It’s May 17th and these are some of the things that happened on this day in pop music history:
- In 2012, Donna Summer died at her home in Florida after a battle with lung cancer. She was 63. Summer’s long list of hits include “I Feel Love,” “MacArthur Park,” “Hot Stuff” and “Last Dance.”
- In 2008, Madonna’s Hard Candy went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Her 11th studio album, it was her seventh to top the chart.
- In 1984, Michael David Rosenberg was born in England. He learned classical guitar and started writing songs at an early age. As Passenger, he had the hit “Let Her Go” in 2012.
- In 2008, singer Ashlee Simpson married Fall Out Boy musician Pete Wentz in California. The couple, who welcomed a baby six months later, were divorced in 2011.
- In 2016, Canada’s Alanis Morissette sued her former business manager Jonathan Schwartz, alleging he stole $4.7 million U.S. from her over a period of seven years. The “Hand in my Pocket” singer later reached a settlement and dropped the suit – but Schwartz was convicted of fraud and sentenced to six years in prison.
- In 1986, Whitney Houston’s version of the 1977 George Benson song “Greatest Love Of All” started a three-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
- In 1970, Jordan Nathaniel Marcel Knight was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. As a young teen, he and his brother Jonathan were chosen to be part of a new group called New Kids on the Block. Their hits include “Step by Step” and “The Right Stuff.” Knight also released three solo albums.
And that’s what popped on this day.