History Highlight:

Minnesota local Mark Mallman is 51. Born July 20, 1973, in Waukesha, Wisconsin, the singer and pianist moved to Minneapolis in 1991 to study at Minneapolis College and Design. He quickly gained a reputation as a must-see live performer in the local music scene, and eventually a star on First Avenue’s wall. In 1999, Mallman performed a 26-hour long song titled “Marathon 1.” It was followed in later years by 2004’s two-day “Marathon Two” and 2010’s 72 hour “Marathon Three,” performance - where he played one song with 576 pages of lyrics. And he’s still playing today, with nine solo albums under his belt, the mostly recent being 2021’s Happiness. 

Also, Today In: 

1940 - Billboard's first comprehensive record chart was published. The magazine had previously published best-seller lists submitted by individual record companies, but the new chart combined the top sellers from all major labels. Billboard's first No. 1 song was "I'll Never Smile Again" by Frank Sinatra and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. 

1963 - Jan and Dean started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Surf City," written by Beach Boy Brian Wilson, with the Beach Boys on backing vocals. 

1963 - Lesley Gore releases "Judy's Turn To Cry." 

1965 - Bob Dylan released "Like a Rolling Stone" which would become his first major hit single eventually peaking at number two on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Chart. 

1965 - The Lovin' Spoonful release "Do You Believe In Magic?" Lead singer John Sebastian wrote it after seeing a beautiful girl dancing at one of their shows. 

1968 - Cream started a four-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Wheels Of Fire'. The double album which consisted of a studio and a live record reached No.3 in the United Kingdom. 

1968 - Iron Butterfly's second album, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, entered the U.S. album chart for the first time. The album, which went on to sell more than four million copies in the U.S. alone, contained the 17-minute title track that filled the second side of the LP. The song would later inspire one of Bart Simpson's more creative pranks. 

1970 - The Carpenters appear on The Dating Game, where they perform "(They Long To Be) Close To You" and each select from three suitors. They never actually go on their dates 

1974 - The Ramones decided that their new lead singer would be their then-drummer Joey Ramone. 

1975 - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played the opening night on their Born To Run Tour at The Palace Theatre in Providence, R.I. The tour actually began more than a month before the album, Born to Run, was released; "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" made its first appearance, but the show was mostly dominated by older material. The show also saw the live debut of Steven Van Zandt, aka Little Steven, as a member of The E Street Band. 

1976 - Buzzcocks made their live debut supporting The Sex Pistols and Slaughter & The Dogs at The Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester. In the audience were Morrissey, Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook (soon to form Joy Division), Mark E. Smith (The Fall) and Mick Hucknall. 

1986 - Sid And Nancy, the film based on the life of Sex Pistol Sid Vicious, premiered in London. 

1991 - EMF went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Unbelievable." The song spent 14 weeks on the chart before reaching the top. Fun fact: the song contains samples of U.S. comedian Andrew Dice Clay throughout the track, including the loud exclamation of "oh!" at the start of each chorus along with the words "it's unbelievable" spoken during the bridge. 

1996 - De La Soul's Stakes Is High debuts at No. 13 on the Billboard 200 chart, and No. 4 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. 

2015 - American country musician, songwriter and record producer Wayne Carson died at the age of 72 after suffering congestive heart failure. He co-wrote 'Always on My Mind', (a hit for Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson and others), 'The Letter', (recorded by The Box Tops, Joe Cocker and Leon Russell), and 'Soul Deep'. 

2016 - Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg began their "High Road" tour with a show in West Palm Beach, Florida. Said Khalifa, "It's a joint performance." 

2017 - Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington died at age 41. His body, taken by suicide, was found at a private home. The singer was said to be close to Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell, who took his own life in May of 2017. Formed in 1996, Linkin Park has sold more than 70 million albums worldwide and won two Grammy Awards. 

2021 - American songwriter and vocalist Chuck E. Weiss died from cancer age 76. Weiss was the subject of Rickie Lee Jones's hit song ‘Chuck E.'s In Love’, from her 1979 debut album. At the time, Jones was linked romantically to Tom Waits. All three lived in the Tropicana Hotel in Los Angeles. 

2024 - Jerry Miller of Moby Grape died.

Birthdays: 

Singer-songwriter Cindy Walker — wrote “You Don’t Know Me,” “Cherokee Maiden,” “Triflin’ Gal,” “The Gold Rush Is Over,” and many other country hits — was born today in 1917.

Electronic music pioneer Mort Garson was born today in 1924.

Buddy Knox (“Party Doll”) was born today in 1933.

John Lodge of the Moody Blues is 81.

T.G. Sheppard is 80.

Kim Carnes is 79 today. Carnes is by far best-known for is her 1981 worldwide hit "Bette Davis Eyes". 

Carlos Santana, better known as simply Santana, is 77.

Dave Evans, original lead singer of AC/DC, is 71.

Jay Jay French of Twisted Sister is 70. 

Jem Finer, banjo, from Irish-British Celtic punk band The Pogues, is 69. 

Paul Cook (drummer for The Sex Pistols) is 68. 

Simple Minds keyboardist Mick MacNeil is 66.

Radney Foster is 65. 

Chris Cornell was born today in 1964. 

Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard is 58.

Courtney Taylor-Taylor of the Dandy Warhols is 57.

Kool G Rap is 56.

Tobi Vail of Bikini Kill is 55.

Vitamin C is 55. 

Andrew Stockdale, Wolfmother lead singer, is 48.

Charlotte Hatherley of Ash is 45.

Julianne Hough is 36.

Pop Smoke was born today in 1999.

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