1967 - Working at Abbey Road studios, London, The Beatles started recording a new John Lennon song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". The song was inspired by a drawing his 3 year-old son Julian returned home from school with one day. The picture, which was of a little girl with lots of stars, was his classmate - Lucy O'Donnell.
1970 - The Beatles make their last appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show when music videos for their songs "Let It Be" and "Two Of Us" are aired.
1973 - Pink Floyd released their eighth studio album The Dark Side Of The Moon. Roger Waters wrote a series of songs about mundane, everyday details which aren't that impressive by themselves, but when given the sonic backdrop of Floyd's slow, atmospheric soundscapes and carefully placed sound effects, they achieve an emotional resonance. The Dark Side of the Moon's lyrical themes include conflict, greed, the passage of time, death, and insanity, the latter inspired in part by Barrett's deteriorating mental state. It remained in the US charts for 741 discontinuous weeks from 1973 to 1988, longer than any other album in history. (Photo credit PAUL BARKER/AFP via Getty Images)
1973 - Tom Waits releases his debut album, Closing Time. The frameworks of most of the songs come from the songwriter's literary obsessions with Charles Bukowski and Jack Kerouac. A minor-key masterpiece filled with songs of late-night loneliness.
1984 - Prince recorded "When Doves Cry" from the album Purple Rain. It was his first American No. 1. There is no bass on this song. Prince took out the bass track at the last minute to get a different sound, though he hated to see it go.
"Sometimes your brain kind of splits in two - your ego tells you one thing, and the rest of you says something else. You have to go with what you know is right," he told Bass Player magazine.
1993 - Q magazine publishes an interview with Sting where he explains how his sex lasts for hours through the benefits of yoga. Lubricated with Irish coffee and wine, Sting says, "It can take you to higher levels, yeah. I've started to use it in sex now where you don't spill your seed."
1994 - The Bodyguard soundtrack won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, with "I Will Always Love You" taking Record of the Year. Kevin Costner, the film's co-star, thought of the idea to record "I Will Always Love You", originally released by Dolly Parton.
1994 - Nirvana played their final ever concert when they appeared at The Terminal Einz in Munich, Germany. The 3,000 capacity venue was a small Airport Hanger. The power went off during the show so they played an impromptu acoustic set including a version of The Cars 'My Best Friend's Girl.'
1995 - During a gig at the Patinoire Auditorium in Lausanne, Switzerland, R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry collapsed on stage from a ruptured brain aneurysm. He recovered and later re-joined the band.
Birthdays:
Musician, arranger, composer, Colorado Music Hall Of Famer, bandleader Glenn Miller was born on this day in 1904. Miller's recordings include 'In the Mood', 'Moonlight Serenade', 'Pennsylvania 6-5000', and 'Chattanooga Choo Choo'.
Harry Belafonte is 94.
Roger Daltrey of The Who is 77.
Kesha Rose Sebert (Kesha) is 34.
Justin Bieber is 27.
On This Day In Music History is sourced from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, Song Facts, Allmusic, and Wikipedia.