Calendar Search Results: i were to
December 21, 1988 Paul Avron Jeffreys (bassist for Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel) is killed en-route to his honeymoon when he and his wife, Rachel, become victims of the Lockerbie terrorist bombing (of Pan Am Flight 103). He was 36. The Four Tops were also slated to be onboard the plane but overslept after a late-night recording session.
November 17, 1988 Guns N' Roses get the cover of Rolling Stone with the headline, "Hard-Rock Heroes." The magazine compiled the story that summer when the band was on tour as the opening act for Aerosmith. Aerosmith assumed they were getting the cover, but by the end of the tour, their opening act had become much more popular.More
November 15, 1988 After hitting it huge with their 1986 debut album, Licensed to Ill, Beastie Boys leave the label and sign with Capitol Records.More
August 20, 1988 At the Monsters Of Rock festival at Castle Donington, England, two fans are killed during a set by Guns N' Roses, whose frontman Axl Rose had implored the crowd, "Don't f--kin' kill each other." With the ground wet and a record crowd of 107,000 at the festival, the surge of bodies during the set causes the two fans to be trampled or crushed to death.More
January 26, 1988 Andrew Lloyd Webber's blockbuster musical The Phantom of the Opera debuts on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre two years after a successful run on London's West End.More
November 21, 1987 "Mony Mony" by Billy Idol replaces "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tiffany at #1 in the US. Both songs were originally recorded in the '60s by Tommy James & the Shondells.More
November 7, 1987 16-year-old Tiffany hits #1 in the US with "I Think We're Alone Now," a cover of a 1967 song by Tommy James & the Shondells.
September 6, 1987 At the Starwood Ampitheater in Nashville, Lynyrd Skynyrd reunite for a tour to mark the 10th anniversary of the plane crash that killed lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines.More
August 21, 1987 Midnight Oil release their sixth album, Diesel and Dust, inspired by their tour of indigenous communities in the Australian Outback. The single "Beds Are Burning" - a demand to give Aboriginal Australians back their rightful land - is the band's breakthrough hit in the US.More
June 27, 1987 Whitney Houston charts her fourth #1 on the Hot 100 with "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)," the debut single from her second album.More
May 15, 1987 Mötley Crüe release the album Girls, Girls, Girls, the pinnacle of their rock star excess.More
April 18, 1987 Aretha Franklin and George Michael's duet "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" hits #1 in the US, returning Franklin to the top spot for the first time since "Respect" in 1967. The feat breaks the record for the longest span between #1 hits.More
April 13, 1987 Fleetwood Mac release Tango In The Night, their first album since Mirage five years earlier. Guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, who produced the album and had a hand in writing seven of the 12 songs, leaves before they tour.More
March 17, 1987 Reacting to a Beastie Boys concert three weeks earlier where the group used a giant inflatable penis as a stage prop and encouraged girls in the crowd to bare their breasts, the city of Columbus, Georgia passes an anti-lewdness law prohibiting nudity, simulated sex, and objectionable language at any show attended by minors.More
March 9, 1987 U2 release their fifth studio album, The Joshua Tree. The first two singles, "With Or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," climb to #1 in America. The album becomes their first #1 in that country, and takes the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.More
June 13, 1986 Big band leader Benny Goodman dies at age 77.More
May 31, 1986 Genesis enter the Hot 100 with "Invisible Touch," joining four acts by current or former members of the group on the chart.More
May 3, 1986 Propelled by a memorable video where lookalike models vamp the song, Robert Palmer's "Addicted To Love" hits #1 on the Hot 100.More
April 19, 1986 You don't have to watch Dynasty to have an attitude: Prince hits #1 in the US with "Kiss." The #2 song is "Manic Monday" by the Bangles, which he wrote.More
February 15, 1986 The UK band Sade hit #1 in America with their second album, Promise, led by the single "The Sweetest Taboo." Led by frontwoman Sade Adu, their elegant, understated sound finds an audience looking for an alternative to MTV-powered pop music. It's the only album to hit the top spot in 1986 by an act that isn't American.
February 4, 1986 Janet Jackson, 19, asserts her independence on her third album, Control, where she takes on much of the songwriting and production. With five big hits, including the #1 "When I Think of You," it vaults her into a league with her brother Michael.More
January 20, 1986 After years of campaigning to make Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a federal holiday, Stevie Wonder commemorates the occasion with a star-studded concert celebration in Washington, D.C.More
October 19, 1985 Thanks to an innovative video that takes place in a comic book, "Take On Me" gives the Norwegian group a-ha a #1 hit in America.More
September 7, 1985 For the first time in the Rock Era, the top three songs on the Hot 100 were all written for movies: #1: "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" by John Parr #2: "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis & the News (from Back to the Future) #3: "We Don't Need Another Hero" by Tina Turner (from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome)
August 14, 1985 Three years after their duet "The Girl Is Mine," Paul McCartney advises Michael Jackson to invest in publishing. Jackson makes a winning bid of $47.5 million for the rights to over 250 Lennon-McCartney Beatles songs owned by ATV publishing, which turns out to be a great investment, but kills their friendship.More
July 13, 1985 The Live Aid concerts take place in Philadelphia and London to raise money for the hungry in Africa. The Beach Boys, The Four Tops, Paul McCartney, Tina Turner, Elton John, David Bowie, The Who, Queen, Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan all take part.More
March 25, 1985 Stevie Wonder accepts the Oscar for Best Original Song "in the name of Nelson Mandela."More
February 25, 1985 British synthpop duo Tears For Fears release their sophomore album, Songs From The Big Chair, featuring the hits "Shout" and "Everybody Wants To Rule The World."More
January 28, 1985 With the stars in town for the American Music Awards, "We Are The World" is recorded in Los Angeles, with cameras rolling for the video.More
October 19, 1984 The Talking Heads concert movie Stop Making Sense opens in theaters. A highly unconventional film that doesn't rely on crowd shots or backstage footage, it's hailed as a triumph of the genre.More
©2026 Songfacts®, LLC