It’s May 8th and these are some of the things that happened on this day in pop music history:
- In 1975, Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler was born in Madrid, Spain. At an early age, he decided he wanted to earn a career in music without capitalizing on his famous father, crooner Julio Iglesias, so he recorded a demo under the name Enrique Martínez. He landed a record deal and his self-titled 1995 debut album was partly recorded in Toronto.
- In 2008, Crosby Loggins, the son of Kenny Loggins, was crowned the winner of the first (and only) season of MTV’s Rock The Cradle – a singing competition with the offspring of famous music artists.
- In 2002, Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” was named Britain’s favourite song in a poll by the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles. Canada was represented on the list of 100 songs by Bryan Adams, whose “(Everything I Do) I do it for You” ranked No. 18 and “Summer of ’69” was No. 75; and Céline Dion, whose “My Heart Will Go On” was No. 28.
- In 1976, former Lovin’ Spoonful singer John Sebastian went to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Welcome Back,” the theme song from the sitcom Welcome Back Kotter, starring John Travolta.
- In 1972, Darren Stanley Hayes was born in Australia. He went on to form half of pop duo Savage Garden, which scored hits like “Truly Madly Deeply” and “I Want You.” He also recorded four solo albums. Hayes married his partner Richard Cullen in 2013.
- In 1993, Aerosmith’s 11th studio album Get a Grip was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. It included hits like “Crazy” and “Livin’ on the Edge.”
- In 1993, the Backstreet Boys gave their first public performance at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida. The group, created by Lou Pearlman, was named for an outdoor market in Orlando where young people hung out.
And that’s what popped on this day.