History Spotlight:

Today in 1983, Karen Carpenter died of heart failure, a complication of her anorexia nervosa. She was 32. Though her life ended too soon, she and her brother, Richard Carpenter, formed the 1970s duo The Carpenters and released more than a dozen hit records before Karen was even 24. She is best known for her vocal performances but was also a talented drummer, and started off in The Carpenters singing from behind the drum kit.

Also, Today In:

1965 - "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" by The Righteous Brothers was No. 1 in the U.S. and the U.K. simultaneously.

1966 - The Rolling Stones released "19th Nervous Breakdown". The song would go on to peak at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart.

1968 - The Beatles recorded "Across the Universe" at Abbey Road Studios in London. During the recording, John Lennon and Paul McCartney decided the song needed falsetto harmonies, so they invited two female fans into the studio to sing on the song.

1969 - In response to Lennon, Harrison and Starr acquiring the services of Allen Klein to represent them the previous day, Paul McCartney hired the law firm of Eastman & Eastman, Linda Eastman's father's law firm, as general legal counsel for Apple. It was the beginning of the end for The Beatles.

1972 - David Bowie finished recording The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

1978 - Queen peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with "We Will Rock You"/"We Are the Champions" which was their second top ten single in the U.S.

1980 - The Ramones released their fifth album End of the Century. The album was produced by Phil Spector and went on to become their highest charting album in the U.S. reaching number 44 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart.

1986 - Janet Jackson released Control, her third studio album.

1989 - Guns N' Roses became the first act in 15 years to have two albums in the top five of the Billboard 200 Album Chart. Appetite for Destruction was at number two and the EP G N' R Lies was at number five.

2000 - ABBA member Bjorn Ulvaeus revealed that the band had refused a $1 billion offer from a British and American consortium to regroup.

2009 - Lux Interior (Erick Lee Purkhiser), singer and founding member of The Cramps died aged 62.

2016 - Van Morrison became Sir Van Morrison when he received his knighthood at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

Birthdays:

Alice Cooper (Vincent Furnier) is 68.

Tim Booth, the singer from the band James, is 56.

Country star Clint Black is 54.

Natalie Imbruglia is 41.

Former member of the Pussycat Dolls, Kimberly Wyatt, is 34.