History Highlight:

Today in 1975, drummer Sandy West and guitarist Joan Jett formed the first-ever all-female heavy-rock band, The Runaways. The band released four studio albums, and among their best-known songs are "Cherry Bomb," "Queens of Noise" and a cover of The Velvet Underground's "Rock n Roll."

Also, Today In:

1957 - American Bandstand went national when it aired for the first time on ABC. Hosted by Dick Clark throughout its national run, the show remained on network TV until 1987. The show's popularity helped Dick Clark become an American media mogul and inspired similar long-running music programs, such as Soul Train and Top of the Pops. The first song the kids danced to back in 1957 was "That'll Be The Day" by Buddy Holly.

1966 - The Beatles' seventh album, Revolver, was released in the U.K. The band's seventh album, Revolver is often cited as one of the greatest albums in rock music history - and sometimes as the greatest, usually ranking along with The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds and The Beatles' own Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. It has been credited with ushering in the psychedelic era in music, with its use of innovative studio effects, varying musical genres from track to track, and relation (both in it's creation and consumption) to the use of psychedelic drugs.

1972 - Aerosmith signed to CBS Records for $125,000 after record company boss Clive Davis saw them play at Max's Kansas City Club New York.

1978 - The Rolling Stones went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Miss You," the group's eighth U.S. No. 1.

1979 - Def Leppard signed to Phonogram records with an advance of £120,000 ($180,000), giving them a 10 percent royalty on 100 percent of sales for the first two years.

1986 - Culture Club keyboard player Michael Rudetsky was found dead at Boy George's London home in Hampstead.

1993 - Randy Hobbs, bass player with The McCoys, Edgar Winter Group and Motrose was found dead in his hotel room in Dayton Ohio from a drug overdose aged 45.

1996 - Long a mainstay of U.K. television, the music show "Top Of The Pops" reported its lowest audience ever, only 2.5 million viewers. In its heyday, the show attracted more than 17 million viewers each week.

2007 - DNA testing on about a dozen people who claimed late soul star James Brown was their father revealed that at least two of them were telling the truth.

2009 - Steven Tyler of Aerosmith fell off the stage at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota, suffering injuries to his head and neck, which forced the rest of their tour to be canceled. Tyler fell when he was entertaining the crowd with a dance while a technical problem was being sorted.

2013 - Musician, composer, singer and producer George Duke died from chronic lymphocytic leukemia at age 67. He released over thirty solo albums, of which A Brazilian Love Affair from 1980 was his most popular. Duke worked with other musicians, particularly Frank Zappa and also appeared on Michael Jackson's Off The Wall album.

2021 - Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga play the second of two sold-out shows at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. It's Bennett's last performance; a week later the 95-year-old singer, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2016, announces he's retiring from performing.

Birthdays:

Willie Weeks is 75.

Gregory Leskiw of The Guess Who is 76.

Eddie "Fingers" Ojeda of Twisted Sister is 67.

Pete Burns founder of founded Dead or Alive was born on this day in 1959. Pete passed away in 2016.

Guitarist Pat Smear (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) is 63.

Adam Yauch, a.k.a. MCA of the Beastie Boys, was born today in 1964. He passed away in 2012.

Jeff Coffin of Bela Fleck & the Flecktones is 57.

Bassist Jennifer Finch of L7 is 56.

Yungblud Singer and guitarist who has won acclaim with his socially-conscious brand of protest music is 25.

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