The Best Music Fun Facts

Did You Know? The Best Music Fun Facts!

Posted by myPPK™ - Power Press Kits™ on Saturday, July 23, 2022

Popular music is shrinking. From 2013 to 2018, the average song on the Billboard Hot 100 fell from 3 minutes and 50 seconds to about 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Six percent of hit songs were 2 minutes 30 seconds or shorter in 2018, up from just 1% five years before.

The longest song to reach number one on the Billboard charts on LP was “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)” by Meatloaf. Length: 12:01 (album version), 7:48 (video version), 5:13 (single version), 6:36 (single version, B-side of U.S. release)

The Dave Matthews Band is the only group to have 6 consecutive studio albums debut at the top of the Billboard chart. 

Darryl Hall and John Oates of Hall and Oates fame first met in an elevator near the Adelphi Ballroom in West Philadelphia in 1967. They were members of different local unsigned bands scheduled to play that day when a fight broke out between rival high-school fraternities involving chains, knives, and gun shots. "We were on the upper floor and there was a lift (elevator) down to the street, so I ran and jumped into it, and John Oates was in it too," said Hall. The rest is miraculous Rock & Roll history. The iconic duo formed in 1970 and reached the US Top 40 with 29 of their 33 singles charting on Billboard's Hot 100 between 1974 and 1991. In April 2014, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Elvis Presley played only five concerts outside the U.S., all on a 3-day tour of Canada in 1957. Many believe that the reason why he never toured abroad again was that his longtime manager, Colonel Tom Parker, was an illegal immigrant from Holland who would have been deported had he applied for a U.S. passport.

“Guess Things Happen That Way” by Johnny Cash was the 10-billionth track sold on iTunes, February 2010. It was bought by Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Georgia, who won a $10,000 iTunes gift card.

Johnny Cash didn't have a first name. His parents just named him with the initials, J.R. It was not uncommon for Southern kids to have names made of only initials in the days of the Depression, and Cash was called J.R. all through his childhood. It wasn’t until Cash joined the Air Force in 1950 that he had to assign himself a name. The recruiter would not accept a candidate with a name comprised of only initials, so J.R. became “John R. Cash”.

The legend who would become Johnny Cash served in the U.S. Air Force from 1950-1954. While serving in Germany as a Morse code operator (codebreaker) in March 1953, Cash intercepted a Soviet communique that spoke of the death of Soviet political leader Joseph Stalin. Cash is believed to be the first Westerner that heard of Stalin's death.

Sheryl Crow sang backup for Michael Jackson. She is the one who sang, "She said I am the one" on Billie Jean.

Such hits as “You Oughta Know”, “Hand in My Pocket”, “Ironic”, and “Head over Feet” helped Alanis Morissette become the first Canadian woman to top the Billboard 200. Her album, "Jagged Little Pill" stayed there for 12 weeks and remained in the Top 10 for a year and a half (72 weeks).

Chris Stapleton played all of the parts on his debut "Traveller" album— the electric guitar, mandolin, and acoustic guitar. As a songwriter, over 170 of Stapleton’s songs have appeared on albums by such artists as Luke Bryan, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, and Dierks Bentley.

The world’s best-selling musical instrument is the Harmonica. It gained popularity after the massive production of 1 billion harmonicas in 1986. More recently, over 3 million harmonicas are sold every year. This is according to the 2019 Global Harmonica Sales Market Report.

Neil Diamond attended New York University on a fencing scholarship, and fenced for the school’s 1960 championship team! He dropped out of school to pursue a career in songwriting, but was awarded an honorary degree in 1995. He never stopped honing his swordsmanship skills, often warming up with fencing exercises before concerts.

Sammy Hagar Is a Bestselling Author. While Sammy has hit number one on various music charts with his solo albums, songs and material he recorded with Van Halen, fans may be surprised to hear that he also hit number one on the New York Times Bestsellers list in 2011 with his book Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock. Sammy Hagar wrote the book with rock journalist Joel Selvin.

