History Highlight:

Today in 2012, Adam Yauch (aka MCA of the Beastie Boys) died of cancer at age 47 in New York City. Though he was best known as being a founding member of the Beastie Boys, he also founded Oscilloscope Laboratories, an independent film production and distribution company based in New York City. And as a Buddhist, he was involved in the Tibetan independence movement and organized the Tibetan Freedom Concert. Fun fact: The Beastie Boys played their first show on Yauch's 17th birthday.

Also, Today In:

1956 - Gene Vincent recorded the classic rock 'n roll song "Be Bop-A-Lula", at Owen Bradley's studio in Nashville, Tenn. The song went on to be a Top 20 hit that year.

1959 - The first Grammy Awards presentation was held. Host Mort Sahl presented trophies to Domenico Modugno for "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)," for Record Of The Year, and to Henry Mancini for The Music From Peter Gunn for Album Of The Year.

1964 - Louis Armstrong's "Hello Dolly" hit No. 1 in the U.S. singles charts.

1967 - The Young Rascals started a four-week run at No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Groovin'".

1968 - Steppenwolf made their U.S. television debut on American Bandstand where they performed "Born to Be Wild".

1970 - Four students at Kent State University were killed and 11 wounded by National Guard troops at a campus demonstration protesting the escalation of the Vietnam War. The incident inspired Neil Young to compose "Ohio", which became a hit for Crosby Stills Nash & Young.

1970 - Later memorialized in the Neil Young song Ohio, the United States National Guard fired on protesters at Kent State University in Ohio, killing four students. This event in American history led to the formation of Devo, as Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale were both on campus and horrified by the events.

1974 - Grand Funk Railroad started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with their version of the Little Eva hit "The Loco-Motion."

1974 - The film soundtrack to The Sting by Marvin Hamlisch started a five-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart.

1985 - Don Henley peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with "All She Wants to Do Is Dance" which was Henley's third top ten single as a solo artist in the U.S.

1996 - Mariah Carey started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Always Be My Baby", her eleventh U.S. No. 1.

2000 - Metallica were demanding online music service Napster cut off 335,000 users who they claimed had been illegally trading their songs. The band had provided the names of all those they considered to be "stealing" their material over the internet in the latest development in an ongoing battle over the protection of music copyrights on the web.

2004 - Producer Clement Seymour Dodd died at age 72. He was a major force in the development of ska and reggae, and made the first recordings of Bob Marley.

2012 - Rapper, musician, film director, and human rights activist Adam Yauch died of cancer at age 47. He was best-known as a founding member of the hip hop group Beastie Boys, who sold over 40 million records worldwide.

More Birthdays:

Ronnie Bond, drummer for The Troggs, was born today in 1940.

The King of Surf Guitar, Dick Dale, is 81.

Mick Mars, guitarist for Motley Crue, is 67.

Jackie Jackson (The Jackson 5) is 67.

Sharon Jones was born today in 1956.

Country star Randy Travis is 59.

Gregg Alexander (The New Radicals) is 48.

Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt is 46.

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