History Highlight:

Graham Leslie Coxon — lead guitarist and secondary vocalist for Blur — was born today in 1969, making him 55. He has known bandmate Damon Albarn since childhood, and founded the British rock group with Albarn, Alex James, and Dave Rowntree in 1988. Coxon made major contributions to all of their studio albums — except most of 2003’s Think Tank, which was recorded during a time of discord with his bandmates. He sings lead vocals on two Blur tracks he wrote, “Coffee & TV” and “You’re So Great,” and has released eight solo albums. After releasing their ninth studio album in 2023, The Ballad of Darren, Blur will perform their first U.S. shows since 2015 in April, including two as part of the Coachella festival in Indio, California.

Also, Today In:

1955 - In New York City, legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker, only 34, died of heart failure. Parker, along with Dizzy Gillespie and a few others, had more or less invented the then-radical form of bebop jazz music in the mid-'40s. He remains a tremendous influence.

1968 - The Rolling Stones started recording their single, "Jumpin' Jack Flash," with new producer Jimmy Miller at Olympic Studios in London. Keith Richards said that he and Jagger wrote the lyrics while staying at Richards' country house, where they were awakened one morning by the sound of gardener Jack Dyer. When Jagger asked what the noise was, Richards responded, "Oh, that's Jack — that's jumpin' Jack."

1969 - Paul McCartney married Linda Eastman in London.

1974 - John Lennon, during his famous "lost weekend," was involved in a scuffle with a photographer outside the Troubadour club in Los Angeles. Lennon and Harry Nilsson had been drinking and were heckling comedian Tommy Smothers before being forcibly ejected from the club.

1977 - The Sex Pistols were involved in a fight at London's Speakeasy Club with Bob Harris, the host of BBC television's music program, The Old Grey Whistle Test. The altercation resulted in one of the show's engineers needing 14 stitches in his head. Two days later, Harris's lawyers contacted Derek Green at A&M Records, the label with whom the Sex Pistols had signed a contract just a few days earlier. Green discussed the matter with A&M's two founders, Jerry Moss and Herb Alpert, and they decided to cancel the Pistols' contract and to halt production of the band's first single, "God Save The Queen."

1981 - Bow Wow Wow were forced to cancel the first dates of a U.K. tour after the Greater London Council warned that singer Annabella Lwin, aged 15, would be guilty of truancy.

1988 - Rick Astley started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Never Gonna Give You Up." The song was released as the first single from his debut album, Whenever You Need Somebody, and it actually received a fair amount of grief as Nick Lowe in 1990 quoted from the song and called it "ghastly" in the lyrics to "All Men Are Liars", and in 2004, it was voted number 28 in "50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs... Ever by VH1". But the song has enjoyed a fond resurgence over the last few years as its music video has become the basis for the "Rickrolling" internet meme.

1991 - R.E.M. released Out of Time. Their seventh studio album, Out of Time elevated R.E.M.’s status from cult band to renowned international act. Out of Time topped the album sales charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom, selling more than 4.5 million copies in the United States and more than 18 million copies worldwide. Later, at the Grammy Awards in 1992, Out of Time won Best Alternative Music Album.

1994 - Ace Of Base started a six-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "The Sign." It was an international hit, reaching No. 1 in the U.K. and staying at No. 1 in the U.S. for six non-consecutive weeks, ending 1994 as the top song on Billboard's year-end chart. It also reached No. 1 in nine other countries, including Australia, Canada, Germany and New Zealand.

2001 - Judy Garland's "Over The Rainbow" was voted Song Of The Century in a poll conducted by the Recording Industry Association of America, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Scholastic Inc. The song was written for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and became Garland's signature song.

2007 - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Patti Smith, R.E.M. (q.v.), The Ronettes and Van Halen were all inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in New York City.

2013 - Bob Dylan was voted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, marking the first time a rock musician had been chosen for the elite honor society. '

2013 - Clive Burr, drummer with Iron Maiden died in his sleep in London, four days after his 56th birthday, due to complications related to MS.

2016 - Iron Maiden's personal Boeing 747 was badly damaged after colliding with a tow truck while grounded at Santiago, Chile. The band's crew and their twenty tons of equipment were not onboard at the time of the crash, but two ground crew workers were injured.

2016 - Ariana Grande hosted Saturday Night Live, where she met cast member Pete Davidson. The pair would go on to get engaged but did not marry. Davidson, however, was mentioned in Grande’s 2018 song "Thank U, Next."

Birthdays:

Leonard Chess was born today in 1917.

Jack Kerouac was born today in 1922.

Al Jarreau was born today in 1940.

Liza Minnelli is 78.

James Taylor is 76.

Badfinger drummer Mike Gibbins was born today in 1949.

Jack Green of T. Rex and The Pretty Things is 73.

Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris is 68.

Marlon Jackson is 67.

Incubus bassist Ben Kenney is 47.

Pete Doherty of The Libertines is 45.

Holly Williams is 43.

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