History Highlight:

On this day in 1996, Coolio won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for his hit song, "Gangsta's Paradise." Mary J. Blige and the members of Salt-N-Pepa presented Coolio with the award. “I would like to claim this Grammy on behalf of the whole hip-hop nation,” Coolio said in his acceptance speech. “West Coast, East Coast, worldwide — united we stand, divided we fall. Recognize.” He also called on high schoolers to turn away from violence, saying, “Ain't no gangsters living in paradise." Coolio’s song, which had been the No. 1-selling track in the U.S. in 1995, was also nominated for Record of the Year, but that was awarded to “Kiss From a Rose” by Seal. “Gangsta’s Paradise” would mark the only win among Coolio’s six Grammy nominations across his career.

Also, Today In:

1963 - Sam Cooke’s 9th studio album, Mr. Soul was released.

1968 - Twenty-five-year-old Frankie Lymon, lead singer of The Teenagers, died of a heroin overdose in his grandmother's New York home.

1970 - Led Zeppelin played a gig in Copenhagen as The Nobs after Eva Von Zeppelin — a relative of the airship designer — threatened to sue if the family name was used in Denmark.

1970 - Simon and Garfunkel started a six-week run at the top of the U.S. singles chart with "Bridge Over Troubled Water," also No. 1 in the U.K. in March the same year. The title track of Simon and Garfunkel’s fifth studio album, “Bridge Over Troubled Water” was composed by Paul Simon and is often considered the duo's signature song.

1976 - Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years" was named Best Pop Vocal Performance and Album Of The Year at the 18th annual Grammy Awards. In his acceptance speech, Simon told the audience, "I'd like to thank Stevie Wonder for not releasing an album this year."

1977 - Ray Charles was attacked by a member of his audience who tried to strangle him with a rope.

1979 - Rickie Lee Jones released her self-titled debut studio album, Rickie Lee Jones. It features the singles "Chuck E.'s in Love" and "Young Blood."

1982 - Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham collapsed during the band's European tour, suffering from heroin withdrawal.

1983 - U2 released their third studio album, War. The album is regarded as U2's first overtly political album, in part because of songs like "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "New Year's Day," as well as the title, which stems from the band's perception of the world at the time. The album focused on both the physical aspects of warfare and the emotional after-effects. War became U2’s first album certified Gold and in 2012, and was ranked 223 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

1983 - Quiet Riot released their third studio album, Metal Health. It features the singles "Cum On Feel the Noize" and "Metal Health (Bang Your Head)."

1984 - Michael Jackson won a record seven Grammy awards including Album of the Year for Thriller; Record of the Year and Best rock vocal performance for "Beat It"; Best pop vocal performance, Best R&B performance and Best R&B song for "Billie Jean," and Best Recording For Children for "E.T The Extra Terrestrial."

1984 - “Weird Al” Yankovic released his second studio album, In 3-D. The album playfully skewers a number of hit songs of the era; specifically, "Eat It" (a parody of Michael Jackson's "Beat It"), "The Brady Bunch" (Men Without Hats' "The Safety Dance"), "I Lost on Jeopardy" (Greg Kihn Band's "Jeopardy"), and "King of Suede" (The Police's "King of Pain"). In 3-D also includes the track, “Mr. Popeil,” an original song by Yankovic, done in the musical style of the B-52s, that parodies the ever-present (in 1984) TV advertisements for household gadgets.

1989 - Bob Dylan recorded the first sessions for the Oh Mercy album at The Studio, New Orleans, Louisiana.

1989 - Indigo Girls released their self-titled album, featuring “Closer to Fine.” It was Amy Ray and Emily Saliers’ second studio album and major-label debut on Epic Records. Their collaborators on the record include the members of R.E.M. and Hothouse Flowers. Following the album’s release, Indigo Girls won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording and received a nomination for Best New Artist. “Closer to Fine” peaked at No. 52 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1989, and it experienced a revival after it was included in the 2023 film Barbie.

