History highlight:

Today in 1953, Kim Gordon was born, making her 72. Gordon is best known for her work in the highly influential rock band, Sonic Youth, which she co-founded in 1981 along with Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo. From 1983 to 2009, Sonic Youth released 15 studio albums, and they were considered vital to the formation of the grunge and riot grrrl genres. Beyond Sonic Youth, Kim Gordon has performed in the bands Free Kitten and Body/Head, and as a solo performer. A graduate of the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, Gordon is also an accomplished visual artist who has had her work exhibited in galleries across the U.S. as well as in Ireland, France, England and Australia, and she has directed and acted in film and television. Gordon published a memoir, Girl in a Band, in 2015.

Also, today in:

1963 - Andrew Oldham, a 19-year-old music publicist, caught a gig by the Rolling Stones at London's Crawdaddy Club. He was so impressed that on the following day, he signed the young band to their first managerial contract; they began work on their first recordings two weeks later.

1964 - The Beatles recorded the TV special Around The Beatles at Wembley Studios in England. As well as performing songs, they played Act V, Scene 1 of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream with John playing the female role of Thisbe, Paul as Pyramus, George as Moonshine and Ringo as Lion. Paul later named his cat Thisbe.

1968 - The Broadway musical Hair opened at the Biltmore Theatre in New York City. The show featured the songs "Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In," "Good Morning Starshine" and the title song. The production ran for 1,729 performances, finally closing on July 1, 1972.

1973 - Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd went to No. 1 on the U.S. album charts. The album stayed a record-breaking 741 discontinuous weeks on the Billboard chart, and it has now sold over 45 million copies worldwide.

1978 - Kraftwerk released their seventh studio album, The Man-Machine. It features the singles "The Robots" and "The Model."

1979 - Blondie's Heart Of Glass hit No. 1.

1980 - Marshall Tucker Band bass player Tommy Caldwell died of injuries from a car accident aged 30 in his hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina.

1981 - A former member of T. Rex, Steve Currie was killed in a car crash returning to his home in Portugal. He was 33 years old.

1982 - Marshall Crenshaw released his debut studio album, Marshall Crenshaw. It features the singles "Someday, Someway," "Cynical Girl," and "Mary Anne."

1982 - The California State Assembly consumer-protection committee heard testimony from "experts" who claimed that when "Stairway To Heaven" was played backward, it contained the words: "I sing because I live with Satan. The Lord turns me off, there's no escaping it. Here's to my sweet Satan, whose power is Satan. He will give you 666. I live for Satan."

1984 - Bon Jovi made their debut appearance on U.S. television on American Bandstand, where they performed "Runaway" and "She Don't Know Me.”

1986 - Patti LaBelle released her eighth studio album, Winner in You. It features the singles "On My Own," "Oh, People," and "Kiss Away the Pain."

1987 - While on a plane en route from Miami to Boston, Ozzy Osbourne bought three rounds of drinks for everyone on the plane and sang "Crazy Train" over the PA system.

1990 - Motley Crue peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with "Without You," which was their second and final top-10 single in the U.S.

1990 - Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose married girlfriend Erin Everly, daughter of The Everly Brothers' Don Everly at the Cupid Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. Their marriage was annulled in January 1991.

1990 - Sinead O'Connor started a six-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. The critically acclaimed album was one of the best-selling in the world in 1990 and contains her most famous single, "Nothing Compares 2 U." Written by Prince, the track debuted in 1985 on The Family’s first and only album. Prince formed the short-lived group - which included a few members from the seminal Minneapolis band, The Time, such as Jellybean Johnson, Jerome Benton and St. Paul Peterson. However, Prince's original 1984 recording of the song was not released until 2018, when Warner Bros. Records released it as a single in conjunction with his estate.

1990 - Robert Plant peaked at number thirteen on the Billboard 200 Album Chart with his fifth full-length solo album Manic Nirvana, which went gold in the U.S.

1990 - Sinead O'Connor started a six-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, her second album.

1998 - Released on this date, Before These Crowded Streets by the Dave Matthews Band debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. albums chart, ending the Titanic soundtrack's 16-week berth at the top. Fans got a glimpse of the band's darker side with the moody lead single, "Don't Drink The Water."

1998 - Eve 6 released their debut studio album, Eve 6. It features the singles "Inside Out," "Leech," and "Open Road Song."

1998 - Big Pun released his debut studio album, Capital Punishment. It features the singles "I'm Not a Player," "Still Not a Player," and "You Came Up."

1998 - Spoon released their second studio album, A Series of Sneaks. It features the singles "The Agony of Laffitte" and "Advance Cassette."

1999 - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2000 - A blaze swept through James Brown Enterprises, the office that coordinated the superstar's tours. Nobody was injured, but memorabilia and live tapes were destroyed in the blaze. An employee was later arrested and charged with arson.

2003 - Apple launched iTunes, which becomes the first widely-successful legal music download site, thanks to the emergence of the iPod portable music player. At first, the service was available only to Mac users, and the music files were encoded in Apple's proprietary format restricting where they could be played.

2008 - The Roots released their eighth studio album, Rising Down. It features the singles "Rising Up" and "Birthday Girl."

2009 - Bob Dylan released his 33rd studio album, Together Through Life. It features “Beyond Here Lies Nothin’.”

2009 - Japandroids released their debut studio album, Post-Nothing. It features “Young Hearts Spark Fire” and “Wet Hair.”

2009 - Thee Oh Sees released their eighth studio album, Help.

2015 - Jack Ely died at the age of 71 after a long illness. The Kingsmen singer's hit "Louie Louie" reached the top of the charts in 1963 and sparked an FBI investigation into whether or not its lyrics were obscene.

2017 - Sylvan Esso released their second studio album, What Now. It features the singles "Radio," "Kick Jump Twist," and "Die Young."

2017 - Gorillaz released their fifth studio album, Humanz. It features the singles "Hallelujah Money," "Saturnz Barz," "Ascension," "Andromeda," and "Let Me Out."

2017 - Feist released her fifth studio album, Pleasure. It features the singles "Pleasure," "Century," and "I Wish I Didn’t Miss You."

2020 - Bobby Lewis died at age 95. He is best-known for his 1961 hit singles “Tossin' and Turnin'“ (No. 1 for seven weeks on the Billboard chart in the summer of 1961) and “One Track Mind.”

Birthdays:

Jazz singer and pianist Blossom Dearie — who collaborated with Miles Davis, Johnny Mercer, and many more — was born today in 1924.

Ann-Margaret is 84.

Jay Leno is 75.

Muscle Shoals keyboardist Chuck Leavell is 73. He recorded and toured with the Rolling Stones, the Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton and many others.

Kim Gordon, formerly of Sonic Youth, is 72.

Eddie Jobson of Roxy Music and Jethro Tull is 70.

Jimmy Barnes of Cold Chisel is 69.

Phil King, bassist for Lush and the Jesus and Mary Chain, is 65.

West Coast hip hop pioneer Too Short is 59.

Howard Donald of Take That is 57.

Violent J of Insane Clown Posse is 53.

Melanie Martinez is 30.

Victoria De Angelis of Måneskin is 25.

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, Song Facts, 303 Gallery, and Wikipedia.