History Highlight:

Today in 1984, Madonna started a six-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. charts with "Like A Virgin," her first U.S. No. 1. The iconic song is the title track off her her album and was the first single released. The lyrics to the song, which are full of innuendo, showcase a sexually independent, confident women and the song undeniably became a defining one for Madonna's career. Besides the song's success in America, it reached the top of the charts in Australia, Canada, and Japan, and in the top-ten of other countries.

Also, in:

1956 - Elvis had the most charting singles of the year with a total count of 17. Pat Boone was a distant second with five, followed by Fats Domino, Little Richard and The Platters with three each.

1963 - The Dave Clark Five scored their only U.S. No. 1 single with "Over And Over", a No. 5 in the U.K.

1973 - Elton John started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.K. album chart with Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. It also had an eight-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. chart.

1978 - One-time Faces drummer Kenney Jones became the permanent replacement for the recently deceased Keith Moon in The Who – a tough act to follow.

1980 - Stiff Records released an album in the U.K. called The Wit and Wisdom of Ronald Reagan. The entire disc contained 40 minutes of silence.

2002 - Former Clash singer and guitarist Joe Strummer, born John Graham Mellor, died of a suspected heart attack aged 50.

2014 - Joe Cocker died of lung cancer in Crawford, Colorado at age 70. The singer had a career lasting more than 40 years, with hits including his cover of The Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends", "You Are So Beautiful" and "Up Where We Belong". He received an Order of the British Empire at Buckingham Palace for services to music in 2011 and was ranked number 97 on Rolling Stone's 100 greatest singers list in 2008.

Birthdays:

Rick Nielsen, lead guitarist and main songwriter for Cheap Trick, is 69.

Maurice and Robin Gibb, the twin brothers from the Bee Gees, were born today in 1949.

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