21 MARCH
Featured Events
2008 Beach Boys founding members Mike Love and Al Jardine settle a lawsuit Love filed in 2003, claiming Jardine was touring under variations of the group name, to which Love owns the rights. The settlement leads to a reunion of the group in 2012 for their 50th anniversary.
2000 With the release of their third album, No Strings Attached, 'N Sync smashes the Backstreet Boys' record for first-week sales with 2.4 million copies sold - almost double the amount BSB garnered with their 1999 album, Millennium. 'N Sync's record holds for 15 years until Adele pushes more than 3 million units of 25.More
1997 The movie Selena debuts in theaters, chronicling the life of the late Tejano singer, who was murdered two years earlier by the former president of her fan club. Jennifer Lopez is lauded for her breakout performance in the title role, which inspires her to pursue a singing career of her own.
1994 Bruce Springsteen wins an Oscar for the song "Streets of Philadelphia" from the Tom Hanks movie Philadelphia.
1952 Cleveland stakes a claim on rock history when the Moondog Coronation Ball is held at the Cleveland Arena. Organized by the WJW DJ Alan Freed ("Moondog" on the air), it is widely considered the first rock concert. It may also be one of the shortest, as it is shut down after one song.More
21 MARCH
In Music History
2015 Jackie Trent dies at age 74. She was married to Tony Hatch, with whom she wrote the theme song to the Australian TV show Neighbours and the Petula Clark hit "Don't Sleep In The Subway."
2014 Shakira releases her 10th studio album, Shakira, featuring guest vocalist Rihanna on the lead single, "Can't Remember To Forget You."
2013 John Mayer becomes the first big-name celebrity to host a hangout on Google+, Google's social network competitor to Facebook. Google+ never catches on and is discontinued in 2019.
2012 The Wanted become the first UK boy band to land a Top 5 hit in the US when "Glad You Came" peaks at #3. The single got a boost after it was covered on Glee in February.
2011 Blues musician Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins dies at age 97.
2011 Singer Loleatta Holloway, whose track "Love Sensation" was sampled on Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch's "Good Vibrations" and several other songs, dies of heart failure at age 64.
2009 The movie Northern Lights, starring LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian, debuts on Lifetime as rumors of the stars' extramarital affair are swirling in the press. They end up divorcing their spouses and marrying each other.
2008 Klaus Dinger of Kraftwerk and Neu! dies of heart failure at age 61.
2006 Six years after filing suit, the family of African musician Solomon Linda, who wrote and recorded the original version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," reach an agreement with the song's publisher, giving them some royalties. Linda, who died in 1962, signed away rights to the song in 1952.
2005 The final episode of The Osbournes airs on MTV, capping a four-season run.
2004 Motown producer Johnny Bristol dies at age 65.
2003 Roxy Music's Bryan Ferry divorces his first wife, model Lucy Helmore, after 21 years, on grounds of adultery.
2000 Soul Coughing disbands after eight years and three albums.
2000 "Newgrass" trio Nickel Creek release their breakthrough self-titled album, produced by bluegrass star Alison Krauss. The group earns two Grammy nominations: Best Bluegrass Album and Best Country Instrumental for "Ode to a Butterfly."
1991 Leo Fender, founder of Fender Musical Instruments, dies at age 81 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.
Man In Motion Tour Inspires A #1 Hit
1985In Vancouver, the Canadian wheelchair athlete Rick Hansen begins his "Man In Motion" tour to raise money for spinal cord research. Inspired by his quest, fellow Canadian David Foster works with John Parr to write a tribute song to Hansen for the film St. Elmo's Fire.
Foster and Parr tell the film company that the lyrics are inspired by events in the movie, but the title - "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" - makes it clear that the song is about Hansen, and indeed, Parr didn't watch the film before recording it, as Hansen gave him all the inspiration he needed. "I was him as I sang it," Parr tells Songfacts. "Wheeling up the mountainside towards St. Elmo's Fire burning in the sky." The first few months of Hansen's tour take him through California and across to Florida. It's rough going, covering about 50 miles a day while his team tries to drum up media support and donations. The tour heads to Europe in the summer, and over the next few months, the song climbs the charts and becomes Hansen's anthem, drawing more media attention to his journey. The "Man In Motion" tour takes Hansen through Australia, China, and the Middle East. By the time it finishes in Vancouver on May 22, 1987, Hansen and his team have been through 34 countries and raised over $26 million, and he is a national hero in his home country. His foundation continues to support people with disabilities as it attempts to eliminate barriers - physical and perceptual - that may be holding them back. photo: Rick Hansen Foundation
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