May 14, 1988 Gloria Estefan scores the first of her three #1 hits when "Anything For You" claims the top spot. It's a heartbreak song, but not inspired by a specific person; Gloria married Emilio Estefan, leader of her group Miami Sound Machine, 10 years earlier.
May 14, 1988 Atlantic Records' 40th Anniversary celebration takes place at New York's Madison Square Garden, featuring appearances from many famous artists on the label's roster: The Bee Gees, Wilson Pickett, The Rascals, The Coasters, Emerson, Lake And Palmer, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Foreigner, Yes, Genesis, and the event's main attraction, a rare reunion of Led Zeppelin, with John Bonham's son Jason taking over drums for his late father.
May 11, 1988 Still going strong, the legendary songwriter Irving Berlin turns 100. A concert celebrating his life and music takes place at Carnegie Hall, with Tony Bennett, Bob Hope, Ray Charles and Rosemary Clooney all taking part.
May 5, 1988 Adele is born Adele Laurie Blue Adkins in London. Her albums are named after her age when they're released, starting with 19 in 2008. Her second album, 21, goes stratospheric, with visceral songs about her ex that make a deep connection with fans.
May 2, 1988 Melissa Etheridge releases her self-titled debut album, adding a much-welcome new female voice to rock radio with the singles "Bring Me Some Water" and "Like the Way I Do."
April 30, 1988 After a two-year hiatus, Little River Band reunite, kicking off a tour with a show at the World Expo in Brisbane, Australia. Glenn Frey is their support act for the tour.
April 30, 1988 Celine Dion wins the Eurovision Song Contest with her performance of the French song "Ne partez pas sans moi." She's from Canada but represents Switzerland at the contest because they asked her to. Already famous in France and Canada, the win earns her many new fans throughout Europe and sets the stage for her American breakthrough two years later.
April 28, 1988 Country/pop singer B.W. Stevenson, known for the original 1973 version of "My Maria," dies at age 38 while undergoing heart valve surgery.
April 27, 1988 Lizzo is born Melissa Jefferson in Detroit, Michigan. She moves to Minneapolis in 2011 and appears on the 2014 Prince song "BoyTrouble" before releasing her breakthrough single, "Truth Hurts," in 2017.
April 24, 1988 Mick Fleetwood marries the singer Sara Recor (who partly inspired the song "Sara") at their Malibu home. His Fleetwood Mac bandmate John McVie is best man; attendees include Bob Dylan, Dick Clark, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Mac members Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham. The couple divorce a few years later.
April 23, 1988 Enjoying a comeback as interest in his music surges, Roy Orbison celebrates his 52nd birthday at a Bruce Springsteen concert in Los Angeles, where Bruce brings him onstage so the crowd can sing him "Happy Birthday." Orbison dies that December of a heart attack.
April 14, 1988 Public Enemy's sophomore album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, is released. Often cited as one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all-time, the album spawns such PE classics as "Don't Believe the Hype," "Night of the Living Baseheads," and "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos," as well as the original version of "Bring the Noise."
April 11, 1988 In the midst of a decade characterized by materialism and excess, Neil Young releases This Note's for You, his 16th studio album. The title song mocks the marketing industry and the corporate music scene.
April 9, 1988 Billy Ocean's "Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car," from the movie License To Drive, hits #1 in the US. Written by Ocean with superproducer Mutt Lange, it's the last of his three US #1 hits, following "Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run)" and "There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)."
April 9, 1988 Soul singer Dave Prater (of Sam & Dave) dies at age 50 in a single-car accident in Sycamore, Georgia.
April 7, 1988 When the piano wire that keeps him safely suspended during his gallows stunt snaps, Alice Cooper nearly hangs himself for real on stage at Wembley Arena in London. He's able to slip his chin over the rope to keep his neck from snapping until a roadie can rescue him.
March 30, 1988 The movie Beetlejuice hits theaters, introducing a new generation to the 1956 Harry Belafonte Calypso favorite "The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)," which plays in a wild scene where dinner guests are possessed by Beetlejuice the ghost and made to perform a routine to the song.
March 25, 1988 DJ/producer Ryan Lewis (of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis) is born in Spokane, Washington.
March 21, 1988 Lynyrd Skynyrd release Southern by the Grace of God, their second live album. It features music recorded in 1987 in what was supposed to be a one-time touring tribute to band members who died in a 1977 plane wreck that seemingly ended the band. Four years later, an updated Lynyrd Skynyrd lineup records new material and begins touring again regularly.
March 15, 1988 Talking Heads release their eighth album, Naked, which ends up being their last, as David Bryne breaks up the group three years later. It's produced by Steve Lillywhite, whose wife, Kirsty MacColl, sings on the track "(Nothing But) Flowers."
March 14, 1988 Six months after the breakup of his group The Smiths, Morrissey issues his first solo album, Viva Hate. It goes to #1 in the UK and has two hit singles: "Suedehead" and "Everyday Is Like Sunday." It's the start of a very successful solo career for Morrissey, who rejects all offers of a Smiths reunion.
March 12, 1988 Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" hits #1 in the US. The video, which shows a buttoned-up Astley singing his way around London, does well on VH1, but really takes off two decades later with the Rickrolling trend, as webmasters point links to the song's YouTube video to trick unsuspecting readers into watching it.
March 10, 1988 Andy Gibb, whose three older brothers are the Bee Gees, dies of heart failure at age 30. Gibb had three #1 hits in the late '70s, including "I Just Want To Be Your Everything."
March 8, 1988 Producer Benny Blanco is born Benjamin Levin in Reston, Virginia. He works on some of the biggest hits for Kesha ("TiK ToK"), Maroon 5 ("Moves Like Jagger"), and Selena Gomez ("Same Old Love"), whom he marries in 2025.
March 7, 1988 The drag queen Divine (Glenn Milstead) dies of a heart attack at age 42.More
February 20, 1988 Salt-N-Pepa enter the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time when their steamy hip-hop/dance single "Push It" peaks at #19. Everyone assumes the song - punctuated by the refrain "Ooh, baby, baby" - is about sex, but the rappers insist it's not. "No one ever believes us," Sandra "Pepa" Denton laments to The Guardian in 2017. "Honestly, for us, as young girls, it was about dancing."
February 5, 1988 The John Hughes film She's Having A Baby debuts in US theaters. Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern star as a young married couple whose lives are about to be upended by the birth of their first child. The soundtrack features Kate Bush's heart-wrenching ballad "This Woman's Work," written and recorded expressly for the movie.More
February 1, 1988 After an arduous year of touring and recording, The Cars officially disband. The return in 2011 for an album and tour, but part ways for good soon after.
January 31, 1988 Herb Alpert performs the US national anthem at Superbowl XXII in San Diego, California; Chubby Checker performs at the halftime show.
January 30, 1988 INXS land their first and only US #1 with "Need You Tonight."
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