History Highlight:

Today in 2009, Brandi Carlile released her third studio album, Give Up the Ghost. The album was produced by Rick Rubin and recorded primarily at Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles. In addition to Carlile and her longtime bandmates Tim and Phil Hanseroth, guest musicians on the recording include Indigo Girls’ Amy Ray on backing vocals on the opening track, “Looking Out”; Elton John on piano and vocals on “Caroline”; and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and the Heartbreakers’ keyboardist Benmont Tench on several tracks. Rubin kept Carlile’s powerful vocals front and center, and Give Up the Ghost reached No. 26 in the Billboard 200, and peaked at No. 9 and No. 5 in the Rock Albums and Folk/Americana Album charts, respectively. Shortly before the album’s release, Carlile visited The Current studio to record her first-ever, full-band radio performance, where she and her band played two songs from Give Up the Ghost, including “Dreams” and “Before It Breaks.” Brandi Carlile’s newest album, Returning to Myself, releases October 24, 2025.

Also, Today In: 

1956 - Elvis Presley released "Love Me Tender," the title song to his first movie. It went on to become his fifth No. 1 hit in America. 

1964 - The Beatles spent the afternoon recording "Eight Days A Week" at Abbey Road studios in London. 

1969 - George Harrison's song "Something" was released as the A-side of a Beatles' 45, a first for Harrison. 

1972 - During sessions at RCA Studios, New York City, David Bowie recorded "The Jean Genie", which became the lead single from his 1973 album Aladdin Sane. The line "He's so simple minded, he can't drive his module" would later give the band Simple Minds their name. 

1973 - Cher started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Half-Breed," her second No. 1 hit. The song is backed by Los Angeles session musicians from the Wrecking Crew and was Cher's second U.S. solo No. 1 hit. The single was certified Gold in the U.S. for the sales of over 1 million copies, and centers around the story of a young woman who is half-white and half-Cherokee. 

1978 - Australia's King of rock 'n' roll, Johnny O'Keefe, died aged 43 of a heart attack. He was the first Australian rock performer to tour the United States, and he was Australia's most successful chart performer, with 29 Top-40 hits between 1958 and 1974. O'Keefe's 1958 hit, "Real Wild Child," was covered by Iggy Pop in 1986. 

1978 - ABBA members Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad split after three years of marriage. 

1978 - Johnny Thunders released his debut solo album, So Alone. It features "Dead or Alive" and "You Can't Put Your Arms Round A Memory."

1979 - Led Zeppelin's In Through The Out Door was at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart. Six versions of the cover were released, each depicting the same bar scene photographed from one of six different angles. 

1979 - "Gotta Serve Somebody" gave Bob Dylan his 12th U.S. top 40 hit when it entered the chart for the first time. Recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the song won Dylan a 1980 Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Male. 

1980 - The Bee Gees sued their former manager Robert Stigwood for $136 million, claiming unpaid royalties and fraud. The group alleged that contracts they signed with Stigwood in 1968 were predatory and unfair, and that they were too young to understand what they were signing. The suit was eventually settled out of court. 

1982 - Madonna began her illustrious music career with the release of her debut single, “Everybody.” The dance track was originally recorded as a demo by The Material Girl and slipped to Mark Kamins, a DJ at one of Madonna’s favorite New York City nightclubs, Danceteria. Impressed, Kamins passed it along to A&R Sire Records, who signed the budding artist for a two-song deal. 

1982 - Lionel Richie released his debut solo studio album, which is self-titled. It features “Truly” and “You Are.”

1991 - Michael Jackson gave away the bride at Elizabeth Taylor's seventh wedding, held at Jackson's Neverland Ranch. The groom was construction worker Larry Fortensky, whom Taylor would divorce in 1997. 

1992 - R.E.M. released their eighth studio album, Automatic for the People. It features “Drive,” Everybody Hurts,” “Man on the Moon,” and “Nightswimming.”

1992 - Soul Asylum released their sixth studio album, Grave Dancers Union. Recorded in part at Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, it features “Runaway Train,” “Somebody to Shove,” and “Black Gold.”

1992 - Common released his debut album, Can I Borrow a Dollar?

1996 - Country singers Faith Hill and Tim McGraw got hitched. 

1997 - Ivy released their second studio album, Apartment Life. "The Best Thing," "I've Got a Feeling," "This Is the Day," and "You Don't Know Anything" were released as the album's four singles.

1998 - Cake released their third studio album, Prolonging the Magic. It features “Never There.”

1998 - Manu Chau released their debut studio album, Clandestino.

