History Highlight:
Today in 1944, reggae musician Peter Tosh was born. A core member of The Wailers with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, Tosh wrote many of the Wailers' hit songs such as "Get Up, Stand Up", "400 Years", and "No Sympathy". He went solo after his involvement with The Wailers, and was tragically murdered in 1987 during a home invasion. 

Also, Today In: 

1970 - Bob Dylan releases New Morning. 

1973 - David Bowie released his seventh album Pin Ups. The album is a collection of cover versions of some of Bowie's favorite songs, including tracks by Pink Floyd, The Pretty Things, The Who, The Yardbirds and The Kinks. 

1979 - Prince releases his sophomore album, Prince, containing the #1 R&B hit "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and the original version of "I Feel For You," later a hit for Chaka Khan. It's his first album certified Platinum for sales over 1 million. 

1979 - Following a vicious legal battle with MCA Records, the third Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers album, Damn The Torpedoes, is released on the label's new subsidiary, Backstreet Records. 

1984 - The Talking Heads concert movie Stop Making Sense opens in theaters. A highly unconventional film that doesn't rely on crowd shots or backstage footage, it's hailed as a triumph of the genre. 

1985 - A-ha went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Take On Me," making them the first Norwegian group to achieve a No. 1 hit in America. The song's success might be attributed to its distinctive music video - which features the band in a pencil-sketch animation method called rotoscoping - which won six awards and was nominated for two others at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards. 

1987 - Australian rock band INXS released their sixth studio album, Kick. The band's most successful studio album, Kick has been certified six times platinum by the RIAA and peaked at number three on the Billboard 200. The album also spawned four US top 10 singles ("New Sensation", "Never Tear Us Apart", "Devil Inside" and "Need You Tonight", 

1991 - At a concert in their hometown of Manchester, Oasis played their first gig with Noel Gallagher in the lineup. 

1995 - Nirvana were at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with the live compilation album, From The Muddy Banks Of The Wishkah. 

2005 - A survey conducted by the U.K. branch of Prudential concluded that the average person spent around $42,000 on music during their lives; the total included the amount spent on sound equipment, concerts and albums. Survey participants who identified as music enthusiasts were likely to spend more than double that, parting with slightly more than $89,000 in a lifetime. 

2007 - Johnny Marr was made a visiting professor of music at the University of Salford in Manchester. The former Smiths guitarist delivered a series of workshops and master classes to students pursuing the Bachelor of Arts degree in Popular Music and Recording. 

2011 - Coldplay released their fifth studio album, Mylo Xyloto, which charted at No. 1 in 34 countries. In the U.S., Mylo Xyloto became Coldplay's third album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and the album tracks "Paradise" and "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" received a total of three Grammy Award nominations in 2012. Produced by Brian Eno, Markus Dravs, Daniel Green and Rik Simpson, Mylo Xyloto earned critical praise for its electronic sound and uplifting tone. Coldplay drummer Will Champion described the album a a story of two characters "falling in love and trying to escape together," with a general theme of "love conquering all." 

2013 - Noel Harrison, whose "Windmills Of Your Mind" won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for the 1968 heist film The Thomas Crown Affair, dies of a heart attack at age 79.

2016 - Phil Chess, co-founder of Chess Records, died at the age of 95.

2021 - The TV series Queens, starring Brandy and Eve as members of a hip-hop group from the '90s who reunite in the '20s, debuts on ABC. 

Birthdays: 

Dave Guard, founding member of the Kingston Trio, was born today in 1934.

Larry Chance, frontman of Larry Chance and the Earls, was born today in 1940.

George McCrae (“Rock Your Baby”) is 80.

Peter Tosh was born on this day in 1944. He passed away in 1987. 

“The Queen of Northern Soul” Gloria Jones (“Tainted Love”) is 79.

Jeannie C. Riley (“Harper Valley PTA”) is 79. 

Keith Reid of Procol Harum was born today in 1946. 

Wilbert Hart of The Delfonics (“La-La Means I Love You”) is 77. 

Pat Simmons, guitarist, singer with The Doobie Brothers is 76. 

Karl Wallinger, frontman for World Party, was born today in 1957. He died on March 10, 2024.

Jennifer Holliday ("And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going") is 64. 

Madness drummer Daniel Woodgate is 64. 

Todd Park Mohr, frontman of Big Head Todd and the Monsters, is 59.

Rodney Carrington is 56.

Pras Michel of the Fugees is 52. 

Abigail Morris, lead singer for the Last Dinner Party, is 25.

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