History Highlight:

Today 1964, Joseph Ward Simmons, aka Joey Simmons/"Run"/"Rev Run"/"DJ Run" was born, making him 60 today. Simmons is one of the founding members of the influential hip hop group Run-DMC. He is also a practicing minister and a television personality. From 2005-2009, Rev Run appeared on the MTV series Run's House, a reality show revolving around his everyday life with his family. Before Run–D.M.C., Simmons was the lead vocalist in the hip-hop group named "The Force." He founded Run-D.M.C. as a lead vocalist along with friend Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels and the late DJ Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Mizell.

Also, Today In:

1954 - Rock & Roll arrived as Bill Haley & The Comets made the Top Ten with "Shake, Rattle & Roll."

1960 - Ray Charles went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Georgia On My Mind", a No. 24 hit in the U.K.

1962 - The Beatles played the final show of a 14 night run at the Star-Club, Hamburg, West Germany.

1962 - Bob Dylan records "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right."

1969 - "Sugar Sugar" by The Archies was at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart. The single became the longest running One Hit Wonder in the U.K. with eight weeks at the top of the charts. It was the first No. 1 performed by cartoon characters.

1975 - Queen played the first of two nights at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool, England, the first nights on their 78-date "A Night At The Opera World Tour".

1975 - Brian Eno released his third solo studio album, Another Green World.

1981 - The Police had their fourth U.K. No. 1 single with "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", a No. 3 hit in the U.S. The song is from the band's fourth album, Ghost in the Machine. Though the song was recorded in 1981, Sting wrote it as early as 1976, since an early demo of the song can be heard on the Strontium 90 album Strontium 90: Police Academy.

1987 - George Michael went to No. 1 on the U.K. album chart with his debut solo album Faith. The album won several awards including the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1989. To date, the album has sold over 20 million copies worldwide. Between 1987 and 1988, Faith produced six Top 5 Billboard Hot 100 hits, four of which ("Faith", "Father Figure", "One More Try", and "Monkey") reached No. 1, making him the only British male singer to have four No. 1 singles from one LP on the Billboard Hot 100.

1987 - The long-since-divorced Sonny and Cher perform "I Got You Babe" on Late Night with David Letterman.

1987 - The Dirty Dancing soundtrack hits No. 1 in America. Even though it was set in 1963, the movie featured modern, original songs "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life" and "Hungry Eyes."

1990 - Record producer Frank Farin fired Milli Vanilli singers Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan because they were insisting on singing on their new album.

1991 - Over 1,000 New Kids On The Block fans were given medical treatment after a minor riot during a concert in Berlin, Germany.

1995 - The Rolling Stones released their acoustic live album Stripped.

1995 - The Pharcyde released their second studio album, Labcabincalifornia. It features “Runnin’,” “Drop,” and “She Said.”

1995 - Tracy Chapman released her fourth studio album, New Beginning. It features “Give Me One Reason.”

1995 - Melissa Etheridge released her fifth solo studio album, Your Little Secret. It features “I Want to Come Over.”

1995 - Blur brought chaos to traffic in central London, England when over 3,000 fans turned up for a signing at "Book's Etc." in Charring Cross Road.

1996 - Michael Jackson married Debbie Rowe in Sydney Australia. The couple had met when he was diagnosed with vitiligo in the mid-1980s, and she was working as his dermatologist's assistant. The couple divorced on October 8, with Rowe giving full custody rights of the children to Jackson with Rowe receiving an $8 million settlement.'

1998 - Lauryn Hill becomes the first female rap solo artist to hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 (without a guest artist) when "Doo Wop (That Thing)" claims the top spot.

2003 - Jay-Z releases The Black Album, with the classics "99 Problems" and "Dirt off Your Shoulder."

2004 - Gwen Stefani performs on TV as a solo artist (no No Doubt) for the first time when she takes the stage at the American Music Awards to sing "What You Waiting For."

2012 - Brian Eno is awarded the Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) distinction, established by the British Royal Society for Arts, for "his ground-breaking use of sound in technology and media and long-term sustainable thinking." Eno is the only recipient awarded for sound design.

2013 - Paul McCartney posted a letter on his website calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to release 30 Greenpeace activists whom Russian authorities arrested during a protest over Arctic oil drilling in September. All the activists involved had their charges dropped in late December of this year.

2015 - A pair of white boots worn by Elvis Presley during his famous '68 Comeback TV Special performance were bought by a U.K. collector for $44,500. Elvis had worn the size-11 Verde boots while singing "If I Can Dream", two months after the assassination of Martin Luther King. The lyrics included quotes from the civil rights leader.

Birthdays:

Aaron Copland was born today in 1900.

Country singer Ken Carson (“Tumbling Tumbleweeds,” “Cool Water”) was born today in 1914.

Johnny Desmond was born today in 1919.

Jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis — father of Branford and Wynton — was born today in 1934.

Freddie Garrity of Freddie and the Dreamers was born today in 1936.

Cornell Gunter of The Platters was born today in 1936.

Wendy Carlos — an electronic musician who scored the films A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and Tron — is 85.

Buckwheat Zydeco was born today in 1947.

James Young of Styx is 75.

Stephen Bishop (“On and On”) is 73.

Frankie Banali — drummer for Quiet Riot, W.A.S.P. and Billy Idol — was born on this day in 1951. He passed in 2020.

Alec John Such of Bon Jovi was born on this day in 1951. He passed away in June of 2022.

Yanni is 70.

Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt is 57.

Brian Yale of Matchbox Twenty is 56.

Butch Walker is 55.

Brendan Benson is 54.

Dougie Payne of Travis is 52.

Adina Howard is 50.

Travis Barker is 49.

Obie Trice is 47.

Boosie Badazz is 42.

Joy Williams of the Civil Wars is 42.

Chelsea Wolfe is 41.

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