Birthday Highlight:

Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Brendan Benson is 44 today. Benson has enjoyed a successful indie career with a devoted cult fanbase for over 15 years, and has also been a member of Jack White's band The Raconteurs.

Also, Today In:

1954 - Rock & Roll arrived as Bill Haley & The Comets made the Top Ten with "Shake, Rattle & Roll."

1990 - Record producer Frank Farin fired Milli Vanilli singers Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan because they were insisting on singing on their new album.

1995 - The Rolling Stones released their acoustic live album Stripped .

1995 - Blur brought chaos to traffic in central London, England when over 3,000 fans turned up for a signing at "Book's Etc." in Charring Cross Road.

Birthdays:

Joseph "Run" Simmons, of Run-DMC, is 50.