History Highlight:

Today in 2002, former Clash singer and guitarist Joe Strummer died of a heart attack at age 50. Strummer was born John Graham Mellor in Turkey to parents who worked for the British foreign service; beginning at age nine, Mellor attended boarding school near London. He gained an interest in music as a youngster, and his tastes were broad, including R&B, rock, pop, rockabilly, reggae and folk music. At one point in his career, he went by the moniker Woody Mellor (inspired by Woody Guthrie) before landing on Joe Strummer, a reference to his role as a rhythm-guitar player. In 1976, Strummer co-founded the Clash, one of the most influential bands in the history of punk and post-punk music. Beyond the Clash, Strummer played in the bands the 101ers and the Mescaleros, and he was also an activist for human rights and social justice causes.

Also, in:

1956 - Elvis had the most charting singles of the year with a total count of 17. Pat Boone was a distant second with five, followed by Fats Domino, Little Richard and The Platters with three each.

1958 - The Chipmunks' "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)" hit No. 1 on the Hot 100. Other seasonal songs that have enjoyed the No. 1 spot include Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” and most notably, Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which recently returned to No. 1 on December 11, 2025, marking its 19th week atop the Hot 100. “All I Want for Christmas Is You” came out in 1994, and it first hit the top 10 in 2017. As of 2025, the song has led the chart for the last seven holiday seasons. 

1963 - The Dave Clark Five scored their only U.S. No. 1 single with "Over And Over", a No. 5 hit in the U.K.

1973 - Elton John started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.K. album chart with Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. It also had an eight-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. chart.

1978 - One-time Faces drummer Kenney Jones became the permanent replacement for the recently deceased Keith Moon in The Who — a tough act to follow.

1979 - Rupert Holmes' "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" hit No. 1 on the Hot 100. It retained the top spot for two more weeks, making it the last chart-topper of the 1970s and the first of the 1980s.

1980 - Stiff Records released an album in the U.K. called The Wit and Wisdom of Ronald Reagan. The entire disc contained 40 minutes of silence.

1984 - Madonna started a six-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. charts with "Like A Virgin," her first U.S. No. 1. The iconic song is the title track off her album and was the first single released. The lyrics to the song, which are full of innuendo, showcase a sexually independent, confident woman and the song undeniably became a defining one for Madonna's career. Besides the song's success in America, it reached the top of the charts in Australia, Canada, and Japan, and in the top-ten of other countries.

1985 - Dennes Boon of the Minutemen is killed in a van accident in Tucson, Arizona, at age 27.

1987 - After a night of debauchery with Robbin Crosby of Ratt and Slash from Guns N' Roses, Mötley Crüe bass player Nikki Sixx suffered a drug overdose and his heart stopped beating; an EMT administered a shot of adrenaline to get Sixx’s heart beating again. The incident later inspired Sixx to write Mötley Crüe’s 1989 hit song, “Kickstart My Heart.”

1992 - Shai released their debut studio album, ...If I Ever Fall in Love. It features the singles "If I Ever Fall in Love," "Comforter," and "Baby I'm Yours."

1995 - Three years after her feature film debut in The Bodyguard, Whitney Houston gave her second acting performance in Forest Whitaker's romantic drama Waiting to Exhale, leading an all-Black cast that included Angela Bassett and Dennis Haysbert.

2014 - Joe Cocker died of lung cancer in Crawford, Colorado, at age 70. The singer had a career lasting more than 40 years, with hits including his cover of The Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends” and the songs “You Are So Beautiful" and "Up Where We Belong." He received an Order of the British Empire (OBE) at Buckingham Palace for services to music in 2011 and was ranked number 97 on Rolling Stone's 100 greatest singers list in 2008.

Birthdays:

Country music star Hawkshaw Hawkins — who died in the 1963 plane crash that also killed Patsy Cline and Cowboy Copas — was born today in 1921.

Country musician, poet, and entertainment executive Red Steagall is 87.

James Gurley, guitarist with Big Brother and the Holding Company, was born on this day in 1939.

Barry Jenkins, drummer with The Animals, is 81.

Rick Nielsen, lead guitarist and main songwriter for Cheap Trick, is 77.

Today in 1949, twin brothers Maurice and Robin Gibb were born. The twins, along with brother Barry, formed the Bee Gees. Born on the Isle of Man to English parents, the Gibb brothers were raised in England until the late 1950s. There, they formed the skiffle/rock and roll group the Rattlesnakes. The family then moved to Australia where the group, now named the Bee Gees, received their first chart success with "Spicks and Specks." They returned to the U.K. in 1967 and went on to achieve worldwide success. Most of the albums from the band included at least one or two songs featuring Maurice's lead vocals, including "Lay It on Me," "Country Woman" and "On Time." Robin's clear vibrato lead vocals were a hallmark of their earlier hits. The group wrote all of their own original material, as well as writing and producing several major hits for other artists and have been regarded as one of the most important and influential acts in pop music history.

Jean-Michel Basquiat — New York painter who sold his first work to Blondie’s Debbie Harry and later appeared in the “Rapture” music video — was born today in 1960.

Luther “Luke” Campbell, leader of 2 Live Crew, is 65.

Richey Edwards of Manic Street Preachers was born today in 1967.

Country singer-songwriter Lori McKenna is 57.

Mark Hill of Artful Dodger is 53.

Basshunter is 41.

Jordin Sparks is 36.

DaBaby is 34.

Meghan Trainor is 32.

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