History Highlight:

Today in 1984, Tina Turner released Private Dancer, her big comeback album. Her fifth solo studio album was a major breakthrough that established her as a star under her own name after divorcing Ike Turner. It includes the hit title track, which was written by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, and “What’s Love Got to Do with It.” It wouldn’t be a Tina Turner album without her taking well-known songs and adding her own spin. Here, she takes on Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together,” Ann Peebles’ “I Can’t Stand the Rain,” David Bowie’s “1984,” and the Beatles’ “Help!” Private Dancer is her best-selling album in North America, and it won four Grammy Awards.

Also, Today In:

1961 - Ricky Nelson started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Travellin' Man," a song that Sam Cooke turned down.

1962 - Ray Charles won a Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording for "Hit The Road Jack."

1965 - The Beach Boys started a two-week run at No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Help Me Rhonda," the group's second U.S. No. 1.

1971 - The Rolling Stones accomplished the rare feat of having both the No. 1 album, Sticky Fingers, and No.1 single, "Brown Sugar," simultaneously in the U.S.

1976 - Diana Ross started a two-week run on the top of the singles chart with "Love Hangover," her fourth U.S. No. 1.

1977 - Elvis walked off stage in the middle of a show in Baltimore. It was the first time in his 23-year career that he had done so except when legitimately ill. The end was near.

1997 - singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley disappeared during a spontaneous evening swim in the Mississippi River outside Memphis. His body was found on June 4, 1997 after being spotted by a passenger on a tourist riverboat. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, Buckley amassed a following in the early 1990s by playing cover songs at venues in Manhattan's East Village, gradually focusing more on his own material. Eventually Buckley signed with Columbia Records, recruited a band, and recorded what would be his only studio album, Grace, in 1994. Buckley's chart success came posthumously, particularly his cover — often considered the definitive version — of Leonard Cohen's song "Hallelujah," which reached No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs in March 2008.

2005 - Jazz singer-songwriter Oscar Brown Jr., writer of the popular song "Afro Blue," died at the age of 78.

2012 - Aaron Freeman told Rolling Stone that he was retiring Gene Ween, the stage name under which he had performed with Ween for nearly two decades.

2013 - Marvin Junior (lead baritone of The Dells) died from complications of kidney failure at age 77.

2019 - Tony Glover, the influential blues harmonica player who was a longtime peer of Bob Dylan and helped teach Mick Jagger how to play, died of natural causes at age 79. He also worked as a writer and critic, contributing to magazines Crawdaddy and Cream, while also writing extensively for Rolling Stone between 1968 and 1973.

2021 - B.J. Thomas, who had a hit with “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” died at the age of 78.

2022 - Rockabilly star Ronnie Hawkins died at the age of 87.

Birthdays:

Bob Hope was born today in 1903.

Sylvia “Mother of Hip Hop” Robinson — half of Mickey & Sylvia and producer of “Rapper’s Delight” and “The Message” — was born today in 1935.

Irmin Schmidt, founding keyboardist of Can, is 87.

Gary Brooker, founder and lead singer of Procol Harum, was born today in 1945.

Danny Elfman, of Oingo Boingo and many movie scores, is 71.

Francis Rossi of Status Quo is 71.

Toto bassist Mike Porcaro was born today in 1955.

La Toya Jackson is 68.

Simple Minds drummer Mel Gaynor is 65.

The Fall bassist Steve Hanley is 65.

Melissa Etheridge is 63.

Noel Gallagher is 57.

The Verge bassist Simon Jones is 52.

Melanie Brown (Mel B / Scary Spice) of The Spice Girls is 49.

Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist of the Hives is 46.

Riley Keough — actress who played Marie Curie in The Runaways biopic and daughter of Lisa Marie Presley — is 35.

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