History highlight:

Today in 1968, Nate Mendel — bassist for Sunny Day Real Estate and for Foo Fighters — was born, making him 56. Interested in music as a youngster, Mendel’s musical journey began with violin lessons, but as a teen he got interested in rock music and was encouraged to play bass. Mendel and his University of Washington roommate Dan Hoerner founded a band that would become the emo-rock group Sunny Day Real Estate. Another area musician, Dave Grohl, took notice of Mendel and invited him to join a new band, Foo Fighters. Second to Grohl, Nate Mendel is the longest-serving member of Foo Fighters, having been in the band since their second album, The Colour and the Shape, released in 1997. That album contains the signature song, “Monkey Wrench.”

Also, in:

1957 - Al Priddy, a DJ at the Portland, Oregon, radio station KEX, was fired for playing the Elvis Presley version of "White Christmas." The station's program manager had banned the song, saying it "desecrates the Spirit of Christmas and transgresses the composer's intent." The story made national news, but Priddy was back on the air two weeks later, with the station claiming letters were pouring in to support the DJ.

1967 - The Monkees' album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones Ltd went to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart. It was their fourth album to sell over a million copies, following The Monkees, More Of The Monkees and Headquarters.

1969 - Cindy Birdsong of the Supremes was kidnapped at knifepoint by a maintenance man who worked in the building she lived in. She later escaped unharmed by jumping out of his car on the San Diego freeway. The kidnapper was arrested in Las Vegas four days later.

1972 - The Temptations "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" hit No. 1 in the U.S. With a running time of 6:58, it's one of the longest chart-topping singles.

1979 - Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand's "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" was at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart. A radio station engineer had spliced together Neil's version with Barbra's version and got such a good response, the station added it to their playlist. When Neil was told about it, he decided to re-record the song with Barbra herself, and within weeks of its release, the single went to No. 1 in the U.S. and No. 5 in the U.K.

1982 - U.S. folk singer David Blue died of a heart attack aged 41 while jogging in New York's Washington Square Park. He was a member of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue during the late 70s and he wrote "Outlaw Man" covered by The Eagles on their 1973 Desperado album.

1983 - MTV aired the full 14-minute version of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video for the first time. Regarded as the most influential pop music video of all time, the video was inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 2009, the first music video to ever receive this honor, for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant.

1991 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that The Shirelles, Gene Pitney and B.J. Thomas were owed $1.2 million in unpaid royalties.

1995 - Mariah Carey went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with her duet with Boyz II Men "One Sweet Day". It made Carey the first artist in history to have two consecutive single debuts at No. 1, with "Fantasy" being her first.

2000 - The Smashing Pumpkins played their final concert when they appeared at the Metro Club in Chicago.

2001 - Valerie Jones died at age 45. She was one-third of the sister group The Jones Girls, who sang back-up vocals with Lou Reed, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Lou Rawls, Teddy Pendergrass and Betty Everett. Diana Ross eventually provided larger exposure for the group by giving the sisters a featured portion within her own stage show. Their biggest hit was "You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else", which broke the Billboard Magazine Top 40 at No. 38 in 1979. The song was also a Top 5 R&B hit, and became a gold record.

2002 - Oasis singer Liam Gallagher was arrested and charged with assault after he Kung-Fu kicked a police officer. The incident happened at the Bayerischer hotel in Munich. The singer lost his two front teeth in the brawl.

2006 - Dutch singer Mariska Veres from Shocking Blue died of cancer at the age of 59.

2009 - Scottish songwriter, lyricist, vocalist, producer, pianist, and co-creator of The Alan Parsons Project Eric Woolfson died from kidney cancer age 64.

2012 - Led Zeppelin received a prestigious award from Barack Obama for their significant contribution to American culture and the arts. Dressed in black suits and bow ties, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page were among a group of artists who received Kennedy Center Honors at a dinner event at the White House. In his tribute to the band, Obama said: "When Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham burst onto the musical scene in the late 1960s, the world never saw it coming." The president thanked the former band members for behaving themselves at the White House given their history of "hotel rooms being trashed and mayhem all around."

2013 - Reggae singer Junior Murvin, best known for the 1976 hit song "Police and Thieves", died in Jamaica aged 67.

2014 - American saxophone player Bobby Keys died as a result of cirrhosis at his home in Franklin, Tennessee. Keys started touring at age fifteen with Bobby Vee and fellow Texan Buddy Holly and was best known as being the main saxophone player for The Rolling Stones. When on tour with the Stones, according to legend, Keys filled a bathtub with Dom Perignon champagne and drank most of it.

2016 - Duran Duran said they were "outraged and saddened" at losing a High Court fight to reclaim US rights to some of their most famous songs. The group had argued that US copyright laws gave them the right to call for a reversion of copyright after 35 years. 'Girls on Film', 'Rio' and 'A View to a Kill'' were among the disputed tracks.

Birthdays:

Tom McGuinness of Manfred Mann is 83.

John Wesley Ryles (“Kay”) is 74.

Rick Savage of Def Leppard is 64.

Foo Fighters and Sunny Day Real Estate bassist Nate Mendel is 56.

Treach of Naughty by Nature is 54.

Singer Nelly Furtado is 46.

Christopher Wolstenholme of Muse is 46.

Britney Spears is 43.

Action Bronson is 41.

Tal Wilkenfeld — bassist for Prince, Mick Jagger, Incubus, and more — is 38.

Singer/songwriter Charlie Puth is 33.

Juice Wrld was born today in 1998.

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