26 Karaoke Cover Outcharted Kid Rock
When Kid Rock kept his 2008 hit “All Summer Long” off iTunes, karaoke company Hit Masters offered its own cover for download. Rock’s recording reached No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 through radio airplay, while downloads pushed the Hit Masters version to No. 19. Rock began selling new music on iTunes in 2012; his earlier albums followed in 2013.
27. American composer Kevin MacLeod lets people use his music for free under a Creative Commons license, provided they credit him. Creators who cannot include a credit can buy a separate license. MacLeod says this approach has put his music in thousands of films and millions of YouTube videos.
28. Stevie Nicks became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. She entered with Fleetwood Mac in 1998 and was inducted again for her solo career in 2019. She is no longer the only woman to hold that distinction: Tina Turner and Carole King both received second inductions in 2021.
29. The Beatles were all still in their 20s when their breakup became public in April 1970. George Harrison and Paul McCartney were 27, while John Lennon and Ringo Starr were 29.
30. American singer Cass Elliot disliked the “Mama Cass” nickname that followed her from the Mamas & the Papas into her solo career. In a 1968 interview, she said she hoped her Las Vegas marquee would simply say “Cass Elliot,” though some early solo releases still used the old name. She made her preference unmistakable in 1973 by naming both a live album and a television special Don’t Call Me Mama Anymore.
31 SpongeBob’s Sweet Victory Download Surge
For the 2001 SpongeBob SquarePants episode “Band Geeks,” the writers considered several marching tunes for the Bubble Bowl finale. They chose “Sweet Victory” instead and built the triumphant performance around it. Co-writer Bob Kulick later said the song reached more than 300,000 downloads.
32. When Jack Gillis married Meg White in 1996, he took her surname. They formed the White Stripes the following year and divorced in 2000 but continued to tell the public they were siblings. Jack later explained that the story helped keep attention on their music instead of inviting questions about their relationship.
33. Michael Jackson once showed Rolling Stone reporter Gerri Hirshey a photograph of a woman who claimed he had fathered her child. He said she sent him a weapon and instructions to kill himself and that he kept her picture to memorize her face in case she even appeared near him. Jackson called her the real “Billie Jean” at the time, although he later wrote that the song’s character was a composite of people who had troubled his family.
34. At Hawthorne High School, Brian Wilson received an F from music teacher Fred Morgan for a composition that later became “Surfin’.” The Beach Boys released it as their first single in 1961. When Wilson returned to the school in 2018, principal Vanessa Landesfeind changed his grade to an A.
35. Robert Plant’s five-year-old son, Karac, died of a stomach infection in 1977 while Led Zeppelin was on tour. Plant and John Paul Jones wrote “All My Love” in his memory, and the band released it on In Through the Out Door in 1979. Plant recorded his vocal in one take.
36 Hurricane Benefits Funded Carter’s Defense
Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy wrote the song “Hurricane” about boxer Rubin Carter, who had been convicted of murder in New Jersey. Dylan’s performances at benefit concerts drew attention and funds to Carter’s defense, but Carter and co-defendant John Artis were convicted again at a 1976 retrial. A federal court set aside their convictions in 1985 because of racial prejudice and concealed evidence; New Jersey dismissed the charges in 1988.
37. In 2006, “Weird Al” Yankovic recorded “You’re Pitiful” after, he says, James Blunt approved the parody of “You’re Beautiful.” Yankovic planned to make it the lead single from Straight Outta Lynwood, but Blunt’s label, Atlantic Records, objected to a commercial release. Yankovic’s label left it off the album, so he offered it as a free download instead.
38. In 1969, the occult rock band Coven released Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls, an album steeped in Satanic themes. Its opening song was called “Black Sabbath,” and its bassist was credited as Oz Osborne. The following year, a different band called Black Sabbath released its debut album with Ozzy Osbourne as its singer. Coven’s Oz and Black Sabbath’s Ozzy were different musicians.
39. Michael Jackson’s 1985 purchase of ATV Music included publishing rights to Little Richard songs such as “Tutti Frutti.” A CNN reporter who spoke with Little Richard said Jackson offered to give him control of his music, but the arrangements were never completed.
