Birthday Highlight:

Today in 1937, Blues singer Bessie Smith died aged 43 after being involved in a car accident while traveling along Route 61 outside Memphis, Tennessee. With the nickname "the Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s, and one of the greatest singers of her era.

Also, Today In:

1956 - Fats Domino's version of "Blueberry Hill" entered the chart and zoomed to the Top 5. The song has an interesting history: It was a hit by Glenn Miller as a new tune in 1940, then, Louis Armstrong successfully revived it in the early '50s, but Fats had the big hit.

1964 - Roy Orbison started a three week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Oh Pretty Woman".

1965 - Queen Elizabeth II bestowed honor upon The Beatles with the Order Of The British Empire.

1969 - The Beatles released Abbey Road in the U.K.

1975 - The Rocky Horror Picture Show premiered in Westwood, California. It was initially a major flop but would go on to be a major cult success.

1981 - The Go-Go's started a six-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with Beauty And The Beat.

1987 - Michael Jackson started a six-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with Bad. Released nearly five years after Jackson's previous studio album, Thriller, Bad went on to become the world's best-selling album having sold between 30 to 45 million copies worldwide. The album produced five U.S. No. 1s.

1990 - Dave Grohl joined Nirvana.

2003 - Singer Robert Palmer ("Addicted To Love") died of a heart attack in a Paris hotel room. He was 54.

Birthdays:

Bryan Ferry, singer for Roxy Music, is 72.

Olivia Newton-John is 69.

Tracey Thorn of Everything But The Girl is 55.

Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men is 45.

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