History Highlight:

Today in 2019, Wilco released their 11th studio album, Ode to Joy. The album’s release followed two-and-a-half year hiatus by the band, and it features the singles “Love Is Everywhere (Beware)” and “Everyone Hides.” The album was widely acclaimed, with AllMusic critic Mark Deming writing that Ode to Joy proved Wilco were “more than willing to explore the boundaries of their music, and they do so with the confidence and sense of daring that has marked their best work from Being There onward." Ode to Joy went on to reach No. 2 in Billboard’s U.S. Top Rock Albums chart, and No. 1 in both the U.S. Folk Albums and U.S. Independent Albums charts.

Also, Today In: 

1922 - Marie Lloyd collapses on stage at the Empire Hall, Edmonton. She dies three days later. 

1963 - The up-and-coming Eric Clapton was tapped to replace Anthony "Top" Topham in the Yardbirds. 

1963 - The Beatles made their first appearance on the U.K. show "Ready Steady Go!" 

1966 - The Vince Guaraldi Trio records music for the Halloween special It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown at Desilu's Gower Street Studio in Hollywood. The session includes a new arrangement of the theme "Linus and Lucy," with distinctive flute touches by Ronald Lang. 

1969 - Creedence Clearwater Revival started a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with Green River, the group's first U.S. chart topper. 

1969 - The Beatles' Abbey Road album went to No. 1 on the U.K. chart. 

1970 - Janis Joplin died of a heroin overdose in her room at the Landmark Hotel in Hollywood, California. At 27, she was just finishing up recording her second solo album, Pearl. The album was released posthumously on January 11, 1971. One of the biggest rock stars of her era, five of her singles went into the Billboard Hot 100, including a cover of the song "Me and Bobby McGee". Her most popular songs include her cover versions of "Piece of My Heart", "Cry Baby", "Down on Me", "Ball 'n' Chain", and "Summertime"; and her original song "Mercedes Benz". 

1974 - John Lennon's next-to-last album before his self-imposed recording and performing hiatus, Walls & Bridges was released. 

1975 - Pink Floyd went to No. 1 on the U.K. album chart with Wish You Were Here. 

1980 - Queen started a three-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Another One Bites The Dust." It was the waning months of the disco era, yet the group's first stab at a disco single was a massive success. 

1980 - Fleetwood Mac members Mick Fleetwood, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks join the USC Trojan Marching Band, which performed on their hit "Tusk," during halftime of the football game between USC and Arizona State. Nicks twirls a baton, Fleetwood plays a bass drum, and Buckingham mock conducts as the band plays the song. The USC band is then presented with a platinum record for their contribution. 

1982 - The Smiths made their live debut at The Ritz in Manchester, supporting Blue Rondo à la Turk at a fashion show. They performed three songs: “The Hand That Rocks The Cradle,” “Suffer Little Children,” and “Handsome Devil.” 

1986 - CBS-TV newsman Dan Rather was caught off guard and roughed up in NYC by one man, as another yelled the enigmatic, "Kenneth, what is the frequency?" R.E.M. was inspired to later write a song about the incident, and it was their first single off of their 1994 album Monster. 

1994 - Danzig released their fourth studio album, Danzig 4.

1994 - Lucas released his album Lucacentric. It features “Lucas with the Lid Off.”

1994 - Smashing Pumpkins released the compilation Pisces Iscariot. It features a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.”

1994 - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones released their fourth studio album, Question the Answers. It features “Kinder Words.”

1994 - Mary Chapin Carpenter released her fifth studio album, Stones in the Road. It features “Shut Up and Kiss Me.”

1996 - "That Thing You Do!", a musical film starring Tom Hanks, who plays the manager of fictional '60s band The Wonders, is released to U.S. theaters. Fun fact: the title track to the film was written by Adam Schlesinger, bass player for Fountains of Wayne. 

1996 - Roger Miller is inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. 

1997 - Farm Aid returns to Illinois for the first time since it started in 1985, selling out the New World Music Theater in Tinley Park. Performers include The Dave Matthews Band and Beck. 

