History Highlight:

Today in 1969, singer-songwriter Elliott Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He spent most of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity as a performing artist. During his too-short career, the highly influential Smith was nominated for an Oscar in 1998 for the song "Miss Misery," which was included in the film Good Will Hunting. At the time of his death on Oct. 21, 2003, Smith was working on his sixth studio album, From a Basement on the Hill, which was posthumously completed and released. In 2015, a documentary about Smith’s life titled Heaven Adores You was released in theaters. On August 6, 2019 — 50 years after his birth — Smith’s albums XO and Figure 8 were reissued as deluxe editions. Smith’s songwriting and production techniques — notably his use of whispery multi-tracked vocals — remain an influence on a wealth of indie musicians, including Phoebe Bridgers and Alex G.

Also, Today In:

1960 - Chubby Checker appeared on American Bandstand and performed "The Twist." The song went to No. 1 on the U.S. chart and made Checker a household name.

1963 - In the evening at Studio A of the Columbia Recording Studio in New York City, Bob Dylan recorded the first session for his third album, The Times They Are A-Changin'.

1965 - The Beatles released their fifth album and soundtrack to their second film, Help!, which included the title track, plus "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," "Ticket to Ride" and "Yesterday," among others.

1970 - Steppenwolf, Janis Joplin, Paul Simon, Poco and Johnny Winter all appeared at the Concert For Peace at New York's Shea Stadium. The concert date coincided with the 25th anniversary of dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

1974 - ABBA scored their first U.S. top 10 hit when "Waterloo" went to No. 6. The chart-climb occurred as they were on their first American tour.

1981 - Stevie Nicks released her first solo album, Bella Donna, which contained four top 40 hits: "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (with Tom Petty); "Leather and Lace" (with Don Henley); "Edge of Seventeen" and "After the Glitter Fades."

1982 - Pink Floyd's film version of The Wall had a limited release in theaters in and around New York.

1988 - Guns N' Roses' debut album, Appetite For Destruction, went to No. 1 in the U.S. after spending 57 weeks on the chart and selling more than five million copies.

1994 - Lisa Loeb started a three-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Stay (I Missed You)." Loeb's friend, actor Ethan Hawke, asked her to provide a song for the upcoming movie, Reality Bites; "Stay" was featured in the film.

2001 - Following the critical and commercial success of her 1998 album My Love Is Your Love Whitney Houston became one of the highest-paid musicians in the world after signing a new deal with Arista Records, said to be worth more than $100 million. However, her personal struggles began overshadowing her career, and the 2002 album Just Whitney received mixed reviews. Though she lost her life too young in 2012 at the age of 48, she is said to be the most awarded female artist of all time by the Guinness World Records and is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, with estimated sales of over 200 million records worldwide.

2004 - Rick James was found dead in his Los Angeles home at age 56.

2009 - Willy DeVille died at the age of 58 following a battle with pancreatic cancer. The band he formed, Mink Deville, appeared at the legendary CBGB club in New York in the 1970s and scored the 1977 hit "Spanish Stroll".

2009 - Steven Tyler was airlifted to hospital after falling off stage during a gig at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota. The Aerosmith singer fell from a catwalk onto a couple of fans, suffering neck and shoulder injuries as a result.

2014 - FKA Twigs released her debut studio album, LP1. It features “Two Weeks” and “Pendulum.”

2016 - Spotify reported that "The Girl From Ipanema" was streamed more than 40,000 times after it was played while supermodel Gisele Bundchen walked onstage during the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

2020 - British music producer and sound engineer Martin Birch died age 71. He became renowned for engineering and producing albums recorded predominantly by British rock bands, including Deep Purple, Rainbow, Fleetwood Mac, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden.

2020 - Wayne Fontana died from cancer at the age of 74. The English rock and pop singer is best known for the 1965 hit 'The Game of Love' with the Mindbenders.

Birthdays:

Lucille Ball was born today in 1911.

Norman Granz, founder of Verve Records, was born today in 1918.

Andy Warhol, whose work in music included managing the Velvet Underground, was born today in 1928. He passed away in 1987.

Mike Elliott of The Foundations is 95.

Jazz vocalist Abbey Lincoln was born today in 1930.

Jazz bassist Charlie Haden — who played with Ornette Coleman, Keith Jarrett, and many more, and is the father of Josh Haden (Spain) and Petra, Tanya, and Rachel Haden (The Haden Triplets) — was born today in 1937.

Pat MacDonald, singer of Grammy-winning Timbuk 3, is 72.

Randy DeBarge, singer and bassist for DeBarge, is 66.

Joyce Sims (“Come Into My Life”) was born today in 1959.

Geri Halliwell, aka Ginger Spice, is 52.

Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr. is 43.

Nessa Barrett is 22.

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