It’s April 21st and these are some of the things that happened on this day in pop music history:
- In 2016, Prince was found dead inside an elevator in his Paisley Park estate in Minnesota. He was 57. Paramedics said the singer had been dead for at least six hours. A coroner later determined Prince died of an accidental fentanyl overdose. His many hits included “1999,” “Little Red Corvette,” “Purple Rain” and “Kiss.”
- In 2001, R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck was arrested at London’s Heathrow airport after a British Airways flight from Seattle. He was charged with two counts of assault, causing criminal damage, disobeying the lawful command of the plane’s captain, and being intoxicated. Buck apologized for his conduct, which he blamed on the combination of a sleeping pill and glasses of red wine. In 2002, he was cleared of all charges.
- In 1990, Sinead O'Connor started a four-week run at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with her cover of the Prince song “Nothing Compares 2 U.”
- In 1959, Robert James Smith was born in England. He went on to front The Cure, which had hits like “Love Song,” “Friday I’m In Love” and “Boys Don’t Cry.”
- In 1984, Phil Collins began a three-week run at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Against All Odds (Take a Look At Me Now),” a power ballad featured on the soundtrack of Against All Odds. It was Collins’ first No. 1 hit in the U.S. and Canada.
- In 2004, Jennifer Hudson was voted off Season 3 of American Idol. The singer finished in seventh place.
- In 2013, Chrissy Amphlett of Australia band The Divinyls died after a battle with breast cancer. She was 53. The group’s biggest hit was 1990’s “I Touch Myself.”
- In 2004, Michael Jackson was indicted by a grand jury on child molestation charges. He had been arrested in November 2003 after a raid on his Neverland Ranch.
- In 2014, Ariana Grande and Big Sean performed “Right There” during the annual Easter Egg Roll at the White House.
And that’s what popped on this day.