History Highlight:

Today in 1970, Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel was born, making him 54 today. Mangum grew up in Mangum, Louisiana, where he and his friends began recording songs under the name Milk, eventually becoming Neutral Milk Hotel. While living in Athens, Ga., Mangum wrote the songs that would becoming Neutral Milk Hotel’s 1998 album, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, which includes the title track and the song “Holland, 1945.” The album created a cult following for the band, and it proved highly influential to other artists, including Colin Meloy of The Decemberists who embraces Mangum’s frank, emotional and philosophical lyrical style.

Today In: 

1962 - In the thick of the Cuban Missile Crisis, James Brown records his electrifying stage show for the legendary album, Live at the Apollo. The album sold more than a million copies was listed at No. 24 in Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and in 2004, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. 

1966 - Newsweek interviewed The Monkees. When asked how their music is created, singer Davy Jones tells them, "This isn't a rock 'n' roll group. This is an act." 

1970 - "Lola" peaks at No. 9 in the U.S., giving The Kinks their first American Top 10 since "Tired of Waiting for You" in 1965. After their U.S. tour in 1965, they were denied visas for the next three years, killing their momentum in the U.S.. Following their return in 1969, "Lola" got them back on the airwaves. 

1971 - Don McLean's second album, American Pie, is released. Thanks to the title track, it goes to No. 1 and sends him from folk obscurity to pop stardom, a transition that proves challenging. 

1973 Art Garfunkel's solo album Angel Clare is certified Gold. 

1973 - John Lennon began litigation against the U.S. government, accusing them of tapping his telephone. 

1978 - The movie version of The Wiz, which debuted as a Broadway stage production in 1975, hit theaters. The cast includes Diana Ross as Dorothy and Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow. 

1978 - The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards pleads guilty to heroin possession in Toronto, Canada, and is given a one-year suspended sentence. The Stones are also ordered to play a gig for charity. 

1979 - Paul McCartney received a medallion cast in rhodium from the Guinness Book of World Records after being declared the most successful composer of all time. From 1962 to 1978, McCartney had written or co-written 43 songs that had sold over a million copies each. 

1987 - Michael Jackson started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with Bad. 

1989 - The Smithereens released their third studio album, 11. It features “A Girl Like You.”

1994 - Silver Jews released their debut studio album, Starlite Walker. It features “Trains Across the Sea.”

1994 - Steve Albini’s band Shellac released their debut, At Action Park.

1995 - Smashing Pumpkins released their album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. The band's third studio album featured the tracks "Bullet with Butterfly Wings", "1979", "Zero", "Tonight, Tonight", "Muzzle" and "Thirty-Three". The record debuted at number one on the Billboard charts and earned the band seven Grammy Award nominations in 1997, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year. 

1995 - Spacehog released their debut album, Resident Alien. It features “In the Meantime.”

1995 - The Magnetic Fields released their fifth studio album, Get Lost.

1996 - Motown founder Berry Gordy was honored with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. 

1998 - Former Stone Roses lead singer Ian Brown was jailed for 4 months after being found guilty of disorderly behavior during a flight from Paris to Manchester. Brown had threatened to chop the hands off a stewardess during a heated exchange. 

2000 - Linkin Park released their debut album, Hybrid Theory. Bolstered by the hit "In The End" and the Grammy Award-winning "Crawling," it became the best-selling album of 2001. 

2000 - Nelly Furtado released her debut, Whoa, Nelly! It features “I’m Like a Bird.”

2004 - Queen became the first rock act to receive an official seal of approval in Iran. Western music was still strictly censored in the Islamic republic, where homosexuality was considered a crime, but an album of Queen's greatest hits was released this week in Iran. 

2006 - Forbes.com revealed that Kurt Cobain had overtaken Elvis Presley as the highest-earning dead celebrity. 

2006 - Taylor Swift released her self-titled debut album, a collection of country-pop tunes the singer wrote during her freshman year of high school. Led by the Top 20 single "Tim McGraw," it peaks at No. 5 on the Albums chart and becomes the longest-charting album of the 2000s in the U.S., logging 157 weeks by 2009. 

2007 - Backstreet Boys release Unbreakable, their first album without Kevin Richardson. 

2013 Tina Turner, who has obtained citizenship in Switzerland, where she has lived since 1995, relinquishes her United States citizenship. 

2014 - Run the Jewels released their second studio album, Run the Jewels 2.

2016 - Bobby Vee died at age 73 after a long battle with Alzheimer's. Born Robert Velline in Fargo, N.D., Vee released his first single, "Suzie Baby," on Minneapolis-based Soma Records in 1959. He had a string of hits in the 1960s, including "Rubber Ball", "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" and the 1961 No. 1 hit, "Take Good Care of My Baby." Bobby Vee was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 2011 and into the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame in 2014. 

2017 - American pianist and singer-songwriter Fats Domino died aged 89 at his home in Harvey, Louisiana after a long-term illness. 

2018 - American guitarist and session musician Wah Wah Watson, (Melvin Ragin) died aged 67. He was famed for his skills with a wah-wah pedal and became a member of the Motown Records studio band, The Funk Brothers, where he recorded with The Temptations (his guitar work on 'Papa Was A Rollin' Stone'), The Jackson 5, The Four Tops, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Marvin Gaye and The Supremes. He also appeared on Michael Jackson's Off The Wall album.  

2020 - Billie Eilish pulls off Where Do We Go? The Livestream, the first large-scale virtual concert with extended reality (XR) effects, which immerse and interact with the performers (Eilish, her brother Finneas, and drummer Andrew Marshall), and shift scenes from song to song. Tickets cost $30. 

2022 - Leslie Jordan died at the age of 67. Learn more about him here: Leslie Jordan’s surprise musical legacy.

Birthdays: 

Sonny Terry was born today in 1911.

Willie Mabon (“I Don’t Know,” “I’m Mad”) was born today in 1925.

The Big Bopper was born today in 1930.

Sanger D. Shafer — who wrote hit songs for George Jones, Lefty Frizzell, and George Strait — was born today in 1934.

Blues guitarist Jimmy Dawkins was born today in 1936.

Bill Wyman, former bass player for the Rolling Stones, is 88.

Santo Farina of Santo & Johnny is 87.

Bettye Swann (“Make Me Yours”) is 80. 

Jerry Edmonton of Steppenwolf was born in 1946. 

Dale Griffin, drummer and founding member of Mott The Hoople was born today in 1948. 

Rowland S. Howard of the Birthday Party was born today in 1959.

Debbie Googe of My Bloody Valentine is 62. 

Jeff Mangum, frontman of Neutral Milk Hotel, is 54.

Laura Veirs is 51.

Ben Gillies, drummer of Silverchair is 45. 

Monica ("The Boy Is Mine") is 44.

Drake is 38.

RAYE is 27.

Daya (“Hide Away”) is 26. 

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