19 MAY
In Music History
1998 Godzilla: The Album, the soundtrack to the blockbuster movie, is released. It contains both "Come With Me" (Puff Daddy's rap reworking of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir") and Rage Against The Machine's "No Shelter," a song about media manipulation that mocks the film with the line, "Godzilla, pure mothaf--n' filler to keep ya eyes off the real killer."
1997 Backstreet Boys release "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)," their breakthrough single in the US.
1996 Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins, Peter Frampton and Cypress Hill appear on the "Homerpalooza" episode of The Simpsons, a spoof on the Lollapalooza tour. Cypress Hill, the first rappers to guest star on the show, are accused of ordering the London Symphony Orchestra while high, and end up teaming with them on "Insane In The Brain."
1992 DJ/producer Marshmello is born Christopher Comstock in Philadelphia.
1992 Pop/soul singer Sam Smith is born in London, England.
1991 Odia Coates, known for a string of '70s duets with Paul Anka, including the #1 "(You're) Having My Baby," dies of breast cancer at age 49.
1990 Madonna's "Vogue," a song about a dance popular in gay nightclubs where dancers "strike a pose" like fashion models, goes to #1 in America.
1986 Former Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel transitions from cult performer to pop star with the release of his fifth solo album, So, which includes the hit single "Sledgehammer."More
1984 The song "Thriller" falls off the Hot 100, ending a run of hits from the Thriller album that started on November 6, 1982, when "The Girl Is Mine" entered the tally. In that stretch, only two weeks went by without a Thriller song on the chart.
1979 Two months after they are married, Eric Clapton and Pattie Boyd finally get a wedding reception, as Clapton gets a break in touring. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison are guests, and jam together for the first time in almost 10 years.
1979 Breakfast In America, the sixth album from the UK group Supertramp, hits #1 in America thanks to the hits "The Logical Song" and "Take The Long Way Home."
1979 Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter become the parents of Waylon Albright "Shooter" Jennings.
1975 Lynyrd Skynyrd release the single "Saturday Night Special." The B-side is "Made in the Shade." It's the only single released from the Nuthin' Fancy album.
1973 Stevie Wonder hits #1 in America with "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life," a song inspired by his wife (and sometimes co-writer) Syreeta Wright.
1972 Jenny Berggren (lead singer of Ace of Base) is born Jenny Cecilia Petrén in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Marilyn Monroe Sings "Happy Birthday, Mr. President"
1962Less than three months before her death, Marilyn Monroe makes one of her last public appearances at President John F. Kennedy's 45th birthday celebration, where she famously sings "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" in his honor.
Read more19 MAY
Featured Events
2009 The first episode of the TV series Glee airs, featuring a Glee Club performance of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" that brings the song back to the charts. The Glee version lands at #4 - five spots higher than Journey's original.
1998 Sonny and Cher get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. For Sonny, who died January 5, 1998, it's a posthumous honor.
1993 Depeche Mode begin their Devotional tour in Lille, France. They reach new levels of excess on the trek, culminating with lead singer Dave Gahan having a heart attack during a show.More
1992 Billy Ray Cyrus releases his debut album, Some Gave All, featuring his signature song "Achy Breaky Heart." The album dominates the Billboard 200 chart for 17 consecutive weeks, and the single's music video spawns a line-dancing trend across the US, where a new breed of country music is already becoming a phenomenon. More
1951 Jeffrey Ross Hyman is born in Queens, New York. He forms the Ramones and takes the stage name Joey Ramone. At first, he's the drummer, but he becomes the lead singer when Dee Dee struggles to sing and play bass at the same time.
1945 Pete Townshend of The Who is born in Chiswick, United Kingdom.
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