History Highlight:

Tom Waits is 76 today. He was born Dec. 7, 1949. Known for his trademark growl, his albums have received mixed commercial success. His biggest success may have been through cover versions by more commercial artists: "Jersey Girl" performed by Bruce Springsteen, "Ol' '55" by the Eagles, "Downtown Train" by Rod Stewart. In 2011, Waits was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is also included among the 2010 list of Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Singers, as well as the 2015 list of Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.

Also, in:

1963 - The Beatles second album With The Beatles started a 21-week run at No. 1 on the U.K. album chart.

1967 - Otis Redding went into the studio to record "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay". Though the song skyrocketed to the top of the R&B and pop charts in the months after its release, Redding didn't get to enjoy its success as he died in a plane crash three days after recording the song. The hit was Otis's largest-selling to date and it's reported that the familiar whistling heard before the song's fade was the singer fooling around, as he had forgotten what he was going to do during that part. The immensely popular song has been covered by dozens of performers such as Cher, Bob Dylan, Widespread Panic, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Pearl Jam, Garth Brooks and Justin Timberlake.

1974 - Carl Douglas started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Kung Fu Fighting". The song was recorded in 10 minutes (with just two takes), and had started out as a B-side but went on to sell 11 million records worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.

1979 - "Christmas Rappin'" by Kurtis Blow became the first rap song released on a major label - Mercury Records. It sold about 400,000 copies and provided the template for his next single, "The Breaks," which became the first rap Gold record.

1985 - Mr. Mister started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Broken Wings".

1991 - George Michael and Elton John were at No. 1 in the U.K. with a live version of "Don't Let The Sun Go down On Me". All proceeds from the hit went to AIDS charities.

1991 - U2 went to No. 1 on the U.S. album charts with Achtung Baby.

1996 - Toni Braxton started an 11-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Un-Break My Heart".

2003 - Britney Spears was at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with In The Zone, the singer's fourth U.S. No. 1 album. The singer broke her own record from being the first female artist to have three albums enter the U.S. chart at No. 1 to being the first female artist to have 4 albums enter at No. 1 consecutively.

2004 - Cam’ron released his fourth studio album, Purple Haze. It features “Girls,” “Down and Out,” “Shake,” “Lord You Know,” and “Get Em Girls.”

2005 - The MBE medal that John Lennon returned to the Queen was found in a royal vault at St James' Palace. Lennon returned his medal in November, 1969 with a letter accompanying saying, "Your Majesty, I am returning my MBE as a protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts. With Love, John Lennon."

2012 - Green Day released their eleventh studio album, ¡Tré!. It features the singles "The Forgotten" and "X-Kid."

2012 - Bruno Mars released his second studio album, Unorthodox Jukebox. It features the singles "Locked Out of Heaven," "When I Was Your Man," "Treasure," "Gorilla," and "Young Girls."

2014 - Pink Floyd's classic album The Dark Side Of The Moon made a surprise return to the Billboard chart when it landed at No. 13 thanks to ultra-cheap pricing in the Google Play store where the album was discounted to 99 cents. Although it held the No. 1 spot in the U.S. for only a week when released in 1973, it remained in the Billboard album chart for 741 weeks.

2015 - David Bowie made his last public appearance when he attended the opening night of the Lazarus production at the New York Theatre Workshop in Manhattan. Tickets to the entire run of the musical sold out within hours of being made available. The musical is inspired by Walter Tevis's novel "The Man Who Fell to Earth", and Bowie previously starred in the 1976 film adaptation of the same name, directed by Nicolas Roeg. As of September 2018 there have been five productions: one each in New York, London, Bremen, Dusseldorf, and Vienna, and six further productions are planned for Leipzig, Hamburg, Linz, Amsterdam, Bielefeld and Gottingen. All of the productions have been box-office successes.

2016 - Greg Lake, who fronted both King Crimson and Emerson, Lake and Palmer, died at age 69 after a battle with cancer.

Birthdays:

Louis “The King of Swing” Prima — King Louie in The Jungle Book and legendary jazz musician — was born today in 1910.

Bobby Osborne of the Osborne Brothers was born today in 1931.

Harry Chapin ("Cats in the Cradle") was born today in 1942.

Gary Morris (“The Wind Beneath My Wings”) is 77.

Psychedelic Furs bass player Tim Butler is 67.

Craig Scanlon of the Fall is 65.

Barbara Wathers of Atlantic Starr is 62.

Louise Post, vocalist and guitarist for Veruca Salt, is 59.

Damien Rice is 52.

All Saints singer Nicole Appleton is 51.

Dominic Howard, drummer for Muse, is 48.

Sara Bareilles is 46.

Nita Strauss, guitarist for Alice Cooper, is 39.

Aaron Carter was born today in 1987.

Winston Marshall, formerly of Mumford & Sons, is 37.

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