History Highlight:

Today in 1970, The Beatles released their 12th and final album, Let It Be. It came out a month after the group broke up, along with a movie of the same name. The album topped record charts in many countries, including both the U.S. and the U.K., and garnered the singles "Get Back," "Let it Be," and "The Long and Winding Road" / "For You Blue," released in that order. Today, the restored Let It Be film is now streaming on Disney+.

Also, Today In:

1965 - The filming of the promotional film for Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" took place alongside the Savoy Hotel in London. In the film, Dylan flips through cue cards with selected words and phrases from the lyrics. Actors in the background were Allen Ginsberg and Bob Neuwirth. The film became one of the first modern promotional films and was a forerunner of the music video. Its cue-card concept has since been imitated or referenced by many artists, including INXS, the Flaming Lips, and Belle & Sebastian.

1976 - Former lead singer of the Lovin' Spoonful, John Sebastian, went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Welcome Back", taken from the TV show, Welcome Back Kotter.

1982 - Vangelis went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Chariots Of Fire", the theme music to the movie "Chariots of Fire".

1984 - Roger Waters released his first solo album, The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking, which has an iconic and slightly scandalous album cover.

1990 - Frito-Lay used a Tom Waits sound-alike in a Doritos commercial and had to pay dearly for the unauthorized move, as Waits won a $2.5 million lawsuit over the usage.

1999 - Ricky Martin went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Livin' La Vida Loca." The song spent five weeks at No. 1.

2005 - Bruce Springsteen was at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with Devils and Dust his 13th No. 1 studio album.

2006 - The Rolling Stones called off their upcoming European tour after guitarist Keith Richards underwent emergency brain surgery. The 62-year-old guitarist suffered a "mild concussion" when he fell out of a coconut tree while vacationing in Fiji.

2008 - Country artist Eddy Arnold passed away of natural causes one week before his 90th birthday. He sold more than 85 million records and had 147 songs on the U.S. charts, including 28 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Country Singles chart. Arnold had the 1965 No. 4 hit "Make The World Go Away".

2014 - Chuck Berry was named one of the 2014 Polar Music Prize laureates. A spokesperson from the award committee said, "In the course of three minutes he conjures up an image of the everyday life and dreams of a teenager, often with the focus on cars. Chuck Berry, born in 1926, was the first to drive up onto the highway and announce that we are born to run."

Birthdays:

Grammy-winning jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams, who wrote for Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, was born on this day in 1910.

Influential blues guitarist and singer Robert Johnson was born on this day in 1911.

Pop singer and TV star Ricky Nelson was born today in 1940.

Toni Tennille, of Captain & Tennille, is 84.

John Fred (“Judy in Disguise [With Glasses]”) was born today in 1941.

Jon Mark — who recorded Marianne Faithfull, Sweet Thursday, John Mayall, and Mark-Almond — was born today in 1943.

Paul Samwell-Smith, founding bassist of the Yardbirds and producer for Cat Stevens, is 81.

Danny Whitten, guitarist for Neil Young and Crazy Horse, was born today in 1943.

Disgraced singer Gary Glitter is 80.

Jazz pianist Keith Jarrett is 79.

Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind & Fire is 73.

Billy Burnette of Fleetwood Mac (‘87-’96) is 71.

Eric Brittingham, founding bassist for Cinderella, is 64.

Anthony Field, frontman for the Wiggles, is 61.

Michel Gondry — film director and director of music videos for Daft Punk, the White Stripes, Radiohead, Beck, the Rolling Stones, Sheryl Crow, Kylie Minogue, Björk, Paul McCartney, and more — is 61.

Darren Hayes of Savage Garden is 52.

Enrique Iglesias is 49.

Martha Wainwright is 48.

Joe Bonamassa is 47.

Björn Dixgård, frontman for Mando Diao, is 43.

6ix9ine is 28.

And lots of drummers have birthdays today:

T.Rex drummer Bill Legend is 80.

Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz is 73.

Van Halen drummer Alex Van Halen is 71.

Blur drummer Dave Rowntree is 60.

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