History Highlight:

Suzanne Vega was born today in 1959, making her 64 today. Vega's music career spans more than 40 years, and she has released nine studio albums to date.  In 2016, she released Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers, based on a play she wrote with Duncan Sheik in 2011. Her latest live album, An Evening of New York Songs and Stories, was released in 2020.

Also, Today In: 

1951 - On WJW in Cleveland, Alan Freed broadcasts his first "Moondog House Rock and Roll Party," marking the first radio show with the phrase "Rock and Roll" and giving Freed a claim on the origin of the term. More importantly, Freed plays R&B music, which introducing the sound to a new (and mostly white) audience 

1964 - The Beatles appeared live on the ABC Television program "Lucky Stars (Summer Spin)", performing "A Hard Day's Night", "Long Tall Sally", "Things We Said Today" and "You Can't Do That". To avoid the crowd of fans waiting for them, The Beatles arrived at the Teddington Studio Centre by boat, traveling down the River Thames. 

1969 - Space Oddity by David Bowie was released in the U.K. for the first time. It was timed to coincide with the Apollo moon landing but had to be re-released before it became a hit, later in the year in the U.K. (but not until 1973 in the U.S.). 

1970 - Three Dog Night started a two-week run at No. 1 in the U.S. with their version of the Randy Newman song "Mama Told Me Not To Come", which was also a No. 3 hit in the U.K.. The song was first covered by Eric Burdon on his first solo album in 1966 and gave Tom Jones & Stereophonics a No. 4 hit on the U.K. Singles Chart in 2000. 

1970 - The soundtrack to the film Woodstock hits #1 in America, helping recoup massive losses from the festival. 

1975 - Fleetwood Mac released their tenth studio album often referred to as The White Album, the first Fleetwood Mac album to feature Lindsey Buckingham as guitarist and Stevie Nicks as vocalist. The album reached number 1 on the Billboard chart over a year after entering the chart, spent 37 weeks within the top 10, and more than fifteen months within the top 40 

1976 - Frank Sinatra marries for the fourth time, this time to Barbara Marx, former wife of the Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx 

1979 - The space station Skylab crashed to Earth after six years in space. Leading up to the event, Electric Light Orchestra took out ads in trade magazines dedicating their new single, "Don't Bring Me Down", to Skylab. 

1987 - Heart started a three-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Alone", It made No. 3 in the U.K.. 

1992 - A range of eight neckties designed by Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead went on sale in the US. President Bill Clinton bought a set. The collection grossed millions in the U.S. by the end of the year. 

1992 - Singer Helen Forrest dies of heart failure at 82. 

1994 - The Rolling Stones release Voodoo Lounge, with the tracks "Love Is Strong" and "You Got Me Rocking." 

1995 - Richard Ashcroft of The Verve marries Kate Radley of Spiritualized. They keep it quiet for two years, as Radley's bandmate, Jason Pierce, is also her ex-boyfriend. 

1996 - Smashing Pumpkins keyboard player Jonathan Melvoin died from a drug overdose in New York City at 34-years old. 

2000 - Metallica's Lars Ulrich was the first witness to testify at a U.S. Senate hearing over copyright law issues concerning free sharing of music files on websites such as Napster and MP3.com. 

2001 - Facing a flurry of lawsuits, the file-sharing service Napster shuts down, but not before transforming the music industry away from physical products like CDs and toward digital downloads, which eventually leads to streaming. 

2002 - The funeral of The Who's bass player John Entwistle took place at a church in The Cotswolds. More than 200 mourners filed into the 12th century church of St Edward. 

2002 - Blues singer Rosco Gordon dies at 74. 

2009 - The Black Eyes Peas "I Gotta Feeling" started a 14-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart ending the 12-week run of the band's previous single "Boom Boom Pow". It made the band only the fourth to replace themselves at No. 1 in chart history, following The Beatles, Boyz II Men, and OutKast. 

2011 - Rob Grill of The Grass Roots dies at 67. 

2013 - Pearl Jam released their tenth studio album 'Lightning Bolt' which went to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart. 

2014 - Ramones drummer Tommy Ramone died of bile duct cancer at the age of 65. 

2015 - James McElvar the singer in the Scottish boy band Rewind was said to be lucky to be alive after collapsing with heat exhaustion on board a flight travelling from Stansted to Glasgow. The singer became ill after wearing 12 layers of clothing to avoid paying the ($66), extra baggage fee. 

2022 - On just the second date on their Public Service Announcement tour, their first in 11 years, Rage Against The Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha tears his Achilles tendon jumping on stage. They finish the North American portion of the tour but are forced to cancel the rest of it, which is planned for 2023. 

Birthdays: 

Peter Murphy, singer of Bauhaus, is 66. 

Scott Schriner, bassist in Weezer, is 58. 

Suzanne Vega is 64. 

Bobby G. Rice is 79. 

Tobias Jesso Jr. is 38 

Jeff Hanna, from American country rock band, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, is 76. 

Bonnie Pointer, of the The Pointer Sisters, is born in 1950. 

Guitarist Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi lead guitarist) is 64. 

Lil' Kim is 49. 

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