History highlight:

Today in 1989, Bob Mould released his solo debut album, Workbook. Recorded in part at Paisley Park, the album arrived following the breakup of his influential punk rock band Hüsker Dü. While still hard-hitting, the songs bring in acoustic guitar and cello in ways that proved influential. It features the hit single “See a Little Light,” which is still a fixture in Mould’s live sets. He wrote the song in 1988 while staying at a farm in Pine City, Minnesota. “I was living a singular, solitary existence,” he told Rolling Stone. “I wouldn't say my relationship at the time was hopeless, but it was pretty far out of reach that anything positive would come. So I'm seeing a little light. Not a ton! [Laughs]”

Also, today in:

1929 - Link Wray was born. We can thank Wray for the popularity of power chords and distortion pedals; in 1958, he and his band the Wraymen captured music fans’ attention with their prowling, overdriven “Rumble,” and they inspired guitarists including Pete Townshend, Neil Young, and Jimmy Page.

1957 - Elvis recorded "Jailhouse Rock," the Leiber & Stoller classic. It inspired the choreography that Elvis worked out for the convicts' dance sequence in the film Jailhouse Rock.

1967 - The Beach Boys' production of the Smile project was halted. Brian Wilson had toiled for over a year composing and producing the album, an effort to best the Beatles in his perceived battle for pop supremacy. However, after the Beatles released their groundbreaking Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Wilson became discouraged and intimidated, convinced his Smile would come off as "second best." In 2011, Smile was finally released as The Smile Sessions.

1979 - The Who played their first concert since the death of drummer Keith Moon.

1989 - Michael Jackson, wearing a wig and fake mustache, entered a Zales jewelry store in Simi Valley, California. Security found him suspicious and called the police, who showed up to explain that no one should wear a disguise to a jewelry store.

1989 - The Cure issued an introspective and gloomy goth rock record without much commercial promise, which wound up being the band’s best selling record to date. Disintegration boasts some of their biggest hits, including "Lovesong,” "Lullaby,” and “Pictures of You.”

1989 - The Stone Roses released their self-titled debut album.

1992 - The little-known U.K. duo Nirvana filed a suit against the American band of the same name, claiming that they had been using the name since 1968. The dispute was settled out of court in the British band's favor.

2006 - Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards was released from hospital in New Zealand after the 62 year-old suffered a "mild concussion" when he fell out of a coconut tree while on holiday in Fiji.

2009 - Bob Dylan mingled unnoticed with other Beatles tourists during a minibus tour to John Lennon's childhood home. Dylan, who was on a day off on a European tour, paid p16 for the public trip to the 1940s house in Woolton, Liverpool.

2013 - Jeff Hanneman, founding member of rock band Slayer, died at the age of 49. The guitarist had been suffering from necrotising fasciitis, a flesh-eating disease that he is believed to have contracted from a spider bite in 2011. Hanneman was being treated in a local hospital when he suffered liver failure.

2014 - Lykke Li released her third album, I Never Learn.

Birthdays:

Engelbert Humperdinck is 88.

British-American lyricist Tony Asher (who co-wrote eight Beach Boys songs including "God Only Knows" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice") is 85.

Goldy McJohn of Steppenwolf was born today in 1945.

Randy Cain of the Delfonics was born today in 1945.

Reggae artist Judge Dread was born today in 1945.

Lesley Gore was born today in 1946.

Larry Gatlin is 76.

Lou Gramm of Foreigner is 74.

John Glascock of Jethro Tull was born today in 1951.

Prescott Niles, bassist with the Knack, is 70.

Lily Allen is 39.

Justin Young, lead singer and guitarist for the Vaccines, is 37.

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