It’s March 10th and these are some of the things that happened on this day in pop music history:
- In 1977, Robin Alan Thicke was born in Los Angeles to Canadian actor-songwriter Alan Thicke and daytime drama star Gloria Loring. He performed in a group called As One before being signed by R&B star Brian McKnight. Thicke focused on writing and producing songs for other artists before launching his own music career. His hits include “Lost Without You” and “Blurred Lines.”
- In 2015, a jury ruled that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams had to pay $7.4 million U.S. to the estate of Marvin Gaye because their 2013 hit “Blurred Lines” copied elements of Gaye’s 1977 song“Got To Give It Up.”
- In 2008, Madonna was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during a ceremony in New York City. The pop superstar was presented with the honour by Justin Timberlake. In her speech, Madonna thanked “the ones that said I was talentless, that I was chubby, that I couldn’t sing, that I was a one-hit wonder.”
- In 1988, Andy Gibb, the younger brother of the Bee Gees, died at 30 after years of cocaine abuse. Gibb had several hits in the late ‘70s, including “I Just Want to be Your Everything.”
- In 2009, singer Ryan Adams married singer/actress Mandy Moore in Savannah, Georgia. The union ended in 2016, with Moore later claiming Adams was psychologically abusive and controlling.
- In 1979, Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of two weeks. The disco anthem about female empowerment was written by two men – Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris.
- In 1983, Carrie Marie Underwood was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Her music career took off after she won Season 4 of American Idol. Married to Canadian hockey player Mike Fisher, Underwood briefly lived in Stittsville, Ont.
- In 1996, Ottawa’s Alanis Morissette won several Juno Awards, including Best Album and Best Rock Album for Jagged Little Pill. Four years earlier, she won her first Juno Award – for Most Promising Female Vocalist.
- In 2005, Michael Jackson failed to appear at his child molestation trial, reportedly because he was being treated in hospital for injuries sustained in a fall. The judge threatened to revoke the singer’s bail and put him behind bars if he did not show up to court within an hour. Jackson arrived wearing a suit jacket over a T-shirt, pyjama bottoms and slippers.
And that’s what popped on this day.