History Highlight:

Shirley Manson is 53 today. A Scottish singer, she is best known as the lead singer of Garbage. We were lucky enough to have her into the studio to play DJ in her own Theft of the Dial. Garbage's self-titled debut album was released in August of 1995, and in the 20-plus years since then, the band has featured the same lineup -- Manson, Butch Vig, Duke Erikson and Steve Marker. "I think the reason we've stayed together is we've treated each other with respect, and we all understand that we need each other," Manson says. "Nobody in the band thinks they can do it on their own."

Also, Today In:

1967 - The Beatles joined their new guru, the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, at a press conference in Wales, during which Paul McCartney told the media that the band had become disciples of the guru and had quit drugs.

1969 - For the first time in Minnesota State Fair history, the Grandstand sold out with over 24,000 people in attendance at Johnny Cash along with June Carter, the Carter Family, the Statler Brothers, Carl Perkins and the Tennessee Three, with the Taylors Falls High School Band opening (thanks to listener Ronald - a member of that high school band - for pointing out this highlight).

1978 - Frankie Valli went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with the Barry Gibb song "Grease," the signature tune from the hit film of the same name.

1981 - Ottawa City Council declared it "Paul Anka Day" to celebrate the Canadian singer-songwriter's 25th anniversary in the music industry. The council also named a street "Paul Anka Drive" in his honor. Anka has written more than 900 songs, including such hits as "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" and "Diana," plus Tom Jones's "She's a Lady" and Frank Sinatra's "My Way."

1987 - Sonny Bono, who once said that he never voted until he was 53, announced that he was running for mayor of Palm Springs, Calif. He won that election in 1988 and eventually went on to win a seat in Congress in 1996.

1995 - Blur scored their first U.K. No. 1 single with "Country House," winning a media battle with Oasis for the No. 1 position. Both bands released their new singles on the same day; "Country House" topped the chart at No. 1, and "Roll With It" by Oasis landed at No .2.

1995 - Ronnie White of The Miracles died at the age of 57 from leukemia. White co-wrote The Temptations' hit, "My Girl," among other Motown hits.

1995 - Seal went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Kiss From A Rose," which appears in the film Batman Forever.

1997 - Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers was hospitalized after crashing his motorcycle on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.

2003 - Rolling Stone magazine named Jimi Hendrix the greatest guitarist in rock history. Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Chuck Berry, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Ry Cooder were also in the top 10 list.

2005 - A post office near the Los Angeles studio where Ray Charles recorded much of his music was renamed after the R&B legend.

2007 - The High School Musical 2 soundtrack album was at No. 1 on the U.S. chart, remaining there for four weeks.

2014 - Kate Bush made her stage comeback at London's Hammersmith Apollo to an ecstatic response from fans at her first live concert for 35 years. After performing a 26-song setlist, Bush received a standing ovation as she closed the show with "Cloudbusting" from her 1985 hit album The Hounds of Love. In a residency titled, "Before the Dawn," Bush played 22 shows in London, all of which had completely sold out in less than fifteen minutes after tickets went on sale in March of that year.

Birthdays:

Jet Black, drummer for The Stranglers, is 81.

Valerie Simpson, from husband-and-wife songwriting-production team Ashford and Simpson, who wrote hits such as 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough', 'You're All I Need To Get By', 'Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing', and 'Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)' is 73.

Bill and Dick Cowsill from The Cowsills, who the Partridge Family was based on, were born today in 1949.

Elastica bassist Annie Holland is 54.

Dan Vickrey of Counting Crows is 53.

No Doubt drummer Adrian Young is 50.

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