It’s October 2nd, and these are some of the things that happened on this day in pop music history:
- In 2017, Tom Petty died in hospital, hours after an accidental overdose of prescription medications at his home in Malibu. He was a few weeks shy of his 67th birthday. During his long career, Petty had a number of Top 5 hits in Canada, including “Don’t Do Me Like That,” “Refugee,” “I Won’t Back Down” and “Learning to Fly.”
- In 2011, Louis Tomlinson tweeted at fellow One Direction singer Harry Styles: “Always in my heart @Harry_Styles. Yours sincerely, Louis.” A response to Styles joking that Tomlinson was his first crush, it became the second-most-retweeted tweet ever. It is currently No. 3.
- In 1992, the video for Madonna’s “Erotica” premiered on MTV. Directed by fashion photographer Fabien Baron, the video was banned after only three airings. “It is not appropriate for a general viewing audience,” a spokesperson for the network said.
- In 1982, John Cougar’s “Jack and Diane” (a little ditty about two American kids growing up in the heartland) went to No. 1 in the U.S. The song, which also hit No. 1 in Canada, stayed atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart for four weeks.
- In 1971, Tiffany Darwish was born in Norwalk, California. She would go on to release nine studio albums and top the charts in Canada in 1987 with “I Think We’re Alone Now” and “Could’ve Been.”
- In 1951, Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner was born in England. He went on to become a teacher who played in a band called The Police under the name Sting.
- In 2002, former Take That member Robbie Williams announced that he signed a contract with EMI Music that made him “rich beyond my wildest dreams.” The deal was worth a reported $136 million CAD, making Williams one of the highest-paid singers in the world.
And that's what popped on this day!