It’s December 8th and these are some of the things that happened on this day in pop music history:
- In 1980, John Lennon was shot and killed outside his apartment building in New York City. He was 40. As one of The Beatles and as a solo artist, he wrote and recorded some of the biggest songs of all time.
- In 1976, the second remake of 1937’s A Star Is Born opened in cinemas. This one starred Barbra Streisand as an aspiring young singer who falls in love with a rock star, played by Kris Kristofferson. The film’s soundtrack included “Evergreen,” which went to No. 1 in the U.S. and Canada and won the Oscar for Best Original Song.
- In 2007, Josh Groban’s holiday collection Noël started a five-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart after being featured as one of Oprah’s “favourite things.” The album had been released two months earlier.
- In 2000, Sting received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “This is beyond any expectation,” the singer told the crowd at the unveiling.
- In 1984, “Out Of Touch” by Daryl Hall and John Oates, went to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of two weeks. It was the duo’s sixth (and last) No. 1 song.
- In 1966, Sinéad Marie Bernadette O’Connor was born in Ireland. She started singing at an early age and went on to become a successful recording artist, whose biggest hit was the Prince cover “Nothing Compares 2 U” in 1990.
And that’s what popped on this day.