History Highlight:

Today in 2009, Wilco released their seventh studio album, Wilco (The Album). Produced by Wilco and Jim Scott, tracks for the album were recorded at Wilco’s home studio, the Loft, in Chicago, as well as at Neil Finn’s Roundhead Studio in Auckland, New Zealand. The Auckland sessions came about at Finn’s invitation after Wilco had traveled to New Zealand to participate in a benefit recording and mini-tour. Prior to the official release, the album had leaked on the internet, so Wilco responded by making the as-yet unreleased album available for streaming on the Wilco website; the band also encouraged those who had downloaded the leaked album to make a donation to Inspiration Corporation, a Chicago-based nonprofit that assists those facing poverty and homelessness. Wilco (The Album) includes the tracks “Wilco (The Song)” as well as “You And I,” the latter of which features guest vocals by Leslie Feist. The photo on the album cover was taken in Milwaukee by photographer Autumn de Wilde; the camel’s name is Alfred.

Also, Today In: 

1971 - San Francisco's Fillmore West concert hall closes. 

1973 - George Harrison knocked Paul McCartney from the top of the U.S. singles chart with "Give Me Love, Give Me Peace On Earth." It was Harrison's second U.S. No. 1 and is the opening track on his 1973 album Living in the Material World. 

1975 - Cher married Gregg Allman of the Allman Brothers Band. 

1975 - The Jackson 5 announced that they were leaving Motown Records for Epic Records. The brothers were forced to change their name to The Jacksons because Motown owned the other name. Jermaine Jackson stayed with Motown when his brothers broke their contracts and left for CBS; he was replaced by youngest Jackson brother Randy.  

1977 - Marvel Comics launched a comic book based on the rock group Kiss. 

1977 - Kiss released their sixth studio album, Love Gun. It features the title track, “Shock Me,” and “Christine Sixteen.”

1978 - United Artists released Buzzcocks' single "Love You More". At 1 minute 29 seconds, it was the second-shortest single ever released. Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs' 1960 hit "Stay" was the shortest hit at 1 minute 28 seconds. 

1979 - One-hit wonder Anita Ward started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Ring My Bell." 

1984 - Huey Lewis and the News went to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with Sports. 

1986 - Madonna released her third studio album, True Blue. It features “Papa Don’t Preach,” “Live to Tell,” “True Blue,” “Open Your Heart,” and “La Isla Bonita.”

1986 - Bananarama released their third studio album, True Confessions. It features the singles "Venus," "Do Not Disturb," "A Trick of the Night," and "More Than Physical."

1986 - Big Country released their third studio album, The Seer. It features “Look Away.”

1986 - Eurythmics released their fifth studio album, Revenge. It features “Missionary Man.”

1986 - Steve Winwood released his fourth solo album, Back in the High Life. It features the title track and “Higher Love.”

1987 - La Bamba: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released. The first six songs of the album consist of Los Lobos covers of Ritchie Valens' songs: "La Bamba," "Come On, Let's Go!," "Ooh My Head," "We Belong Together," "Framed," and "Donna."

1990 - New Kids On The Block started a three-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Step By Step," the group's third U.S. No. 1 single. 

1991 - During a show at Brixton Academy in London, The Alarm frontman Mike Peters tells the crowd he's leaving the group, shocking his bandmates with the announcement. 

1995 - Garth Brooks was given a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. 

1997 - The Prodigy released their third studio album, The Fat of the Land. It features “Firestarter” and “Breathe.”

1998 - Lucinda Williams released her fifth studio album, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.

1998 - Prince and the New Power Generation released their third and final album, Newpower Soul. It features “Come On” and “The One.”

1998 - Rancid released their fourth studio album, Life Won’t Wait.

1998 - Rage Against the Machine released their first live album, Live & Rare.

1998 - System Of A Down release their frantic self-titled debut album. The singles "Sugar" and "Spiders" earn airplay on rock radio and MTV, and as the band builds a following through touring, it goes on to sell over a million copies in America. 

1998 - Black Eyed Peas released their debut studio album, Behind the Front.

1998 - Maxwell released his second studio album, Embrya.

2000 - During a Pearl Jam concert at Denmark's Roskilde Festival, nine people were crushed as the crowd rushed the stage. Investigations concluded that the events were an accident. Several people fell and couldn't get up, and in addition, crowd surfers were falling into the open area. Pearl Jam stopped the show and asked people to back up, but it was too late. As a result, many European venues have banned crowd surfing. The Pearl Jam song "Love Boat Captain" refers to the events with the line "Lost nine friends we'll never know... two years ago today.”  

2001 - American guitarist and producer Chet Atkins died in Nashville at age 77. Atkins produced more than 100 albums during his career, and he produced records for Perry Como, Elvis Presley, Don Gibson, Jim Reeves and Waylon Jennings. George Harrison and Mark Knopfler have both cited Atkins as a major influence. 

2004 - Kinks founding member Dave Davies was left paralyzed on the right-hand side of his body after suffering a stroke. The 57-year-old guitarist and brother of fellow Kink Ray Davies had been promoting his solo material when he collapsed. 

2007 - R.E.M. played a five-night series of shows at Dublin's Olympia Theatre. Dubbed 'working rehearsals' by the band, many songs from their forthcoming album 'Accelerate' debuted, with many of them still as works in progress. 

2009 - Spinal Tap started (and ended) their One Night Only World Tour at Wembley Arena in London. 

2014 - George Ezra released his debut studio album, Wanted on Voyage. It features “Budapest.”

2015 - Apple launches a new streaming service, Apple Music. 

2015 - Vince Staples released his debut studio album, Summertime ‘06. It features “Norf Norf” and "Señorita."

2017 - Jay-Z released his album 4:44, which addresses the infidelity accusations his wife Beyoncé leveled at him in her album Lemonade. "Let the baddest girl in the world get away," he raps on the opening track, "Kill Jay-Z." 

2019 -Taylor Swift's former label, Big Machine, was sold to Scotter Braun's company for an estimated $300 Million, giving him control of her back catalog, including the master recordings. 

2020 - John Prine was named the first honorary poet laureate of Illinois. Prine died of coronavirus three months earlier. The singer was born in Maywood, Illinois, and was a staple in the Chicago folk scene. Prine received numerous accolades throughout his career, including multiple Grammy Awards, inductions into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. 

Birthdays: 

Lena Horne was born in 1917.

Folk singer-songwriter Dave Van Ronk was born in 1936. He passed away in 2002. 

Larry Henley (co-wrote “Wind Beneath My Wings”) was born today in 1937.

Florence Ballard, of The Supremes, was born in 1943. She died of a heart attack in February 1976 at the age of 32.

Andy Scott of Sweet is 76. 

Legendary American bass player Stanley Clarke is 74.

Dire Straits guitarist Hal Lindes is 72. 

Iron Maiden drummer Doug Sampson is 68. 

Brendan Perry of Dead Can Dance is 66.

Yngwie Malmsteen is 62.

Philip Anselmo, of Pantera and Down, is 57. 

Tom Drummond, bassist with Better Than Erza, is 56.  

Matisyahu is 46. 

Fantasia Barrino is 41.

K.Flay, singer, songwriter, and rapper is 40. 

bbno$ is 30.

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