It’s January 3rd and these are some of the things that happened on this day in pop music history:
- In 2004, Britney Spears and her childhood friend Jason Alexander spent $70 U.S. to get married at A Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas at around 5 a.m. (Alexander later said he and Spears had been drinking and indulging in “party favours” before deciding to get married “just for the hell of it.”) The couple signed annulment papers later the same day and their quickie marriage was officially dissolved on Jan. 5.
- In 2020, Justin Bieber debuted "Yummy," his first solo music since his album Purpose in 2015. It premiered roughly two weeks shy of the 10th anniversary of Bieber’s debut single, “Baby.”
- In 1995, Calgary-born Byron MacGregor died of complications from pneumonia at 46. The news anchor voiced “The Americans,” which went to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1974 and hit No. 1 in Canada.
- In 2017, Janet Jackson welcomed her first child, a boy named Eissa, with husband Wissam Al Mana. The pop singer, who was 50 at the time, separated from Al Mana three months later.
- In 1976, Scottish group Bay City Rollers, hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Saturday Night.” A week later, the song went to No. 1 on the Canadian chart.
- In 1975, Thomas Bangalter was born in Paris. He started playing piano at the age of six and later met Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo in high school. The two went on to form Daft Punk, which has had hits with artists like Pharrell Williams, Chemical Brothers and Canada’s The Weeknd.
And that’s what popped on this day.