History Highlight:

Today in 1941, singer-songwriter Paul Simon was born in Newark, New Jersey. As half of the folk duo Simon & Garfunkel, Simon created some of the most cherished songs in pop music history, including “Mrs. Robinson,” “America,” “The Sound of Silence,” and more. He set out on a solo career in the 1970s and continued a successful run highlighted by 1986’s Graceland, which was named Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards in 1987 and has sold more than 16 million copies worldwide.  

Also, Today In: 

1962 - Don Everly collapsed during rehearsals on stage at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London on the eve of a 22-date Everly Brothers U.K. tour. He was flown back to the U.S. for treatment and the tour continued with Phil Everly performing solo. 

1973 - The Rolling Stones started a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with Goats Head Soup, the group's fourth U.S. No. 1. 

1974 - Renowned television host Ed Sullivan dies of esophageal cancer in New York City, at age 73. One of the biggest events in music history unfolded on his program, The Ed Sullivan Show, when a new group from Liverpool called The Beatles made their live U.S. debut. 

1978 - Queen released their "Fat Bottomed Girls"/"Bicycle Race" single, featuring a cover photo that combines imagery from both songs. 

1979 - Michael Jackson went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough," his second solo chart-topper. The song is the first single from Jackson's fifth studio album, Off the Wall, and was the first solo recording over which Jackson had creative control. It remained at No. 1 for six weeks on Billboard's Soul chart and won Jackson his first solo Grammy and American Music Award. 

1984 - Stevie Wonder started a three-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "I Just Called To Say I Love You," it was his seventh U.S. No. 1. 

1986 Joni Mitchell's Ladies Of The Canyon is certified Platinum by the RIAA. 

1990 - George Michael went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Praying For Time," his sixth U.S. solo No. 1. 

1992 Prince releases an album with a symbol on the cover that later becomes his name. 

1998 - The Frasier Fair, a male version of the Lilith Fair, begins in San Diego. The tour is organized by Rugburns member Steve Poltz, and features John Doe and Pete Droge. The festival is named after the character Frasier Crane from the shows Cheers and Frasier. The character spent a lot of time on the shows involved with a serious woman named Lilith. 

2000 - Eddie Vedder, Ani DiFranco, Ben Harper and Patti Smith all take part in a Madison Square Garden rally for U.S. presidential candidate Ralph Nader. George Bush eventually wins the election, with Nader taking key votes from his Democratic challenger Al Gore. 

2002 - The band Muse took legal action against Céline Dion after she announced her forthcoming Las Vegas show would be called "Muse." Singer Matt Bellamy from the band said, "We don't want anyone to think we're Céline Dion's backing band." 

2004 - The Internal Revenue Service charged 63-year-old Ronald Isley, lead singer of the Isley Brothers, with tax evasion for failing to report income from royalties and performances by the band between 1997 and 2002. Isley was later found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison. 

2008 - Ringo Starr announced that he no longer has time to respond to fan mail or to sign autographs. In a video message on his website, Starr asked fans not to send him any mail at all. "No more fan mail and no objects to be signed. Nothing," he said. "Peace and love." Two days later, following a backlash from fans, Starr explained that his announcement was "in direct response to an inordinate amount of items which have recently appeared for sale on eBay." Starr was also concerned that all the correspondence amounted to "a waste of paper, and we all should be mindful of our carbon footprint." 

2008 Five months after marrying Jay-Z, Beyoncé releases the "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)." It goes to #1 in America for four weeks and win the Grammy for Song of the Year. 

2016 - Bob Dylan was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature, becoming the first songwriter to win the prestigious award. The 75-year-old rock legend received the prize "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition". Dylan did not attend the ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden to collect his award. However, he did give a Nobel Lecture, a requirement in order to receive the award, on June 4, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. 

2017 Dolly Parton donates $1 million to the Vanderbilt University Children's Hospital in Nashville, which helped her niece battle leukemia. 

Birthdays: 

Jazz pianist Art Tatum was born today in 1909.

Jazz bassist Ray Brown was born today in 1926.

Anita Kerr was born today in 1927. She passed away in October of 2022.  

Etterlene DeBarge — gospel singer and mother of R&B/soul group DeBarge — was born today in 1935. She died on Feb. 16, 2024.

Shirley Caesar, the “First Lady of Gospel Music,” is 86.

Chris Farlowe (“Out of Time”) is 84.

Jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders was born today in 1940.

Neil Aspinall, head of the Beatles’ Apple Corps., was born today in 1941.

Robert Lamm of Chicago is 80.

Lacy J. Dalton is 78. 

Sammy Hagar is 77.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was born today in 1948.

Simon Nicol of Fairport Convention is 74. 

Marie Osmond is 65.

Joey Belladonna, lead singer for Anthrax, is 64.

Justin Peroff, drummer for Broken Social Scene, is 47. 

Ashanti is 44. 

Jimin from BTS is 29.

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