History Highlight:

Stuart Adamson, the late co-founder, lead singer, and guitarist of Big Country, was born today in 1958. The band rose to prominence in 1983, and before that Adamson founded Scottish art-punk band Skids, and In the '90s he founded alternative country rock act The Raphaels.

Also, Today In:

1952 - "Singin' In The Rain", starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and newcomer Debbie Reynolds, was released in the U.S. to mild fanfare.

1956 - The Godfather of Soul and the hardest working man in show business, James Brown, had his first chart entry on the R&B chart with "Please, Please, Please."

1961 - Bob Dylan made his New York City stage debut at Gerde's Folk City, a small Greenwich Village club, opening for John Lee Hooker. During the set, he debuted a tune that would come to be one of his trademark songs: "Blowin' In The Wind".

1964 - The Beatles set a new record when 14 of the Top 100 songs on the chart were theirs. "Can't Buy Me Love" is No. 1 and "Love Me Do" is their lowest at No. 81.

1970 - Fleetwood Mac founding member Peter Green announced he was leaving the group to devote himself to "What God would have me do." After a few member changes, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the band for their most successful lineup in 1974.

1970 - The day after Paul McCartney announced his departure from The Beatles, "Let It Be" hit No. 1 on the chart, staying there for two weeks.

1981 - Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen married actress Valerie Bertinelli. They separated in 2001 and divorced in 2005. Their son, Wolfgang, went on to become the bass player in his dad's group.

1992 - Pearl Jam appeared on Saturday Night Live.

1994 - Oasis released "Supersonic" which was the band's first single to chart in the United States. The song peaked at No. 11 on the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. It was written by Noel Gallagher and later appeared on their debut album Definitely Maybe in August 1994.

2002 - Aretha Franklin and seven other Motown stars were honored with street names in Detroit's new low-income housing project.

2006 - June Pointer (of The Pointer Sisters) died at age 52 after being hospitalized for a stroke and diagnosed with cancer.

2011 - Chicago blues musician Lacy Gibson died at age 74 of a heart attack.

2014 - Nirvana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, alongside KISS and Beatles manager Brian Epstein. REM's Michael Stipe inducted the group, saying, "Nirvana tapped into a voice that was yearning to be heard. Nirvana were kicking against the mainstream. They spoke truth and a lot of people listened."

2014 - Jesse Winchester died at age 69 of bladder cancer. He was one of the major singer-songwriters of the "country rock" movement in the early '70s, known best for his songwriting, which resulted in several hits for other outlaw country artists.

2017 - J. Geils, guitarist and founding member of J. Geils Band, died at age 71.

2017 - Toby Smith, original keyboardist for Jamiroquai, died at age 46. He was most famous for being the keyboardist and co-songwriter for Jamiroquai from 1992 until his departure in 2002, but he was music producer and manager for The Hoosiers and in 2013, and he co-produced Matt Cardle's third album Porcelain.

Birthdays:

Grammy-nominated singer Lisa Stansfield is 52.

Sebastien Grainger, drummer and singer for Death From Above 1979, is 39.

Joss Stone is 31.

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