It’s November 1st, and these are some of the things that happened on this day in pop music history:
- In 1994, Mariah Carey’s fourth studio album, Merry Christmas, was released. It contained Carey’s versions of traditional Christmas songs as well as originals, including “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” It remains the best-selling holiday album of all time.
- In 1999, hometown star Céline Dion was inducted into the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' Gold Ribbon Awards gala in Montreal.
- In 1993, rapper Flavor Flav was arrested for allegedly shooting an unlicensed handgun at a neighbour during an early morning dispute. Flav (whose real name is William Drayton) was charged with attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon, and reckless endangerment. He was eventually sentenced to 90 days behind bars.
- In 1986, an episode of The Facts of Life aired in which Stacey Q (aka Stacey Swain) guest-starred as Cinnamon. She performed her hit “Two of Hearts.”
- In 2007, Canadian artists did well at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Munich, Germany. Avril Lavigne won Best Song (for “Girlfriend”) and Best Solo and Nelly Furtado’s Loose won Album of the Year.
- In 1949, David Walter Foster was born in Victoria, BC. He played music in Edmonton while still in his teens and moved to Toronto, where he performed in Ronnie Hawkins’ band. Foster went on to become one of the most successful music composers and producers, creating hits for artists like Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Barbra Streisand, Madonna and his fellow Canadians Michael Bublé and Céline Dion.
And that’s what popped on this day.