History Highlight:

On this day in 1989 Indigo Girls released their self-titled album, featuring “Closer to Fine.” It was Amy Ray and Emily Saliers’ second studio album and major-label debut on Epic Records. Their collaborators on the record include the members of R.E.M. and Hothouse Flowers. Following the album’s release, Indigo Girls won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording and received a nomination for Best New Artist. “Closer to Fine” peaked at No. 52 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1989, and experienced a revival after it was included in the 2023 film Barbie.

Also, Today In:

1963 - Sam Cooke’s 9th studio album, Mr. Soul was released.

1968 - 25-year-old Frankie Lymon, lead singer of The Teenagers, died of a heroin overdose in his grandmother's New York home.

1970 - Led Zeppelin played a gig in Copenhagen as The Nobs after Eva Von Zeppelin - a relative of the airship designer - threatened to sue if the family name was used in Denmark.

1970 - Simon and Garfunkel started a six-week run at the top of the U.S. singles chart with "Bridge Over Troubled Water", also No. 1 in the U.K. in March the same year. The song is featured on their fifth studio album, Bridge over Troubled Water, was composed by Paul Simon, and is often thought of as the duo's signature song.

1976 - Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years" was named Best Pop Vocal Performance and Album Of The Year at the 18th annual Grammy Awards. In his acceptance speech, Simon told the audience "I'd like to thank Stevie Wonder for not releasing an album this year."

1977 - Ray Charles was attacked by a member of his audience who tried to strangle him with a rope.

1982 - Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham collapsed during the band's European tour suffering from heroin withdrawal.

1983 - U2 released their third studio album, War. The album is regarded as U2's first overtly political album, in part because of songs like "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "New Year's Day", as well as the title, which stems from the band's perception of the world at the time. The album focused on both the physical aspects of warfare, and the emotional after-effects. War became U2’s first album certified Gold and in 2012, was ranked 223rd on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time."

1984 - Michael Jackson won a record seven Grammy awards including Album of the year for Thriller; Record of the year and Best rock vocal performance for "Beat It"; Best pop vocal performance, Best R&B performance and Best R&B song for "Billie Jean", and Best Recording For Children for "E.T The Extra Terrestrial".

1984 - “Weird Al” Yankovic released his second studio album, In 3-D. It features “Eat It.”

1989 - Bob Dylan recorded the first sessions for the Oh Mercy album at The Studio, New Orleans, Louisiana.

1995 - Jewel released her debut album, Pieces of You.

1996 - Nirvana's Unplugged won best alternative album and Coolio won best rap performance with "Gangsta's Paradise" at the Grammys.

1996 - Alanis Morissette won Album of the Year at the Grammys for Jagged Little Pill and Best Female Rock Vocal and Best Rock Song for "You Oughta Know". She was the youngest artist to ever win the Album of the Year, a record she held until 2010, when Taylor Swift won the prize for Fearless.

1998 - Cornershop went to No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart with "Brimful Of Asha". This song is based upon the history of film culture in India; "Asha" refers to Asha Bhosle, one of the most famous pop/film-score vocalists of India.

1998 - Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On," from the movie Titanic, went to No. 1 in the U.S. The film had been No. 1 at the box office since December 21, 1997.

2008 - Mike Smith (lead vocalist, keyboardist for The Dave Clark Five) died of pneumonia at age 64.

2012 - The Malaysian Government canceled a concert by Erykah Badu scheduled for the following day due to her tattoos, including one with the word "Allah" in Arabic.

2016 - At the Oscars, Lady Gaga was introduced by then-Vice President Joe Biden and performed "Til It Happens To You" joined by a group of sexual assault survivors. A few minutes later, it lost the Best Song award to Sam Smith's "Writing's On The Wall."

2016 - Adele was at No.1 on the U.K. and U.S. album charts with her third studio album 25. The album was a massive commercial success, debuting at No.1 in more than 25 markets. 25 received the BRIT Award for British Album of the Year and also won the 2017 Grammy Awards for Album of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Album.

Birthdays:

Rolling Stone Brian Jones was born today in 1942.

Barbara Acklin — soul singer of “Love Makes a Woman” and co-writer of “Have You Seen Her” — was born today in 1943.

Syreeta Wright — “With You I’m Born Again” with Billy Preston — was born today in 1946.

Cindy Wilson of the B-52’s is 67.

Pat Monahan of Train is 55.

Nigel Godrich — producer for Radiohead, Beck, and Atoms for Peace — is 53.

Jason Aldean is 47.

Jake Bugg is 30.

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