History Highlight:

Today in 2007, the Athens, Georgia-based indie-pop band, of Montreal, released Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?, their eighth studio album. Importantly in the band’s trajectory, the album was of Montreal’s first charting full-length, reaching No. 72 in Billboard’s Hot 200 and No. 2 in Billboard’s U.S. Independent Albums chart. Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? features the single "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse," which was inspired by of Montreal frontperson Kevin Barnes’ experience after having been prescribed antidepressants. Other singles on the album include "Faberge Falls for Shuggie," "She's a Rejecter," "Suffer for Fashion," and "The Past Is a Grotesque Animal," the last of which is nearly 12 minutes long and during its course, features a transformation of Barnes themself into the glam-rock alter-ego Georgie Fruit, a persona that carries through the rest of the album.

Also, in:

1955 – "Rock Around The Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets entered the U.K. chart for the first time.

1971 – Black Sabbath released Paranoid, their second studio album in the U.S. The album features the band's best-known signature songs, including the title track, "Iron Man" and "War Pigs."

1977 - The Runaways released their second studio album, Queens of Noise. It features the singles "Heartbeat," "Queens of Noise," "Neon Angels on the Road to Ruin," and "Midnight Music."

1980 – In Through The Out Door — the final Led Zeppelin album released before the death of drummer John Bonham — went platinum.

1980 – Foreigner's third album Head Games was certified Gold and Platinum by the RIAA and later went on to sell five million albums in the U.S. alone.

1989 – Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart with their reunion album, American Dream.

1993 – R.E.M. performed a Greenpeace benefit concert at a small club in Athens, Georgia. Appropriately, the show was recorded on a solar-power mobile recording studio.

1994 – Nirvana performed at the Seattle Center Arena, their final concert in the U.S.

1994 – Oasis started recording their debut album Definitely Maybe at Monnow Valley Studios in South Wales. The album marked the beginning of Oasis' success in America, selling over one million copies in the U.S. despite only peaking at No. 58 on the Billboard 200. The album went on to sell over 10 million copies worldwide and brought widespread critical acclaim.

2001 – R&B and soul singer James Carr died at age 58. After being turned down by Stax, Carr made his first recordings for Goldwax Records in 1964. He released several singles for the label before achieving his first success in 1966, when "You've Got My Mind Messed Up" reached No. 7 on the Billboard R&B chart.

2004 – Drummer John Guerin died of pneumonia at age 64. He worked with Joni Mitchell, Frank Zappa, Linda Rondstadt, Gram Parsons, and Todd Rundgren, and he also played on the original title tune for the television series Hawaii Five-O.

2016 – Singer Troy Shondell died from complications of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease at age 76. He became a transatlantic one-hit wonder with his 1961 song “This Time,” which topped the charts in both U.S. and the U.K., selling more than one million records. He also recorded under the name Gary Shelton.

2020 – Neil Peart, drummer and lyricist for Canadian rock band Rush, died from brain cancer at age 67. Peart placed at No. 4 in Rolling Stone's list of all-time greatest drummers and was well-known for his technical proficiency and animated live performances. He was known to fans by the nickname “The Professor,” and his lyrics for Rush addressed diverse subjects including science fiction, fantasy, and philosophy. Across his lifetime, Peart wrote a total of seven nonfiction books focused on his travels and personal stories.

Birthdays:

Jazz trumpeter and vocalist Red Allen was born today in 1908.

Paul Revere, whose full name was Paul Revere Dick, of the rock band Paul Revere and the Raiders was born today in 1938.

Musician and photographer Mike McCartney, brother of Paul McCartney, is 82. During his music career, which spanned 1962 into the 1980s, Mike McCartney used the stage name Mike McGear to fend off any suggestions of nepotism.

Jann Wenner, co-founder and publisher of Rolling Stone magazine, is 80.

Singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins is 78. Loggins’ first song was recorded by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, and he went on to record several albums with Jim Messina in the 1970s. Since 1976, Loggins has enjoyed a long career as a solo performer and successful songwriter, known especially for his contributions to film soundtracks, including such hits as “I’m Alright” from Caddyshack; the title track from 1984’s Footloose; and “Danger Zone” and “Playing with the Boys” from Top Gun. Loggins also collaborated with Michael McDonald on co-writing the Yacht Rock staples “What a Fool Believes” and “This Is It.”

Kathy Valentine, bass player from The Go-Go's, is 67.

John Ondrasik of Five for Fighting is 61.

Aloe Blacc is 47.

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.