stranger.”

1999 - Red Hot Chili Peppers released their seventh studio album, Californication. It features "Otherside," "Californication," and the Grammy Award-winning "Scar Tissue."

1999 - Smash Mouth released their second studio album, Astro Lounge. It features “All Star.”

2003 - Led Zeppelin were at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with their triple live album How The West Was Won, the band's seventh U.S. No. 1 full-length. The performances were from the band's 1972 tour of the United States.  

2003 - Billy Joel won a Tony Award for the orchestration of his Broadway musical Movin' Out.  

2004 - A.C. Newman released his debut solo album, The Slow Wonder. It features “On the Table.”

2004 - Sonic Youth released their 13th studio album, Sonic Nurse. It features "Kim Gordon and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream" and “Unmade Bed.”

2004 - Bolstered by the hit singles "Helena" and "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)," My Chemical Romance went mainstream with their second album Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge. 

2008 - Rolling Stone magazine published a list of the Top 50 guitar songs of all time. No. 5 was 'Brown Sugar' by The Rolling Stones, No. 4 'You Really Got Me' by The Kinks, No. 3 'Crossroads', by Cream, No. 2 'Purple Haze', by Jimi Hendrix and No. 1 'Johnny B Goode', Chuck Berry. 

2010 - The Young Veins released their debut album, Take a Vacation!

2010 - Tokyo Police Club released their second studio album, Champ. It features “Breakneck Speed.”

2010 - Blitzen Trapper released their fifth studio album, Destroyer of the Void.

2015 - Of Monsters and Men released their second studio album, Beneath the Skin. It features “Crystals,” “I of the Storm,” and “Empire.”

2015 - FFS (Franz Ferdinand and Sparks) released their self-titled debut. It features "Piss Off," "Johnny Delusional," "Collaborations Don't Work," "Call Girl," and "Police Encounters."

2017 - Country songwriter/producer Norro Wilson, who penned hits for George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Charley Pride, and others, died at age 79. 

2018 - Lykke Li released her fourth studio album, So Sad So Sexy. It features "Deep End" and "Hard Rain."

2020 - Bonnie Pointer died from a cardiac arrest at age 69. She and her sisters rose to fame as the Grammy-winning Pointer Sisters, who were best-known for the 1984 hits 'Jump (For My Love)' and 'I'm So Excited'.   

Birthdays: 

Clarence “Fuzzy” Haskins of Parliament-Funkadelic was born today in 1941.  

Boz Scaggs (“Lido Shuffle,” “Lowdown”) is 81.

Bonnie Tyler is 74. 

Influential bluegrass guitarist Tony Rice was born today in 1951. 

Greg Ginn, leader of Black Flag and SST Records, is 71. 

Mick Hucknall, of Simply Red, is 65. 

Duran Duran keyboardist Nick Rhodes is 63. 

Kanye West is 48. 

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