History Highlight:

Today in 1971, Led Zeppelin released their fourth album. Generally referred to as "Led Zeppelin IV", "Four Symbols" or "The Fourth Album", it had no official title. The album went on to sell over 37 million copies worldwide.

Also, Today In:

1958 - The soundtrack to South Pacific went No. 1 on the U.K. album chart. It spent a record 115 weeks at the No. 1 position. In the U.S., the album stayed at No. 1 for seven months.

1965 - The Beatles worked on a new George Harrison song "Think For Yourself" at Abbey Road for their forthcoming Rubber Soul album. After rehearsing the song, they recorded the basic instrumental track in one take.

1975 - Elton John was named Godfather to John and Yoko Lennon's son Sean.

1975 - David Bowie made his U.S. TV debut performing "Fame", on the CBS-TV show Cher. Bowie who was living in New York at the time had written the song with John Lennon during a jam session.

1995 - Michael Jackson sold the rights to scores of Beatles songs (he had outbid Paul McCartney for the rights several years earlier) to Sony for $95 million.

2009 - Morrissey stopped a concert halfway through his second song after being hit in the eye by a plastic beer bottle lobbed at the stage. He then said goodnight to the 8,000 strong crowd in Liverpool, England before walking off.

2012 - Reports surfaced that Jermaine Jackson filed legal papers at Los Angeles County Superior Court asking to have the spelling of his surname altered to Jacksun for "artistic reasons." The request was granted in February 2013.

Birthdays:

Bonnie Raitt is 68.

Porl Thompson of The Cure is 60.

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