History Highlight:

Today in 1972, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Kimya Dawson was born, making her 52 today. Dawson is one-half of the anti-folk duo the Moldy Peaches. Dawson's work with the Moldy Peaches earned them a cult following and critical acclaim, with their 2001 song "Anyone Else But You" landing a spot in multiple acclaimed indie-film soundtracks. The song as performed by Michael Cera and Elliot Page charted on the Billboard Hot 100 after its prominent inclusion in the 2007 film Juno, the soundtrack of which includes several songs by Dawson and her associated musical acts. In addition to their work with the Moldy Peaches, Dawson has released seven solo studio albums and collaborated with various other artists from a diverse range of genres, including Aesop Rock, They Might Be Giants, The Mountain Goats, and Third Eye Blind.

Also, Today In:

1962 - The Four Seasons started a five-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Big Girls Don't Cry," the group's second No. 1 of the year.

1970 - Elton John played live in a recording studio, accompanied by just two musicians: Dee Murray on bass and Nigel Olsson on drums. Broadcast on WABC-FM (which would later become WPLJ), it was the first live FM broadcast from a music studio. The recording was later released as 17-11-70 (known as 11-17-70 in the United States), Elton's first live album.

1971 - The Faces release A Nod Is As Good As A Wink... To A Blind Horse.

1980 - John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Double Fantasy album was released. Though initially poorly received, the album is notable for its association with Lennon's murder three weeks later, whereupon it became a worldwide commercial success and went on to win the 1981 Album of the Year at the 24th Annual Grammy Awards.

1985 - Wham! were at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go." George Michael's inspiration for the song was a scribbled note left by his Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley for Andrew's parents, originally intended to read "wake me up before you go" but with "up" accidentally written twice, so Ridgeley wrote "go" twice on purpose.

1988 - Guns N' Roses get the cover of Rolling Stone with the headline, "Hard-Rock Heroes." The magazine compiled the story that summer when the band was on tour as the opening act for Aerosmith. Aerosmith assumed they were getting the cover, but by the end of the tour, their opening act had become much more popular.

1990 - David Crosby from Crosby Stills Nash & Young was hospitalized after breaking a leg, shoulder and ankle after crashing his Harley Davidson motorcycle.

2000 - Nickelodeon releases the film Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, an event significant in the music world because its soundtrack includes "Who Let The Dogs Out" by Baha Men. The song becomes a worldwide hit, charting in the Top 10 in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.K. It even becomes the unofficial anthem for New Year's Eve parties going into 2001.

2000 - Cher makes her first appearance on the TV show Will and Grace, in the episode "Gypsies, Tramps and Weed."

2003 - Country music legend Don Gibson died of natural causes at the age of 75. His song "I Can't Stop Loving You" has been recorded by many artists, most notably by Ray Charles in 1962.

2003 - Let It Be... Naked, a stripped-down version of The Beatles' Let It Be album, is released. Phil Spector produced the original, and the new release removed his lavish strings and other accoutrements.

2003 - 21-year-old Britney Spears became the youngest singer to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The only other performer to get a Hollywood star at her age was Little House on the Prairie actress Melissa Gilbert.

2003 - Soul singer Arthur Conley, best known for the song “Sweet Soul Music,” dies of intestinal cancer in Ruurlo, Netherlands, at age 57.

2006 - R&B singer Ruth Brown dies after suffering a heart attack and stroke at age 78. Known for '50s hits like "So Long," "Teardrops From My Eyes," and "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean."

2006 - Icelandic rock act the Sugarcubes take the stage in Reykjavik for the first time in 14 years. The group, whose most famous alumna is Björk, reassembled to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their debut single, "Birthday."

2009 - Them Crooked Vultures — a supergroup comprising Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, and Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl — released their self-titled debut album in the U.S. The band released the album in Ireland, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Australia on November 13, and in the U.K. on November 16.

2010 - Patti Smith won the National Book Award for her memoir, Just Kids. You can read Jade's review of this book and Smith's book M Train. Smith became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses. Called the "punk poet laureate", she fused rock and poetry in her work.

2014 - Soul singer Jimmy Ruffin died in Las Vegas, Nevada, at age 78. Ruffin, who was the older brother of David Ruffin of the Temptations, had hits that include "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" (1966) and "Hold On (To My Love)" (1980).

2020 - Makers of the smartphone app Shazam announced the most-Shazamed songs in history (thus far). The Top 5 were: 1) "Dance Monkey" - Tones and I; 2) "Prayer In C" - Lilly Wood & The Prick; 3) "Let Her Go" - Passenger; 4) "Wake Me Up" - Avicii; 5) "Lean On" by Major Lazer.

2021 - Young Dolph died at the age of 36 in Memphis, Tennessee.

Birthdays:

Gordon Lightfoot was born today in 1938. The Canadian singer-songwriter passed away on May 1 of 2023.

Luke Kelly of the Dubliners was born today in 1940.

Bob Gaudio — keyboardist for the Four Seasons and co-writer of the band’s biggest hits — is 82.

Martin Scorsese — director of rock music documentaries including The Last Waltz (1978), No Direction Home (2005), Shine a Light (2008), and George Harrison: Living in the Material World (2011) — is 82.

Gene Clark of The Byrds was born today in 1944.

Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels is 80.

Martin Barre, lead guitarist for Jethro Tull, is 78.

East Bay Ray, guitarist for The Dead Kennedys, is 76.

Peter Cox of Go West is 69.

Guitarist Jim Babjak of the Smithereens is 67.

RuPaul is 64.

Amanda Brown of the Go-Betweens is 59.

Jeff Buckley was born on this day in 1966.

Richard Fortus of Guns N’ Roses and the Psychedelic Furs is 58.

Tab Benoit is 57.

Ronnie DeVoe of Bell Biv Devoe and New Edition is 57.

Isaac Hanson, of Hanson (remember the one with the braces?) is 44.

Sarah Harding of Girls Aloud is 43.

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