History Highlight:

Today in 1985, singer, songwriter, producer and composer Devonté Hynes — best known as Dev Hynes or by his musical moniker Blood Orange — was born, making him 40. Born and raised in East London, Hynes was still a teenager when he and two friends formed the dance-punk band Test Icicles, who released the full-length album, For Screening Purposes Only, in 2005. In 2007, Hynes began a new project called Lightspeed Champion, releasing the albums Falling Off the Lavender Bridge in 2008 and Life Is Sweet! Nice to Meet You in 2010. Shifting his attention to an R&B and electronica sound, Hynes put Lightspeed Champion on hiatus to launch the Blood Orange project, releasing Coastal Grooves in 2011. Hynes has now released five full-length albums as Blood Orange, the most recent being 2025’s Essex Honey, which includes the track, “Somewhere in Between,” and a number of collaborations with artists including Lorde, Caroline Polachek, Brendan Yates of Turnstile, and author Zadie Smith. There’s also a track called “Westerberg” which credits Replacements’ members Paul Westerberg, Chris Mars and Tommy Stinson with co-writes. In addition to his work as a recording and touring artist, Dev Hynes is also a composer for film and TV, having written scores for such films as Palo Alto, Master Gardener, and Passing.

Also, in:

1957 - Simon & Garfunkel (then known as Tom & Jerry) released their first single.

1961 - The Beach Boys made their live debut, performing two songs during the intermission of Dick Dale's concert at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Newport Beach, California.

1964 - During a U.S. tour, Beach Boy Brian Wilson had a nervous breakdown on a flight from Los Angeles to Houston. Wilson left the band to concentrate on writing and producing. Glen Campbell replaced Wilson for the band's live shows.

1964 - Pirate station Radio London started broadcasting from the former U.S. minesweeper Mv Galaxy. The 2009 comedy film, The Boat That Rocked (titled Pirate Radio in North America) gives a fictionalized account of these offshore radio stations that operated in Britain in the 1960s.

1972 - Imagine, a film by John Lennon, made its debut on American television.

1977 - Singer-songwriter Cat Stevens formally changed his name to Yusuf Islam. Stevens converted to Islam and left his music career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community. In 2006, he returned to pop music — releasing his first album of new pop songs in 28 years, titled An Other Cup. He has released several albums since, gone on tour, and even done a Tiny Desk concert at NPR.

1989 - Phil Collins started a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Another Day In Paradise", his 7th U.S. solo No. 1.

1991 - James Brown sued the producers of the movie The Commitments, claiming his name and likeness were used without his permission (he lost the case five years later).

1992 - Eddie Hazel (lead guitarist for Funkadelic) died from internal bleeding and liver failure in Plainfield, New Jersey, at age 42.

1999 - George Harrison's home in Maui was broken into by a person who cooked a frozen pizza, drank beer from the fridge, started some laundry and phoned her mother in New Jersey. The person was arrested and charged with burglary and theft.

2007 - The Police were named the highest-earning touring group for the past year, bringing in nearly $132 million. The band's 54-date North American tour had generated almost double the total of the second-placed act, country star Kenny Chesney.

2008 - Clint Ballard Jr. died. He wrote “Game Of Love,” a hit for Wayne Fontana And The Mindbenders, and Linda Ronstadt's, “You're No Good.” Ballard Jr.’s songs have been recorded by The Hollies, Frankie Avalon, Ricky Nelson, The Zombies and the surf-rock duo Jan and Dean.

2018 - Honey Lantree, drummer and sometimes singer with The Honeycombs, died aged 75. The Honeycombs had a 1964 U.K. No. 1 single "Have I The Right," which featured Lantree, one of few women drummers playing in bands at that time.

2020 - Leslie West died at age 75 after suffering a heart attack in his home near Daytona, Florida. He was a founding member and co-lead vocalist of the hard-rock band Mountain, who formed on Long Island, New York in 1969 and are best known for their cowbell-tinged song "Mississippi Queen," as well as the heavily sampled song "Long Red" and their performance at the Woodstock Festival in 1969. Mountain are one of many bands to be commonly credited for influencing the development of heavy metal in the 1970s.

Birthdays:

Singer-songwriter Harold Dorman was born today in 1926. His 1960 song, “Mountain of Love,” peaked at No. 21 and marked his only Top-40 hit, but the song proved a bigger hit for subsequent artists who have covered it, including Johnny Rivers in 1964, and Charley Pride, who made “Mountain of Love” a No. 1 country hit in 1982.

Innovative jazz trumpeter and singer Chet Baker was born on this day in 1929.

Johnny Kidd, leader of Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, was born today in 1935.

R&B and disco singer Esther Phillips, who had a big hit in 1975 with “What A Difference A Day Makes,” was born today in 1935.

Eugene Record of The Chi-Lites was born on this day in 1940.

Ron Bushy of Iron Butterfly was born on this day in 1941.

Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna guitarist Jorma Kaukonen is 84.

Eugene Record, lead singer of the Chi-Lites, was born today in 1940.

Folk and blues singer-songwriter Tim Hardin, whose works include the songs “If I Were a Carpenter” and “Reason to Believe,” was born today in 1941.

Harry Shearer, who portrayed bassist Derek Smalls in This Is Spinal Tap, is 82.

Singer-songwriter Robbie Dupree, whose hits include “Steal Away” and “Hot Rod Hearts,” is 79.

Mott The Hoople guitarist Ariel Bender (Luther James Grosvenor) is 79.

Adrian Belew — frontman for King Crimson, solo artist (“Oh Daddy”), and collaborator with David Bowie, Talking Heads, Laurie Anderson, Paul Simon, Tom Tom Club, and Nine Inch Nails — is 76.

Anthony Phillips, formerly a guitarist for Genesis, is 74.

Iron Maiden guitarist Dave Murray is 69.

Singer-songwriter and musician Victoria Williams is 67. Williams was part of the band The Original Harmony Ridge Creekdrippers, co-founded by her then-husband and former Jayhawks band member Mark Olson. Beyond her work in that band and her solo releases, Williams’ 1993 multiple sclerosis diagnosis set off a series of events that ultimlately let to the establishment of the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, a nonprofit that assists musicians with health-related costs and other financial needs.

Eddie Vedder is 61. The American singer, musician, and songwriter is best known as the lead vocalist and one of four guitarists of the rock band Pearl Jam. He also appeared as a guest vocalist in Temple of the Dog, the one-off tribute band dedicated to the late singer Andrew Wood. Vedder is known for his powerful baritone vocals. He was ranked No. 7 on a list of "Best Lead Singers of All Time", based on a readers' poll compiled by Rolling Stone. In 2017, Vedder was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pearl Jam.

Esthero is 47.

Dev Hynes of Blood Orange is 40.

Finn Wolfhard — Stranger Things actor and lead singer for Calpurnia — is 23.

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