History Highlight:

Today in 1991, the very first Lollapalooza happened. Originally dreamed up by Jane's Addiction singer Perry Farrell as a farewell tour, the touring festival ran annually until 1997, and was revived in 2003. Performing on the mainstage in its initial year was Jane's Addiction, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Living Colour, Nine Inch Nails, Violent Femmes , Fishbone, Ice T & Body Count, Butthole Surfers, Rollins Band and Lords of Acid. 

Also, Today In: 

1953 - 18-year-old Elvis Presley, a truck driver by trade, stops into Memphis Recording Service (later renamed Sun Studios), and pays $3.98 to record two songs: "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin." 

1964 - The Rolling Stones reached number one in the U.K. for the first time with their cover of "It's All Over Now" which spent one week on top. 

1966 - The Beach Boys release "Wouldn't It Be Nice" with "God Only Knows" on the flip side. 

1968 - Working at Abbey Road studios, The Beatles recorded "Helter Skelter." Paul McCartney had read a magazine interview with Pete Townshend where the Who guitarist described their latest single, "I Can See For Miles," as the loudest, dirtiest, most aggressive song possible; when McCartney heard it, he thought Townshend had exaggerated considerably, and decided he'd take on the challenge of writing such a song. "Helter Skelter" was the result. The Beatles did so many takes in the studio - at one point recording a 20-plus-minute version during the session - that Ringo exclaimed, "I've got blisters on me fingers!", which can still be heard in the version that was ultimately put on The White Album. 

1969 - The Beatles completed their recording of "Octopus's Garden" when Ringo Starr recorded his vocal take. 

1972 - Members from Sly and the Family Stone were arrested after police found two pounds of marijuana in the group's motorhome. 

1974 - The U.S. Justice Department ordered John Lennon out of the country by September 10th. The Immigration and Naturalization Service denied him an extension of his non-immigrant visa because of his guilty plea in England to a 1968 marijuana possession charge. 

1978 - Def Leppard made their live debut at Westfield School in Sheffield, England in front of 150 students. 

1980 - Closer, the second and final album from Joy Division, is released just two months after the suicide of founding member and singer Ian Curtis. Its claustrophobic, synth-laden sound, combined with Curtis's nihilistic lyrics make it a defining moment in England's post-punk scene. 

1982 - Willie Nelson was at No.1 on the country album chart with Always on My Mind, which became the Billboard No.1 country album of the year. The album spent 22 weeks at the top of the charts and stayed for a total of 253 weeks on the Billboard Country charts. The track 'Always on My Mind' was originally recorded by B.J. Thomas in 1970, and has since been recorded by dozens of performers including Elvis Presley, Brenda Lee, John Wesley Ryles and Pet Shop Boys. 

1983 - Following up on momentum from their free Central Park reunion concert, Simon and Garfunkel started a 19-city tour in Akron, Ohio. 

1988 - Nico died after suffering a minor heart attack while riding a bicycle on holiday with her son in Ibiza, Spain. The German born singer-songwriter and keyboard player with the Velvet Underground also worked as a fashion model and actress. She was one of Andy Warhol's "Superstars", which meant she appeared in Warhol's artworks and accompanied him in his social life. 

1992 - "Achy Breaky Heart," a No. 1 country hit from Billy Ray Cyrus, peaks at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.  

1992 - Bobby Brown married Whitney Houston at her New Jersey estate who was dressed in a $40,000 Marc Bouwer wedding gown. Those in attendance included Stevie Wonder, Gloria Estefan, Natalie Cole, Patti LaBelle and Freddie Jackson. She would file for divorce in September, 2006. 

1993 - Rage Against The Machine protest music censorship by appearing at their Lollapalooza set in Philadelphia completely nude except for duct tape over their mouths. They refuse to play any music, and simply stand for 25 minutes with the letters PMRC written on their chests, a reference to the Parents Music Resource Center. 

1998 - 'N Sync get a big boost in America when their "In Concert" special airs on the Disney Channel. They got the gig when their boy band rivals Backstreet Boys backed out. 

1998 - The Beastie Boys went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Hello Nasty', only the second rap album to make No.1 in the UK, the first being Wu-Tang Clan. 

2001 - Weezer releases "Hash Pipe," the first single from Weezer (aka The Green Album). 

2001 - Kiss added another product to their ever-growing merchandising universe: the "Kiss Kasket." The coffin featured the faces of the four founding members of the band, the Kiss logo and the words "Kiss Forever." Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell was buried in one after he was shot and killed on-stage in Dec 2004. 

2007 - Paul Simon filed a lawsuit against Rhythm USA Inc. a Georgia-based subsidiary of a Japanese firm, claiming the company never had his permission to sell wall clocks that played "Bridge Over Troubled Water". The suit claimed that as one of the best known songs throughout the world, a proper licensing agreement would earn at least a $1 million licensing fee. 

2008 - Billy Joel played his "Last Play at Shea" concert - the final show before Shea Stadium was closed down. Joel was joined on stage by Paul McCartney, Garth Brooks, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, and The Who's Roger Daltrey. 

2011 - The romantic comedy Friends With Benefits, starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, premieres in New York City. The soundtrack includes the Semisonic tune "Closing Time," which Timberlake sings in the movie.  

2014 - Shakira becomes the first person to accumulate 100 million likes on Facebook. 

2019 - Ed Sheeran broke yet another streaming record. His latest collaborative album No. 6 Collaborations Project, racked up 69 million streams in a month on Spotify, which was the highest by any artist. This new record wasn’t the first that Sheeran has broken. His last album Divide set a new record of 56 million streams on the day of release, while ‘Shape Of You’ picked up over 10 million streams on its first day. 

Birthdays: 

Screamin' Jay Hawkins was born today in 1929. 

Martha Reeves is 82. 

Country/bluegrass singer Ricky Skaggs is 69. 

Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Records and the Virgin Empire is 73.  

Terry Chambers (drummer for XTC) is 68. 

Dion is 84. 

Keith Levene, early member of The Clash and founding member of Public Image Ltd., was born today in 1957.  

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