History highlight:

Today in 1984, producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Jack Antonoff was born - making him 40 today. He is the lead singer of rock band Bleachers and the guitarist and drummer in the pop rock band Fun. Aside from his work with Bleachers and Fun, Antonoff has worked as a songwriter and record producer with various artists, including Taylor Swift, the 1975, Lorde, St. Vincent, Florence and the Machine, Lana Del Rey, Fifth Harmony, Kevin Abstract, Carly Rae Jepsen, the Chicks, Tegan and Sara and Clairo. He has often been credited with having a significant impact on the sound of contemporary popular music.

Also, today in:

1928 - One of country music's most influential characters, William Orwell “Lefty” Frizzell, was born. Among the artists he influenced were George Jones, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, The Everly Brothers, Merle Haggard, and John Fogerty. Frizzell died of a massive stroke on July 19, 1975. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame in 1982.

1949 - RCA Victor introduced the 45 RPM single record, which had been in development since 1940. The 7-inch disc was designed to compete with the long-playing record introduced by Columbia a year earlier. Both formats offered better fidelity and longer playing time than the 78 RPM record that was currently in use.

1958 - Chuck Berry's rock 'n' roll classic "Johnny B. Goode" single was released. It entered the U.S. charts six weeks later and peaked at No. 8 on the chart.

1964 - Filming for A Hard Day's Night, The Beatles played a "live television performance" in front of a studio of screaming fans (one of whom was Phil Collins). The four songs used in the film were "Tell Me Why," "I Should Have Known Better," "And I Love Her," and "She Loves You."

1967 - Jimi Hendrix set fire to his guitar live on stage for the first time when he was appearing at The Astoria in London. It was the first night of a 24-date tour with The Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens and Engelbert Humperdink. The Fender Stratocaster burned on stage by Hendrix sold for £280,000 (about $500,000) at a 2008 London auction of rock memorabilia.

1976 - Led Zeppelin released Presence, their seventh studio album, on their own Swan Song Records in the U.K. Presence has now been certified triple-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for U.S. sales in excess of 3 million copies.

1984 - Kenny Loggins started a three-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Footloose," the theme from the movie with the same name.

1995 - Jimmy Page escaped being knifed when a fan rushed the stage at a Page and Plant gig at Auburn Hills, Mich. The fan was arrested and told police he wanted to kill Jimmy Page because of the Satanic music he was playing.

1995 - Tejano singer Selena died after being shot by her former personal assistant and former fan club president in Corpus Christi, Texas, at the age of 23. Reactions to her death were compared to those following the deaths of John Lennon and Elvis Presley. (Bonus: The podcast Anything for Selena does a great job covering Selena’s life and cultural impact.)

1996 - Jeffrey Lee Pierce (Gun Club) died of a brain hemorrhage. He was 37.

2019 - Rapper/songwriter Nipsey Hussle died at age 33 after being shot multiple times in Los Angeles. His debut studio album Victory Lap was released in February 2018 to critical acclaim and commercial success, and it was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019.

Birthdays:

Freddie Green, guitarist for the Count Basie Orchestra for nearly 50 years, was born today in 1911.

Blues guitarist Etta Baker was born today in 1913.

Blues musician Lowell Fulson was born today in 1921.

Lefty Frizzell was born today in 1928.

Anita Carter of the Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle was born today in 1933.

Shirley Jones, known for her roles in Oklahoma! as well as on The Partridge Family, is 90.

Songwriter John D. Loudermilk (“Ebony Eyes,” “Indian Reservation”) was born today in 1934.

Trumpeter Herb Alpert is 89.

Hugh McCracken — guitarist and harmonica player for Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Paul McCartney, Aretha Franklin, Steely Dan, and many more — was born today in 1942.

Guitarist Mick Ralphs, founding member of Mott The Hoople and Bad Company, is 80.

AC/DC guitarist Angus Young is 69.

Paul Ferguson of Killing Joke is 66.

Stefan Olsdal of Placebo is 50.

Ryan Bingham is 43.

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