History Highlight:

On this day in 2005, Imogen Heap released her second studio album, Speak for Yourself. The album began humbly enough, with Heap remortgaging her condo in south London to finance the album. With the exception of a few additional musicians — including a certain Jeff Beck playing electric guitar on the track “Goodnight and Go” — Heap sang and played all the instruments on the album, which she recorded at home. Heap self-released the album on her own newly formed label, Megaphonic Records. However, on the strength of its songs — including the haunting, a cappella, autotuned track “Hide and Seek” — Speak for Yourself quickly garnered major-label attention, with RCA Records and Sony Music each acquiring licenses to re-release the album in different parts of the world. Speak for Yourself would go on to become Imogen Heap’s biggest-selling album, and 20 years on, “Hide and Seek” still draws thousands of streams per day on streaming services.

Also, Today In: 

1953 - Eighteen-year-old Elvis Presley, a truck driver by trade, stopped into Memphis Recording Service (later renamed Sun Studios), and paid $3.98 to record two songs: "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin." 

1964 - The Rolling Stones reached number one in the U.K. for the first time with their cover of "It's All Over Now" which spent one week on top. 

1966 - The Beach Boys released "Wouldn't It Be Nice" with "God Only Knows" on the flip side. 

1968 - Working at Abbey Road studios, The Beatles recorded "Helter Skelter." Paul McCartney had read a magazine interview with Pete Townshend where the Who guitarist described their latest single, "I Can See For Miles," as the loudest, dirtiest, most aggressive song possible; when McCartney heard it, he thought Townshend had exaggerated considerably, and decided he'd take on the challenge of writing such a song. "Helter Skelter" was the result. The Beatles did so many takes in the studio — at one point recording a 20-plus-minute version during the session — that Ringo exclaimed, "I've got blisters on me fingers!", which can still be heard in the version that was ultimately put on The White Album. 

1969 - The Beatles completed their recording of "Octopus's Garden" when Ringo Starr recorded his vocal take. 

1972 - Members from Sly and the Family Stone were arrested after police found two pounds of marijuana in the group's motorhome. 

1974 - The U.S. Justice Department ordered John Lennon out of the country by September 10. The Immigration and Naturalization Service denied him an extension of his non-immigrant visa because of his guilty plea in England to a 1968 marijuana possession charge. 

1978 - Def Leppard made their live debut at Westfield School in Sheffield, England, in front of 150 students.

1980 - Echo & the Bunnymen released their debut album, Crocodiles. It features “The Pictures on My Wall” and “Rescue.”

1980 - Closer, the second and final album from Joy Division, was released just two months after the suicide of founding member and singer Ian Curtis. Its claustrophobic, synth-laden sound, combined with Curtis' nihilistic lyrics make it a defining moment in England's post-punk scene. 

1982 - Willie Nelson was at No. 1 on the country album chart with Always on My Mind, which became the Billboard No.1 country album of the year. The album spent 22 weeks at the top of the charts and stayed for a total of 253 weeks on the Billboard Country charts. The title track was originally recorded by B.J. Thomas in 1970, and has since been recorded by dozens of performers including Elvis Presley, Brenda Lee, John Wesley Ryles and Pet Shop Boys. 

1983 - Following up on momentum from their free Central Park reunion concert, Simon and Garfunkel started a 19-city tour in Akron, Ohio. 

1988 - Nico died after suffering a minor heart attack while riding a bicycle on holiday with her son in Ibiza, Spain. The German born singer-songwriter and keyboard player with the Velvet Underground also worked as a fashion model and actress. She was one of Andy Warhol's "Superstars", which meant she appeared in Warhol's artworks and accompanied him in his social life. 

1991 - The very first Lollapalooza event happened at Compton Terrace in Chandler, Arizona. Originally dreamed up by Jane's Addiction singer Perry Farrell as a farewell tour, the touring festival ran annually until 1997, and was revived in 2003. Performing on the mainstage in its initial year was Jane's Addiction, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Living Colour, Nine Inch Nails, Violent Femmes, Fishbone, Ice T & Body Count, Butthole Surfers, Rollins Band and Lords of Acid. 

1992 - "Achy Breaky Heart," a No. 1 country hit from Billy Ray Cyrus, peaked at No. 4 on the pop-oriented Billboard Hot 100.  

