It’s May 20th and these are some of the things that happened on this day in pop music history:
- In 1946, Cherilyn Sarkisian was born in California. Her life changed forever in 1962 when she met a singer named Sonny Bono. Together they recorded a string of hits and had their own variety show. As a solo artist, Cher has had hits in every decade since the ‘60s, including “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down),” “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves,” “If I Could Turn Back Time,” “Believe,” “Song for the Lonely,” and “Woman’s World.”
- In 2016, Canada’s Barenaked Ladies released live album BNL Rocks Red Rocks, which was recorded the previous summer at the famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado. Men at Work frontman Colin Hay joined BNL on their cover of his band’s 1982 hit “Who Can It Be Now?”
- In 2012, Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees died in London from organ failure related to colorectal cancer. He was 62.
- In 2012, an episode of The Simpsons titled “Lisa Goes Gaga” aired, featuring Lady Gaga as herself.
- In 1989, Paula Abdul’s “Forever Your Girl” went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The title track of her debut album, it was written by Oliver Leiber, the son of Jerry Leiber, co-writer of classics like “Jailhouse Rock” and “Stand By Me.”
- In 2005, pop star Kylie Minogue had surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from her breast at a hospital in Melbourne, Australia.
- In 1978, “With a Little Luck” by Wings was No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of two weeks. It also went to No. 1 in Canada.
And that’s what popped on this day.