Pick a Day

11 AUGUST

In Music History

2024 Phoenix close out the Paris Olympics with a closing ceremony set that includes crowd-pleasers "Lisztomania" and "1901." The band, which formed in Paris but sing mostly in English, quickly win over the athletes and spectators. By the end of the set, lead singer Thomas Mars is in the crowd, being held aloft by Olympians.

2023 The Hip Hop 50 Live concert goes down at Yankee Stadium, celebrating 50 years since Kool Herc birthed the genre in the Bronx. Performers include Snoop Dogg, The Sugarhill Gang, Lauryn Hill, and Run-D.M.C. in their last performance.

2016 For the second year, President Obama releases two summer playlists on Spotify. It's his last year in office, which might be why "So Very Hard To Go" is on the list.More

2012 Geto Boys reunite at the 12th annual Gathering Of The Juggalos.

2011 Go-Go's receive the 2,444th star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. It is located where the legendary punk club The Masque used to stand. Go-Go's frequently played this club during their early years.

2011 Warrant lead singer Jani Lane dies at age 47 after a long battle with drug and alcohol addiction.

2009 Train get back on track, releasing "Hey Soul Sister," their first hit since "Calling All Angels" in 2003. It becomes the top-selling song of 2010 on iTunes.

2009 Lady Antebellum release "Need You Now," a song about drunk dialing. A huge crossover hit, it goes to #1 on the Country chart, #2 on the Hot 100, and sells 9 million digital downloads.

2008 Noah and the Whale debut Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down is released on the Mercury/Vertigo label. Laura Marling, who was a member of the band at the time of recording but soon left to focus on her solo career, is featured as a vocalist on the album. Fellow Indie-Folk artist Emmy the Great also contributes vocals to the album.

2008 The Canadian singer Feist appears on Sesame Street, where she turns her song "1234" into a lesson in counting. It becomes one of the most popular music segments on the show, and far more popular than the original.

2007 "Beautiful Girls," the debut single for 17-year-old Sean Kingston, goes to #1 in America, making him the first artist born in the '90s to land a #1 hit.

2006 Singer/talk show host Mike Douglas dies suddenly on his 86th birthday after a bout of dehydration in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

2004 Vanessa Williams and her basketball-player husband Rick Fox get divorced.

2003 Phish bass player Mike Gordon is arrested backstage at a Grateful Dead concert in Jones Beach after he is found taking photos of a 9-year-old girl. He is later cleared of the charges, and the girl's parents agree that it was an "unfortunate misunderstanding."

2000 Madonna gives birth to her second child, Rocco. The father is Guy Ritchie, director of the films Snatch and Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels.