History Highlight:

Today in 1989, Pixies release their second studio album, Doolittle. The album is often regarded as the band's strongest and greatest work and has continued to sell consistently well in the years since its release, being certified Gold in 1995 and Platinum in 2018 by the Recording Industry Association of America. Doolittle has been cited as inspirational by many alternative artists, while numerous music publications have ranked it as one of the most influential albums ever. 

Also, Today In:

1970 - Paul McCartney released his debut solo album, McCartney (the black cover with the cherries). The "self-interview" included with the advance-press copies of the album essentially confirmed that The Beatles had indeed broken up. McCartney did very well on the charts (debuting at No. 2), but was not well received by critics — nor by any of the other Beatles, who harshly criticized the album's quality.

1971 - All four Beatles had solo singles on the U.K. charts: Paul McCartney with "Another Day," John Lennon, "Power To The People," George Harrison, "My Sweet Lord," and Ringo Starr, "It Don't Come Easy."

1973 - Pink Floyd were awarded a Gold album for Dark Side of The Moon, one of the most innovative and memorable albums in the history of rock. The disc would stay on the charts for more than 10 years, the longest-charting rock album of all time.

1974 - Vinnie Taylor (lead guitarist for Sha Na Na) died of an accidental heroin overdose at age 24.

1980 - Bob Marley & The Wailers performed at and were official guests of state at Zimbabwe's Independence festival. Marley described the occasion as the "greatest honor of my life."

1982 - Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force release "Planet Rock," the first hip-hop hit with electronic elements and a rhythm powered by a Roland TR-808 drum machine. It's just the third rap song to reach the Hot 100, following "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang and "The Breaks" by Kurtis Blow.

1983 - Joe Strummer of The Clash ran the London Marathon, finishing with a time of 4 hours 13 minutes. He claimed that his training included 10 pints of beer the night before.

1998 - Linda McCartney died after a long battle against cancer. She married Paul McCartney in 1969 after meeting him while she was working as a photographer. As well as being a member of Wings, Linda became an animal-rights campaigner and launched her own brand of vegetarian food.

2003 - Blues musician Earl King, composer of the standards "I Hear You Knocking" and "One Night," died at age 69 of diabetes-related complications.

2006 - A big-budget Coke commercial with a song by Jack White called "Love Is The Truth" hit YouTube, then quickly went away.

2008 - With Spirit, Leona Lewis became the first British woman to go straight to the top of the Billboard 200 album chart with a debut album.

2009 - Morrissey walked off stage during his set at the Coachella festival in California after declaring he could "smell burning flesh". A strict vegetarian, Morrissey was reacting to the smoke coming from nearby barbecues.

2009 - Depeche Mode released their 12th album, Sounds of the Universe. It features “Wrong” and “Peace.”

2016 - Singer Joss Stone postponed shows in the Caribbean to be with her sick dog, which she said was "the closest thing I have to a child". She said her pet had made it through the night but she had to "go back and make sure she was ok".

2020 - Fiona Apple releases her fifth album, Fetch The Bolt Cutters, her first since 2012. The title is a reference to a line Gillian Anderson says in the TV series The Fall and is a metaphor for setting yourself free.

Birthdays:

Don Kirshner — “the man with the golden ear,” manager of the Monkees, Kansas, the Archies — was born today in 1934.

Billy Fury (“Wondrous Place,” “Halfway to Paradise”) was born today in 1940.

Jan Hammer (“Miami Vice Theme”) is 76.

Michael Sembello (“Maniac” from Flashdance) is 70.

Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks was born today in 1955.

Afrika Bambaataa is 67.

Nick Hornby, writer of High Fidelity, is 67.

Maynard James Keenan of Tool is 60.

Singer/songwriter Liz Phair is 57.

Redman is 54.

Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice) is 50.

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