This Day in Music: October 12, 2026

• 2013: Sixteen-year-old Lorde reaches No. 1 on the Hot 100 with “Royals.”
  The New Zealand singer became the youngest solo artist to top the chart with a song she wrote herself. “Royals” held No. 1 for nine weeks and later won the Grammy for Song of the Year.
• 2009: Michael Jackson's “This Is It” is released as a promotional single.
  It was the first new Jackson release since his death that June, and it shared its title with the concert film of his final rehearsals, which reached theaters later that month.
• 2003: 50 Cent sweeps the World Music Awards in Monaco.
  The rapper won all five awards he was nominated for. His debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin', was the best-selling album in America that year.
• 1997: John Denver dies at 53 in a plane crash off the California coast.
  Denver was piloting a small experimental aircraft that went down in the Pacific near Monterey Bay. He is remembered for “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” “Rocky Mountain High” and “Annie's Song.”
• 1994: MTV airs Jimmy Page and Robert Plant's reunion special, Unledded.
  The two Led Zeppelin veterans reworked old songs with Moroccan and Egyptian musicians. The performances were released as the album No Quarter.
• 1993: Faith Hill releases her debut album, Take Me As I Am.
  The record launched her country career with two No. 1 country singles, “Wild One” and a cover of “Piece of My Heart.”
• 1991: Mariah Carey hits No. 1 with “Emotions.”
  It was her fifth straight single to top the Hot 100, making her the first act to open a career with five No. 1s and breaking the record of four held by The Jackson 5.
• 1987: INXS releases Kick.
  The Australian band's breakthrough album produced “Need You Tonight,” which went to No. 1 in America, along with “Devil Inside” and “New Sensation.”
• 1985: B-52's guitarist Ricky Wilson dies at 32.
  Wilson, a founding member of the Athens, Georgia, band alongside his sister Cindy, died of an AIDS-related illness. The group regrouped and scored its biggest hit, “Love Shack,” four years later.
• 1979: Fleetwood Mac releases the double album Tusk.
  It was the band's first album since the blockbuster Rumours. The title track, featuring the USC Trojan Marching Band, became a top 10 hit.
• 1971: Rockabilly pioneer Gene Vincent dies at 36.
  Vincent died in California of a ruptured stomach ulcer. His 1956 hit “Be-Bop-A-Lula” was one of early rock and roll's defining records.
• 1969: A Detroit DJ helps launch the “Paul is dead” rumor.
  Russ Gibb of WKNR-FM played the Beatles' “Revolution 9” backward on the air after a caller's tip, and the story that Paul McCartney had died spread nationwide.
• 1968: Big Brother and the Holding Company's Cheap Thrills hits No. 1.
  The album, fronted by Janis Joplin, featured “Piece of My Heart” and stayed at No. 1 for eight weeks.
• 1963: “Sugar Shack” by Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs reaches No. 1.
  The song stayed on top for five weeks and finished as Billboard's biggest single of 1963.
• 1944: Frank Sinatra fans spark the “Columbus Day Riot” in New York.
  Thousands of fans, mostly teenage girls, crowded the streets outside Sinatra's show at the Paramount Theatre, and police were called in to control them.

Born on This Day

• 1988: Calum Scott, English singer
  Turns 38. Broke through with his version of “Dancing On My Own” and followed with the hit ballad “You Are the Reason.”
• 1979: Jordan Pundik, American singer (New Found Glory)
  Turns 47. Lead vocalist of the Florida pop punk band behind “My Friends Over You.”
• 1969: Martie Maguire, American fiddler and singer (The Chicks)
  Turns 57. Plays fiddle and sings harmony on country hits like “Wide Open Spaces” and “Not Ready to Make Nice.”
• 1968: Hugh Jackman, Australian actor and singer
  Turns 58. Sang his way through the movie musicals Les Miserables and The Greatest Showman.
• 1962: Chris Botti, American jazz trumpeter
  Turns 64. Grammy-winning trumpeter known for his smooth jazz albums and years touring with Sting.
• 1958: Jeff Keith, American singer (Tesla)
  Turns 68. Frontman on the hard rock band's hits “Love Song” and “Signs.”
• 1955: Pat DiNizio, American singer and songwriter (The Smithereens)
  Wrote and sang the band's jangly rock hits “A Girl Like You” and “Blood and Roses.”
• 1948: Rick Parfitt, English singer and guitarist (Status Quo)
  Longtime rhythm guitarist of the British rock band known for “Pictures of Matchstick Men” and “Rockin' All Over the World.”
• 1942: Melvin Franklin, American bass singer (The Temptations)
  His deep bass voice anchored Motown classics like “My Girl” and “Ain't Too Proud to Beg.”
• 1935: Sam Moore, American soul singer (Sam & Dave)
  Half of the soul duo behind “Soul Man” and “Hold On, I'm Comin'.”
• 1935: Luciano Pavarotti, Italian opera tenor
  One of the Three Tenors, he brought opera to huge audiences with his signature “Nessun dorma.”