1999 - Jimi Hendrix's half-sister Janie announced her plans to exhume the body of her famous brother and move it to a mausoleum where curious onlookers can view it for a price. The public outcry forced her to shelve the idea. 

1999 - Jazz trumpeter Art Farmer dies of a heart attack in Manhattan, New York, at age 71. 

2000 - Dixie Chicks are the big winners at the CMA Awards, taking Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year (for Fly), Vocal Group of the Year and Video of the Year for "Goodbye Earl." 

2005 - Mike Gibbins, drummer with Badfinger, died in his sleep at the age of 56. 

2005 - Nickelback released their fifth album, All The Right Reasons, with the hits "Photograph," "Far Away" and "Rockstar." It went to No. 1 in their native Canada and also in the U.S., where it sells over 10 million copies. 

2005 - Fiona Apple released her third album, Extraordinary Machine, her first since When The Pawn... in 1999. The album was finished and slated for release in 2003, but Apple had second thoughts and put it on hold. After a leaked version appeared on the Internet in 2005, she re-recorded the songs and finally released the album. 

2005 - Atmosphere released their fourth studio album, You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having. It features “Watch Out” and “Say Hey There.”

2005 - Broken Social Scene released their third studio album, Broken Social Scene. It features “7/4 (Shoreline)” and “Fire Eye’d Boy.”

2005 - My Morning Jacket released their fourth studio album, Z. It features “Off the Record,” “Gideon,” and “Wordless Chorus.”

2006 - Barbra Streisand's tour-opening performance at Philadelphia's Wachovia Center is the highest single event gross in the 10-year history of the arena. Streisand grosses $5,265,600 from 16,510 attendants. 

2007 - Pitchfork gave Bon Iver's debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago, a positive review (8.1) leading to huge record label interest. Characterized by its raw, intimate sound, Midwestern singer-songwriter Justin Vernon recorded the record in a remote cabin in the woods of Northwestern Wisconsin during the winter of 2006. The album, which contains songs like “Skinny Love” and “Flume” is now regarded as a landmark in indie folk music.

2008 - Darius Rucker, known as the frontman for the '90s pop band Hootie & the Blowfish, hits No. 1 on the Country chart with his first country single, "Don't Think I Don't Think About It," making him the first African American singer to top that tally since 1985, when Ray Charles hit the top with "Seven Spanish Angels," a duet with Willie Nelson. 

2010 - Bruno Mars released his debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans. It features “Just the Way You Are,” “Grenade,” “The Lazy Song,” “Talking to the Moon,” “Marry You,” and “Count On Me.”

2014 - Paul Revere, organist and leader of Paul Revere And The Raiders, died following a battle with cancer.

2019 - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds released their 17th studio album, Ghosteen.

2019 - The Avett Brothers released their 10th studio album, Closer Than Together.

2019 - Angel Olsen released her fourth studio album, All Mirrors. It features “All Mirrors” and “Lark.”

2019 - DIIV released their third studio album, Deceiver. It features “Skin Game,” “Taker,” and “Blankenship.”

2022 - Loretta Lynn died at the age of 90 in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.

Birthdays 

Leroy Van Dyke (“The Auctioneer,” “Walk on By”) is 95.

Lloyd Green — a steel guitarist who played on Tammy Wynette’s “D-I-V-O-R-C-E” as part of a total of 116 No. 1 country hits — is 87.

Bernice Johnson Reagon — an activist musician who founded the Freedom Singers and Sweet Honey in the Rock — was born today in 1942. She died on July 16, 2024.

Clifton Davis, actor and writer of the Jackson 5’s “Never Can Say Goodbye,” is 79.

Jim Fielder — bassist for Blood, Sweat & Tears and Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention — is 77.

Guitarist and singer Duke Robillard — founder of Roomful of Blues and a member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds — is 76.

Jody Stephens of Big Star and Golden Smog is 72.

Barbara Kooyman of Timbuk 3 is 66. 

Chris Lowe of the Pet Shop Boys is 65.

Jon Secada is 63.

M. Ward of She and Him is 51. 

Richard Reed Parry of Arcade Fire is 47. 

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