1992 - Bobby Brown married Whitney Houston, who was dressed in a $40,000 Marc Bouwer wedding gown, at her New Jersey estate. Those in attendance included Stevie Wonder, Gloria Estefan, Natalie Cole, Patti LaBelle and Freddie Jackson. She would file for divorce in September, 2006. 

1993 - Rage Against The Machine protested music censorship by appearing at their Lollapalooza set in Philadelphia completely nude except for duct tape over their mouths. They refused to play any music, and simply stood for 25 minutes with the letters PMRC written on their chests, a reference to the Parents Music Resource Center. 

1995 - Ani DiFranco released her sixth studio album, Not a Pretty Girl. It features “32 Flavors.”

1995 - That Dog released their second studio album, Totally Crushed Out! It features “He’s Kissing Christian.”

1995 - Monica released her debut studio album, Miss Thang. It features "Don't Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days)."

1995 - The Geraldine Fibbers released their debut studio album, Lost Somewhere Between the Earth and My Home. It features “Dragon Lady.”

1995 - The Ramones released their 14th and final album, ¡Adios Amigos! It features a cover of Tom Waits’ “I Don’t Want to Grow Up.”

1998 - 'N Sync got a big boost in America when their "In Concert" special aired on the Disney Channel. They got the gig when their boy band rivals Backstreet Boys backed out. 

1998 - The Beastie Boys went to No. 1 on the U.K. album chart with Hello Nasty, only the second rap album to make No.1 in the U.K., the first being Wu-Tang Clan. 

2000 - Jill Scott released her debut studio album, Who Is Jill Scott?: Words and Sounds Vol. 1.

2000 - Tegan and Sara released their second studio album, This Business of Art.

2001 - Weezer released "Hash Pipe," the first single from Weezer (aka The Green Album). 

2001 - Kiss added another product to their ever-growing merchandising universe: the "Kiss Kasket." The coffin featured the faces of the four founding members of the band, the Kiss logo and the words "Kiss Forever." Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell was buried in one after he was shot and killed on stage in Dec 2004. 

2007 - Paul Simon filed a lawsuit against Rhythm USA Inc. a Georgia-based subsidiary of a Japanese firm, claiming the company never had his permission to sell wall clocks that played "Bridge Over Troubled Water". The suit claimed that as one of the best-known songs throughout the world, a proper licensing agreement would earn at least a $1 million licensing fee. 

2008 - Billy Joel played his "Last Play at Shea" concert — the final show before Shea Stadium was closed down. Joel was joined on stage by Paul McCartney, Garth Brooks, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, and The Who's Roger Daltrey. 

2008 - Feist’s delightful and memorable performance on Sesame Street was released on YouTube. The Canadian singer-songwriter, known for her indie-pop and folk-inspired music, delivered a catchy rendition of her hit song "1234," alongside colorful, whimsical visuals to engage the kids and get them dancing and counting along. The performance quickly became a cherished moment in the show's history. As of 2024, it has nearly a billion views.

2011 - The romantic comedy Friends With Benefits, starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, premieres in New York City. The soundtrack includes the Semisonic tune "Closing Time," which Timberlake sings in the movie.  

2014 - Shakira becomes the first person to accumulate 100 million likes on Facebook. 

2019 - Ed Sheeran broke yet another streaming record. His latest collaborative album No. 6 Collaborations Project, racked up 69 million streams in a month on Spotify, which was the highest by any artist. This new record wasn’t the first that Sheeran has broken. His last album Divide set a new record of 56 million streams on the day of release, while “Shape Of You” picked up more than 10 million streams on its first day. 

Birthdays: 

Screamin' Jay Hawkins was born today in 1929. 

Hunter S. Thompson was born today in 1937.

Ian Stewart, founding keyboardist of the Rolling Stones, was born today in 1938.

Dion (DiMucci) — “Runaround Sue” and “The Wanderer” are among his hits — is 86.

Martha Reeves is 84.

Frank Farian — record producer who founded Boney M, No Mercy, and Milli Vanilli — was born today in 1941. 

Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Records and the Virgin Empire is 75.

Glenn Hughes of the Village People is 75.

Country/bluegrass singer Ricky Skaggs is 71. 

Terry Chambers (drummer for XTC) is 70. 

Keith Levene, early member of The Clash and founding member of Public Image Ltd., was born today in 1957.  

Daron Malakian of System of a Down is 50.

M.I.A. is 50.

Ryan Cabrera is 43.

Prianka Chopra is 42.

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