Birthday Highlight:

Quentin Leo (Norman) Cook (aka Fatboy Slim) was born today in 1963, making him 56 today. Many know him for his solo career, but he started as the bassist for the indie rock band the Housemartins, who had a U.K. No. 1 with their a cappella cover of "Caravan of Love". After that, he formed the electronic band Beats International, then worked with the projects Freak Power, Pizzaman, and the Mighty Dub Katz. He really made a splash after becoming Fatboy Slim with the release of Better Living Through Chemistry in 1996. He has remixed songs from Cornershop, Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest, Groove Armada, and Wildchild. Likely best-known for his singles "The Rockafeller Skank" and "Praise You", he holds the Guinness World Record for the most top 40 hits under different names.

Also, Today In:

1951 - Ray Charles got married for the first time. His bride was Eileen Williams, a beautician from Chicago. Their union lasted just one year.

1955 - Elvis Presley performed at Fort Homer Hesterly Armory in Tampa, Fla., after which a full-scale riot broke out when Elvis announced to the 14,000 strong crowd, "Girls, I'll see you backstage." Fans chased Elvis into the dressing room, tearing off his clothes and shoes.

1968 - Working at Trident studios in London, The Beatles recorded four takes of a new Paul McCartney song, "Hey Jude."

1969 - Making his first live concert appearance since March 25, 1961, Elvis played the International Hotel in Las Vegas, the first of 57 shows that would help revive his career and earn him $1.5 million.

1971 - James Taylor went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with the Carole King song "You Got A Friend," (included on her album Tapestry and on Taylor's album Mud Slide Slim). The song would go on to win the 1971 Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal male Performance and Song Of The Year.

1976 - Blue Oyster Cult released "(Don't Fear) The Reaper."

1980 - The Eagles split up after Glenn Frey and Don Felder went at it on stage.

1982 - Survivor's Eye Of The Tiger was at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart. The song, which was commissioned by actor Sylvester Stallone as the theme for the movie Rocky III, received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song and went on to sell more than five million copies.

1992 - Michael Jackson made an unscheduled appearance on his hotel balcony in London after a man threatened to jump from an apartment building across the street. Twenty-eight-year-old Eric Herminie told police he would leap to his death if he didn't see Jackson, who was in Britain for a series of concerts. Jackson spent a couple of minutes waving to Herminie, who then climbed back into the building.

1999 - Christina Aguilera scored her first U.S. No. 1 single with "Genie In A Bottle." The song spent five weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. chart and won Aguilera the Best New Artist Grammy for the year.

2004 - Simon and Garfunkel closed out the European leg of their second reunion tour by performing a free concert at Rome's Coliseum in front of 600,000 fans.

2012 - Appearing at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium in Finland's capital city, Bruce Springsteen played his longest concert ever, clocking in at four hours, six minutes.

Birthdays:

Ahmet Ertegun, the pioneering Atlantic Records exec who championed artists like the Drifters and Ray Charles, was born today in 1923.

Gary Lewis of Gary Lewis and the Playboys is 73.

Daniel Ash of Love and Rockets is 62.

Bill Berry, former R.E.M. drummer, is 61.

Jim Corr of the Corrs is 55.

Coldplay drummer Will Champion is 41.

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