1935 - Elvis Aaron Elvis Presley is born. He may be the single most important figure in 20th-century popular music. Not necessarily the best, and certainly not the most consistent, but no one could argue with the fact that he was the musician most responsible for popularizing rock & roll on an international level. Elvis' recordings during the '50s established the basic language of rock & roll, his explosive and sexual stage presence set standards for the music's visual image.
1947 - David Robert Jones was born today, David Bowie was a major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music. He was widely regarded as an innovator and was known for his distinctive voice, the depth and breadth of his work, and his fearless style and stage presence. He was a legend and a force of nature, giving us five decades of innovative pop hits, stagecraft, best-selling albums and unforgettable films. He died from liver cancer at his New York home two days after releasing the album Blackstar on his 69th birthday.
2016 - David Bowie released his twenty-fifth and final studio album Blackstar, on his 69th birthday and two days before his death. It became his first and only album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart in the U.S. The artwork for Blackstar was designed by Jonathan Barnbrook. The five star segments below the main star form the word "BOWIE" in stylised letters. The vinyl cover, in black, features the star as a cutout, revealing the record (with an all-black picture label) beneath. With the record removed, the black paper behind the cutout reveals a hidden picture of a starfield when the foldout sleeve is held up to a light source. It took more than four months for fans to discover the effect. The sleeve is the first and only Bowie sleeve to not feature an image of the artist himself.
Birthdays:
Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey, known as Shirley Bassey ("Goldfinger"), is 83.
Robby Krieger, guitarist for The Doors, is 74.
Terry Sylvester, guitarist for The Hollies, is 73.
Tony Kaye, keyboardist for Yes, is 68.
Andrew Wood, lead singer of Mother Love Bone whose members would later form Pearl Jam, was born today in 1966.
On This Day In Music History is sourced from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, Song Facts and Wikipedia.