Birthday Highlight:

Happy birthday to Bootsy Collins, who turns 65 today. Born William Earl Collins in Cincinnati in 1951, Bootsy Collins has been a bass player, singer and songwriter for James Brown, Parliament, Funkadelic, and Bootsy's Rubber Band. Collins's driving bass guitar and humorous vocals established him as one of the leading names in funk. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. In July 2010, Collins, co-launched Funk University, an online bass-guitar school. The intense curriculum is designed for intermediate to advanced bass players as well as anyone interested in a deeper understanding of funk.

Also, Today In:

1958 - Bill Haley and his Comets played one of the first rock 'n' roll concerts in Germany, held at the Sportpalast in Berlin. More than 7,000 rock 'n' roll fans turned the show into a riot: five policemen were severely beaten, six members of the audience were seriously injured, and damages amounted to 50,000 Deutschmarks (about $12,000 in 1958 dollars).

1962 - The Rolling Stones (then known as The Rollin' Stones), and consisting of Keith Richard, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones pianist Ian Stewart and drummer Tony Chapman, recorded their first demo tape at Curly Clayton Studios in Highbury in north London. They recorded three songs: Jimmy Reed's "Close Together," Bo Diddley's "You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover" and Muddy Waters' "Soon Forgotten."

1965 - Queen Elizabeth II awarded The Beatles with MBEs — Member of the British Empire, an order of chivalry of British democracy — at Buckingham Palace in London. According to an account by John Lennon, the group smoked marijuana in one of the palace bathrooms to calm their nerves. Following the Beatles' investiture, many previous recipients returned their MBEs in protest, to which John Lennon responded, "Lots of people who complained about us receiving the MBE received theirs for heroism in the war, for killing people … We received ours for entertaining other people. I'd say we deserve ours more."

1985 - Whitney Houston went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Saving All My Love For You."

1991 - Ozzy Osbourne broke his foot after an accident on stage at a gig in Chicago, causing him to cancel the remaining dates of a U.S. tour.

2004 - Apple launched the U2 Special Edition iPod as part of a partnership between Apple, U2 and Universal Music Group. The new U2 iPod held up to 5,000 songs and featured a red Click Wheel and custom engraving of U2 band member signatures. The iPod was being introduced as the band released their new album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.

2006 - Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor permanently quit the band during the U.S. leg of a world tour.

More Birthdays:

B-52's guitarist Keith Strickland is 63.

Natalie Merchant is 53.

Country star Keith Urban is 49.

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