13 February

Pick a Day

13 FEBRUARY

In Music History

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2022 Dr. Dre anchors the first hip-hop-heavy Super Bowl halftime show, performing with Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige and 50 Cent.

2019 In a New York Times story, seven female musicians accuse Ryan Adams of inappropriate and sometimes abusive behavior. His accusers include Phoebe Bridgers and his ex-wife, Mandy Moore. Adams' upcoming album release is cancelled and he's dropped from his label.

2016 All four members of the promising English group Viola Beach are killed, along with their manager, when their car crashes on a bridge near Stockholm. Coldplay pay tribute by covering their song "Boys That Sing" at the Glastonbury Festival.

2016 Justin Bieber's "Love Yourself" replaces his song "Sorry" at #1 on the Hot 100. It's the third consecutive #1 single from his Purpose album ("What Do You Mean?" was the first), making it the first album by a male artist with three straight chart-toppers since Justin Timberlake's FutureSex / LoveSounds.

2011 Arcade Fire's The Suburbs scoops Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards, beating Eminem's hotly tipped comeback, Recovery. Many folks have not heard of the Canadian band, prompting the internet meme, "Who Is Arcade Fire?" Esperanza Spalding surprisingly beats out Justin Bieber for Best New Artist, becoming the first jazz artist to win the award.

2005 50 Cent appears on The Simpsons in the episode "Pranksta Rap."

2005 Robin Thicke wins his first Grammy, thanks to his work on Usher's 2004 album, Confessions, which takes Best Contemporary R&B Album. Robin co-produced the track "Can U Handle It?" Wilco wins for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Recording Package for their fifth album, A Ghost Is Born.

2002 Country music great Waylon Jennings dies at age 64.

2001 Peter Frampton is recognized in the guitar community with the Orville H. Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award.

2001 George Simon, a jazz writer who won a Grammy award in 1978 for his liner notes on the album Bing Crosby: A Legendary Performer, dies of pneumonia at age 88.

1998 Buddy Lee, a booking agent who worked with Garth Brooks and Willie Nelson, among others, dies of respiratory failure related to lung cancer.

1996 After three albums and seven UK #1 singles, the boy band Take That announce their breakup. They return to action in 2005.

1988 Michael Jackson buys a ranch in Santa Ynez, California, which he renames "Neverland."

1987 Metallica conclude their breakthrough - yet tragic - Damage Inc. tour at Frolundaborg in Gothenburg, Sweden. They drew huge crowds throughout the tour but lost bass player Cliff Burton, who was killed when their tour bus slid off the road during an earlier stop in Sweden.

1982 The 300-pound marble slab marking the grave of Lynyrd Skynyrd lead singer Ronnie Van Zant is stolen from a cemetery in Orange Park, Florida. Police find it two weeks later in a dry river bed.

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Marvin Gaye Popularizes The Expressive Anthem

1983

Marvin Gaye performs a very memorable national anthem at the NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles, doing a sultry version with a beat.

Gaye's rendition is an early example of an artist putting his own spin on the song, which becomes commonplace in the following years. Gaye, a huge sports fan, has done straightforward performances at many big events, including the World Series in 1968 and the Super Bowl in 1971. He isn't the first to vary the melody (Jose Feliciano did it before Game 5 of that 1968 World Series - Gaye sang Game 4), but after his performance, the crowd goes crazy and his career gets a boost with little backlash. Expressive anthems are soon the norm before sporting events, where they come to be seen as part of the entertainment.

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