2017Gene Simmons of Kiss files a trademark application for the devil horns hand gesture, which he claims he invented in 1974.More
2007Rihanna's "Umbrella" reaches #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 after seven weeks.
1994After a fight with boyfriend and NFL star Andre Rison, TLC singer Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes douses Rison's tennis shoes with lighter fluid and sets them on fire in a bathtub. The fire quickly melts the plexiglass tub and catches onto the frame of the house. Rison's mansion is burned to the ground and Lopes is charged with first degree arson. She is sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
1993Tina Turner's life story, including her stormy relationship with her husband Ike, is portrayed in the film What's Love Got To Do With It, starring Angela Bassett as Tina.
1990Wilson Phillips hit #1 on the Hot 100 with "Hold On," a feat accomplished by their famous parents in the '60s - Wendy and Carnie Wilson are the daughters of Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys; Chynna Phillips was born to John and Michelle Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas.
1986Genesis release Invisible Touch, their most successful album. The title trackgives them their only #1 hit.
1972After several years playing the New Jersey bar scene, Bruce Springsteen signs with Columbia Records and begins recording his first album, Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.
1969The Rolling Stones replace founding member Brian Jones with Mick Taylor. Jones, who says he's leaving to "play my kind of music," is found dead less than a month later at his home.
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2017Katy Perry begins live-streaming four days straight to promote the release of her new album, Witness. We learn that of her ex-boyfriends, John Mayer, was the best in bed and Josh Groban was "the one that got away."
2010Shania Twain's divorce from producer Robert "Mutt" Lange is finalized. The couple announced the split in 2008.
2000The day after Curve magazine runs an interview with Sinead O'Connor declaring she's a lesbian, the Irish singer appears on The Rosie O'Donnell Show to perform her anthemic single "No Man's Woman."
1998The Spice Girls play their first concert after the departure of Geri Halliwell, teaming up with opera star Luciano Pavarotti in Modena, Italy.
1993Country/soul singer Arthur Alexanderdies of a heart attack at age 53, just a month after signing a new publishing and recording contract.
1977Divorce final: George and Pattie Harrison.
1970Ed Simons (of The Chemical Brothers) is born in Herne Hill, South London, England.
1970Bob Dylan receives an honorary Doctorate of Music from Princeton University.
1967Dean Felber (bass guitarist for Hootie & the Blowfish) is born in Bethesda, Maryland.
1967Dean Dinning (bass guitarist for Toad the Wet Sprocket) is born in Santa Barbara, California.
1966Elvis Presley's movie Paradise, Hawaiian Style is sneak-previewed in Memphis (it opens nationally a month later).
1963Johnny Depp is born in Kentucky. He stars in the Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers video for "Into The Great Wide Open," and plays guitar on tracks by Oasis, Patti Smith and Ryan Adams.
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MC Hammer Pounds Out A Pop-Rap Landmark
1990
MC Hammer's Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em becomes just the second rap album to reach #1 in America (Licensed to Illby Beastie Boys was the first).
The album is a very accessible form of rap that makes an easy crossover to pop. Acts like Bobby Brown and Milli Vanilli have been incorporating rap into their tracks with tremendous success, but Hammer flips the formula, making his raps the basis for the vocals while using dance music samples and beats to carry the tracks.
The breakout hit is "U Can't Touch This," which gets the rapper on MTV with an iconic video that shows off his high-energy Hammer dancing (including his signature move: the Chinese typewriter). The party vibe becomes the basis for his live appearances, where dozens of dancers and hypemen join him on stage.
Hammer grew up in a rough neighborhood in Oakland, California. After becoming a batboy for the Oakland A's baseball team, he released his first album, Feel My Power, in 1987. Let's Get It Started was issued in 1988, and Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em followed in 1990, catapulting him to fame and making him unquestionably the most popular rapper in the world. His world tour fills arenas while more stalwart rap acts like Public Enemy perform in much smaller venues.
He burns through cash at an alarming rate, with huge payroll budgets and massive expenses for his next album, Too Legit To Quit. In 1996, he files for bankruptcy.
There is no stopping the rise of this rap/pop hybrid Hammer has wrought: the album spends a total of 21 weeks at #1, finally replaced by Vanilla Ice's To the Extreme.
The breakout hit is "U Can't Touch This," which gets the rapper on MTV with an iconic video that shows off his high-energy Hammer dancing (including his signature move: the Chinese typewriter). The party vibe becomes the basis for his live appearances, where dozens of dancers and hypemen join him on stage.
Hammer grew up in a rough neighborhood in Oakland, California. After becoming a batboy for the Oakland A's baseball team, he released his first album, Feel My Power, in 1987. Let's Get It Started was issued in 1988, and Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em followed in 1990, catapulting him to fame and making him unquestionably the most popular rapper in the world. His world tour fills arenas while more stalwart rap acts like Public Enemy perform in much smaller venues.
He burns through cash at an alarming rate, with huge payroll budgets and massive expenses for his next album, Too Legit To Quit. In 1996, he files for bankruptcy.
There is no stopping the rise of this rap/pop hybrid Hammer has wrought: the album spends a total of 21 weeks at #1, finally replaced by Vanilla Ice's To the Extreme.
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