Daryl Hall wrote the hit "Sara Smile" for his collaborator / girlfriend Sara Allen. Her sister, Janna Allen, co-wrote their hit "Kiss On My List." They never got married, but Daryl and Sara were together for about 28 years before they broke up in 2001. In Entertainment Weekly Oct 16, 2009, Hall listed this as one of their favorite songs and explained: "That was a postcard to Sara Allen, who was my partner for many, many years, a 'having a great time, wish you were here,' kind of thing. I cannot tell you how many girls have told me they were named for it!" The track has been covered by dozens of artists since, including popular version by Country artist Jimmy Wayne in 2009.

Blues icon, Robert Johnson, is often cited as the influential figure for many rock musicians. He was called as the most important blues singer that ever lived by Eric Clapton. In 2004 Clapton released his 15th studio solo album entirely composed of covers of songs by Robert Johnson entitled "Me and Mr. Johnson" which features the latter guitar legend’s interpretations of fourteen songs by the Delta blues legend, including “Love in Vain” and “Hellhound on My Trail.”

As a child, B.B. King was forbidden by his mother to sing the blues, which she called the devil’s music, even though her cousin was renown bluesman, Bukka White. King would eventually take some of his most characteristic styles from White, including his dress and his trademark string bends.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd's father was a Shreveport, Louisiana radio personality and some-time concert promoter. Shepherd stated in a 2011 interview that he began playing guitar in earnest at age seven, about six months after meeting and being "pretty mesmerized" by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Labor Day weekend in 1984. Shepherd met the then up-and-coming Vaughan backstage at a Louisiana gig his father was promoting, and his life hasn’t been the same since. “He picked me up and set me on the side of the stage on his amp case,” recalls Shepherd. “I watched him play from there, and for the next six months I begged for a guitar, 'till I finally got my first one.”

Before they were Bon Jovi, the band was going to call themselves Johnny Electric. However, a friend suggested that Bon Jovi follow in Van Halen’s footsteps and use their lead singer’s last name. Looks like that was a rather wise decision.

Ultimately their best selling LP, Chicago's album Chicago 17 - released in May of 1984 - shot to #4 on the charts sending the singles Hard Habit to Break and You're the Inspiration to #3. Produced by the legendary David Foster, Chicago 17 has been certified 6x Platinum.

At the 2009 CMAs, Carrie Underwood was named the Entertainer of the Year, making her the first woman in history to win this award twice.

With fifteen number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, Carrie Underwood is the first solo country artist of the 2000s, the only country artist to debut at number one on the Hot 100, and the woman with the most number-one hits in the history of the Billboard Country Airplay chart.

Eric Clapton is the only artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times. First time with The Yardbirds in 1992, then as a member of Cream in 1993, and finally as a solo performer in 2000.

Musicians Life Spans Average 25 Years Shorter Than the General Population. The related study specifically looked at longevity and the proportion of suicides, homicides, and accidental deaths. Longevity was determined by calculating the average age of death for each musician by sex and decade of their death.

The 27 Club includes popular musicians, artists and actors who died at age 27, often as a result of drug and alcohol abuse or violent means such as homicide, suicide, or transportation-related accidents. Music biographer Charles R. Cross wrote: "The number of musicians who died at 27 is truly remarkable by any standard. [Although] humans die regularly at all ages, there is a statistical spike for musicians who die at 27." 'Club' members include but are not limited to: Robert Johnson, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Curt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, Jim Morrison (The Doors), Brian Jones (The Rolling Stones), Alan Wilson (Canned Heat), and more.

Mariah Carey reportedly insured her legs (according to E! Online) for a whopping $1 billion USD and it seems to be true!

Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard soundtrack is the best-selling soundtrack album of all time.

Willie Nelson's famous acoustic guitar, "Trigger", has been used in more than 10,000 shows across more than 50 years. Trigger got its name from Roy Roger’s horse and is decorated with celebrity signatures, the first of which was Leon Russell.

In 1982, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble was the first unsigned band to book the Montreux Jazz Festival. At that performance David Bowie saw SRV play and asked to record with him. SRV then played lead guitar on several tracks of SRV’s “Let’s Dance.” It is Bowie’s best-selling record to date.

