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Today in Music History: Happy Birthday, Boy George

Happy birthday, Boy George
Happy birthday, Boy GeorgeCourtesy of the artist, via NPR

June 14, 2017

History Highlight:

George Alan O'Dowd, better-known as Boy George, is 56 today. Lead singer of the Grammy and Brit Award-winning Culture Club, the band had mega-hits such as "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me", "Time (Clock of the Heart)" and "Karma Chameleon". These days George mostly splits his time between songwriting, DJing, writing books, designing clothes and photography, but his soulful voice and androgynous appearance put him in history along the likes of David Bowie and Iggy Pop.

Also, Today In:

1961 - Patsy Cline was seriously injured in a car accident. During her two month hospital stay, her song "I Fall to Pieces" gave the singer her first Country No. 1 and also became a huge country-pop crossover hit.

1965 - Along with a string quartet, Paul McCartney recorded what would turn out to be the most recorded song of all time - "Yesterday."

1965 - Bob Dylan made his first electric recording at Columbia's Studio A in New York. The song was "Like A Rolling Stone."

1970 - Derek and the Dominos performed their first gig at the Lyceum Theatre in London.

1970 - Eric Clapton's new band was introduced as "Derek and the Dominos" when they took the stage at the Lyceum in London. They told the promoter they were "The Dynamics," but he convinced them to add the "Derek," which was a nickname for Clapton. His mangled name interpretation stuck.

1980 - Peter Gabriel reached number one on the U.K. Album Chart for the first time with his third self-titled album which spent two weeks on top.

1995 - Police in Columbus, OH received 20 noise complaints from a Ted Nugent concert. But Nugent didn't turn down the volume, claiming he was within the legal noise limits.

1995 - Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley were interviewed together on ABC, insisting their marriage was not fake. They get divorced in January 1996.

2002 - Mick Jagger became a Sir when he was knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honors.

2016 - Irish guitarist Henry McCullough died after never fully recovering from a severe heart attack he had suffered four years earlier. He recorded with Paul McCartney and Wings and was featured on "Live and Let Die" and "My Love", the solo which he made up on the spot in front of a live orchestra. He was also a member of Spooky Tooth and The Grease Band.

Birthdays:

Motown saxophone great Junior Walker was born on this day in 1931.

Zombies founder Rod Argent is 72.

Alan White, drummer for Yes, is 68.

Joshua Radin is 43.

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