History highlight:

Today in 2018, Lake Street Dive released their sixth studio album, Free Yourself Up. The band’s second release on the Nonesuch label, Free Yourself Up was recorded in Nashville, where it was produced by Lake Street Dive together with engineer Dan Knobler. In addition to founding members Rachael Price, Mike “McDuck” Olson, Bridget Kearney and Michael Calabrese, Lake Street Dive brought touring keyboardist Akie Bermiss into the studio to play and sing backing vocals on the album, and shortly thereafter, Bermiss became a permanent member of the band. Free Yourself Up features the singles "Good Kisser," "I Can Change," and "Baby, Don’t Leave Me Alone With My Thoughts." The album went on to peak at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, and it reached No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums charts.

Also, today in:

1956 - Gene Vincent recorded the classic rock 'n’ roll song "Be Bop-A-Lula," at Owen Bradley's studio in Nashville, Tennessee. The song went on to be a Top 20 hit that year.

1959 - The first Grammy Awards presentation was held. Host Mort Sahl presented trophies to Domenico Modugno for "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)," for Record Of The Year, and to Henry Mancini for The Music From Peter Gunn for Album Of The Year.

1964 - Louis Armstrong's "Hello Dolly" hit No. 1 in the U.S. singles charts.

1967 - The Young Rascals started a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Groovin'."

1968 - Steppenwolf made their U.S. television debut on American Bandstand, where they performed "Born to Be Wild.”

1970 - Four students at Kent State University were killed and 11 wounded by National Guard troops at a campus demonstration protesting the escalation of the Vietnam War. The incident inspired Neil Young to compose "Ohio," which became a hit for Crosby Stills Nash & Young.

1974 - Grand Funk Railroad started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with their version of the Little Eva hit "The Loco-Motion."

1974 - The film soundtrack to The Sting, featuring music by Marvin Hamlisch, started a five-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart.

1982 - Queen released their 10th studio album, Hot Space. It features the singles "Under Pressure," "Body Language," "Las Palabras de Amor (The Words of Love)," and "Calling All Girls."

1984 - Echo & the Bunnymen released their fourth studio album, Ocean Rain. It features "The Killing Moon," "Silver," and "Seven Seas."

1985 - Don Henley peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with "All She Wants to Do Is Dance," which was Henley's third top-10 single as a solo artist in the U.S.

1993 - Run-D.M.C. released their sixth studio album, Down with the King. It features the singles "Down with the King" and "Ooh, Whatcha Gonna Do."

1996 - Mariah Carey started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Always Be My Baby," her 11th U.S. No. 1.

2000 - Metallica demanded that the online music service Napster cut off 335,000 users whom they claimed had been illegally trading their songs. The band had provided the names of those they considered to be digitally "stealing" their material in the latest development in the battle over music copyright protection on the web.

2000 - Letters to Cleo played their last concert in Boston and broke up a month later.

2004 - Producer Clement Seymour Dodd died at age 72. He was a major force in the development of ska and reggae, and he made the first recordings of Bob Marley.

2004 - Mission of Burma released their second studio album, ONoffON.

2004 - The Magnetic Fields released their seventh studio album, i.

2010 - The New Pornographers released their fifth studio album, Together. It features "Your Hands (Together)," "Crash Years," "Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk," and "Moves."

2010 - The Hold Steady released their fifth studio album, Heaven Is Whenever. It features “Hurricane J.”

2010 - Broken Social Scene released their fourth studio album, Forgiveness Rock Record.

2012 - Adam Yauch (aka MCA of the Beastie Boys) died of cancer at age 47 in New York City. Though he is best-known as being a founding member of the Beastie Boys, he also founded Oscilloscope Laboratories, an independent film production and distribution company based in New York City. As a Buddhist, he was involved in the Tibetan independence movement and organized the Tibetan Freedom Concert. Fun fact: The Beastie Boys played their first show on Yauch's 17th birthday.

2015 - Mumford & Sons released their third studio album, Wilder Mind. It features "Believe," "The Wolf," "Ditmas," "Tompkins Square Park," and "Just Smoke."

2018 - Leon Bridges released his sophomore album, Good Thing. Its single "Bet Ain't Worth The Hand" took the Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance.

2018 - Frank Turner released his seventh studio album, Be More Kind. It features the singles "1933," "Be More Kind," and "Little Changes."

2018 - Belly released their third studio album, Dove. It features the singles "Shiny One," "Stars Align," and "Human Child."

2019 - A section of Staten Island was renamed "Wu-Tang Clan District" in honor of the group.

2020 - Grimes delivered a baby boy she named X A A-12. The father is entrepreneur Elon Musk.

Birthdays:

Country singer and songwriter Al Dexter, best known for his 1943 hit, “Pistol Packin’ Mama,” was born today in 1905.

Katherine Jackson, matriarch of the Jackson family, is 96.

Jazz bassist Ron Carter — who played with Miles Davis and appeared on A Tribe Called Quest's influential album The Low End Theory on a track called "Verses from the Abstract" — is 89.

The King of Surf Guitar, Dick Dale, was born today in 1937.

Ronnie Bond, drummer for The Troggs, was born today in 1940.

Mick Mars, guitarist for Motley Crue, is 75.

Jackie Jackson of The Jackson 5 is 75.

Sharon Jones was born today in 1956.

Visual artist Keith Haring — whose work has been featured on album covers for David Bowie, Sylvester, A Very Special Christmas, and more — was born today in 1958.

Country star Randy Travis is 67.

Gregg Alexander of The New Radicals is 56.

Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt is 54.

Lance Bass of *NSYNC is 47.

Dallon Weekes of Panic! at the Disco is 45.

British grime emcee Jme is 41.

Rex Orange County is 28.

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