John Mayer considers Stevie Ray Vaughan his guitar hero, and even has “SRV” tattooed on his arm.

John Lennon’s 1962 Gibson J-160 E electric acoustic was one of a pair of almost identical acoustic guitars; purchased by John Lennon and George Harrison in London in 1962. It was used to co-compose, with Paul McCartney, Beatles songs like, “I Saw Her Standing There” and “She Loves You”. After the Beatles performed a gig in 1963, the guitar somehow managed to disappear and was presumed lost, but later resurfaced again several years later. The guitar went on to sell at auction in 2014 - to an anonymous bidder - for a jaw-dropping $2.41 million dollars.

Dolly Parton wrote the legendary songs "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You" in the same day.

Whitney Houston covered Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You", and it spent 14 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 as one of the longest times up there by any song. It became one of the best selling singles of all time as well as the best selling single by a female artist.

The song "Criminal" by Fiona Apple, released in 1997, debuted at #28 and peaked at #21. The Tidal album went on to sell over 3 million copies. Remarkably, this is the only Fiona Apple song ever to hit the Billboard Hot 100. She has a devoted following, is adored by critics, and has earned widespread acclaim throughout the music industry (Kanye West said he wanted to be the "hip-hop Fiona Apple"), but she has steadfastly refused to follow trends or create songs with hit potential, which has kept her off the pop charts. She also does little in the way of promotion, which limits her reach.

Ed Sheeran slept on Jamie Foxx's couch for six weeks before he made it big in the music business.

Ariana Grande was the first person in history to have the lead single from each of her first three albums debut in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.

Janet Jackson is the only female singer in the history of Rock & Roll to score five back-to-back #1 studio albums on the Billboard Album’s chart.

The most expensive instrument in the world is the “Lady Blunt” Stradivarius violin, which sold in 2011 for $15.9 million (USD).

In the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, Eddie Van Halen took number one in 2012 according to reader’s poll of Guitar World Magazine.

The middle name of Eddie Van Halen is Lodewijk. He was named after the Ludwig van Beethoven.

Chevy Chase played drums with the college band The Leather Canary, headed by school friends Walter Becker and Donald Fagen (who later founded the group Steely Dan.)

$4 billion dollars is made by the US online music industry – but the industry loses around $40 billion due to illegal downloads.

The Beatles still hold the top spot for the sale of 106 million albums. Country music singer Garth Brooks is in second place with 92 million albums sold, followed by Led Zeppelin with sales of 83 million, Elvis Presley with 77 million albums sold, and then the Eagles, who sold 65 million.

Prince played 27 instruments on his debut album. The album "For You" was released when he was just 20 years old. Included in the album’s notes, he’s listed as the musician behind all vocals, as well as (get ready!) electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, bass synth, singing bass, Fuzz bass, electric piano, acoustic piano, mini-Moog, poly-Moog, Arp string ensemble, Arp Pro Soloist, Oberheim four-voice, clavinet, drums, syndrums, water drums, slapsticks, bongos, congas, finger cymbals, wind chimes, orchestral bells, woodblocks, brush trap, tree bell, hand claps, and finger snaps.

Stevie Wonder was just 13 when he scored his first No. 1 on the Hot 100. He's had nine more since then. The Beatles have the most No. 1 hits of all time with 20.

In 2019, a black Stratocaster owned by David Gilmour became the world’s most expensive guitar ever sold since it had been sold at a New York auction for $3.9 million US dollars. Almost perfectly a year later in June 2020, Kurt Cobain’s 1959 MARTIN D-18E, the Kurt Cobain MTV unplugged guitar, was bought by the Australian Peter Freedman at Julien’s auction in Los Angeles for just over $6 million US dollars making it the most expensive guitar ever sold as it took the throne from David Gilmour.

C. F. Martin & Co. has been family owned and operated since the first guitar came off Christian Frederick Martin’s first workbench in 1833. Their guitars were strummed by Civil War soldiers around campfires, helped shape the sound of modern music at the turn of the 20th century, and were played by music’s first superstars like Jimmie Rodgers and Gene Autry. Since then artists like Eric Clapton, Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Neil Young, Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, Seth Avett, and many others all played Martins, creating much of the soundtrack of the last century.

Britney Spears was the highest-paid reality show judge ever, getting $15 million to do “X-Factor.”

Justin Timberlake co-wrote Rihanna's 2008 single "Rehab," and he also sang on it and appeared in the sexy music video.

In 2009 Christina Aguilera became the youngest and only artist under 30 at the time to make Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time at No. 58. The publication wrote that “[Aguilera] has had the finesse and power of a blues queen ever since she was a child star”. She has been nominated for 20 Grammy's and won five.

In 1993 young future super stars Britney Spears, Ryan Gosling, Christina Aguilera, and Justin Timberlake joined The All-New Mickey Mouse Club in its sixth season on the Disney Channel.

While attending Appalachian State University, country music super star Luke Combs had dreams of following a career in law enforcement and he even worked as a bouncer at a club.

“White Christmas”, sung by American singer Bing Crosby, is the best-selling song in history. Crosby, who died in 1977, has sold around 52 million copies of the song to date.

In 1969, Bob Dylan was quite famous when he was asked to play at Woodstock. Supposedly a contract was drawn up saying he would play, only for him to back out at the last minute. To this day, he has never revealed exactly why he backed out.

By the time Jimi Hendrix closed out the Woodstock festival bright and early at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, August 17, the crowds had diminished to only about 25,000 from the estimated 400,000 - 500,000 over the weekend. His performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner," thankfully immortalized on film, remains one of the most legendary moments from the entire weekend.

Led Zeppelin's 1968/1969 tour of North America was the first concert tour of the United States and Canada by the English rock band. The group initially played as the support act for bands such as Vanilla Fudge and Iron Butterfly (both of which were also contracted to Atlantic Records) and Country Joe & the Fish. However, as the tour progressed, it became apparent that Led Zeppelin was easily outshining the headline acts. Guitarist Jimmy Page noticed that by the time the group reached San Francisco, other groups were not turning up, and Led Zeppelin were then headliners.

Neil Diamond, on a scholarship, dropped out of his pre-med program in his final year. He quit to take a 16-week songwriting job. It wasn't until years later that he found commercial success.

In 2000, James Taylor was inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame all in the same year. Talk about impressive! He has earned 40 gold, platinum, and multi-platinum awards, as well as five Grammy Awards.

Most successful independent artists: Chance the Rapper is well known in the hip-hop world for hits like “No Problem” and “Juice.” But he also made a name for himself by turning down label after label for a record deal. You may have seen him in Kit Kat commercials, on Saturday Night Live more than once, and even at the Grammy’s where he won! He's done this all without the support of a label. His net worth is valued at more than $25 million.

Eric Clapton played lead guitar on the original The Beatles’ song 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps'. When George Harrison first asked Eric to play lead guitar on the track, Clapton replied “I can’t do that. Nobody ever plays on Beatles records.” Harrison responded “Look, it’s my song and I want you to play on it.”

Van Halen had a clause deep in their tour rider contract to have a bowl of M&M's in the green room with all of the brown M&M's removed. Seemingly crazy, the “brown M&M” clause actually was a test to see whether the promoter had read the entire details of the contract. Reading the “fine print” was important because the contract was, in effect, a checklist of steps that needed to be taken to set up the stage safely. If the directions weren’t followed exactly, people could be injured. The band knew, upon arrival, that if brown M&M's were in the bowl, the crew hadn't carefully read the entire contract.

Ed Sheeran holds the record for the highest-grossing concert tour to date. His 2017-2019 "÷ Tour" played 255 shows with an attendance of 8,796,567 and grossed $776,200,000 USD.

To date, Stevie Nicks remains the only woman to have two Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions. Her first entry was in 1998 for her Fleetwood Mac accomplishments. The second was in 2019 as a solo artist.

Born Joan Larkin, the singer took the name Joan Jett after her parents’ divorce. Jett was actually her mother’s maiden name. She legally changed her name to Joan Jett in the 1980s.

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