History Highlight:

Corinne Jacqueline Bailey Rae was born today in Leeds, England, in 1979. She is 45. The R&B singer-songwriter released her self-titled debut album in 2006, which features her biggest hit to date, “Put Your Records On.” The song was nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 2007 Grammy Awards, and she was also nominated for Best New Artist. She put out her fourth album, Black Rainbows, in September of 2023. The record showcases her exploring a variety of musical styles, from garage rock to jazz — including the impressively heavy “New York Transit Queen.”

Also, Today In:

1955 - For the first time since the 45 RPM format was introduced in 1949, Billboard reported that 45 RPM singles were outselling the earlier standard, 78s.

1965 - Guitarist Jimmy Page released a solo single called "She Just Satisfies." Page played all the instruments on it except for the drums, and produced the track, as well as singing lead vocals.

1966 - Nancy Sinatra went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "These Boots Are Made For Walking."

1977 - The Eagles reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart for the third time with "New Kid in Town", their first single off of Hotel California which spent one week on top.

1977 - Blues guitarist Bukka White died of cancer at age 67 in Memphis, Tennessee.

1977 - Doo wop singer Sherman Garnes (of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers) died of a heart attack at age 36.

1980 - After seeing U2 play at Dublin's National Boxing Stadium in front of 2,400 people, Rob Partridge and Bill Stewart from Island Records offered the band a recording contract.

1983 - Michael Jackson's Thriller went to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart. It went on to become the most successful album of all time with sales exceeding 50 million copies. Along with Prince's Purple Rain, Thriller led the way in helping to break down racial barriers among music fans in the 1980s, transcending genres of R&B, soul and pop — aided in no small part by several extremely high-profile videos on MTV for songs such as "Billie Jean" and "Beat It," as well as the 10-minute epic adaptation of the title song, directed by Hollywood director John Landis (Animal House, The Blues Brothers and many others).

1985 - "What's Love Got To Do With It" by Tina Turner won Song of the Year and Record of the Year at the Grammys. The song was Turner's most successful single and came off the album Private Dancer. It was the second-biggest U.S. single of 1984 and the 17th-biggest U.K single. In 1993, "What's Love Got To Do With It" was used as the title for the biographical film about Turner's life.

1985 - Bruce Springsteen won his first Grammy, taking home the Best Male Vocal Performance award for "Dancing In The Dark."

1987 - The Beatles (aka The White Album) becomes the first Beatles album to be released on CD.

1995 - Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, who toured under the moniker Page & Plant, kicked off their first tour together in 15 years at the Pensacola Civic Center in Pensacola, FL.

1997 - Perhaps trying to make amends for giving them just four awards when they were still together, The Grammys gave The Beatles three awards: two for "Free As A Bird" and another for their Anthology video.

2001 - Daft Punk's second album, Discovery, marked a change in their musical direction from house to electronic disco. Taking a leaf from fellow European electronic artists Kraftwerk, they chose to hide their faces - performing and appearing in music videos wearing stylized robotic helmets.

2002 - The Bee Gees played what was to be their final concert, performing at Miami Beach's Love and Hope Ball, a benefit for the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation.

2011 - It was announced that Queen's "We Will Rock You" was still the most-played song at North American sporting events, according to a survey from royalty-distribution service BMI, which used data gathered from MLB, NFL and NHL games during 2009 and 2010.

2011 - Mark Tulin (bassist for The Electric Prunes) died of a heart attack at age 62 while helping at an underwater cleanup event in Avalon, California.

2019 - Andy Anderson died of cancer aged 68. He is best-known for his work with The Cure playing on the singles 'Love Cats' and 'The Caterpillar'. He also worked with many other artists including Steve Hillage, Edwyn Collins, Mike Oldfield, The Gun Club and Peter Gabriel.

Birthdays:

Tex Avery — voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, and more — was born today in 1908.

Jackie Gleason was born today in 1916.

Fats Domino was born today in 1928.

Johnny Cash was born today in 1932.

Bob “The Bear” Hite of Canned Heat was born today in 1943.

Sandie Shaw (“[There's] Always Something There to Remind Me") is 77.

Jonathan Cain, keyboardist for Journey, is 74.

Michael Bolton is 71.

Jeremy “Jaz” Coleman, lead singer of Killing Joke, is 64.

Tim Commerford of Rage Against the Machine is 56.

Erica Abi Wright, known best as Erykah Badu, was born on this day in 1971, making her 53 today. Badu's career began after she opened a show for D'Angelo in 1994, and since then she has released five studio albums, gone on 10 tours, been nominated for 19 Grammys (and won four), and she is an actress who has played several supporting roles in movies including Blues Brothers 2000, The Cider House Rules and House of D.

Producer Max Martin is 53.

Nate Ruess of Fun. is 42.

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