40. While filming 14 music videos back to back, Ed Sheeran used his one day off to fly out and perform “Stan” with Eminem at the rapper’s 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction. Sheeran said he flew back that night. When Eminem learned about the trip, he told Sheeran, “Anything you ever need,” and Sheeran asked him to appear at his upcoming Detroit concert. Eminem joined him at Ford Field in July 2023 for “Lose Yourself” and “Stan.”
41 Aretha Franklin’s Emergency Grammy Aria
At the 1998 Grammys, Luciano Pavarotti withdrew from a planned performance of Puccini’s “Nessun dorma” because of a severe sore throat. Producer Ken Ehrlich asked Aretha Franklin to fill in: she had sung the aria at a dinner honoring Pavarotti two nights earlier. Aretha Franklin filled in for him at “literally a moment’s notice” and sang an acclaimed rendition of the aria and received a standing ovation.
42. In 2004, Eminem dissed Michael Jackson in the video for “Just Lose It,” prompting Jackson to object publicly and consider legal action. Three years later, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, a venture co-owned by Sony and trusts formed by Jackson, bought the Famous Music catalog. Its 125,000 works included Eminem’s “The Real Slim Shady.” So he ended up making money off it every time Eminem performed it.
43. In 2003, Rihanna and two school friends auditioned for American producer Evan Rogers while he vacationed in Barbados. They sang together and individually, but Rogers wanted to help Rihanna pursue a solo deal. He later recalled, “The minute Rihanna walked into the room, it was like the other two girls didn’t exist.” She went on to record a demo that included her first hit, “Pon de Replay.”
44. Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” video opens with all four band members appearing to sing in harmony. On the recording, Freddie Mercury sang all five parts of the opening harmony, layering his own voice to create the effect. Brian May and Roger Taylor joined him for the song’s later operatic section.
45. Led Zeppelin planned to play an outdoor concert in Singapore on February 14, 1972, while traveling to Australia. Singapore’s “Operation Snip Snip” immigration policy denied entry to men with long hair unless they got haircuts. Officials refused the band entry, and the concert was canceled. According to biographer Stephen Davis, the musicians were not even allowed off their plane.
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
46 Brian May Discouraged Concert Smoking
Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Brian May grew up with a father who smoked heavily. May said Harold smoked about 40 cigarettes a day and attributed his death from cancer to smoking. In 2005, Queen and Paul Rodgers asked audiences not to smoke at their concerts, ahead of England’s 2007 indoor smoking ban.
47. Soul Asylum’s 1993 video for “Runaway Train” showed the names and photographs of missing children and asked viewers to report sightings. Different versions featured 36 children in total. Director Tony Kaye said 21 were eventually found, and the video was updated as cases were resolved. Some discoveries were tragic, so “found” does not mean every child returned home.
48. In 1988, British indie and punk musicians released ‘Til Things Are Brighter, a Johnny Cash tribute album benefiting the Terence Higgins Trust’s HIV/AIDS work. Cash welcomed the younger artists’ interpretations; his daughter Rosanne later said the album renewed his enthusiasm. It also introduced his music to alternative audiences ahead of his 1994 comeback with producer Rick Rubin and American Recordings.
49. Michael Jackson wanted to play Willy Wonka in the 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. According to his former collaborator Marc Schaffel, Jackson recorded an original soundtrack in hopes of winning the role. Warner Bros. wanted the music but declined to cast him, so Jackson shelved it. Johnny Depp played Wonka, and Danny Elfman composed the film’s soundtrack.
50. Brian Wilson abandoned the Beach Boys’ Smile, the planned follow-up to Pet Sounds, in 1967. On February 20, 2004, he finally performed a completed version at London’s Royal Festival Hall and received a ten-minute standing ovation. Bandmate Darian Sahanaja recalled Wilson rocking back and forth backstage afterward, exclaiming, “Darian! Darian! We did it! We did it!” Wilson recorded and released the studio album later that year.