1995 - Jewel released her debut album, Pieces of You. It features “Who Will Save Your Soul,” “You Were Meant for Me,” and “Foolish Games.”

1995 - Minutemen and fIREHOSE bassist Mike Watt released his debut solo album, Ball-Hog or Tugboat?. It features the single “Against the 70’s” feat. Eddie Vedder on vocals. Other musicians featured on the recording include Nirvana's Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl; Jane's Addiction and Porno for Pyros drummer Stephen Perkins; Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea; Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna; Soul Asylum's Dave Pirner'; former Germs and Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear; Pixies singer Frank Black; The Lemonheads frontman Evan Dando; Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan; jazz/punk guitarist Nels Cline (later of Wilco); and Mike D and Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys.

1995 - Better Than Ezra’s second album, Deluxe, was reissued by Elektra Records two years after its indie release. It features “Good.”

1995 - Adina Howard released her debut album, Do You Wanna Ride?. It features “Freak Like Me.”

1995 - Quicksand released their second studio album, Manic Compression, on CD. (It was released four days earlier on vinyl.)

1995 - Face to Face released Big Choice. It features “Debt.”

1996 - Nirvana's Unplugged won Best Alternative Album and Coolio won Best Rap Performance with "Gangsta's Paradise" (see highlight, above) at the Grammy Awards.

1996 - Alanis Morissette won Album of the Year at the Grammys for Jagged Little Pill and Best Female Rock Vocal and Best Rock Song for "You Oughta Know." She was the youngest artist to ever win the Album of the Year, a record she held until 2010, when Taylor Swift won the prize for Fearless.

1998 - Cornershop went to No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart with "Brimful Of Asha." This song is based upon the history of film culture in India; "Asha" refers to Asha Bhosle, one India’s most famous pop and film-score vocalists.

1998 - Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On," from the movie Titanic, went to No. 1 in the U.S. The film had been No. 1 at the box office since December 21, 1997.

2000 - Oasis released their fourth studio album, Standing on the Shoulder of Giants. It features “Go Let It Out,” “Where Did It All Go Wrong?,” “Who Feels Love?,” and “Sunday Morning Call.”

2000 - Eels released their third studio album, Daisies of the Galaxy. It features "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues."

2006 - Rhett Miller released his second solo studio album, The Believer. It features the singles "My Valentine," "Help Me, Suzanne," and "I Believe She's Lying."

2006 - Ne-Yo released his debut studio album, In My Own Words. It features the singles "Stay," "So Sick," "When You're Mad," and "Sexy Love."

2008 - Mike Smith, lead vocalist and keyboardist for The Dave Clark Five, died of pneumonia at age 64.

2011 - DeVotchKa released their sixth studio album, 100 Lovers. It features the singles "100 Other Lovers" and "All the Sand in All the Sea."

2012 - The Malaysian government canceled a concert by Erykah Badu scheduled for the following day due to her tattoos, including one with the word "Allah" in Arabic.

2016 - At the Oscars, Lady Gaga was introduced by then-Vice President Joe Biden and performed "Til It Happens To You" joined by a group of sexual assault survivors. A few minutes later, the song lost the Best Song award to Sam Smith's "Writing's On The Wall."

2016 - Adele was at No. 1 on the U.K. and U.S. album charts with her third studio album, 25. The album was a massive commercial success, debuting at No. 1 in more than 25 markets. 25 received the BRIT Award for British Album of the Year and also won the 2017 Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album.

2020 - Real Estate released their fifth studio album, The Main Thing. It features “Paper Cup” and the title track.

Birthdays:

Rolling Stone Brian Jones was born today in 1942.

Barbara Acklin — soul singer of “Love Makes a Woman” and co-writer of “Have You Seen Her” — was born today in 1943.

Syreeta Wright, who recorded the international hit duet “With You I’m Born Again” with Billy Preston, was born today in 1946.

Cindy Wilson of the B-52s is 69.

Pat Monahan of Train is 57.

Nigel Godrich — producer for Radiohead, Beck, and Atoms for Peace — is 55.

Jason Aldean is 49.

Jake Bugg is 32.

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