2003 Jay-Z releases The Black Album, with the classics "99 Problems" and "Dirt off Your Shoulder."
2003 Love Actually opens in the theaters. Among its musical moments: Hugh Grant dancing to the Pointer Sisters' "Jump (For My Love)" and Emma Thompson having a breakdown to Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now."More
1998 Lauryn Hill becomes the first female rap solo artist to hit #1 on the Hot 100 (without a guest artist) when "Doo Wop (That Thing)" claims the top spot.
1995 Gangsta rap rules with Tha Dogg Pound at #1 on the US Albums chart with Dogg Food. Snoop Dogg is not part of this group; Tha Dogg Pound are Death Row labelmates Daz Dillinger and Kurupt. Other Gangstas in the Top 10 are Cypress Hill with Cypress Hill III at #3 and Eight Ball and MG at #8 with On Top of the World.
1992 With lead vocals by Jamie Walters, "How Do You Talk To An Angel," the theme song to Aaron Spelling's new drama The Heights, hits #1 for the first of two weeks. More
1991 Michael Jackson's "Black Or White" music video, directed by John Landis, debuts simultaneously on MTV, BET and Fox - a strategic move that marks his ascension to the pop throne. The 11-minute clip, however, lands Jackson in hot water with viewers who complain about his excessive crotch-grabbing and gratuitous displays of violence.More
1990 Pete Townshend of The Who tells Newsweek that he is bisexual, saying, "I won't be classified as just a man." He calls his song "Rough Boys" a "coming-out."
1987 The long-since-divorced Sonny and Cher perform "I Got You Babe" on Late Night with David Letterman.More
1983 Michael Jackson's 14-minute film Thriller debuts at the Metro Crest Theater in Los Angeles. Directed by John Landis, the short film will become the most popular video in MTV history when the network begins airing it in December. Many of Jackson's famous friends show up at the premiere, including Diana Ross, Eddie Murphy and Warren Beatty. The film gets a standing ovation and the crowd demands an encore, which is granted.
1960 Ray Charles' version of "Georgia On My Mind," written in 1930 by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell, hits #1 in America.
2012 Brian Eno is awarded the Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) distinction, established by the British Royal Society for Arts, for "his ground-breaking use of sound in technology and media and long term sustainable thinking." Eno is the only recipient awarded for sound design.
2011 Songwriter Lee Pockriss dies in Connecticut after a long illness at age 87. Known for songs like "Catch a Falling Star," "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini," and "Johnny Angel."
2005 Mark Ross, known as "Brother Marquis" from the rap group 2 Live Crew, sues Ice-T, claiming he helped write the original version of "99 Problems," which has become a hit for Jay-Z.
2004 Michel Colombier - composer, conductor, arranger, and songwriter - dies in Santa Monica, California, at age 65.
2004 Gwen Stefani performs on TV as a solo artist (no No Doubt) for the first time when she takes the stage at the American Music Awards to sing "What You Waiting For."
2000 The Offspring celebrate the release of their album Conspiracy of One by giving $1 million to 14-year-old Ashley Hitchcock, who by downloading their single "Original Prankster" was entered to win. Hitchcock beats out three other finalists in an Offspring trivia contest broadcast on MTV to take the prize. She wins by identifying Noodles as the oldest member of the band.
1999 EMI Music Distribution begins offering retailers a $3 rebate on each unit sold of the latest Garth Brooks album In... The Life Of Chris Gaines, in order to boost sales. In exchange for the rebate, retailers are asked to lower the price of the Capitol album - which lists for $17.98 on CD - as low as possible.
1997 Though it's not a sell-out, The Bee Gees' show at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas still manages to gross a stunning $1,681,100. Tickets ranging in price from $50-$300 give the Arena its highest gross of the year.
1987 The Dirty Dancing soundtrack hits #1 in America. Even though it was set in 1963, the movie featured modern, original songs "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life" and "Hungry Eyes."
1987 "China In Your Hand" by T'Pau goes to #1 in the UK, where it stays for five weeks. The band is on tour with Bryan Adams; when they return they learn that they now have throngs of fans.
1986 Bette Midler's first and only child is born, a daughter named Sophie von Haselberg. Midler's husband is artist Martin von Haselberg.
1984 Keith Hudson, known as "The Dark Prince of Reggae," dies of lung cancer at age 38 in New York.
1979 Hot on the heels of his wildly successful Rust Never Sleeps album, Neil Young releases Live Rust, an album of live performances from the Rust Never Sleeps tour.
1979 Tobin Esperance (bassist for Papa Roach) is born in Vacaville, California.
Five weeks before the movie Titanic is released, Celine Dion issues her album Let's Talk About Love, featuring the theme song, "My Heart Will Go On." As the movie commandeers the popular culture, Dion's album rides in its wake, going on to sell over 30 million copies worldwide.
The album contains Dion's Barbra Streisand duet "Tell Him" and the Bee Gees-penned "Immortality," but her its her Titanic song that provides swift passage to the top of the charts; the film goes to #1 at the US box office when it opens in December 1997, and stays there through March 1998.
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