March 27, 1982 "Pac-Man Fever," a song about the arcade game that has America enthralled, cracks the Top 10, becoming the only song about a video game ever to do so.More
March 21, 1982 Little Johnny Jones, with Donny Osmond in the lead role, opens on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre and closes after just one heavily panned performance. Osmond's career withers, but is revived in 1989 with the hit "Soldier Of Love" and in 1992 with a six-year run starring in the touring production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
March 20, 1982 The duo Buckner & Garcia appear on American Bandstand to perform their hit single "Pac-Man Fever," the first successful song about a video game.More
March 20, 1982 Nick Wheeler (lead guitarist for The All-American Rejects) is born in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
March 18, 1982 Soul singer Teddy Pendergrass of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes is partially paralyzed following a car accident in Philadelphia, where his Rolls Royce skids off a road and crashes.
March 6, 1982 Beauty and the Beat hits #1 in America, making The Go-Go's the first all-girl band with a #1 album.More
February 26, 1982 Nate Ruess, lead singer in the band Fun ("We Are Young"), is born in Iowa City, Iowa. In 2012 he duets with Pink on the hit "Just Give Me A Reason," and later he turns his attention to writing songs for artists like Lauren Daigle and The Kid Laroi.
February 21, 1982 Murray The K dies at age 60. As a disc jockey in New York City, he held showcase concerts featuring many top acts - Stevie Wonder, The Lovin' Spoonful and The Supremes were just a few of the artists to play his revues. He also was an early champion of The Beatles, hyping the band when they came to America and calling himself "The Fifth Beatle."
February 20, 1982 Pat Benatar marries her guitarist, Neil Giraldo. Many rock-and-roll and marriages flame out quickly, but this one takes. They have two children together and keep their musical partnership alive as well, with Giraldo stepping in as a producer.
February 15, 1982 The Tennessee General Assembly votes the bluegrass tune "Rocky Top," originally recorded by The Osborne Brothers and made popular by Lynn Anderson, the fifth official state song. It was written by celebrated husband-and-wife songwriting team Felice and Boudleaux Bryant.
February 13, 1982 The 300-pound marble slab marking the grave of Lynyrd Skynyrd lead singer Ronnie Van Zant is stolen from a cemetery in Orange Park, Florida. Police find it two weeks later in a dry river bed.
February 1, 1982 Bill Murray is the first guest on Late Night with David Letterman, hosted by an irreverent comedian with funny teeth. He sings the hit song "Physical," doing an aerobic routine along with his performance.More
January 24, 1982 The Super Bowl is held in Pontiac, Michigan, so the halftime show is a salute to Motown. Diana Ross sings the national anthem.
January 20, 1982 While performing at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines, Iowa, Ozzy Osbourne bites the head off a bat.More
January 15, 1982 Harry Casey (the KC in KC and the Sunshine Band) is badly injured in a head-on collision in Hialeah, Florida. After a long rehab, he returns to action and lands another hit in 1984 with "Give It Up."
December 18, 1981 Rod Stewart's concert at the Forum in Los Angeles is broadcast via satellite to an audience estimated at 35 million. Tina Turner joins Stewart for - what else - "Hot Legs."
December 13, 1981 Evanescence lead singer Amy Lee is born in Riverside, California. Her future bandmate Ben Moody hears her playing a Meat Loaf tune on the piano while the two attend a youth camp in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1994. The following year, Evanescence is born.
December 11, 1981 Bad Brains play the last-ever show at Max's Kansas City, a storied New York City nightclub where The Velvet Underground, David Bowie, and The New York Dolls all played early in their careers. Their opening act is a group of teenagers from Brooklyn called The Beastie Boys.
December 3, 1981 At a show in Hartford, Connecticut, AC/DC is prohibited from firing their cannons during "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)," as police enforce an ordinance banning stage weaponry.
December 2, 1981 Britney Spears is born in McComb, Mississippi, raised in Louisiana. At 11 she joins the cast of The Mickey Mouse Club; at 16 she releases her first single, the #1 hit "...Baby One More Time."
December 2, 1981 The Broadway musical Dreamgirls, which is based on The Supremes, opens on Broadway. It is later made into a hit movie starring Beyoncé and Jennifer Hudson.
November 23, 1981 AC/DC release the album For Those About to Rock We Salute You, their follow-up to Back In Black. The title track, complete with custom cannons, becomes their regular encore.
November 21, 1981 "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John hits #1 in the US. The sweaty aerobics anthem stays at the top spot for 10 weeks, making it the biggest hit of 1981.More
November 21, 1981 The Queen/David Bowie collaboration "Under Pressure" goes to #1 in the UK, Queen's first chart-topper there since "Bohemian Rhapsody."
November 20, 1981 In Pittsburgh, Prince begins his Controversy tour with a band he created, The Time, as his opening act. Members of The Time include Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who go on to become a top production team, best known for their work with Janet Jackson.
October 12, 1981 U2 release their second album, October. Reflecting their Christian faith, it's filled with allusions to the Bible, notably on the song "Gloria."
October 11, 1981 Opening a show for The Rolling Stones at Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, Prince gets booed off the stage. The Stones have good intentions in bringing in a rising star, but his act isn't a good fit for this crowd, and when he opens his trench coat to reveal bikini briefs, it gets ugly. Prince never again performs as an opening act.
October 5, 1981 Jud Strunk, comedian and singer/songwriter, crashes his private plane when he suffers a heart attack while taking off in Maine. The 45-year-old Strunk and his passenger are both killed. Known for the 1973 hit ballad "Daisy A Day."
October 4, 1981 The music variety show All Time Greats launches on BBC Radio 2 with "Up-Up and Away" by The 5th Dimension starting things off. The show, which is later re-named Desmond Carrington: The Music Goes Round, lasts 36 years.
October 3, 1981 Two months after MTV's debut, Blue Öyster Cult's "Burnin' For You" reaches its peak of #40 in the US - their first Top 40 since "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" - thanks to a video shot in a Los Angeles culvert. Few American acts are making videos, so established rockers like BÖC and REO Speedwagon can get airtime. This changes a few years later when more photogenic artists make videos on a regular basis.
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