History Highlight:

Today in 2016, Anderson .Paak released his second studio album, Malibu. Released the year after Paak featured on six tracks on Dr. Dre’s 2015 album Compton, Malibu marked the start of Anderson .Paak’s commercial breakthrough. The album was hailed by critics and landed in several publications’ best-albums-of-2016 lists; it also was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album (which went to Beyoncé’s Lemonade). Malibu features the singles "The Season / Carry Me," "Am I Wrong," "Room in Here," and "Come Down," and it includes guest vocalists BJ the Chicago Kid, Schoolboy Q, Rapsody, the Game, Sonyae Elise, and Talib Kweli.

Also, in:

1965 - The Who had their first hit when they released "I Can't Explain" in the U.K. "I Can't Explain," with Jimmy Page on guitar, was the A-side of the group's first single released under the name The Who. Their previous single, "Zoot Suit" / "I'm the Face," was released under the name The High Numbers. In a 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, songwriter Pete Townshend referred to "I Can't Explain" as "a song, written by some 18-year-old kid, about the fact that he can't tell his girlfriend he loves her because he's taken too many Dexedrine tablets."

1967 - The Rolling Stones were forced to change the lyrics of "Let's Spend The Night Together" to "Let's Spend Some Time Together" when appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show after producers objected to the perceived risqué content of the song. In video of the televised performance, Mick Jagger can be seen rolling his eyes while delivering the bowdlerized song lyrics.

1972 - Led Zeppelin's “Black Dog” made its debut on the U.S. singles chart.

1976 - Bassist Paul Simonon auditioned for The London SS, the band who went on to become The Clash.

1976 - Peter Frampton released his double live album, Frampton Comes Alive!. It features the singles "Show Me the Way," "Baby, I Love Your Way," and "Do You Feel Like We Do."

1977 - Bootsy Collins' Rubber Band released their second studio album, Ahh... The Name Is Bootsy, Baby!. It features the singles "The Pinocchio Theory," "Rubber Duckie," and "Can't Stay Away."

1977 - The Eagles were at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with Hotel California, the group's third U.S. No. 1 album.

1981 - The dB's released their debut studio album, Stands for Decibels. It features the singles "Black and White," "Bad Reputation," and "She's Not Worried."

1982 - Harry Casey of KC and the Sunshine Band was seriously injured in a head-on car crash.

1990 - They Might Be Giants released their third studio album, Flood. It includes such tracks as “Birdhouse in Your Soul,” “Istanbul (Not Constantinople),” “Twisting” and “Particle Man.” Released on Elektra Records, Flood was TMBG’s first album to come out on a major label. Flood has been TMBG’s best-selling album to date, and was certified Platinum by the RIAA in 2009.

1990 - The Sundays released their debut album, Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. It features “Here’s Where the Story Ends.”

1991 - Gang Starr released their second studio album, Step in the Arena. It features the singles "Just to Get a Rep," "Take a Rest," "Lovesick," "Step in the Arena," and "Who's Gonna Take the Weight?"

1992 - Dee Murray, bass player with the Elton John band, died after suffering a stroke at age 45.

1994 - Singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson died in his sleep of heart failure after spending the previous day in the recording studio.

1998 - Chicago blues vocalist and harmonica player, Junior Wells, died at age 63. Born Amos Blakemore, he is best-known for his signature song “Messin' with the Kid” and his 1965 album Hoodoo Man Blues. He also worked with Muddy Waters, Van Morrison, Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt and The Rolling Stones.

2002 - 1980s British pop legend Adam Ant was admitted to psychiatric care 24 hours after being charged by police for throwing an auto part through the window of a pub in London and later threatening patrons there by brandishing a gun (which turned out to be a track-and-field starter’s pistol).

2008 - The Magnetic Fields released their eighth studio album, Distortion. It features the singles "California Girls," "Drive On, Driver," and "Too Drunk to Dream."

2008 - Ronnie Wood was recovering following a hernia operating after sustaining the injury during the band's recent Bigger Bang tour. The 60-year-old Rolling Stones guitarist was told to rest for two months after the procedure.

2013 - Yo La Tengo released their 13th studio album, Fade. It features the singles "Stupid Things," "I'll Be Around," and "Ohm."

2013 - Free Energy released their second, and final, studio album, Love Sign. It features “Electric Fever.”

2015 - American record producer, singer and musician Kim Fowley died at the age of 75. He is best-known for his role behind a string of novelty and cult pop-rock singles in the 1960s, and for managing The Runaways in the 1970s. With Gary S. Paxton, he recorded the novelty song “Alley Oop,” which reached No. 1 on the charts in 1960 and was credited to the non-existent group the Hollywood Argyles.

2018 - Irish musician and singer-songwriter Dolores O'Riordan from The Cranberries died unexpectedly while she was in London for a recording session. The Cranberries had the 1994 hit singles "Linger", "Dreams" and "Zombie," and the band's 1993 debut album Everybody Else Is Doing It So Why Can't We reached No. 18 on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart.

2020 - American multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Chris Darrow died of complications from a stroke at age 75. He was considered to be a pioneer of country rock music in the late 1960s and performed and recorded with numerous groups, including Kaleidoscope and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Darrow played bass on Leonard Cohen's debut album, Songs of Leonard Cohen.

2021 - Shame released their second studio album, Drunk Tank Pink. It features the singles "Alphabet," "Water in the Well," "Snow Day," "Nigel Hitter," and "Born in Luton."

Birthdays:

Drummer Gene Krupa was born today in 1909.

Martin Luther King Jr. was born today in 1929.

Captain Beefheart was born today in 1941.

Ronnie Van Zant, singer for Lynyrd Skynyrd, was born today in 1948.

Duke Elwin Erikson of Garbage of 75.

Melvyn Gale, cellist for Electric Light Orchestra, is 74.

Tool guitarist Adam Jones is 61.

Pitbull is 45.

Skrillex is 38.

Grace VanderWaal is 22.

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, Song Facts, This Might Be A Wiki (The TMBG Knowledge Base), and Wikipedia.