Birthday Highlight:

George “Buddy” Guy was born on July 30, 1936, in Lettsworth, Louisiana. He is 88. While he was growing up in the South, Guy began his development as a blues musician. When he moved to Chicago as a 21-year-old, he soon signed to Chess Records, and began session work with Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Koko Taylor, and many others. With label boss Leonard Chess saying Guy’s playing was “just making noise,” he had to wait to be taken seriously as a solo artist. As artists like Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Keith Richards became aware of Guy’s gifts as a guitarist and vocalist, his legend grew. Clapton later inducted Guy into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, saying “He stood out in the mix, simply by virtue of the originality and vitality of his playing." Guy has released dozens of studio and live albums, and has won eight Grammy Awards. His signature Fender Stratocaster guitar features a polka-dot finish, a tribute to his mother. He opened the blues club Buddy Guy’s Legends in 1989, and plays a residency every January.

Also, Today In:

1966 - The Troggs started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with 'Wild Thing." Because of a distribution dispute, The Troggs' single was available on two competing labels: Atco and Fontana. Because both pressings were taken from an identical master recording, Billboard combined the sales for both releases, making it the only single to simultaneously reach No. 1 for two companies.

1968 - The Beatles closed their Apple Boutique in London after seven months of business, giving away all their stock to passing strangers and to Apple staff.

1974 - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played The Troubadour in Los Angeles on a double bill with Roger McGuinn from The Byrds.

1977 - The Bee Gees' younger brother Andy Gibb started a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "I Just Wanna Be Your Everything," his first of three U.S. No. 1's.

1986 - Variety magazine reported that RCA had dropped John Denver from its roster after the release of his single, "What Are We Making Weapons For." Variety said the song upset the record company's new owner, General Electric, one of the largest defense contractors in the U.S.

1986 - Boy George was fined £250 (about $350) by a London court for possession of heroin.

1988 - Steve Winwood started a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Roll With It."

2003 - Sun Records founder Sam Phillips died of respiratory failure in Memphis, Tenn., at age 80. Phillips discovered Elvis Presley and had worked with Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Ike Turner, B.B. King and Jerry Lee Lewis.

2003 - The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Rush, The Guess Who, Justin Timberlake, The Flaming Lips, Sass Jordan and The Isley Brothers played a benefit concert in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to prove that the city is safe from SARS. With 450,000 spectators, it was the largest concert in Canadian history.

2014 - A ban on steel-string guitars in prison cells in England and Wales was reversed after a campaign led by Billy Bragg, David Gilmour, Elbow's Guy Garvey and Johnny Marr. Billy Bragg founded Jail Guitar Doors, a charity that has sent more than 350 guitars to prisons since 2007; the program is designed to help prisoners rehabilitate and pursue a creative outlet. Each donated guitar is inscribed with a variation on Woody Guthrie's guitar inscription: "This machine kills time."

2016 - Jack White's mission to play the first record in space was accomplished. A Glorious Dawn by composer John Boswell, mixed with audio of American scientist Carl Sagan describing the universe, was played 28,000 meters above Earth on a "space-proof" turntable. The record played for about 80 minutes until the high-altitude balloon carrying it burst and propelled the turntable back towards Marsing, Idaho.

More Birthdays:

Paul Anka is 83.

Saxophonist David Sanborn was born today in 1945. He died in 2024.

Jeffrey Hammond of Jethro Tull is 78.

Blues musician Otis Taylor is 76.

Rat Scabies of The Damned is 69.

Kate Bush was born today in 1958, making her 66 today. At just age 19, Bush topped the U.K. Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female artist to achieve a U.K. No. 1 with a self-written song. Since then, she has released 25 U.K. Top 40 singles and 10 studio albums.

Ron Block, of Alison Krauss & Union Station, is 60.

Craig Gannon, guitarist for the Smiths and Morrissey, is 58.

Louise Wener, singer for Sleeper, is 58.

Sean Moore, drummer for Manic Street Preachers, is 56.

Elvis Crespo is 53.

Brad Hargreaves, drummer for Third Eye Blind, is 53.

Seth Avett of the Avett Brothers is 44.

Finneas O'Connell — singer, songwriter, producer and brother to Billie Eilish — is 27.

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