You know him as the lead singer of Queen, one of the greatest voices in rock history. But did you know that Freddie Mercury loved his cats almost as much as he loves music? Mercury got his first two cats in the early 1970s. His girlfriend at the time, Mary Austin, brought home two felines […]
You can tell what NFL stadium you’re in by what song they play when the home team scores a touchdown. New York Giants When the New York Giants score, the P.A. pumps out “New York Groove,” the 1978 solo hit by Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley. Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles home stadium play two songs. […]
Except for Kanye West and Will Smith, most rappers don’t perform under their real names. They use nicknames or handles instead, which reflect their personalities. Here are how some of the biggest MCs of all time came up their stage names. Waka Flocka Flame. As a kid, he used to watch the cartoon Muppet Babies […]
It’s supposed to be easy: You get up on that stage, sing some songs, and soak up the adulation. But out of the thousands of rock concerts ever staged, a few have taken a turn for the worst. Patti Smith Patti Smith and her band were serving as the opening act for Bob Seger on […]
Name some musicians, and you immediately think “one-hit wonder,” like Dexy’s Midnight Runners or Toni Basil. Some other artists are downright household names, but the stats don’t lie: Despite being enormously successful, they only ever had one hit single. Don Ho One of the most famous musicians to ever come out of Hawaii (if not […]
Sometimes we like to get a little highbrow here at the Bathroom Readers’ Institute. Salieri vs. Mozart Ironically, Salieri became famous because of the movie about how he wasn’t famous. For the 1984 film Amadeus, F. Murray Abraham won an Academy Award for playing the Mozart contemporary who was overshadowed by Mozart, a musical genius […]
A lot of rock music movies were produced in the 1970s—Led Zeppelin’s The Song Remains the Same, the Who’s Quadrophenia, and Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park, for example. But for whatever reason, many more rock movies were planned but never got made. (Perhaps 1970s rock stars were not the most reliable bunch.) After […]
How did the rock star born Marvin Aday get his stage moniker? It depends on the day. Aday so hates being asked the question constantly over the years that he likes to, as he says, “just continually lie.” Here are just a few of the multiple stories he’s told about how he got the name […]
Over the weekend, Chuck Berry died at the age of 90. Here are some facts you may not have known about one of the architects of rock n’ roll. Berry came up in an era in which record labels, music publishers, and concert promoters mercilessly cheated musicians—especially African-American musicians. Result: Berry always demanded to be […]
On a 1976 Lynyrd Skynyrd live album, singer Ronnie Van Zandt asks a restless audience, “what song is it you wanna hear?” and the crowd responds “Free Bird!” because they wanted to hear the band’s biggest hit. Now, it’s as much a concert tradition as going home with ringings ears to shout out “Play ‘Free […]
The Grammy Award for Best New Artist, like all the other Grammys, is decided by a vote of music industry professionals. They often have made the wrong choice, in that the winner faded into obscurity while the runners-up have become music superstars. Grammy voters can’t predict the future of course, but if they could have, […]
Whether you actually like the music of the Genesis drummer-turned-soft rock superstar or not, you’ve got to admit: Phil Collins seems pretty inoffensive. That’s why we were a little surprised when we discovered all of these colorful stories about him. He was almost a Romeo… At the height of his musical fame in the ’80s, […]
While, Florence Henderson will forever be associated with The Brady Bunch, she also factors into one of the dumbest—and most enduring—traditions in rock n’ roll. It’s a cliché at this point, and one you’ve probably seen go down if you’ve been to a concert in the past 30 years or so. During a lull, or between songs […]
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a civil rights pioneer and American hero. Naturally, quite a few songs have been written about him.
The quadrennial presidential inauguration is one of highest profile gigs in music, and many musicians have gotten a huge boost performing for the new president on his first day in office. Here’s a look back at some past galas. 1941 This marked Franklin Roosevelt’s third straight presidential election, so his vowing to uphold the Constitution […]
The “he” being Brian May of Queen. The “rock” being space rocks, or asteroids. Brian May is the lead guitarist of Queen, a position he has held for more than 40 years. But right before the band came together to produce classic songs like “We Will Rock You,” “We Are the Champions,” and “Bohemian Rhapsody,” […]
It used to be that a vital part of a successful TV series was a catchy and memorable theme song. But there are a handful of TV shows that had such great theme songs that they became hits…and far surpassed the popularity of the shows they came from. Here are some TV theme songs that […]
It was just announced that six new all-time singers, bands, and rappers will join the ranks of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here are a few bizarre facts about each of the inductees. Yes The band is most famous for its progressive rock years with keyboardist Rick Wakeman, but the band bad its […]
