As for every Tuesday, discover with us what happened during this week in music history!
April 10: John Denver’s “Take Me Home Country Roads” hit the charts
There are few songs that really can be considered as classics and that we can assure everyone knows. One of these certainly is John Denver’s “Take Me Home Country Roads.” On this day in 1971,a few weeks after the song was released, “Take Me Home Country Roads” became Denver’s first song to hit the charts. The song reached the top of the charts. Today, John Denver’s “Take Me Home Country Roads” is certainly one of the most iconic and pop culture hit songs ever. The hit not only was part of movies, tv series and video games, but even inspired sport chants and was used by John Cena in 2012 during one of his WWE matches.
April 11: Kurt Cobain’s death was a suicide
On April 11th, 1994, coroner ruled that Nirvana’s singer and frontman Kurt Cobain death was a suicide. The artist took his own life in Seattle, WA. Six days after his death, multiple factors led to the conclusion that the singer took his own life. These include the presence of a gun and of a signed letter in the room where VECA Electric employee Gary T. Smith found the body. Smith arrived to the greenhouse above the garage at his Lake Washington Boulevard East house to install security lighting. He initially thought the singer was asleep until he saw blood coming out of Cobain’s ear.
April 12: Shania Twain breaking yet another record
On this day in 1999, Shania Twain became the first female artist in music history to sell at least 10 million units with back to back releases. With releases like debut self-titled album, The Woman In Me and Come On Over, this isn’t a surprise
To date, Twain has sold more than 85 million albums. She is considered as one of the most successful artists ever, and is the top-selling female artist in country-music history.
Discover the artist’s most recent studio album release Queen Of Me and single “Giddy Up!” here.
April 13: Grease leaves Broadway after almost 4000 performances
On this day in 1980, the Broadway musical “Grease” closed after 3,883 performances. The musical was and still is one of the most iconic in music history and and engraved in pop culture. It made many fall in love with it, and made us all dream of taking a leap into the past to take part in the life of the 50s for a day. Through unforgettable hits, and memorable and relatable characters, Grease became a pillar of the recent music culture.
April 14: Sign of the Times
It was six years ago when on this day Harry Styles’s debut single “Sign of the Times” broke Ed Sheeran’s 13-week run at the top of the charts. “Sign of the Times” became One Direction ex member’s first No.1 hit as a solo artist. The single later became also the leading hit off his first solo album, self-titled Harry Styles. The rest is history.
April 15: Thankful
On this day in 2003, Kelly Clarkson released her debut album Thankful. After taking part – and winning – the first edition of American Idol in 2002, the singer dropped her first studio record. Thankful included some of the singer’s biggest hits to date like “A Moment Like This” and “Miss Independent.” The public loved the release, bringing it to the top of the charts and making it the singer’s first No.1 success.
April 16: An International Tribute for a Free South Africa
On this day in 1990, over 72,000 people gathered at London’s Wembley Stadium for an anti-apartheid concert, An International Tribute for a Free South Africa. The event aimed to honour Nelson Mandela, which at that point was recently released from prison. Mandela was on stage for 45 minutes, and received a standing ovation for the first eight minutes. On stage, he reminded people across the world to continue put pressure for apartheid’s abolition and for the governments to maintain sanctions against South Africa.
The concert received an incredible following, and it was broadcast to more than 60 countries. The full stadium saw performances by some of the most influential and globally famous artists of the time. The musical line-up at the Wembley event included: Lou Reed, Natalie Cole, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Simple Minds, Tracy Chapman and Stetsasonic. Even Denzel Washington appeared on stage. In addition, Anita Baker, Bonnie Raitt, Chrissie Hynde, Jackson Browne, Johnny Clegg and Aswad took part to the event as well.
