It’s August 25th and these are some of the things that happened on this day in pop music history:
- In 2001, Aaliyah was among nine people killed when their Cessna 402B crashed shortly after taking off from an airport in Bahamas and burst into flames. The 22-year-old singer was on the island to shoot a video for her song “Rock the Boat.”
- In 1962, “The Loco-Motion” by Little Eva went to No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin.
- In 1949, Chaim Witz was born in Israel. Later, as Gene Simmons, he became famous in KISS, which has had hits like “Rock and Roll All Nite” and “I Was Made For Lovin’ You.”
- In 1973, Stories topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of two weeks with a cover of the Hot Chocolate track “Brother Louie.” It was the group’s only hit.
- In 1970, a 23-year-old singer named Elton John made his live debut in America, at The Troubadour in West Hollywood.
- In 1979, The Knack started a six-week run at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “My Sharona.” The song also went to No. 1 in Canada.
- In 1961, Billy Ray Cyrus was born in Kentucky. He went on to become a country singer and crossed over into pop with his No. 1 single “Achy Breaky Heart” in 1992 and his contribution to a remix of the No. 1 track “Old Town Road” in 2019.
- In 2009, Chris Brown was sentenced to five years of probation and six months of community labour after pleading guilty to assaulting Rihanna earlier in the year.
- In 1998, Lauryn Hill released her debut solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. It earned critical praise and went on to win five Grammy Awards. Among the tracks was “Doo Top (That Thing).”
And that’s what popped on this day.