Pick a Day

21 OCTOBER

In Music History

2022 Taylor Swift releases her 10th album, Midnights. It breaks the Spotify record for most streams in a single day, previously held by Swift's Red (Taylor's Version) from the previous year.

2016 Leonard Cohen releases his last album, You Want It Darker. Cohen was in poor health while the album was being made, and never went to the recording studio, relying on his son Adam to handle the sessions and integrate his tracks. Cohen dies a few weeks later age age 82.

2011 Tom Waits releases Bad as Me, his 16th studio album and his first in five years to feature entirely new material (the last being 2006's Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards).

2010 In the Five Points district of Columbia, South Carolina, a sculpture in unveiled honoring Hootie & the Blowfish, who formed when they were students at the nearby University of South Carolina.

2006 Weird Al Yankovic's "White & Nerdy," a parody of Chamillionaire's "Ridin'," peaks at #9 on the Hot 100. It's the parody artist's first Top 10 hit.

2006 Sandy West (drummer for The Runaways) dies of lung and brain cancer at age 47.

2005 Bob Seger sings the US national anthem before the World Series game between the Detroit Tigers and the visiting St. Louis Cardinals.

2004 Bo Diddley postpones a concert in California to have a toe amputated due to complications from diabetes.

2003 David Gest, recent ex-husband of Liza Minnelli, sues the singer for $10 million, alleging physical and emotional cruelty.

2003 Barenaked Ladies release their sixth studio album, Everything To Everyone.

2003 Elliott Smith, known for his song "Miss Misery" (featured in Good Will Hunting, where it earned an Oscar nomination) dies of self-inflicted stab wounds to the chest at age 34 in Los Angeles, California. Smith battled depression and addiction most of his life.

1999 George Martin, who produced most of the Beatles albums, lends his reputation and four decades of music business experience to a start-up Internet company catering to unsigned bands. Martin announces that he will serve as chairman of the advisory board for Garageband.com.

1999 Dishwalla appear on Charmed in the episode "The Devil's Music," where their manager delivers girls who will "do anything to meet the band" to a devil. Alyssa Milano, posing as a groupie, vanquishes the demon.

1994 Neil Diamond publicly announces his divorce from his second wife, Marcia Murphey, whom he has been with since 1969.

1992 Elvis' first grandson, Benjamin Storm, is born to Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough.