History highlight:

Today in 2012, Adam Yauch (aka MCA of the Beastie Boys) died of cancer at age 47 in New York City. Though he was best-known as being a founding member of the Beastie Boys, he also founded Oscilloscope Laboratories, an independent film production and distribution company based in New York City. As a Buddhist, he was involved in the Tibetan independence movement and organized the Tibetan Freedom Concert. Fun fact: The Beastie Boys played their first show on Yauch's 17th birthday.

Also, today in:

1956 - Gene Vincent recorded the classic rock 'n’ roll song "Be Bop-A-Lula," at Owen Bradley's studio in Nashville, Tenn. The song went on to be a Top 20 hit that year.

1959 - The first Grammy Awards presentation was held. Host Mort Sahl presented trophies to Domenico Modugno for "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)," for Record Of The Year, and to Henry Mancini for The Music From Peter Gunn for Album Of The Year.

1964 - Louis Armstrong's "Hello Dolly" hit No. 1 in the U.S. singles charts.

1967 - The Young Rascals started a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Groovin'."

1968 - Steppenwolf made their U.S. television debut on American Bandstand, where they performed "Born to Be Wild.”

1970 - Four students at Kent State University were killed and 11 wounded by National Guard troops at a campus demonstration protesting the escalation of the Vietnam War. The incident inspired Neil Young to compose "Ohio," which became a hit for Crosby Stills Nash & Young.

1974 - Grand Funk Railroad started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with their version of the Little Eva hit "The Loco-Motion."

1974 - The film soundtrack to The Sting by Marvin Hamlisch started a five-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart.

1985 - Don Henley peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with "All She Wants to Do Is Dance," which was Henley's third top-10 single as a solo artist in the U.S.

1993 - PJ Harvey released their second and last album as a trio, Rid Of Me. The album was later hailed as one of the defining albums of the decade.

1996 - Mariah Carey started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Always Be My Baby," her eleventh U.S. No. 1.

2000 - Metallica demanded that the online music service Napster cut off 335,000 users whom they claimed had been illegally trading their songs. The band had provided the names of those they considered to be digitally "stealing" their material in the latest development in the battle over music copyright protection on the web.

2000 - Letters to Cleo played their last concert in Boston and broke up a month later.

2004 - Producer Clement Seymour Dodd died at age 72. He was a major force in the development of ska and reggae, and he made the first recordings of Bob Marley.

2018 - Leon Bridges released his sophomore album, Good Thing. Its single "Bet Ain't Worth The Hand" took the Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance.

2019 - A section of Staten Island was renamed "Wu-Tang Clan District" in honor of the group.

2020 - Grimes delivered a baby boy she named X A A-12. The father is entrepreneur Elon Musk.

Birthdays:

Al Dexter (“Pistol Packin’ Mama”) was born today in 1905.

Katherine Jackson, matriarch of the Jackson family, is 94.

Jazz bassist Ron Carter — who played with Miles Davis and appeared on A Tribe Called Quest's influential album The Low End Theory on a track called "Verses from the Abstract" — is 87.

The King of Surf Guitar, Dick Dale, was born today in 1937.

Ronnie Bond, drummer for The Troggs, was born today in 1940.

Mick Mars, guitarist for Motley Crue, is 73.

Jackie Jackson of The Jackson 5 is 73.

Sharon Jones was born today in 1956.

Visual artist Keith Haring — whose work has been featured on album covers for David Bowie, Sylvester, A Very Special Christmas, and more — was born today in 1958.

Country star Randy Travis is 65.

Gregg Alexander of The New Radicals is 54.

Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt is 52.

Lance Bass of *NSYNC is 45.

Dallon Weekes of Panic! at the Disco is 43.

British grime emcee Jme is 39.

Rex Orange County is 26.

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