Top 10 Unbelievable Facts in Music History
Join WatchMojo.com as we count down our picks for the top 10 unbelievable facts in music history. Special thanks to our users ViolaCello and Philip Folta for submitting the idea on our Suggest Page at WatchMojo.comsuggest
Top 10 Unbelievable Facts in Music History
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Huh, what, really, and wow; these are the music facts that have us scratching our heads. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top 10 unbelievable facts in music history. For this list, we’ve chosen cool, interesting or surprising facts or pieces of trivia relating to music, musicians and/or the music industry.
#10: “Happy Birthday to You” is copyrighted
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Although likely sung 350,000-plus times a day, “Happy Birthday” is not actually a song in the public domain and its copyright status earns rights holders Warner/Chappell Music about $2-million a year. The company’s copyright – which was acquired in 1988 for at least $25-million – is set to expire in 2030 in the United States, although it will expire at the end of 2016 in Europe, owing to differences in copyright law. Written as early as 1893 by sisters and teachers Patty and Mildred J. Hill, the song is only subject to royalty payments when sung in public and commands $10,000 for use in films.
#9: Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ 50+ kids
This shock rock pioneer was, shockingly, also father to as many as 75 children. The singer had three children with the first of his six wives, but has been quoted as being aware of at least 57 mostly illegitimate children. Following his death in 2000, a website was set up to help track his vastly sown seed, with 33 of the more than 1,200 submissions more or less confirmed as the rocker’s offspring. The next year, many of the junior Hawkins held a reunion to celebrate daddy dearest.
#8: Céline Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” was recorded in one take
Now viewed as Céline Dion’s signature song, the ballad to sink a ship almost didn’t happen. Upon hearing the music, the singer didn’t want to record it, and “Titanic” director James Cameron didn’t want to use it. Producer Simon Franglen, who had worked with Celine in the past, opted to record a demo anyway and Dion was encouraged to sing on the recording by husband and manager René Angélil. According to Tommy Mottola, Dion nailed the vocal in one take and never re-recorded it, meaning the global #1 hit is actually a demo.
#7: Elvis Presley was a blond
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Perhaps the most surprising fact about a man whose life was rich with interesting facts is that the King of Rock and Roll’s jet black hair came from a bottle - a bottle of Miss Clairol 51D to be exact. Born blond, Elvis’ hair naturally grew darker to a sandy blond by his high school years, and was a dark chestnut color during his service in the army. Presley began dying his hair black in the mid-‘50s and continued to do so until his death in 1977. Actor Robert Mitchum meanwhile reportedly inspired his trademark hairstyle.
#6: Tony Iommi’s missing fingertips
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Aged 17 and working his last day in a sheet metal factory, the future Black Sabbath guitarist cut off the tips of his right middle and ring fingers in a pressing machine. Being left-handed, this should have meant the end of his playing days, but Iommi instead created new fingertips out of melted dish soap bottles and leather strips, which resembled thimbles. For playability, the guitarist began tuning his guitar to D-flat rather than E-standard, which had the additional effect of giving his music a low, deep and menacing sound and shaped what would become heavy metal.
#5: Mariah Carey’s whistle register and reaching beyond the 7th octave
Self-classified as an alto, Mariah Carey began singing in imitation of her mother, a mezzo-soprano opera singer, when she was about three. Carey’s vocal range spans five-plus octaves from E2 through G#7, which includes a full and controlled whistle register on the high end of things that put her in the Guinness Book of World Records. The diva claims her increased ability in the higher octaves stems from nodules on her vocal chords, which have allowed the singer to hit some of the highest notes ever produced by a human voice.
#4: Def Leppard’s Rick Allen keeps drumming with one arm
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Rick Allen’s career was nearly cut short in 1984 when a car accident resulted in the drummer losing his left arm. Although doctors were able to reattach the limb, gangrene soon set in forcing them to amputate it. Allen discovered he could keep good time with his remaining limbs, and soon set about piecing together an electronic kit with additional foot triggers with some help from his fellow musicians. He also developed a modified playing style - a style Def Leppard vocalist Joe Elliott claims is actually superior to the drummer’s former two-armed drumming.
#3: The Dark Side of the Moon’s 14-year chart run
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Recorded between the spring of 1972 and winter of 1973, material from The Dark Side of the Moon was actually debuted by Pink Floyd while they toured prior to its release. This did little to hurt sales, however, as the game-changing album stayed in the charts for a total 741 weeks, starting with a number one spot on the Billboard Top LP & Tapes chart in March. It only finally dropped off in 1988! The Pink Floyd record has even reappeared on the charts several times thereafter, including the ‘90s and 2000s and to date, has clocked in 867 nonconsecutive weeks.
#2: The all Beatles Top 5
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By April 4, 1964 Beatlemania had arrived in America. Although not yet “bigger than Jesus,” the Fab Four managed to take all five top positions on the Billboard Hot 100 on this date. That week, “Can’t Buy Me Love” took the top spot while “Twist and Shout”, “She Loves You”, “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, and “Please Please Me” made the Beatles the only act ever to completely hold the chart’s top 5 spots. “Can’t Buy Me Love”‘s jump from #26 to the top, meanwhile, was the largest leap until Kelly Clarkson’s “A Moment Like This” hit #1 from #52 in 2002. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions: - Leo Fender, inventor and founder of Fender, couldn’t play guitar - Rod Stewart’s New Year’s Eve 1994 concert in Rio de Janeiro is the largest concert ever with an audience of 3.5 million - Japan’s national anthem is world’s shortest at four lines - Greece’s national anthem is world’s longest with 158 stanzas - James Brown’s “Funky Drummer” drum break is hip-hop’s most sampled piece of music - Harmonica is World’s Best-Selling Instrument - Bette Nesmith Graham, mother of The Monkees’ Michael Nesmith, invented Liquid Paper
#1: The 27 Club
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Whether due to overdoses, suicides, murders, or even natural causes, many iconic musicians never lived to see age 28. The apparent frequency with which artists have seemed to die when they’re 27 has led to the idea of the so-called “27 Club.” Reportedly beginning as early as 1892 with the death of Brazilian pianist Alexandre Levy, and claiming blues legend Robert Johnson in 1938, the 27 Club’s peak era was 1969 to 1971, as these years saw the passing of notable musicians like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and The Doors’ Jim Morrison. The club gained renewed attention in 1994 with Kurt Cobain’s death, and in the new millennium with Amy Winehouse’s passing in 2011. Do you agree with our list? What’s your favorite unbelievable music fact? For more unbelievable Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.
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