Birthday highlight:

Today in 1988, Adele Laurie Blue Adkins — best known mononymously as Adele — was born in London, England. Her debut album, 19, won her a Grammy Award for Best New Artist, and subsequent releases made her the best-selling artist of the 2010s in the United States. Her fourth and most recent album, 30, arrived in late 2021, and it hit No. 1 on essentially every chart.

Also, today in:

1956 - Elvis Presley scored his first U.S. No. 1 single and album when "Heartbreak Hotel" went to the top of the charts. "Heartbreak Hotel" became his first million-seller, and was the best-selling single of 1956.

1962 - The soundtrack to West Side Story went to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart. It went on to spend a total of 54 weeks at the No. 1 position.

1963 - On a recommendation from George Harrison, Decca Records’ A&R man Dick Rowe (who had turned down the Beatles) went to see the Rolling Stones play in London. The band signed to the label within a week.

1967 - Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair)" first appeared on the U.S. singles chart and soon became an anthem of the Flower Power movement and hippies everywhere.

1969 - The Beatles single "Get Back" had its U.S. release. In 1980, John Lennon claimed, "There's some underlying thing about Yoko in there," suggesting that Paul McCartney looked at Yoko Ono in the studio every time he sang, "Get back to where you once belonged."

1972 - Paul Simon, Chicago and Carole King all performed at a benefit concert for U.S. presidential candidate George McGovern.

1978 - Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band released their tenth studio album, Stranger in Town. It features the singles "Still the Same," "Hollywood Nights," "We've Got Tonight," and "Old Time Rock and Roll."

1979 - Peaches and Herb started a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Reunited.”

1981 - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released their fourth studio album, Hard Promises. It features the singles "The Waiting" and "A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)."

1984 - Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders married Jim Kerr of Simple Minds. The couple divorced in 1990.

1986 - Cleveland, Ohio, was selected as the site for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

1992 - Jon Secada released his English-language debut studio album, Jon Secada. It features the singles "Just Another Day," "Do You Believe in Us," and "Angel."

1996 - Rage Against The Machine went to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with Evil Empire. The album won the 1996 Grammy award for Best Metal Performance.

1997 - Paul McCartney released his tenth solo studio album, Flaming Pie. It features the singles "Young Boy," "The World Tonight," and "Beautiful Night."

1998 - Tori Amos released her fourth studio album, From the Choirgirl Hotel. It features the singles "Spark," "Jackie’s Strength," and "Cruel."

2000 - Rod Stewart had a one-hour throat operation at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to remove a growth on his thyroid. The growth turned out to be benign.

2003 - The Dandy Warhols released their fourth studio album, Welcome to the Monkey House. It features the singles "We Used to Be Friends," "You Were the Last High," and "Plan A."

2003 - Blur released their seventh studio album, Think Tank. It features the singles "Out of Time," "Crazy Beat," and "Good Song."

2003 - Four Tet released his third studio album, Rounds. It features the singles "She Moves She" and "As Serious as Your Life."

2005 - Justin Timberlake underwent an operation at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to remove nodules from his throat.

2008 - Nine Inch Nails released their seventh studio album, The Slip. It features the singles "Discipline" and "Echoplex."

2009 - St. Vincent released their second studio album, Actor. It features “Actor Out of Work” and “Marrow.”

2014 - Solange Knowles lunged at Jay-Z in an elevator while headed to a gala at the Standard hotel in New York. The footage, which leaked on TMZ, showed the confrontation before a security guard restrained Solange. Beyonce later mentioned the incident in her song "Flawless" when she sings, "of course sometimes s--t go down when it’s a billion dollars on an elevator."

2015 - Bassist Craig Gruber died of prostate cancer in Florida at age 63. He is best-known as the original bassist in Rainbow and also played in Elf with vocalist Ronnie James Dio and worked with guitarist Gary Moore.

2015 - Kamasi Washington released his third album, The Epic. It features “Re Run Home” and “Miss Understanding.”

2015 - Chris Stapleton released his debut studio album, Traveller. It features the title track, “Nobody to Blame,” and “Parachute.”

2016 - The Rolling Stones told Donald Trump to stop playing their songs during his presidential campaign. The band issued a statement saying that he did not have permission to use the band's music. Their 1969 hit "You Can't Always Get What You Want" had been a popular song at his rallies.

2017 - Brother Ali released his sixth studio album, All the Beauty in This Whole Life. It features the singles "Own Light (What Hearts Are For)" and "Never Learn."

2017 - Mac DeMarco released his third studio album, This Old Dog. It features the singles "My Old Man," "This Old Dog," "On the Level," and "One More Love Song."

2017 - Chris Stapleton released his third studio album, From A Room: Volume 1. It features the singles "Either Way" and "Broken Halos."

2017 - Slowdive released their fourth studio album, Slowdive. It features the singles "Star Roving" and "Sugar for the Pill."

2017 - Perfume Genius released their fourth studio album, No Shape. It features the singles "Slip Away" and "Go Ahead."

2020 - Jamaican singer Millie Small died at the age of 72 after suffering a stroke. The star was most famous for her hit single “My Boy Lollipop,” which reached No. 2 in both the U.S. and the U.K. in 1964. It remains one of the biggest-selling ska songs of all time, with more than seven million sales.

2020 - R&B singer Sweet Pea Atkinson died from a heart attack in Los Angeles at age 74. He was best-known as one of the vocalists for the band Was (Not Was). Their highest charting hit, “Walk the Dinosaur,” which was released in 1987, became a world-wide top-40 hit and peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Birthdays:

Blind Willie McTell was born today in 1898.

Tammy Wynette was born today in 1942. Wynette was born Virginia Wynette Pugh in Tremont, Miss. Known as the First Lady of Country Music, Wynette charted 23 No. 1 songs, including "Stand By Your Man," and sold more than 30 million records worldwide. Many of her hits dealt with classic themes of loneliness, divorce, and the difficulties of relationships. Along with Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette is credited with having defined the role of women in country music during the 1970s. Wynette passed away at home in 1998. 

Michael Palin of Monty Python is 82.

Kurt Loder of MTV News is 80.

Original Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward is 77.

Maggie MacNeal of Mouth & MacNeal (“How Do You Do”) is 75.

Rex Goh of Air Supply is 74.

Roddy Radiation of The Specials is 70.

Ian McCulloch, singer-songwriter and frontman for Echo and the Bunnymen, is 66.

Steve Stevens, guitarist and songwriter best-known as Billy Idol's guitarist and songwriting collaborator, and for his lead guitar work on the Grammy-winning theme to Top Gun — "Top Gun Anthem" — is 66.

Kevin Paul Mooney, bassist of Adam and the Ants, is 63.

James LaBrie of Dream Theater is 62.

Shawn Drover of Megadeth is 59.

Craig David is 44.

Adele is 37.

Chris Brown 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.