History Highlight:

Today in 1972, Billie Joe Armstrong was born, making him 53. Armstrong grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and got into music at a very young age. He met his friend Mike Pritchard — later known as Mike Dirnt — at age 10, and they formed their first band together at age 15. In 1987, Armstrong and Dirnt formed the band that would become Green Day. Green Day released their first album in 1990, but it was their third album, 1994’s Dookie, that marked the band’s breakthrough. Since that time, Green Day have released a total of 14 albums, the most recent being 2024’s Saviors. And although Green Day are a California band through and through, Billie Joe Armstrong enjoys a Minnesota connection: Armstrong’s wife, Adrienne Nesser, is a Minneapolis native who graduated from Minnesota State University Mankato. The pair married in 1994, the same year Green Day rocketed to the stratosphere on the success of the Dookie album.

Also, Today In

1960 - Elvis earned his first Gold album for 1956's Elvis, which featured "Rip It Up," "Old Shep," "When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again" and "Ready Teddy."

1969 - Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash recorded a new version of "Girl From The North Country" together in Nashville, Tenn., at CBS Studios. The track appeared on Dylan's Nashville Skyline album. It was originally recorded in 1963 and released on The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. The collaboration with Cash and an appearance on The Johnny Cash Show helped Nashville Skyline become one of Dylan's best-selling albums.

1971 - Singing "Fire And Rain" and "Carolina On My Mind," James Taylor made his primetime television debut on The Johnny Cash Show, which was a variety show hosted by Cash that aired on ABC from June 7, 1969 to March 31, 1971.

1975 - AC/DC released their debut album High Voltage in Australia. Their first internationally released album, also by that name with a different track listing, arrived on May 14, 1976.

1975 - John Lennon released the Phil Spector-produced Rock 'n' Roll album, a collection of some of his favorite rock and R&B oldies, including "Stand By Me." It was his final record before his self-imposed five-year exile from making records.

1976 - The Eagles release Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975), a collection of 10 songs from their first four albums. For a while, it was certified as the top-selling album in U.S. history.

1978 - British singer-songwriter Kate Bush, at 19 years old, released her debut album, The Kick Inside. The collection of art pop features her debut single "Wuthering Heights," which topped the U.K. Singles Chart for four weeks, thus making Bush the first woman artist to achieve a U.K. No. 1 with a self-written song. The production of The Kick Inside included efforts by several progressive rock veterans, including Duncan Mackay, Ian Bairnson, David Paton, Andrew Powell, and Stuart Elliott of the Alan Parsons Project, and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. The album has been certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

1982 - Pianist, composer and innovative jazz giant Thelonious Monk died in Weehawken, New Jersey, after a long illness. He was 64.

1984 - Thompson Twins released their fourth studio album, Into the Gap. It features "Hold Me Now," "Doctor! Doctor!," "You Take Me Up," and "Sister of Mercy."

1984 - The musical drama Footloose opens in theaters with a soundtrack featuring Kenny Loggins, Deniece Williams, and Sammy Hagar. Two songs from the movie - "Footloose" and "Let's Hear it For the Boy" - go to No. 1 in America.

1992 - Shakespears Sister released their second studio album, Hormonally Yours. It features the singles "Goodbye Cruel World," "Stay," "I Don't Care," "Hello (Turn Your Radio On)," and "My 16th Apology."

1995 - Blink-182 released their debut studio album, Cheshire Cat. It features “M+M’s” and “Wasting Time.”

1998 - Destiny's Child released their debut studio album, Destiny's Child. It features the singles "No, No, No" and "With Me."

1998 - Ani DiFranco released her eighth studio album, Little Plastic Castle. It features the singles "Little Plastic Castle," "Gravel," and "Glass House."

2004 - Chromeo released their debut album, She’s In Control. It features “Needy Girl.”

2005 - Scottish rockers Franz Ferdinand became the first act ever to win the Mercury Music Prize, Brit Awards and NME awards in the same year. Franz Ferdinand have had multiple top 20 hits in the U.K. and have sold millions of albums worldwide. They have released six full-length albums, the most recent being The Human Fear, which just released on January 10, 2025. Together with the American rock band Sparks, Franz Ferdinand also released a collaboration album titled FFS — an abbreviation of Franz Ferdinand and Sparks. Any similarity to other meanings of this abbreviation is purely coincidental, of course.

2006 - The Knife released their third studio album, Silent Shout. It features the singles "Silent Shout," "Marble House," "We Share Our Mothers' Health," and "Like a Pen."

2009 - Jason Isbell released his second full-length album, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit.

2010 - Mumford & Sons made their U.S. TV debut on The Late Show with David Letterman.

2010 - Two Door Cinema Club released their debut studio album, Tourist History. It features "Something Good Can Work," "I Can Talk," "Undercover Martyn," and “What You Know.”

2014 - Angel Olsen released her second studio album, Burn Your Fire for No Witness. It features "Forgiven/Forgotten," "Hi-Five," and "Windows."

2014 - Musician and sound engineer Bob Casale, best known as Devo's guitarist and keyboardist, died of heart failure. He engineered the first solo album for Police guitarist Andy Summers.

2015 - Ibeyi released their self-titled debut. It features “Oya” and “River.”

2017 - Nikki Lane released her third studio album, Highway Queen. It features the singles "Jackpot," "Highway Queen," and "Send the Sun."

2017 - Alison Krauss released her fourth solo studio album, Windy City. It features the single "Losing You."

2020 - American blues piano player and singer Henry Gray died at age 95. He performed with many artists, including Robert Lockwood Jr., Billy Boy Arnold, Morris Pejoe, The Rolling Stones, Muddy Waters, and Howlin' Wolf. He released over 60 albums including recordings for Chess Records.

Birthdays:

Tommy Edwards — who was the first African-American to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “It’s All in the Game” — was born today in 1922.

Bobby Lewis (1961 U.S. No. 1 single "Tossin' and Turnin") was born today in 1933.

Gene Pitney — "Town Without Pity," "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance," "Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa," "I'm Gonna Be Strong," "It Hurts to Be in Love," and "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart" — was born today in 1940.

Mexican singer José José was born today in 1948

Rickey Medlocke of Blackfoot and Lynyrd Skynyrd is 75.

Loreena McKennitt is 68.

Taylor Hawkins, drummer with Foo Fighters and Alanis Morissette was born today in 1972.

Billie Joe Armstrong is 53.

Paris Hilton is 44.

John Hassall, bassist with The Libertines, is 44.

Ed Sheeran is 34.

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Song Facts, the Mankato Free Press, People, and Wikipedia.