3 MARCH
Featured Events
2019 Undeterred by a lawsuit filed by Michael Jackson's estate, HBO airs the first part of the 4-hour documentary Leaving Neverland, leveling new accusations of child abuse at Jackson 10 years after his death. In the aftermath, many distance themselves from Jackson: The Simpsons pulls his episode, and some radio stations drop him from playlists.
2008 Chumbawamba break the record for longest album title with their 160-word release The Boy Bands Have Won...More
2008 Duffy releases her debut album, Rockferry, featuring the hit "Mercy." It sells about 9 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling album of 2008 in the UK. For her next album, Endlessly, she uses a different writing, production and marketing team, with disastrous results, as the album is a startling commercial failure with no hit singles.More
1986 Metallica release their third album, Master Of Puppets, featuring an anthemic title track that becomes their most-played live song.More
1978 Van Halen begin their first world tour, opening for Journey at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago. The band, which released their debut album three weeks earlier, had been playing clubs for about four years.
1973 Elton John's album Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player hits #1 in America, where it stays for two weeks.
1965 Eric Clapton plays his last show with The Yardbirds, leaving to join John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. He is replaced by Jeff Beck.
3 MARCH
In Music History
2017 Nickelback's album All The Right Reasons is certified Diamond for sales of over 10 million copies in the United States, making them just the fourth Canadian act to reach that level. The other three are female artists: Celine Dion, Shania Twain and Alanis Morissette.
2017 Pop singer Tommy Page, known for the 1990 hit "I'll Be Your Everything," dies in an apparent suicide at age 46.
2013 Bobby Rogers (of The Miracles) dies of complications of diabetes at age 73.
2012 Rock guitarist Ronnie Montrose (Montrose) dies of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at age 64.
2010 Gorillaz' third album, Plastic Beach, is released. Featuring guest appearances from stars ranging from Snoop Dogg to Lou Reed, it is a huge worldwide hit, reaching #2 in both the US and UK.
2008 Norman "Hurricane" Smith, frequent engineer and producer for the Beatles, dies at age 85 in East Sussex, England.
2008 Arcade Fire rock for young Obama supporters at the Barack Obama benefit rally at Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland.
2007 Robin Thicke tops four different Billboard charts, thanks to his second album, The Evolution of Robin Thicke. The album is at #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums tally, while "Lost Without U" tops the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, and Hot Adult R&B Airplay charts.
2006 In Vietnam, Gary Glitter is sentenced to three years in prison for sex crimes against minors. Years later, a UK court sentences him to 16 years for similar offenses.
1998 After spending nearly two years promoting her debut album, Tidal, a burned-out Fiona Apple cancels her spring tour. From this point forward, she limits her public appearances and takes lots of down time, sometimes going several years between albums.
1997 Camila Cabello is born in Havana(na-na-na), Cuba.
1995 A stalker is arrested trying to break into Roberta Flack's New York apartment.
1995 R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry undergoes successful brain surgery. Berry collapsed due to a brain aneurysm during a concert in Switzerland.
1992 Soundgarden release the third and final single off Badmotorfinger, "Rusty Cage." B-sides differ depending on the territory - among them are covers of Devo's "Girl U Want" and the Rolling Stones' "Stray Cat Blues."
1991 The investigative news show Hard Copy runs a story about an FBI investigation into film footage found on a Michigan farm showing what appeared to be a ritual killing. The "victim" turned out to be Trent Reznor; the footage was shot for the Nine Inch Nails video for "Down In It" using a Super 8 camera attached to weather balloons that flew away.
Madonna And The Burning Crosses
1989A day after the song debuts in a 2-minute Pepsi commercial, the video for Madonna's "Like A Prayer" hits MTV and causes an uproar.
Instead of the innocent scenes from the ad, Madonna is seen witnessing a crime, kissing a black man, and dancing in front of burning crosses. Pepsi, who touted Madonna's edgy, contemporary appeal when they signed her to a $5 million endorsement deal, is threatened with a boycott and cuts bait, dropping their association with Madonna but letting her keep the money. Madonna does just fine, since those offended are not interested in her music anyway, and by defying her corporate sponsor and standing up for her work, she proves her mettle as an artist. MTV is also thrilled, since viewers flock to the network to see what all the fuss is about. Radio stations put the song in rotation, and the single (released the same day as the video) races up the charts. It hits #1 in America about six weeks later and becomes one of the top songs of 1989.
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