History Spotlight:

Today in 1938, Duane Eddy was born, making him 80 today. A rockabilly legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Eddy had a string of hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s including "Rebel Rouser", "Peter Gunn", and "Because They're Young", and he sold 12 million records by 1963.

Also, Today In:

1969 - "Oh Happy Day" by The Edwin Hawkins Singers entered the Hot 100 at No. 72, becoming the first gospel song to make that chart.

1977 - New York's legendary disco and party central, Studio 54, opened up for business.

1978 - Ringo Starr's TV special, Ringo, a musical version of The Prince And The Pauper, was shown on American TV. Ringo portrayed both characters, with former bandmate George Harrison narrating. The show tanked.

1978 - The Last Waltz, director Martin Scorsese's acclaimed documentary of The Band's star-studded last concert, opened in theaters. The film featured performances by Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Neil Diamond, The Staple Singers and Dr. John.

1990 - Nirvana appeared at the Pyramid Club in New York City. The band's label Sub Pop filmed the show and the performance of "In Bloom" was later used as a video.

1995 - Courtney Love turned down Playboy magazine's $1 million offer to pose nude.

2008 - Amy Winehouse spent the night in custody after being arrested on suspicion of assault.

2013 - U.S. country singer George Jones who had a string of number one songs between the 1950s and 1990s, died at age 81. Nicknamed "Possum", his signature song was "He Stopped Loving Her Today", a track about love and death. He was married to Tammy Wynette between 1969 and 1975 and the pair recorded several songs together in the 1970s.

2016 - A list of tracks by a death metal band was accidentally printed on the back of a new album by U.K. comedian Bernie Clifton. The 80-year-old (who is famous for riding a yellow ostrich), said he was "fuming and furious" about the error, which saw songs by the group Abhorrent Decimation printed on his new CD.

2017 - Father John Misty released his video for "Total Entertainment Forever," which stars Macaulay Culkin as a crucified Kurt Cobain.

Birthdays:

Gary Wright, best known for his hits "Dream Weaver" and "My Love Is Alive," is 75.

Chris Mars, of The Replacements and Golden Smog, is 57.

T-Boz (TLC) is 48.

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