History Highlight:

Today in 1965, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" made its debut, airing on CBS in place of The Munsters. The special was commissioned and sponsored by Coca-Cola, was quickly written over a period of several weeks, and produced on a shoestring budget in only six months. It has since been honored with both an Emmy and a Peabody Award, and became an annual presentation in the U.S., airing during the Christmas season every year since its debut. Its famous jazz score, written by Vince Guaraldi and performed by his trio, also achieved commercial success, selling four million copies in the U.S.

Also, in:

1966 - Cream released their debut studio album Fresh Cream in the U.K. The three piece of Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker also released their second single "I Feel Free" on the same day.

1967 - Jim Morrison of The Doors was arrested at his own concert in New Haven, Connecticut, after a police officer found him backstage with a young girl and maced him.

1972 - Neil Diamond released the live double album Hot August Night, from a concert on August 24, 1972, which was one of ten sold out concerts that Diamond performed that month at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. The album peaked at No. 5 on the U.S. chart and spent 29 weeks at No. 1 on the Australian chart.

1978 - Chic started a seven-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Le Freak". The single achieved sales of seven million and also scored number seven in the U.K. singles chart. In the song, the lyrics invite the listener to "Come on down to the 54", which is a reference to Studio 54 – a popular nightclub at that time. According to guitarist Nile Rodgers, the song was devised during New Year's Eve of 1977, as a result of his and bassist Bernard Edwards' being refused entrance to Studio 54.

1978 - The Blues Brothers released their first single, a cover of "Soul Man." The original was by Sam & Dave, whom the Blues Brothers (John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd) emulated to create their act.

1980 - The airwaves were filled with the music of John Lennon, who was shot and killed the previous evening. In Philadelphia, Bruce Springsteen opened his concert by telling the crowd, "It's hard to come out here and play tonight, but there's nothing else to do."

1984 - The Jacksons' Victory tour came to an end with a show at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. It would be the only tour featuring all six members of The Jacksons (including Michael).

1988 - A poll was published with the curious finding that the music of Neil Diamond was favored as the best background music for sex. Beethoven was the second choice, and Luther Vandross was voted third.

1989 - Billy Joel started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "We Didn't Start The Fire".

1990 - Paula Abdul was taken to North Hollywood Medical Center after being involved in a car crash in Los Angeles.

1992 - George Harrison was the recipient of the first Century Award, presented by Tom Petty at the third Billboard Music Awards in Universal City, CA.

2000 - U2 made their first-ever appearance on Saturday Night Live. The band played "Beautiful Day" and "Elevation."

2001 - Slash showed up at The Joint in Las Vegas, where his old band Guns N' Roses was playing. He was denied entry, as the band's management didn't want to upset Axl Rose.

2003 - After the runaway success of the bluegrass soundtrack for O Brother Where Art Thou?, producer T Bone Burnett helms another Appalachian-inspired album for the Civil War movie Cold Mountain. Alison Krauss sings the Sting-written "You Will Be My Ain True Love" and "The Scarlet Tide," both of which were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

2005 - Joss Stone, Lemar and Ms. Dynamite backed by the African Children's Choir and 1,200 school children set a new world record for the most children singing simultaneously. The "Big Sing" was held at The Royal Albert Hall, London. The singers led a performance of "Lean On Me" which was broadcast to more than half a million people.

2006 - Mariah Carey threatened legal action against porn star Mary Carey in an attempt to stop her trademarking her similar-sounding stage name. The singer believed fans could get the two performers confused if the adult film actress Mary Carey's trademark application was successful.

2013 - Recipients honoured at the 36th annual national John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts were: pianist, keyboardist, bandleader and composer Herbie Hancock; singer and songwriter Billy Joel and guitarist and songwriter Carlos Santana.

2014 - Winfred "Blue" Lovett, an original member of The Manhattans, died of cancer at age 74.

2014 - Sting joined the Broadway cast of his musical The Last Ship, which is based on the shipbuilding community where he grew up.

2016 - The Rolling Stones topped the charts with their latest album Blue & Lonesome, the band's first original studio album to reach No. 1 for 22 years and the 12th album by The Rolling Stones to reach the top of the charts.

2019 - Roxette singer Marie Fredriksson died at age 61 following a 17-year long battle with cancer. The Swedish duo achieved their biggest success when their 1987 single was featured on the "Pretty Woman" soundtrack in 1990. It topped the charts in more than 10 countries, and gave the band their biggest U.K. hit, reaching No. 3.

Birthdays:

Jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd was born today in 1932.

Billy Edd Wheeler — writer of “Jackson,” and songs performed by Neil Young, Kenny Rogers, Florence and the Machine, Elvis Presley, and more — was born today in 1932. He died on Sept. 16, 2024.

Blues musician Junior Wells was born today in 1934.

Country singer David Houston (“Almost Persuaded”) was born today in 1938.

Dan Hicks of Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks was born today in 1941.

Kenny Vance of Jay and the Americans ("This Magic Moment") is 81.

Neil James Innes of Monty Python was born on this day in 1944.

Alice Cooper Band bassist Dennis Dunaway who co-wrote "I'm Eighteen" and "School's Out" is 78.

Joan Armatrading is 74.

Sylvia (“Nobody”) is 68.

Donny Osmond is 67.

Michael Foster of FireHouse is 60.

Brian Bell of Weezer is 56.

Jakob Dylan of The Wallflowers is 55.

Kara DioGuardi is 54.

Geoff Barrow of Portishead is 53.

Frank Wright III (Tré Cool) of Green Day is 52.

Canibus is 50.

Imogen Heap is 47.

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.