History Highlight:

Bonnie Raitt was born today in 1949, making her 75 today. An accomplished singer-songwriter and guitarist, Raitt came into the spotlight in a major way with her 10th studio album, Nick of Time, released in 1989. The album reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart, and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. It has since been selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry. As of 2023, Raitt has received 13 Grammy Awards, from 30 nominations, as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Also, Today In: 

1952 - The soundtrack to the musical South Pacific topped the UK album chart, where it would spend a record-breaking total of 115 weeks. 

1961 - The Beach Boys release their first single, "Surfin'." 

1967 - Nilsson records "Everybody's Talkin'." 

1969 - The Beatles’ “Something” entered the UK pop chart. The song, which marked the first A-side by George Harrison, went on to peak at No.4 and top the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. With more than 150 recorded versions, “Something” has also become the second-most covered Beatles song (following “Yesterday”). 

1971 - Led Zeppelin released their fourth album. Generally referred to as "Led Zeppelin IV", "Four Symbols" or "The Fourth Album", it had no official title. The album went on to sell over 37 million copies worldwide. 

1975 - David Bowie performed "Fame" on the CBS-TV show 'Cher'. Bowie, who was living in New York at the time, had written the song with John Lennon during a jam session. 

1975 - Elton John was named Godfather to John and Yoko Lennon's son Sean. 

1977 - At the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, Elvis Costello performs his debut album, My Aim Is True, with the band Clover, which backed him on the album. Members of Clover go on to form Huey Lewis & the News. 

1977 - Suzi Quatro made her first of seven appearances on the TV series Happy Days, playing tough-yet-adorable Leather Tuscadero, the little sister of Fonzie's ex-girlfriend Pinky. Quatro was raised in Michigan but little known in America; in the UK, she's a star, with two #1 hits: "Devil Gate Drive" and "Can The Can." 

1987 - Generating footage for their Rattle and Hum documentary, U2 play a free "Save the Yuppie" concert at Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco. An arrest warrant is issued for Bono after he spray paints "Rock n Roll Stops Traffic" on a fountain sculpture. 

1994 - Sonny Bono, half of Sonny and Cher and former mayor of Palm Springs, California, is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the 44th district in California. 

1994 - A&M Records releases Woodstock 1994, an album documenting the Woodstock '94 festival that took place in Saugerties, New York, three months earlier. The two-disc set includes live performances from 27 artists, including Joe Cocker ("Feelin' Alright"), The Cranberries ("Dreams"), Green Day ("When I Come Around") and Bob Dylan ("Highway 61 Revisited"). 

2002 - 8 Mile, a semi-biographical look at Eminem's early days as a struggling rapper in Detroit, opens in theaters. The film is a critical and commercial success, and Eminem's "Lose Yourself" becomes the first rap song to win the Oscar for Best Original Song. 

2002 - David Gilmour, longtime guitarist for Pink Floyd, is made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II. 

2009 - Morrissey stopped a concert halfway through his second song after being hit in the eye by a plastic beer bottle lobbed at the stage. He then said goodnight to the 8,000 strong crowd in Liverpool before walking off. 

2021 - Missy Elliott gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She shouts out "my female MCs in hip-hop," including her forebears Queen Latifah, Salt-N-Pepa, MC Lyte, Monie Love, Sha-Rock, Angie Stone, Roxanne Shanté, and Yo-Yo. 

2021 - American songwriter, singer, musician and lyricist Margo Guryan died age 84. Her 1960s song ‘Sunday Mornin'‘, was hit for both Spanky and Our Gang and Oliver. Her songs have also been recorded by Cass Elliot, Glen Campbell amongst others. 

Birthdays: 

1950s pop and country music singer Patti Page was born today in 1927. 

Songwriter/producer Bert Berns was born today in 1929. He wrote many classic songs including 'Twist And Shout', 'Hang On Sloopy', ‘Here Comes the Night’, ‘I Want Candy’, ‘Under the Boardwalk’, ‘Everybody Needs Somebody to Love’ and 'Brown Eyed Girl'. 

Bonnie Bramlett of Delaney & Bonnie is 80.

Don Murray, drummer for the Turtles, was born today in 1945.

Roy Wood of the Move, Electric Light Orchestra, and Wizzard is 78.

John Farrar — songwriter of “You’re the One That I Want” and “Magic” for Olivia Newton-John — is 78.

Minnie Riperton, singer of "Lovin' You" (and mother to Maya Rudolph) was born today in 1947. 

Bonnie Raitt is 75. 

Gerald Alston of the Manhattans is 73.

Larry Burnett of Firefall is 73.

Rickie Lee Jones (with the 1979 single 'Chuck E.'s In Love') is 70. 

Porl (aka Pearl) Thompson of The Cure is 67. 

Leif Garrett is 63.

Diana King (“Shy Guy”) is 54.

Tech N9ne is 53.

Shyne is 46.

Laura Jane Grace — leader of Against Me! and Laura Jane Grace & the Devouring Mothers — is 44.

Sam Sparro is 42.

SZA is 35. 

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