1998 - A music industry poll was published by Time Out London, naming the top stars from the past 30 years: fifth place was Marvin Gaye; fourth was James Brown; third was Bob Marley; second were The Beatles; and first place went to David Bowie. 

2003 - Belle and Sebastian released their sixth studio album, Dear Catastrophe Waitress.

2004 - On his radio show, Howard Stern announced his move to satellite radio, where he broadcast on Sirius, which saw a huge bump in subscribers. 

2008 - Oasis released their seventh studio album, Dig Out Your Soul.

2009 - The Raveonettes released their fourth studio album, In and Out of Control. It features “Bang!” and “Last Dance.”

2009 - Built to Spill released their seventh studio album, There Is No Enemy. It features “Hindsight.”

2009 - KISS released their 19th studio album, Sonic Boom.

2009 - The Mountain Goats released their 12th studio album, The Life of the World to Come.

2010 - A set of John Lennon's fingerprints were seized by the FBI from a New York memorabilia dealer who intended to sell them for $100,000 minimum bid. The prints were taken at a New York police station in 1976 when Lennon applied for permanent U.S. residence. 

2011 - Starship's "We Built This City" was named "the worst song of the 1980s" in a poll by Rolling Stone magazine. "The Final Countdown" by the Swedish band Europe came in second and "Lady in Red" by Chris de Burgh was third. Also, making the top (?) five were Wham!'s "Wake Me Up (Before You Go Go)" and "The Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats. 

2014 - Flying Lotus released his fifth studio album, You’re Dead!

2016 - Prince's Paisley Park compound opened to the public almost six months after his passing. Graceland Holdings, the company that has managed Elvis Presley's Graceland since 1982, announced it would organize the tours. The 65,000-square-foot complex acts as both a museum and a memorial of Prince. Inside artifacts of Prince's life are on display to be viewed on guided tours. The complex also contains two live music venues and Paisley Park Studio's which are still used by musicians to record today. Prince's intention before his death was to establish Paisley Park as a public venue like Graceland.  

2017 - Kelela released her debut studio album, Take Me Apart.

2017 - Liam Gallagher released his debut studio album, As You Were. It features “Wall of Glass.”

2019 - Larry Junstrom, a founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd and longstanding bassist with the band .38 Special died at the age of 70. Junstrom played bass with Lynyrd Skynyrd from its formation in 1964 until he was replaced by Leon Wilkeson in 1971. He then joined .38 Special in 1976 with Donnie Van Zant, the younger brother of the Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Ronnie Van Zant. 

2019 - Cream founder and drummer Ginger Baker passed away on this day in 2019 at the age of 80. Baker struggled with heroin addiction throughout his life, and in February of 2016, was diagnosed with "serious heart issues" and cancelled all future gigs. Writing on his blog, he said, "Just seen doctor ... big shock ... no more gigs for this old drummer ... everything is off ... of all things I never thought it would be my heart". 

2020 - Eddie Van Halen, the revered guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Van Halen died at the age of 65, he had been receiving treatment for throat cancer. 

2020 - American singer-songwriter Johnny Nash died of natural causes age 80. He is best known for his 1972 hit “I Can See Clearly Now.” 

Birthdays: 

Singer Millie Small (“My Boy Lollipop”) was born today in 1947.

Noise rock pioneer Glenn Branca was born today in 1948.

Bobby Farrell of Boney M was born today in 1949. He passed away in 2010. 

Thomas McClary, guitarist for The Commodores, is 76. 

REO Speedwagon frontman Kevin Cronin is 74. 

Los Lobos frontman David Hidalgo is 71. 

Richard Jobson of the Skids is 65.

Matthew Sweet is 61. 

Tommy Stinson of The Replacements is 59. Tommy Stinson was born in Minneapolis, and after beginning to learn the bass at the age of 11, Stinson began playing and covering songs with his half-brother, Bob Stinson, and drummer Chris Mars, who were eventually joined by Paul Westerberg to form The Replacements. Best known as the bass guitarist for The Replacements until their breakup in 1991, Stinson went on to make music with Bash & Pop, Perfect, Guns 'n' Roses and Soul Asylum. He reunited with Bash & Pop when they released the album ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN in 2017, and has also released a couple solo albums, including the critically-acclaimed One Man Mutiny.  

William Butler, former member of Arcade Fire, is 43. 

Meg Myers is 39.

Addison Rae is 25. 

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Song Facts, AllMusic, Give Up the Ghost liner notes and Wikipedia.