Liszt's Debut
1822 Franz Liszt, aged 11, debuts as a pianist in Vienna
Lady, Be Good!
1924 George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin's 1st collaborative musical "Lady, Be Good!", featuring siblings Fred Astaire and Adelle Astaire as a brother and sister dance team, opens at the Liberty Theatre, NYC, runs for 330 performances
Hooray for What!
1937 Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg's anti-war musical "Hooray for What!", starring Ed Wynn and directed by Vincente Minnelli, opens at the Winter Garden Theatre, NYC; runs for 200 performances
Bartòk's Concerto for Orchestra
1944 Béla Bartòk's Concerto for orchestra, premieres in Symphony Hall, Boston, by the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Serge Koussevitzky
Billy Budd
1951 Benjamin Britten's opera "Billy Budd" premieres in London
Candide
1956 Leonard Bernstein's musical "Candide" opens at Martin Beck Theater, NYC; runs for 73 performances
The Girl Can't Help It
1956 Musical comedy film "The Girl Can't Help It" starring Jayne Mansfield with cameos by rock 'n' roll stars Little Richard, Eddie Cochran, and Gene Vincent premieres
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
1957 Seminal rock band Buddy Holly & The Crickets make their "Ed Sullivan Show" debut, performing "That'll Be The Day" and "Peggy Sue"; singer Sam Cooke also performs after getting bumped due to time constraints on November 3rd - he sings "You Send Me" and “(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons” [1] [2]
- 1958 Liberty Records releases single "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" by David Seville and the Chipmunks; it becomes a #1 hit, and wins 3 Grammy Awards (Comedy Performance, Children's Recording, and Best Engineered),
Flower Drum Song
1958 Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's musical "Flower Drum Song", directed by Gene Kelly, and starring Miyoshi Umeki, opens at St James Theater, NYC; runs for 602 performances, winning a Tony Award
Beatles, Arrested and Deported
1960 British rocker Paul McCartney and drummer Pete Best arrested and then deported from Hamburg, Germany accused of attempted arson
Axis: Bold as Love
1967 Track Records releases the Jimi Hendrix Experience's 2nd studio album "Axis: Bold as Love" in the UK, just seven months after their debut release
Promises, Promises
1968 Burt Bacharach and Hal David's musical "Promises, Promises", based on the 1960 Billy Wider film "The Apartment", opens at Shubert Theatre, NYC; runs for 1,281 performances, wins a Grammy and 2 Tony Awards
Two Gentlemen of Verona
1971 Galt MacDermot and John Guare's musical adaptation of William Shakespeare's "Two Gentlemen of Verona", starring Clifton Davis and Raul Julia, opens at St James Theater, NYC; runs for 614 performances and wins 2 Tony Awards
Happy Xmas (War is Over)
1971 John Lennon and Yoko Ono release single "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" in the US
- 1972 Wings release "Hi, Hi, Hi" in UK
Sex Pistols
1976 Sex Pistols using profanity on TV, gets them branded as "rotten punks"
- 1986 Paul McCartney releases single "Only Love Remains"
Roy Orbison
1988 Roy Orbison gives his final concert at The Front Row Theater in Cleveland, Ohio
- 1991 "Moscow Circus Cirk Valentin" closes at Gershwin NYC after 32 performances
Once on This Island
1991 Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens' musical "Once on This Island", based on Rosa Guy's novel "My Love, My Love" (a Caribbean-set retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid"), closes at Booth Theater, NYC, after 469 performances
Schumann's Manuscript Sells
1994 Manuscript by Robert Schumann of his 2nd Symphony sells for $2.3M, a record for any 19th century work, at auction in London, England
Tupac Shakur
1994 Rapper Tupac Shakur convicted on sexual assault charge, and later sentenced to up to 4 1/2 years in prison
The Color Purple
2005 Musical "The Color Purple" based on the book by Alice Walker opens on Broadway produced by Oprah Whitney starring LaChanze (Tony Award Best Actress in a Musical)
Music History
2014 "U2 Minus 1" performs at Times Square, NYC for World AIDS Day; Bruce Springsteen and Chris Martin of Coldplay each sing two songs in place of injured frontman Bono
Thank U Next
2018 Ariana Grande releases the music video to her single "Thank U Next", biggest ever launch on Youtube Premiere
Spotify's Most Streamed 2020
2020 Spotify's most streamed artist of 2020 was Bad Bunny, its most streamed song "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd
