History Highlight:

Today in 1995, Tracy Chapman released her fourth studio album, New Beginning. The album debuted quietly at first, but when its bluesy single “Give Me One Reason” was released, sales soared, and the album achieved gold certification by the RIAA that very week. Other songs on New Beginning include the title track and “Heaven’s Here on Earth,” on which Chapman shares her outlook on the world in her signature singer-songwriter style. With the exception of “Give Me One Reason,” the songs on New Beginning clock in on the longer side, all of them more than five minutes’ runtime. Nevertheless, New Beginning earned Chapman five Grammy nominations, with “Give Me One Reason” winning the award for Best Rock Song.

Also, Today In:

1954 - Rock & Roll arrived as Bill Haley & The Comets made the Top Ten with "Shake, Rattle & Roll."

1960 - Ray Charles went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Georgia On My Mind", a No. 24 hit in the U.K.

1962 - The Beatles played the final show of a 14 night run at the Star-Club, Hamburg, West Germany.

1962 - Bob Dylan recorded "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right."

1969 - "Sugar Sugar" by The Archies was at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart. The single became the longest-running One Hit Wonder in the U.K. with eight weeks at the top of the charts. It was the first No. 1 performed by cartoon characters.

1975 - Queen played the first of two nights at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool, England, the first nights on their 78-date "A Night At The Opera World Tour".

1975 - Brian Eno released his third solo studio album, Another Green World.

1981 - The Police had their fourth U.K. No. 1 single with "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", a No. 3 hit in the U.S. The song is from the band's fourth album, Ghost in the Machine. Though the song was recorded in 1981, Sting wrote it as early as 1976, since an early demo of the song can be heard on the Strontium 90 album Strontium 90: Police Academy.

1981 - Earth, Wind & Fire released their 11th studio album, Raise!. It features the singles "Let's Groove," "Wanna Be with You," and "I've Had Enough."

1983 - Eurythmics released their third studio album, Touch. It features the singles "Who's That Girl?," "Right by Your Side," and "Here Comes the Rain Again."

1987 - George Michael went to No. 1 on the U.K. album chart with his debut solo album Faith. The album won several awards including the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1989. To date, the album has sold over 20 million copies worldwide. Between 1987 and 1988, Faith produced six Top 5 Billboard Hot 100 hits, four of which ("Faith", "Father Figure", "One More Try", and "Monkey") reached No. 1, making him the only British male singer to have four No. 1 singles from one LP on the Billboard Hot 100.

1987 - The long-divorced Sonny and Cher performed "I Got You Babe" on Late Night with David Letterman.

1987 - The Dirty Dancing soundtrack hit No. 1 in America. Even though the film was set in 1963, it featured modern, original songs "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life" and "Hungry Eyes."

1990 - Record producer Frank Farin fired Milli Vanilli singers Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan because they were insisting on singing on their new album.

1991 - Over 1,000 New Kids On The Block fans were given medical treatment after a minor riot during a concert in Berlin, Germany.

1995 - The Rolling Stones released their acoustic live album Stripped.

1995 - The Pharcyde released their second studio album, Labcabincalifornia. It features “Runnin’,” “Drop,” and “She Said.”

1995 - Melissa Etheridge released her fifth solo studio album, Your Little Secret. It features “I Want to Come Over.”

1995 - Blur brought throngs of people to Charing Cross Road in central London when more than 3,000 fans lined up at a bookshop where Blur’s Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon and Alex James (Dave Rowntree was unable to attend due to illness) were signing copies of Blurbook, a newly published collection of photographs of and insights from the band. Blurbook was released just a few weeks after Blur’s fourth album, The Great Escape.

1996 - Michael Jackson married Debbie Rowe, a nurse. The couple had met when he was diagnosed with vitiligo in the mid-1980s, and she was working as his dermatologist's assistant. Jackson and Rowe had two children together, Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. (known as Prince) and Paris Jackson. They divorced on October 8, 2000.

1997 - Celine Dion released her 15th studio album, Let’s Talk About Love. It features “My Heart Will Go On.”

