2004 Usher releases his fourth album, Confessions, which goes on to sell over 10 million copies in America. The lead single, "Yeah!," is already three weeks into a 12-week run at #1.
2002 At the 22nd Golden Raspberry Awards, Mariah Carey takes home her first Razzie as Worst Actress for her starring role in Glitter. The film earns a total of six nominations, including one for Mariah's cleavage as Worst Couple.
2002 At the 75th Academy Awards, Eminem becomes the first rapper to take home an Oscar when "Lose Yourself," from his semi-biographical film 8 Mile, wins Best Original Song. Eminem doesn't bother to attend the ceremony, thinking he has no chance of winning, so his friend and producer Luis Resto accepts the honor in his absence.
2002 The O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack, featuring a popular revival of the mountain ballad "Man of Constant Sorrow," takes bluegrass to #1 in America.More
1990 The romantic comedy Pretty Woman, starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, debuts in US theaters. Named for Roy Orbison's classic tune, it also boasts an impressive soundtrack, including the #1 hit "It Must Have Been Love" by Roxette.More
1985 John Fogerty's comeback album Centerfield hits #1 in America. He had plenty of time to work up material: Fogerty took 10 years off because of a dispute with his former record label.
1974 Hall & Oates' "She's Gone" peaks at #60 on the Hot 100. Later that year, a version by Tavares hits #50, and in 1976, the original goes to #7 when it is re-released. The duo were each dealing with girl problems when they wrote the song together.
1959 Bobby Darin's first full-length album, That's All, is released. Among the tracks is "Mack The Knife," a song about a cold-blooded murderer popularized in the play The Threepenny Opera. Considered just an album cut at first, in August the song is released as a single, and it transforms Darin's career, going to #1 for nine weeks and making him one of the most popular entertainers in America.
2008 The Jonas Brothers sing the national anthem at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House.
2002 In Houston, Texas, Dusty Hill of ZZ Top marries Charleen McCrory. He looks sharp, but we can't tell if there's a black tie under that beard.
2000 60-year-old Tina Turner launches her Twenty Four Seven tour at the Target Center in Minneapolis. It takes in $80 million, making it the top-grossing tour of 2000.
1993 Depeche Mode release Songs of Faith and Devotion in America, where it goes to #1 despite charting no singles higher than "I Feel You," which tops out at #37.
1992 Billy Ray Cyrus releases "Achy Breaky Heart." It becomes his signature song and starts a line-dancing craze throughout the US.
1988 Mick Jagger performs his first solo gig in Japan, 15 years after having been barred from entering the country due to prior drug convictions.
1987 Whitesnake releases "Is This Love" in the UK.
1983 ZZ Top release their album Eliminator, which features Billy Gibbons' custom hot rod on the cover. Thanks to videos for "Gimme All Your Lovin'," "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Legs" featuring the car and various babes, they become unlikely MTV stars, earning a new generation of fans.More
1980 Reggae musician Jacob Miller (of Inner Circle) dies in a car accident in Jamaica at age 27.
1980 U2 sign a worldwide deal with Island Records. They get about $100,000 for their first album.
1979 Van Halen release their second album, Van Halen II, setting a furious pace that finds them issuing an album a year from 1978-1982. The album includes the concert favorites "Dance the Night Away" and "Somebody Get Me a Doctor."
1978 A&M Records sign a new, young band called The Police.
1972 The film version of George Harrison's Concert For Bangladesh is released in America, helping raise additional money for aid that goes to UNICEF.
1969 Countering the counter-culture, about 30,000 people attend the "Rally For Decency" in Miami after Jim Morrison was charged with indecent exposure in the city. Celebrities at the event included Kate Smith, Jackie Gleason, The Lettermen and Anita Bryant.
1968 Blur frontman Damon Albarn is born in England.
Billy Joel marries the "Uptown Girl" Christie Brinkley. They remain married for nine years.
Two years after Brinkley teaches dance steps to a begrudging Joel on the set of his "Uptown Girl" music video, which cast him as a mechanic opposite Brinkley as the title character, the singer and the supermodel tie the knot aboard a yacht in New York Harbor. It's the second marriage for both: Joel was previously wed to Elizabeth Weber Small from 1973 to 1982, while Brinkley was married to French artist Jean-François Allaux from 1973 to 1981. Brinkley, who stole Joel's heart from his other supermodel girlfriend Elle Macpherson, will appear in several more of her husband's videos, including "Keeping The Faith," "All About Soul," "The River Of Dreams," "A Matter Of Trust," and "Leningrad." She'll also inspire tunes like "Christie Lee" and "All About Soul," and will even paint the cover art for Joel's River Of Dreams album. Their most important collaboration, however, arrives on December 29, 1989: baby daughter, Alex Ray. After nine years, Joel's constant touring (along with a rumor that he was unfaithful) strains the marriage and leads to an amicable split. They announce in a joint statement: "We have been there to support each other during critical times and expect to be there for each other in the future."
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