19 MAY
Featured Events
2009 The first episode of the TV series Glee airs, featuring a Glee Club performance of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" that brings the song back to the charts. The Glee version lands at #4 - five spots higher than Journey's original.
1998 Sonny and Cher get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. For Sonny, who died January 5, 1998, it's a posthumous honor.
1993 Depeche Mode begin their Devotional tour in Lille, France. They reach new levels of excess on the trek, culminating with lead singer Dave Gahan having a heart attack during a show.More
1992 Billy Ray Cyrus releases his debut album, Some Gave All, featuring his signature song "Achy Breaky Heart." The album dominates the Billboard 200 chart for 17 consecutive weeks, and the single's music video spawns a line-dancing trend across the US, where a new breed of country music is already becoming a phenomenon. More
1962 Less than three months before her death, Marilyn Monroe makes one of her last public appearances at President John F. Kennedy's 45th birthday celebration, where she famously sings "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" in his honor.More
1951 Jeffrey Ross Hyman is born in Queens, New York. He forms the Ramones and takes the stage name Joey Ramone. At first, he's the drummer, but he becomes the lead singer when Dee Dee struggles to sing and play bass at the same time.
1945 Pete Townshend of The Who is born in Chiswick, United Kingdom.
19 MAY
In Music History
2022 Ciara lands on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, which is starting to feature singers in addition to athletes and models. Megan Thee Stallion made the cover the previous year.
2017 Linkin Park release the pop album One More Light, which ends up being their last album with lead singer Chester Bennington, who commits suicide on July 20. The lead single, "Heavy," reflects his troubled state of mind.
2010 David Guetta's "Gettin' Over You" becomes the billionth track to be Shazamed.
2007 At Porter Wagoner's 50th anniversary celebration at the Grand Ole Opry, Dolly Parton sings "I Will Always Love You" to Wagoner, whom she wrote the song about in 1974.
2007 Frank Guida, a Sicilian-American songwriter and music producer whose first hit was Tommy Facenda's "High School U.S.A.," dies in Norfolk, Virginia, at age 84.
2006 Freddie Garrity (frontman of Freddie & the Dreamers) dies at age 69 while on holiday in North Wales.
2004 Blues singer Arnold "Gatemouth" Moore dies in Yazoo City, Mississippi, at age 90.
2003 JoJo Siwa is born Joelle Siwa in Omaha, Nebraska. After starring in reality dance shows, she launches her music career at 13 and becomes a social media star, huge with tweens and teenagers. In 2024 she moves away from G-rated music with saucier songs for her now-older audience.
2000 Folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary celebrate their 40th year together with a US tour that kicks off with a three-night stand in Las Vegas.
2000 The Allman Brothers Band announce that founding guitarist Dickey Betts will not be a part of their summer tour. Reason given: "sadly, there are creative differences."
1999 Moby releases Play, a downtempo collection of electronic tunes built on samples of field recordings and old blues numbers. Thanks to music licensing, the songs reach lots of ears and the album becomes a global hit.More
1998 Jewel releases a book of poetry, A Night Without Armor.
1998 After signing with DreamWorks Records thanks to the demo tape his dad, Loudon Wainwright III, passed on to the label, Rufus Wainwright releases his self-titled debut album. A standout track is "Baby," which showcases his opera influence.
1998 DMX releases his debut album, It's Dark And Hell Is Hot, featuring "Ruff Ryders' Anthem," produced by the up-and-coming Swizz Beatz. It debuts at #1 in America.
1997 Backstreet Boys release "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)," their breakthrough single in the US.
Peter Gabriel Hits Big Time With So
1986Former Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel transitions from cult performer to pop star with the release of his fifth solo album, So, which includes the hit single "Sledgehammer."
"Sledgehammer" dropped a month before the album release and rocketed to #1 on the Hot 100, replacing Gabriel's former band with their hit "Invisible Touch." A big part of the single's success comes from its innovative music video. Directed by Stephen R. Johnson, the clip incorporates claymation and stop-motion techniques to create visuals like a train circling the singer's head and headless chickens grooving to the music. It sweeps the MTV Video Music Awards and boosts interest in the forthcoming album. The funky dance number is packed with sexual euphemisms to convey how lovemaking can break through communication barriers. Inspired by his love of '60s soul and his attraction to African funk, Gabriel enlisted Wayne Jackson of the Memphis Horns and French-African drummer Manu Katche to perform on the track. "It was a commanding blend of parallel heritages," the singer tells Spin. Gabriel found another kindred spirit in Kate Bush - a fellow pioneer of the Fairlight synthesizer that brings texture to So - who shares vocals on "Don't Give Up," a soulful ballad about a couple struggling through unemployment. Other singles include "Red Rain," a brooding tune about a plague of blood-red rain upon a sinful village, featuring Stewart Copeland of The Police on hi-hat duty; "Big Time," a satirical tale about a small-town boy's rise to fame; and "In Your Eyes," an anthemic ballad that soundtracks an iconic moment in the romantic film Say Anything… when John Cusack blasts it from his boom box to serenade his girlfriend. After nearly a year of producing the album at a remote English farmhouse with Daniel Lanois, all of the hard work pays off when So becomes an instant hit. It goes on to sell 5 million copies in the US and earns a Grammy nomination for Album Of The Year. Lanois continues the hit streak by producing another breakthrough release the follow year: U2's The Joshua Tree.
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