1998 - Lauryn Hill became the first female rap solo artist to hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 (without a guest artist) when "Doo Wop (That Thing)" claims the top spot.

2000 - Dashboard Confessional released their debut studio album, The Swiss Army Romance. It features "Screaming Infidelities." Drive-Thru Records re-released the album after an initial run of 1,000 was released in March of 2000.

2003 - Jay-Z released The Black Album, with the classics "99 Problems" and "Dirt off Your Shoulder."

2004 - Gwen Stefani performed on TV as a solo artist (no No Doubt) for the first time when she took the stage at the American Music Awards to sing "What You Waiting For."

2006 - Tenacious D released their second studio album and soundtrack to their feature film, The Pick of Destiny. It features the singles "POD" and includes tracks such as “Kickapoo,” “Master Exploder,” “Beelzeboss (The Final Showdown),” and “The Metal.”

2006 - Joanna Newsom released her second studio album, Ys. It features the tracks "Emily," "Monkey & Bear," "Sawdust & Diamonds," "Only Skin," and "Cosmia."

2012 - Brian Eno was awarded the Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) distinction, established by the British Royal Society for Arts, for "his ground-breaking use of sound in technology and media and long-term sustainable thinking." Eno is the only recipient to be awarded for sound design.

2013 - Paul McCartney posted a letter on his website calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to release 30 Greenpeace activists whom Russian authorities arrested during a protest over Arctic oil drilling in September. All the activists involved had their charges dropped in late December of this year.

2015 - A pair of white boots worn by Elvis Presley during his famous 1968 Comeback TV Special performance were bought by a U.K. collector for $44,500. Elvis had worn the size-11 Verde boots while singing "If I Can Dream", two months after the assassination of Martin Luther King. The lyrics included quotes from the civil rights leader.

Birthdays:

American composer Aaron Copland — writer of such works as Billy the Kid, Fanfare for the Common Man, Rodeo, and Appalachian Spring — was born today in 1900. Find more about Aaron Copland at YourClassical MPR.

An artist who centered on the “Western” part of “Country and Western,” Ken Carson, was born today in 1914. Carson was an accomplished horseman and musician; he appeared in 22 films with singing cowboy Roy Rogers, and for a time was a member of the group The Sons of the Pioneers, whose memorable hits include “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” and “Cool Water.”

Pop singer and actor Johnny Desmond was born today in 1919. He enjoyed a number of hits from the 1940s into the 1970s, including his renditions of “A Bushel and a Peck,” “The Yellow Rose of Texas” and “Sixteen Tons.”

Jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis — father of Branford and Wynton — was born today in 1934.

Freddie Garrity of Freddie and the Dreamers was born today in 1936.

Cornell Gunter of The Platters was born today in 1936.

Wendy Carlos — an electronic musician who scored the films A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and Tron — is 86.

Buckwheat Zydeco was born today in 1947.

James Young of Styx is 76.

Stephen Bishop (“On and On”) is 74.

Frankie Banali — drummer for Quiet Riot, W.A.S.P. and Billy Idol — was born on this day in 1951. He passed in 2020.

Alec John Such of Bon Jovi was born on this day in 1951. He passed away in June of 2022.

Yanni is 71.

Joseph Ward Simmons, aka Joey Simmons/"Run"/"Rev Run"/"DJ Run" is 61. Simmons is one of the founding members of the influential hip hop group Run-DMC. He is also a practicing minister and a television personality. From 2005-2009, Rev Run appeared on the MTV series Run's House, a reality show revolving around his everyday life with his family. Before Run–D.M.C., Simmons was the lead vocalist in the hip-hop group named "The Force." He founded Run-D.M.C. as a lead vocalist along with friend Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels and the late DJ Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Mizell.

Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt is 58.

Brian Yale of Matchbox Twenty is 57.

Butch Walker is 56.

Brendan Benson is 55.

Dougie Payne of Travis is 53.

Adina Howard is 51.

Travis Barker is 50.

Obie Trice is 48.

Boosie Badazz is 43.

Joy Williams of the Civil Wars is 43.

Chelsea Wolfe is 42.

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