History Highlight:

Today in 1966, The Troggs' cover of "Wild Thing" (a song originally performed by The Wild Ones) was released in the U.S. on both the Atco and Fontana labels. The song would eventually reach No. 1 in June of that year; the Troggs' version of "Wild Thing" became a major influence on garage rock and punk rock. Many other artists have covered the song, including Jimi Hendrix, the Runaways, Jeff Beck, Cheap Trick, Hank Williams Jr., Liz Phair, and X.

Also, Today In:

1969 - During a brief legal proceeding conducted on the roof of the Apple Records building in London, John Lennon changed his middle name from Winston to Ono.

1969 - The Who gave their first unabridged live performance of the rock opera Tommy at a show held at the Bolton Institute of Technology (now the University of Bolton) in England.

1978 - Bob Marley and the Wailers performed at the "One Love Peace Concert" in Jamaica. It was Marley's first public appearance in Jamaica since being wounded in an assassination attempt a year and a half earlier.

1978 - John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd performed as the The Blues Brothers for the first time on Saturday Night Live, opening the show with "Hey Bartender."

1979 - As part of reparations for his 1977 Canadian drug bust, Keith Richards played a benefit concert in Oshawa, Ont., for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.

1989 - Madonna started a three-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with 'Like A Prayer', the singer's seventh U.S. No. 1, also a No. 1 in the U.K.

1991 - The Dave Matthews Band played their first ever-live show when they appeared at The Earth Day festival in Charlottesville, Virginia.

1999 - Sinead O'Connor was ordained in Lourdes, France, as the first woman priest in the Latin Tridentine Church, a dissident Roman Catholic group.

2003 - Songwriter Felice Bryant died of cancer. She wrote many hits with her husband Boudleaux including; The Everly Brothers, 'Bye Bye Love', 'All I Have To Do Is Dream', 'Wake Up Little Susie' and 'Raining In My Heart', a hit for Buddy Holly. Other acts to record their songs include Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Tony Bennett, Simon and Garfunkel, Sarah Vaughan, Grateful Dead, Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, Beach Boys, Roy Orbison, Elvis Costello, Count Basie, Dean Martin, Ruth Brown, Cher, R.E.M. and Ray Charles.

2013 - Richie Havens, the folk singer who opened the legendary 1969 Woodstock rock festival, died of a heart attack at 72.

Birthdays:

Jazz great Charles Mingus was born today in 1922.

Glen Campbell was born today in 1936.

Peter Frampton is 70.

Pete Carr, best-known as part of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, is 70.

Kenny Lyon of the Lemonheads is 64.

Shavo Odadjian of System of a Down is 46.

Daniel Paul Johns of Silverchair 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.