History Highlight:

Today in 1994, Oasis released their debut album, Definitely Maybe. It hadn’t been an easy road; the Manchester band anchored by brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher had made two attempts at recording the album at two different studios and were dissatisfied with the results. In a last-ditch effort, engineer and producer Owen Morris was called in to attempt to remix the tracks to the band’s and the label’s liking. Ultimately, Morris’ efforts paid off as Definitely Maybe was an instant smash, thanks to hit singles “Supersonic,” “Shakermaker,” “Live Forever” and “Cigarettes & Alcohol.” Definitely Maybe rocketed to No. 1 in the U.K. albums chart, and it went on to be certified platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America. Since that time, Rolling Stone and Spin have ranked Definitely Maybe in their lists of the Greatest Albums of All Time, and in 2006, the readers of NME voted Definitely Maybe the No. 1 greatest album of all time.

Also, Today In: 

1946 - Ella Fitzgerald records "It's A Pity To Say Goodnight." 

1958 - 15-year-old George Harrison joined a local Liverpool band called The Quarrymen, which featured Paul McCartney and John Lennon.

1966 - The Beatles played their last concert before a paying audience, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California to a sold-out crowd of 25,000. John and Paul, knowing what the fans do not (that this will be the last concert ever) bring cameras on stage and take pictures between songs. During this tour, The Beatles have not played a single song from their latest album, Revolver. They finished the show with a version of Little Richard's 'Long Tall Sally'. 

1976 - Jimmy Reed, the influential Big Boss Man of the Blues, died at the age of 50. 

1970 - The Isle of Wight Festival hits its stride on Day 4 (of 5), with performances by Miles Davis, The Doors and The Who. Joni Mitchell's set is interrupted by a hippie named Yogi Joe who has to be removed by security. It also features Emerson, Lake And Palmer in only their second live performance, which is later released as the album Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970. 

1976 - Spirit reformed with its original lineup for the first time in five years to perform a concert in Santa Monica, California. Neil Young joined them onstage during the encore for a rendition of Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone". 

1977 - Elvis Presley's body was removed from a Memphis cemetery and re-entombed at Graceland after three people were arrested while attempting to steal his corpse. 

1980 - UB40 release their seminal debut, Signing Off. It climbs to No. 2 in the U.K., becoming the first reggae album to reach those heights. 

1989 - The Rolling Stones released their 19th studio album, Steel Wheels.

1990 - After soundcheck for her concert in Saratoga Springs, New York, Sinead O'Connor dons a disguise and joins protesters outside the venue. The hubbub is over her concert from a week earlier when she asked that the National Anthem not be played before her performance. 

1991 - Boston rock station WFNX premiered Nirvana’s sophomore album, Nevermind, playing the soon-to-be classic from start to finish. Featuring the grunge-era anthem “Smells Like Teen Sprit,” plus “Come as You Are,” “Lithium,” and “In Bloom,” the album served as the Seattle band’s commercial breakthrough and would transform the era’s musical landscape. 

1991 - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers kicked off their world tour in support of Into the Great Wide Open at Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre in Denver. 

1992 - Guns N' Roses peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with "November Rain" which was their sixth and final top ten single in the U.S. 

2002 - Enrique Iglesias and the tennis star Anna Kournikova show up as a couple for the first time when they attend the MTV Video Music Awards, where Eminem takes Video Of The Year for "Without Me." 

2004 - At the MTV Video Music Awards, Outkast scooped up four wins for “Hey Ya!” including Best special effects in a video and Best video of the year. The music video starts off in a green room and features André 3000 playing all eight members of a fictional band called The Love Below – who perform on a TV show to a crowd of screaming girls, loosely based around the Beatles’ landmark appearance on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964. That same night at the MVAs, Jay-Z and Beyoncé made their first red-carpet appearance as a couple. 

2005 - 77-year-old Fats Domino was rescued from the flooding in New Orleans caused by Hurricane Katrina. 

2005 - Barry Cowsill (The Cowsills) died by drowning during the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana, at age 50. 

2006 - Rockabilly singer/songwriter Jumpin' Gene Simmons dies after a long illness in Tupelo, Mississippi, at age 73. 

2021 - Lee "Scratch" Perry, a transgressive reggae musician who produced albums for Bob Marley, The Clash, and many others, dies at 85. 

Birthdays: 

Charlie Parker was born today in 1920.

Dinah Washington, one of the most popular recording artists of the 1950s, was born today in 1924. 

Sterling Morrison, guitarist for The Velvet Underground, was born today in 1942. 

Chris Copping of Procol Harum is 79.

Geoff Whitehorn — of If, Crawler, and Procol Harum — is 73.

Dave Malone of the Radiators is 72.

Don Schlitz — writer of “The Gambler,” co-writer of “Forever and Ever, Amen” and “When You Say Nothing at All” — is 72. 

Diamanda Galás is 69.

Michael Jackson was born today in 1958. 

Eddi Reader is 65.

Elizabeth Fraser, singer for Cocteau Twins, is 61.

Perri “Pebbles” Reid — who had hits with “Girlfriend,” “Mercedes Boy,” and more — is 60.

Anton Newcombe of the Brian Jonestown Massacre is 57.

Singer Meshell Ndegeocello is 56.

Alex Griffin of Ned’s Atomic Dustbin is 53.

Kyle Cook of Matchbox Twenty is 49.

Phil Harvey, manager of Coldplay, is 48.

Liam Payne of One Direction 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.