It’s October 23rd, and these are some of the things that happened on this day in pop music history:
- In 2015, Adele released “Hello” as the lead single from her third studio album, 25. It came a day after the debut of the video for the song, which was directed by Canada’s Xavier Dolan and shot a month earlier in Quebec. The song became the first to sell over a million digital copies in a week and topped the charts for weeks.
- In 1995, Def Leppard promoted the release of their greatest hits album by performing three shows in three continents in one day. The band played acoustic sets in Tangier, Morocco and London, England before flying on the Concorde to Vancouver. The trek earned Def Leppard a place in the Guiness Book of Records.
- In 2006, Amy Winehouse released “Rehab,” produced by Mark Ronson. The autobiographical song went on to win three Grammys including Song of the Year.
- In 2002, rapper Kanye West crashed his rented Lexus after finishing a late-night session at a recording studio. He fractured his jaw in several places. West later told USA Today he had been working with Beanie Sigel, Black Eyed Peas and Peedi Crack. “Let’s just say that those tracks were not my best work," he added. "If I would have passed that night, that would have been the end of my legacy.”
- In 1976, Chicago started a two-week run at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “If You Leave Me Now.” The song went on to win a Grammy.
- In 2010, pop star Katy Perry and British actor Russell Brand got married in Rajasthan, India. Their union lasted less than two years.
- In 2016, singer Pete Burns died after suffering sudden cardiac arrest at the age of 57. He was best known for his time in Dead Or Alive, which had success in 1985 with “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record).”
- In 1985, Miguel Jontel Pimentel was born in Los Angeles. At only 13, he set out to have a music career. His debut album, All I Want Is You, was released in 2010 and established Miguel as a top R&B artist.
- In 2001, Apple introduced the world to the first version of the iPod with the promise of “1,000 songs in your pocket.” Featuring a 5GB hard drive, it sold for about $500.
And that’s what popped on this day.