2 NOVEMBER
In Music History
1999 Lil Wayne's debut studio album, Tha Block Is Hot, shoots to #1 on the Billboard albums chart and goes on to sell 1.4 million copies worldwide.
1998 The Rolling Stones release No Security.
1998 President Clinton gives his first in-depth interview since the White House sex scandal to Black Entertainment Television talk show host and political commentator Tavis Smiley on the network's BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley.
1998 Atlantic Records takes a crack at online video, launching a music video service called Instavid. A partnership with RealNetworks, it doesn't get very far, since end users have limited bandwidth.
1998 Viewers tune in for part two of The Temptations miniseries on NBC. Based on the autobiography of group founder Otis Williams, the film is a ratings success and is nominated for five Emmys.
1997 Brandy becomes the first black Disney princess when she plays Cinderella in the ABC TV movie. Whitney Houston plays her Fairy Godmother.
1996 Eva Cassidy dies of cancer at age 33. Over the next few years, her music is discovered in the UK and becomes wildly popular, with her album Songbird reaching #1 in 2001.
1995 Record producer Florence Greenberg dies of heart failure at age 82. As founder of Scepter Records, she worked with hot '60s acts such as Dionne Warwick, B.J. Thomas, and The Shirelles.
1995 Soul Train celebrates 25 years on the air with guest appearances by Al Green, Diana Ross, Bill Withers, and Patti LaBelle.
1994 Ruth Tyrangiel, former girlfriend of Bob Dylan, sues for $5 million palimony, claiming the singer reneged on his promise to marry her after she helped with his business affairs and also with his songwriting.
1994 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's David Crosby is hospitalized after suffering liver failure; he's fortunate enough to find a donor for a transplant.
1993 British singer-songwriter Kate Bush releases her seventh studio album, The Red Shoes. Inspired by the 1948 ballet film of the same name, the album features a number of famous guests, including Eric Clapton, Gary Brooker of Procol Harum, Prince, and comedian Lenny Henry. It's also Bush's last release before a 12-year hiatus.More
1992 Following his return to success with Freedom and Ragged Glory, Neil Young releases his 19th studio album, Harvest Moon. It's the best-selling and most critically acclaimed album he's put our in years
1991 Rock n' roll hitmaker Mort Shuman, co-writer of "Viva Las Vegas," dies of cancer at age 54.
1989 Bad Religion release their fourth full-length studio album, No Control.
Rami Malek Stars In Bohemian Rhapsody
2018The Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, starring Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury, opens in theaters. It wins four Oscars, including Best Actor for Malek.
Read more2 NOVEMBER
Featured Events
1995 Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders guest stars on the Friends episode "The One with the Baby on the Bus." She sings "Angel of the Morning" and learns "Smelly Cat" from Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow).
1985 "Part-Time Lover" hits #1 on the Hot 100, 22 years after Stevie Wonder first topped the chart in 1963.More
1985 The Miami Vice soundtrack album, featuring the #1-hit theme song, tops the albums chart in America, ushering in a new age of TV soundtracks.More
1978 Alice Cooper appears on The Muppet Show, where he performs "Welcome to My Nightmare" and "School's Out." He also offers to give the Muppets fame and riches if they'll sign their souls over to him. Kermit is horrified. Gonzo spends the entire episode looking for a pen.
1978 The Police release their debut album, Outlandos d'Amour. The working title, "Police Brutality," is changed to make is sound more romantic. The title loosely translates as "Outlaws of Love" but the term "Outlandos" is actually a mix of the words for "Outlaws" and "Commandos."
1974 George Harrison begins his Dark Horse tour with Ravi Shankar in Vancouver, BC. It's the first solo tour for any Beatle, and a drag on Harrison, who doesn't travel well. It's the last time he tours until 1991, when he joins Eric Clapton on some dates in Japan.
1968 Jose Feliciano's unique rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner," which he performed on acoustic guitar before Game 5 of the World Series on October 7, enters the Hot 100 at #89, making it the first version of the US National Anthem to chart (it peaks at #50). Many singers start adding their own flavor to the song; the next version to chart is Whitney Houston's Super Bowl performance in 1991, which hits #20.
1961 k.d. lang is born Kathryn Dawn Lang in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
1920 KDKA in Pittsburgh becomes the first commercially licensed radio station in the United States. They are not the first station on the air, but the first to get the broadcast license. With consumers unsure of the benefits of radio, the station announces results of the Harding-Cox presidential election, getting the news to those with a radio much faster than everyone who had to wait for the morning paper.
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