It’s October 17th, and these are some of the things that happened on this day in pop music history:
- In 1972, Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born in St. Joseph, Missouri. He had a tumultuous childhood and started rapping with a friend when he was 14. He went on to become Eminem, whose hits include “The Real Slim Shady,” “Stan” and “Lose Yourself.”
- In 1998, “One Week” became the first (and only) No. 1 song in the U.S. for Canada’s Barenaked Ladies. It remained at the top of the chart for – you guessed it – one week.
- In 2000, George Michael paid $2.6 million at a charity auction for the Steinway Model Z piano on which John Lennon write his 1971 song “Imagine.” The pop star later donated it to the Beatles Story museum in Liverpool, where it had been on loan prior to the auction.
- In 1964, British band Manfred Mann started a two-week run at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Do Wah Diddy Diddy.” The song also reached No. 1 in Canada.
- In 2001, Jay-Z pleaded guilty to assault charges in connection with the stabbing of record producer Lance Rivera at a New York nightclub in December 1999. The rapper was later sentenced to three years of probation. In his 2010 book, Jay-Z described the incident as “a momentary loss of control.”
- In 1970, The Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There” started a five-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart – their fourth No. 1 song of the year. In 1992, Mariah Carey topped the chart for two weeks with a cover of the song.
- In 1971, Christopher Alan Kirkpatrick was born in Pennsylvania. After high school, he moved to Orlando and worked as a performer at Universal Studios theme park, where he was approached about starting a boy band. In 1997, Kirkpatrick was thrust into fame as one of the members of NSYNC.
And that's what popped on this day!