January 20, 1986 Kevin Parker (Tame Impala) is born in Sydney, Australia, raised in Perth. His parents are both from Africa, where impalas (a spry kind of antelope) are found - the name reflects the wild but controlled nature of his music. Outside of Tame Impala, he does production work for many artists, including Lady Gaga ("Perfect Illusion"), Gorillaz ("New Gold") and Dua Lipa ("Houdini").
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
January 13, 1986 Ozzy Osbourne is taken to court by the parents of John McCollum, a depressed teenager who shot himself while listening to Ozzy's song "Suicide Solution." The parents claim that their son was driven to suicide by Ozzy's song. The court later throws the case out.
January 6, 1986 Following a suicide attempt and an alcohol-fueled nervous breakdown, Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford finally goes to rehab. He gets out a month later, completes the Turbo album with the band, and manages to stay sober.
December 29, 1985 Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley have a daughter, Alexa Ray, her name a tribute to Ray Charles. She becomes a singer like her dad.
December 28, 1985 Eddie Murphy's "Party All The Time" goes to #2 in the US, held back by Lionel Richie's "Say You, Say Me." Written and produced by Rick James, it charts higher than any other James composition.
December 27, 1985 The Krush Groove Christmas party becomes the first rap show held at Madison Square Garden. A tie-in with the movie Krush Groove, the concert features performances by LL Cool J, Run-DMC, Whodini and other acts who appeared in the film. The event makes headlines for the violence that follows, as 14 people are arrested for various crimes.
December 23, 1985 Reno, Nevada residents James Vance, 20 and Raymond Belknap, 18, shoot themselves in a suicide pact after spending hours drinking, smoking marijuana and listening to Judas Priest's Stained Class album. A lawsuit filed by their families claims the track "Better By You, Better Than Me" contains subliminal messages encouraging the suicides, but the case is dismissed.
December 12, 1985 After missing a bond revocation hearing in November, David Crosby turns himself in to the FBI and begins serving time for drug and firearms possession. Crosby considered fleeing the country to avoid jail time, but decided to bite the bullet and serve his sentence.
December 12, 1985 Ian Stewart, the original keyboard player for The Rolling Stones, dies of a heart attack in London, England, at age 47. Stewart stepped down from the group because his image didn't suit them. He became the group's road manager and played on some of their songs.
December 3, 1985 The day after taking a loss to the Miami Dolphins that keeps them from going undefeated, 10 members of the Chicago Bears record the "Super Bowl Shuffle," a rap tune where they each drop a verse about their talents. The video permeates MTV and the song spreads well beyond Chicago to become a hit single and Gold record.More
November 16, 1985 "We Built This City" by Starship hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is later named Worst Song of All Time by Blender magazine.More
November 9, 1985 The Miami Vice Theme hits #1 on the Hot 100, the last instrumental song to top the tally.More
November 8, 1985 Miles Davis guest stars on Miami Vice, playing a pimp named Ivory Jones.More
November 2, 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
November 2, 1985 "Part-Time Lover" hits #1 on the Hot 100, 22 years after Stevie Wonder first topped the chart in 1963.More
November 1, 1985 The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) agrees to some demands made by another initialed organization, the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC). As a result, any album deemed to contain offensive lyrics must be issued with a warning label, or the lyrics must be printed on the sleeve. Most record companies go with the labels, which don't seem to hurt sales.More
October 26, 1985 Whitney Houston scores her first #1 on the Hot 100 when "Saving All My Love For You" reaches the top spot. She goes on a remarkable run, with her next six singles all topping the chart.
October 22, 1985 Zac Hanson (of Hanson) is born in Arlington, Virginia, to a family that includes older brothers - and future bandmates - Isaac and Taylor. He would be raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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
October 12, 1985 B-52s guitarist Ricky Wilson becomes one of the first high-profile casualties of AIDS, a disease that is widely misunderstood. His death at age 32 comes 10 days after the actor Rock Hudson became the first major celebrity to die from AIDS.
October 9, 1985 On what would have been John Lennon's 45th birthday, a section of Central Park in New York City is christened "Strawberry Fields" in his memory.More
October 8, 1985 Bruno Mars is born Peter Hernandez in Honolulu, Hawaii. His dad calls him Bruno because as a toddler he's chunky like the wrestler Bruno Sammartino. He becomes one of the most popular artists of the streaming era in the 2010s with a run of hits that includes "Grenade," Locked Out of Heaven and "Uptown Funk."
September 22, 1985 The first Farm Aid concert plays in Champaign, Illinois, to benefit American farmers trying to survive amidst a national agricultural crisis.More
September 21, 1985 "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits hits #1 in America. The song is co-written by Sting, who sings the line "I want my MTV." Sting is also on the chart with "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" and "Fortress Around Your Heart," both from his debut solo album, Dream Of The Blue Turtles.
September 19, 1985 Frank Zappa, John Denver and Dee Snider of Twisted Sister testify at a Senate hearing where the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) argue for a ratings system on music. The musicians explain that this is censorship, but the PMRC wins a victory and warning labels are ordered on albums containing explicit lyrics.More
September 16, 1985 Kate Bush's album Hounds Of Love surpasses Madonna's Like A Virgin for the #1 spot on the UK chart. Featuring the hit single "Running Up That Hill," it's the second chart-topper for the British singer-songwriter.More
September 14, 1985 The TV series The Golden Girls debuts on NBC. Its theme song is "Thank You for Being a Friend," written by Andrew Gold but sung by a jingle singer named Cynthia Fee. Gold's version was released in 1978 and reached #25 in the US.
September 12, 1985 Rolling Stone publishes their interview with Prince, who has not spoken to the press in three years. He remains elusive, but explains why he made up stories in his early years to appease and confound reporters: "I used to tease a lot of journalists early on, because I wanted them to concentrate on the music."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)
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