History highlight:

Today in 1990, Sinead O'Connor started a six-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. The critically acclaimed album was one of the best-selling in the world in 1990 and contains her most famous single, "Nothing Compares 2 U." Written by Prince, the track debuted in 1985 on The Family’s first and only album. Prince formed the short-lived group - which included a few members from the seminal Minneapolis band, The Time, such as Jellybean Johnson, Jerome Benton and St. Paul Peterson. However, Prince's original 1984 recording of the song was not released until 2018, when Warner Bros. Records released it as a single in conjunction with his estate.

Also, today in:

1963 - Andrew Oldham, a 19-year-old music publicist, caught a gig by the Rolling Stones at London's Crawdaddy Club. He was so impressed that on the following day, he signed the young band to their first managerial contract; they began work on their first recordings two weeks later.

1964 - The Beatles recorded the TV special Around The Beatles at Wembley Studios in England. As well as performing songs, they played Act V, Scene 1 of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream with John playing the female role of Thisbe, Paul as Pyramus, George as Moonshine and Ringo as Lion. Paul later named his cat Thisbe.

1968 - The Broadway musical Hair opened at the Biltmore Theatre in New York City. The show featured the songs "Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In," "Good Morning Starshine" and the title song. The production ran for 1,729 performances, finally closing on July 1, 1972.

1973 - Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd went to No. 1 on the U.S. album charts. The album stayed a record-breaking 741 discontinuous weeks on the Billboard chart, and it has now sold over 45 million copies worldwide.

1979 - Blondie's Heart Of Glass hit No. 1.

1980 - Marshall Tucker Band bass player Tommy Caldwell died of injuries from a car accident aged 30 in his hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina.

1981 - A former member of T. Rex, Steve Currie was killed in a car crash returning to his home in Portugal. He was 33 years old.

1982 - The California State Assembly consumer-protection committee heard testimony from "experts" who claimed that when "Stairway To Heaven" was played backward, it contained the words: "I sing because I live with Satan. The Lord turns me off, there's no escaping it. Here's to my sweet Satan, whose power is Satan. He will give you 666. I live for Satan."

1984 - Bon Jovi made their debut appearance on U.S. television on American Bandstand, where they performed "Runaway" and "She Don't Know Me.”

1987 - While on a plane en route from Miami to Boston, Ozzy Osbourne bought three rounds of drinks for everyone on the plane and sang "Crazy Train" over the PA system.

1990 - Motley Crue peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with "Without You," which was their second and final top-10 single in the U.S.

1990 - Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose married girlfriend Erin Everly, daughter of The Everly Brothers' Don Everly at the Cupid Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. Their marriage was annulled in January 1991.

1990 - Robert Plant peaked at number thirteen on the Billboard 200 Album Chart with his fifth full-length solo album Manic Nirvana, which went gold in the U.S.

1990 - Sinead O'Connor started a six-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, her second album.

1998 - Before These Crowded Streets by the Dave Matthews Band debuts at #1 on the US albums chart, ending the Titanic soundtrack's 16-week berth at the top. Fans get a glimpse of the band's darker side with the moody lead single, "Don't Drink The Water."

1999 - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2000 - A blaze swept through James Brown Enterprises, the office that coordinated the superstar's tours. Nobody was injured, but memorabilia and live tapes were destroyed in the blaze. An employee was later arrested and charged with arson.

2003 - Apple launched iTunes, which becomes the first widely-successful legal music download site, thanks to the emergence of the iPod portable music player. At first, the service was available only to Mac users, and the music files were encoded in Apple's proprietary format restricting where they could be played.

2015 - Jack Ely died at the age of 71 after a long illness. The Kingman singer's hit "Louie Louie" reached the top of the charts in 1963 and sparked an FBI investigation into whether or not its lyrics were obscene.

2020 - Bobby Lewis died at age 95. He is best-known for his 1961 hit singles “Tossin' and Turnin'“ (No. 1 for seven weeks on the Billboard chart in the summer of 1961) and “One Track Mind.”

Birthdays:

Jazz singer and pianist Blossom Dearie — who collaborated with Miles Davis, Johnny Mercer, and many more — was born today in 1924.

Ann-Margaret is 83.

Jay Leno is 74.

Muscle Shoals keyboardist Chuck Leavell is 72. He recorded and toured with the Rolling Stones, the Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton and many others.

Kim Gordon, formerly of Sonic Youth, is 71.

Eddie Jobson of Roxy Music and Jethro Tull is 69.

Jimmy Barnes of Cold Chisel is 68.

Phil King, bassist for Lush and the Jesus and Mary Chain, is 64.

West Coast hip hop pioneer Too Short is 58.

Howard Donald of Take That is 56.

Violent J of Insane Clown Posse is 52.

Melanie Martinez is 29.

Victoria De Angelis of Måneskin is 24.

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