History Highlight:

Petula Clark was born today in 1932, making her 92 today. Clark was initially an entertainer during World War II on BBC Radio and has had hits in both English and French. She is probably best-known for her song "Downtown", but had a string of upbeat hits in the '60s such as "I Know a Place", "My Love", "A Sign of the Times", "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love", and "Colour My World". She has sold more than 68 million records.

Also, Today In:

1956 - Elvis' first film, Love Me Tender, premiered.

1969 - Janis Joplin was arrested during a gig in Tampa, Florida, after bad mouthing a policeman and using "vulgar and indecent" language. Joplin became upset after police moved into the hall forcing fans to move back to their seats.

1974 - The Faces released what would be their final single and one of the longest song titles, "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything (Even Take the Dog for a Walk, Mend a Fuse, Fold Away the Ironing Board, or Any Other Domestic Shortcomings)" Two years later, Rod Stewart permanently departed to devote all his efforts to a solo career.

1977 - Suzi Quatro, in character as the rocker Leather Tuscadero, performs "Devil Gate Drive" on the TV series Happy Days. The song was a No. 1 hit in the U.K. three years earlier but never caught on in America, even though Quatro is from Michigan.

1977 - The soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever was released. The film has been cited as the first example of "cross-media marketing", with the tie-in soundtrack's single being used to help promote the film before its release and the film popularizing the entire soundtrack after its release. 

1978 - Chic's "Le Freak" is certified Gold.

1978 - Echo & the Bunnymen make their performance debut at Eric's Club in Liverpool, England.

1980 - Blondie hit No. 1 on the U.K. charts with "The Tide Is High" — a song written by Jamaican reggae star John Holt and released in 1967 with his group The Paragons. It would be Blondie's penultimate No. 1 hit, as their final chart topper was the following year's "Rapture."

1980 - "Lady," written by Lionel Richie, becomes a No. 1 Hot 100 U.S. hit for Kenny Rogers. It stays at the top for six weeks.

1984 - Kool & the Gang released their 16th studio album, Emergency. It features “Cherish,” “Fresh,” and “Misled.”

1990 - David Bowie appeared as The Elephant Man on Broadway.

1992 - Ozzy Osbourne announced his retirement from touring after a gig in California, saying "Who wants to be touring at 46?"

1993 - Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, and Ryan Gosling join J.C. Chasez and Keri Russell in the cast of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club.

1994 - TLC released their second album, CrazySexyCool, featuring the hits "Creep" and "Waterfalls." The group's most successful album, it sells over 10 million copies in the U.S.

1994 - Frank Sinatra’s final studio album, Duets II, was released. It features collaborations with Stevie Wonder, Chrissie Hynde, Willie Nelson, and more.

1994 - Method Man released his solo debut album, Tical. It features “Bring the Pain” and "I'll Be There for You / You're All I Need to Get By."

1999 - KoRn play their album Issues (released the following day) from start-to-finish at a venue not known for hosting nu-metal: the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

2004 - Shania Twain's album Come On Over is certified double diamond by the RIAA, with over 20 million copies sold in the U.S. It's just the seventh album to do so, and the only one by a female artist.

2005 - Green Day released the live album Bullet in a Bible. It features highlights from their American Idiot World Tour.

2005 - Lady Sovereign released her debut EP, Vertically Challenged. It features “Random.”

2005 - Wilco released the live album, Kicking Television: Live in Chicago. It features material from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born.

2007 - Jay-Z went to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with American Gangster, his 10th No. 1 album. This made the rapper second with Elvis Presley for the most No. 1 albums on the chart; only the Beatles had more, with 19.

2007 - In a charity auction, a 25-year-old man from Scotland pays $170,000 for two tickets to the Led Zeppelin reunion show at the O2 Arena in London. Over a million people entered a lottery for the 18,000 tickets, which sold for a face value of $255.

2016 - American jazz and blues pianist, singer, and songwriter Mose Allison died aged 89. He became notable for playing a unique mix of blues and modern jazz. His music influenced many blues and rock artists, including Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Tom Waits, the Yardbirds, John Mayall, J. J. Cale, the Who (who made 'Young Man Blues' a staple of their live performances and is featured on their Live At Leeds album).

2017 - Lil Peep died at the age of 21 in Tucson, Arizona.

2018 - Thanks to the hashtag #JusticeForGlitter, Mariah Carey's long-maligned 2001 album Glitter climbs to No. 1 on the iTunes U.S. Albums chart.

2018 - American singer and musician Roy Clark died aged 85 at his Tulsa home due to complications of pneumonia. He scored the 1969 U.S. hit single, “Yesterday, When I Was Young” and was best known for hosting Hee Haw, a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969 to 1997.

Birthdays:

Clyde McPhatter of the Drifters was born today in 1932.

Little Willie John (“All Around the World”) was born today in 1937.

Rick Kemp of Steeleye Span is 83.

Anni-Frid “Frida” Lyngstad, one of ABBA’s lead vocalists, is 79.

Alexander O’Neal — an R&B singer born in Mississippi who moved to Minneapolis at age 20 and was a member of Flyte Tyme and later had a successful solo career including the hit “Fake” — is 71.

Tony Thompson of Chic was born today in 1954.

Joe Leeway of Thompson Twins is 69.

Michael Hampton of Parliament-Funkadelic is 68.

Kevin Eubanks, former leader of the Tonight Show Band, is 67.

E-40 is 57.

Ol' Dirty Bastard (ODB) was born today in 1968.

Jennifer Charles of Elysian Fields is 56.

Chad Kroeger, frontman of Nickelback, is 50.

B.o.B is 36.

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