History Spotlight:

Today in 2013, country music legend George Jones died at the age of 81. Born in Saratoga, Texas, in 1931, Jones's career began in 1954, and during his six decades as a professional singer-songwriter, he was one of the most financially successful country music artists ever. Jones recorded more than 900 songs, and charted more than any other music artist, almost exclusively on the country charts; Jones — either solo or as part of duet — placed nearly 150 songs on the charts, including thirteen No. 1 country hits. Some of Jones's most iconic hits include "White Lightning" (1959), "She Thinks I Still Care" (1962), "Golden Ring" (with Tammy Wynette, 1976) and "He Stopped Loving Her Today" (1980). For the last 20 years of his life, Jones was frequently referred to as "the greatest living country singer."

Also, Today In:

1977 - New York's legendary disco and party central, Studio 54, opened up for business.

1978 - Ringo Starr's TV special, Ringo, a musical version of The Prince And The Pauper, was shown on American TV. Ringo portrayed both characters, with former band mate George Harrison narrating. The show tanked.

1990 - Nirvana appeared at the Pyramid Club in New York City. The band's label Sub Pop filmed the show and the performance of "In Bloom" was later used as a video.

1995 - Courtney Love turned down Playboy magazine's $1 million offer to pose nude.

2008 - Amy Winehouse spent the night in custody after being arrested on suspicion of assault.

2013 - U.S. country singer George Jones who had a string of number one songs between the 1950s and 1990s, died at age 81. Nicknamed "Possum", his signature song was "He Stopped Loving Her Today", a track about love and death. He was married to Tammy Wynette between 1969 and 1975 and the pair recorded several songs together in the 1970s.

2016 - A list of tracks by a death metal band was accidentally printed on the back of a new album by U.K. comedian Bernie Clifton. The 80-year-old (who is famous for riding a yellow ostrich), said he was "fuming and furious" about the error, which saw songs by the group Abhorrent Decimation printed on his new CD.

Birthdays:

Rockabilly legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Duane Eddy is 79.

Gary Wright, best known for his hits "Dream Weaver" and "My Love Is Alive," is 74.

Duran Duran drummer Roger Taylor is 57.

Chris Mars, of The Replacements and Golden Smog, is 56.

T-Boz (TLC) is 47.

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