Today's birthdays:
Pink, 44.
Alecia Beth Moore Hart, known professionally as Pink (stylized as P!nk), is an American singer, songwriter and actress.
During her teens, Pink was a member of the girl group Choice. Her first solo studio album, Can't Take Me Home (2000), was certified double-platinum in the United States. The R&B-influenced album spawned two Billboard Hot 100 top-ten songs: "There You Go" and "Most Girls". Pink gained further recognition with the collaborative single "Lady Marmalade" from the Moulin Rouge! soundtrack, which topped many charts worldwide. Pink refocused her sound to pop rock with her second studio album, Missundaztood (2001). The album sold more than 13 million copies worldwide and yielded the international hit songs "Get the Party Started", "Don't Let Me Get Me", and "Just Like a Pill".
Pink's third studio album, Try This (2003), sold significantly less than her second studio album, but earned her the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. She returned to the top of the charts with her fourth and fifth studio albums, I'm Not Dead (2006) and Funhouse (2008), which spawned the top-ten entries "Who Knew" and "U + Ur Hand" as well as the number-one single "So What". Pink's sixth studio album, The Truth About Love (2012), was her first Billboard 200 number-one album and spawned her fourth US number-one single, "Just Give Me a Reason".
Avicii (8 September 1989 – 20 April 2018).
Tim Bergling , known professionally as Avicii, was a Swedish DJ, remixer and music producer. At age 16, Bergling began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first record deal. He rose to prominence in 2011 with his single "Levels". His debut studio album, True (2013), blended electronic music with elements of multiple genres and received generally positive reviews. It peaked in the top 10 in more than 15 countries and topped international charts; the lead single, "Wake Me Up", topped most music markets in Europe and reached number four in the United States.
In 2015, Bergling released his second studio album, Stories, and in 2017 he released an EP, Av?ci (01). His catalog also included the singles "I Could Be the One" with Nicky Romero, "You Make Me", "X You", "Hey Brother", "Addicted to You", "The Days", "The Nights", "Waiting for Love", "Without You" and "Lonely Together". Bergling was nominated for a Grammy Award for his work on "Sunshine" with David Guetta in 2012 and "Levels" in 2013. Several music publications credit Bergling as among the DJs who ushered electronic music into Top 40 radio in the early 2010s.
Bergling retired from touring in 2016, after several years of stress and poor mental health. On 20 April 2018, he died by suicide while on holiday in Muscat, Oman. In 2019, his third and final album, Tim, was released posthumously.
On this day today:
1954 - The DJ Alan Freed makes his move from Cleveland to New York, where he begins broadcasting his "Alan Freed Rock 'n' Roll Show" on WINS. The first white DJ to play black music, Freed brings R&B music to a wider audience in New York, and the sound quickly goes mainstream with the rise of Elvis and the popularization of rock music.
1955 - In an attempt to hide the wrinkles in his suit, Chuck Berry does the duck walk for the first time.
1956 - Elvis Presley first appears on the cover of TV Guide.
1976 - Riding the wave of his Frampton Comes Alive! album, Peter Frampton gets invited by President Gerald Ford to spend the day at the White House.
1987 - Rush bring back Peter Collins, producer of Power Windows, for Hold Your Fire. Featuring Top Five singles "Time Stand Still" and "Force Ten," Power Windows goes Gold but is the first Rush album in nine years to fail to reach the Billboard Top 10 or to achieve Platinum status in the US.
1988 - Bad Religion return with their third album, Suffer - their first full-length in five years and one of their best selling albums of all time. Suffer sees the return of the classic How Could Hell Be Any Worse? lineup, now a five-piece featuring Greg Graffin (vocals), Brett Gurewitz (guitar), Greg Hetson (guitar), Jay Bentley (bass) and Pete Finestone (drums).
1989 - Rapper Keith "Cowboy" Wiggins of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five dies at age 28 from a crack cocaine addiction.
1992 - Tom Waits' album Bone Machine drops a sonic avalanche of apocalyptic percussion sounds, snarls, and deathly wails - and fans love him for it.
1993 - Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) appear on stage together for the first time, performing at Club Lingerie in Los Angeles. They play "Pennyroyal Tea" and "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?"
1994 - Chris Cornell and Kim Thayil accept the Best Metal/Hard Rock Video Award at the MTV Video Music Awards for Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" clip, beating out Aerosmith ("Cryin'"), Anthrax ("Black Lodge"), and Rollins Band ("Liar").
1994 - At the MTV Video Music Awards, Beastie Boy Adam Yauch (MCA), in character as "Nathanial Hornblower," rushes the stage when R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts" beats "Sabotage" for Best Direction. It's the first such intrusion at the VMAs.
1997 - Cornershop release When I Was Born for the 7th Time, their third studio album. It contains the hit song "Brimful of Asha".
1997 - The first episode of the legal dramedy Ally McBeal airs on FOX. Vonda Shepard, an unknown singer, catches her big break when she sings the theme song "Searchin' My Soul." Shepard also becomes a series regular, playing a lounge singer who gives voice to Ally's troubles through music at the end of each episode.
2001 - Jennifer Lopez's "I'm Real" remix tops the Hot 100 for the first of five non-consecutive weeks. The pop singer gets some urban street cred with the help of guest rapper Ja Rule.
2001 - Kylie Minogue releases the single "Can't Get You Out Of My Head," with a "la la la" chorus that does indeed burrow into the brain. A global smash, it's her first big hit in America since "The Loco-Motion" in 1988.
2016 - Lance Bass of *NSYNC hosts Finding Prince Charming on the Logo network, the first all-gay dating show.
2017 - Forty-one years after it was recorded, Neil Young's Hitchhiker is finally released. It features the first recorded versions of "Pocahontas" and "Powderfinger."
2020 - McDonald's introduces the Travis Scott Meal: a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Sprite, and fries with BBQ sauce. It's the first McOffering named after a celebrity since 1992, when the McJordan appeared on the menu.
