History Highlight:

Alfred Matthew Yankovic, better known as "Weird Al" was born today in 1959, making him 60 years old. Yankovic is known for his parody-style music which lampoons pop culture and contemporary artists. HIs favorite instrument is the accordion and he has a predilection for polka. Yankovic is one of a very few artists to land a Top 40 hit on the Hot 100 each decade since the '80s, with comedic jabs at Michael Jackson (1984: "Eat It," #12), Nirvana (1992: "Smells Like Nirvana," #35), Chamillionaire (2006: "White And Nerdy," #9), and Robin Thicke (2014: "Word Crimes," #39). In addition to recording his albums - of which he's made 14 - Yankovic wrote and starred in the film "UHF" (1989) and the television series "The Weird Al Show" (1997).

Today In:

1961 - Dion started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Runaround Sue."

1962 - A 12-year-old named Little Stevie Wonder recorded his first single for Motown Records. It was called "Thank You For Loving Me All The Way."

1963 - Bob Dylan began recording "The Times They Are A-Changin" in a two-day session at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City. It is one of Dylan's signature tunes - considered one of the greatest protest songs in history and a classic of 20th century popular music. The song was ranked No. 59 on Rolling Stone's 2004 list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

1976 - The band Chicago started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "If You Leave Me Now."

1978 - "Mother" Maybelle Carter, one of the founding members of the pioneering country-folk group The Carter Family (including June, who later wed Johnny Cash), died at the age of 69.

1982 - The Damned released their album titled Strawberries, packaged with a Strawberry-smelling lyric sheet.

1989 - Nirvana played their first-ever European show when the appeared at Newcastle's Riverside Club in the northeast of England.

1995 - Def Leppard gave themselves a place in the Guinness book Of World Records, by playing three gigs in three continents in 24 hours. The shows were in London, England; Vancouver, Canada; and Tangier, Morocco.

2002 - Kanye West was involved in a car crash after he fell asleep at the wheel while driving home from a recording studio in West Hollywood. No other cars were involved in the incident, which left West with his jaw fractured in three places.

2016 - Dead Or Alive lead singer Pete Burns died of a heart attack at age 57. Known for the 1985 hit "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)," Burns estimated that he had 300 plastic surgeries in his lifetime.

Birthday:

Freddie Marsden of Gerry And The Pacemakers was born today in 1940.

Greg Ridley of Spooky Tooth and a founder member of Humble Pie was born today in 1947.

Country singer Dwight Yoakam is 63.

Roberto Trujillo of Suicidal Tendencies is 55.

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