It’s November 11th, and these are some of the things that happened on this day in pop music history:
- In 1991, a memo from MTV Networks chair and CEO Tom Freston directed hosts to refer to Michael Jackson as “the King of Pop” on air. “The fact is that a lot of people have changed their names recently … Who are we to stand in front of the wheels of progress? Whatever they want to call themselves, we try and oblige.”
- In 1999, Britney Spears won four awards at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Dublin, including Best Pop and Best Female. Her hit “…Baby One More Time” was voted Best Song.
- In 2012, INXS drummer Jon Farriss told fans at a concert in Perth, Australia: “Tonight is very likely to probably be the last show we ever do. We kind of kept it under wraps but we wanted to leave it till tonight to let you guys know.” The next day, the band issued a statement confirming they were calling it quits. One-time INXS frontman J.D. Fortune, a Canadian, tweeted: “I feel very sad for them. It was an honour to have been a part of the band's history.”
- In 1978, Donna Summer’s disco cover of the 1968 Richard Harris hit “MacArthur Park” started its three-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. On the same day, Summer’s album Live and More went to the top of the Billboard 200 album chart.
- In 1999, singer Brandy was admitted to a hospital in Southern California, reportedly due to dehydration.
And that’s what popped on this day.