This Day in Music
On this day in music, December 9, 1989, Billy Joel began a two-week run at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with the anthemic, “We Didn’t Start The Fire.” The artist was inspired to write the song when he met a 21-year-old friend of Sean Lennon’s during a recording session. Lennon declared, “It’s a terrible time to be 21,” which made Joel recall what was going on in the world when he turned 21. The Grammy-winning track lists an astonishing 118 global events that took place between 1949 (the year of Joel’s birth) and 1989 and marked the Long Island native’s third No.1 hit of the decade.
In 2000, U2 made their first-ever appearance on Saturday Night Live. The Irish group performed “Beautiful Day” and “Elevation,” both off their tenth studio album, All That You Can’t Leave Behind, produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois.
In 1978, Chic began a seven-week run at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Le Freak.” The disco track was inspired by events that took place on New Year’s Eve, 1977, when the group’s co-founders, Nile Rogers and Bernard Edwards, were refused entrance to Studio 54, despite being guests of Grace Jones. The lyrics of the hook were originally “F__k off!”
In 1991, during their Use Your Illusion Tour, Guns N’ Roses played the first of three nights at Madison Square Garden. The tour was one of the longest runs in rock history, consisting of 194 shows in 27 countries from January 20, 1991, to July 17, 1993.
In 1992, George Harrison was honored as the first recipient of the Century Award, presented by Tom Petty at the third annual Billboard Music Awards.
In 2013, recipients of the 36th annual Kennedy Center Honors included jazz fusion pioneer Herbie Hancock, singer-songwriter Billy Joel, and guitarist and songwriter Carlos Santana.
In 1966, Cream released their debut, Fresh Cream, in the UK. The album peaked at No.6 on the UK charts.
In 2016, The Rolling Stones hit No.1 in the UK with Blue & Lonesome, the band’s first studio album to reach the top spot in 22 years.
BORN ON DECEMBER 9
1932: Junior Wells
1941: Sammy Strain (The O’Jays)
1950: Joan Armatrading
1957: Donny Osmond
1964: Paul H. Landers (Rammstein)
1968: Brian Bell (Weezer)
1969: Jakob Dylan (The Wallflowers)
1971: Geoff Barrow (Portishead)
1972: Tre Cool (Green Day)
