Pick a Day

Music History Events: Big Breaks

July 2, 1980 Sheena Easton is featured on the BBC show The Big Time, which follows regular people trying to achieve their dreams. With visions of stardom as a singer, she is seen auditioning for EMI, who are suitably impressed and sign her to a deal. Her single "9 To 5" becomes a UK hit two months later and conquers America a year later.

April 15, 1972 Billy Joel plays a concert at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia which is broadcast by the local radio station WMMR. After the show, the station puts his performance of "Captain Jack" in rotation, and Joel builds a following. This leads to a contract with Columbia Records, which releases Joel's breakthrough album, Piano Man, in 1973.

April 13, 2017 At his concert in Chicago, Eric Church brings the unknown singer Ashley McBryde on stage, where she wins over the crowd with her song "Bible And A .44." The video goes viral and launches her career.

March 31, 2017 The coming-of-age drama 13 Reasons Why drops on Netflix with a song called "The Night We Met" captivating viewers in the fifth episode. The song, released two years earlier by a little-known band called Lord Huron, goes viral and reappears in season 2 as a remix with Phoebe Bridgers.

February 4, 2015 Post Malone, 19, uploads a demo of his song "White Iverson" on SoundCloud. It takes off, landing him a record deal and launching his career.

October 27, 1979 Iron Maiden, rejected by every label they approached, make the cover of the UK magazine Sounds as an unsigned band, championed as the leaders of a new British heavy metal movement. They live up to the hype: After signing to EMI they release their first album in April 1980 and become a top UK metal band.

March 5, 2016 Visiting a music-production class at N.Y.U., Pharrell Williams is blown away by a song called "Alaska" by Maggie Rogers, a senior at the university. "It's singular... your whole story I can hear it in the music," he tells her.More

May 21, 2001 Josh Groban's career takes off after he appears on the Season 4 finale of Ally McBeal as a jilted teenager. More

October 23, 1997 Local band Staind open for Limp Bizkit at the Webster Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut. Bizkit frontman Fred Durst is impressed, and helps the band get a record deal.

May 6, 1983 The Smiths open for Sisters of Mercy at the University of London Union. In the audience is a producer from the influential radio program The John Peel Show, who gets the band on the show. Peel becomes a huge fan and plays the version of "This Charming Man" they recorded for the show, helping launch their career.

September 14, 1977 Cheryl Lynn appears on the Gong Show, where she wows the judges with her version of "You Are So Beautiful." This earns her a deal with CBS Records, which issues "Got To Be Real" as her first single. The disco track is her only big Hot 100 hit, but she becomes a regular on the R&B chart.

October 24, 1975 Heart get a big break when they fill in as opening act for Rod Stewart's band Faces at the Forum in Montreal. Thanks to support from local radio station CHOM, many in the crowd know their songs "Magic Man" and "Crazy On You." They continue to build support in Canada before making their move in America in 1976.

September 29, 1961 The New York Times publishes a glowing review of a Bob Dylan performance, giving the 20-year-old upstart his first press in a major publication.More