On This Day, May 23 in Music History
EVENTS ON MAY 23 IN MUSIC HISTORY
On this day May 23 in 1960 – With ‘Cathy’s Clown’, The Everly Brothers started a five a week stint at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. Also a big hit in the UK where it topped the Singles chart for seven consecutive weeks that year.
1970 – With their twelfth and final studio album ‘Let It Be’, the Beatles went started a three-week stint at number one on the UK Albums chart.
1970 – Paul McCartney topped the US Billboard 200 chart with his debut solo studio album ‘McCartney’ on this day May 23 in music history.
1971 – Rock band Iron Butterfly broke up after playing the last show on their tour at the Community College in Oregon. The group eventually reunited in 1974 and continued to tour and record new material for decades to come.
1975 – English singer Elton John released his ninth studio album ‘Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy’. The album was a huge commercial success and was certified gold even before it was released based on pre-order sales. It hit No.1 in the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, while in the UK it reached No.2.
1976 – During the second leg of his Rolling Thunder Revue tour, Bob Dylan performed at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins, Colorado on this day May 23. The concert was recorded and later released as a live album titled ‘Hard Rain’ which peaked at No.3 in the UK and No.17 in the US.
1981 – Dutch studio group Stars on 45 started a five-week stint at No.1 in the UK with ‘Long Play Album’ which is a mixture of 20+ mainly Beatles songs combined together to form two long-play medley tracks.
1987 – With their debut studio album ‘It’s Better to Travel’, pop group Swing Out Sister reached number one in the UK for the first of two weeks on this day May 23.
1991 – One of the most popular album covers was shot on this day in Los Angeles. It was photographer Michael Lavine who shot the cover for Nirvana‘s second studio album ‘Nevermind’ which shows a swimming baby chasing a US dollar bill on a fishhook.
1992 – Hip hop duo Kris Kross topped the US Billboard 200 chart with their debut studio album ‘Totally Krossed Out’ on this day May 23 in music history. The album features their worldwide hit single ‘Jump’.
1992 – Heavy metal band Iron Maiden scored their third number one album in the UK with their ninth studio release ‘Fear of the Dark’.
1998 – The number one album in the United Kingdom on this day May 23 was the second studio LP ‘Version 2.0’ by the alternative rock band Garbage.
1998 – With his box set ‘The Limited Series’, country music singer-songwriter Garth Brooks reached number one on the US Billboard 200.
1998 – Singer and songwriter Mariah Carey scored her thirteenth chart-topper on the US Billboard Hot 100 with ‘My All’ on this day May 23.
2000 – American rock band A Perfect Circle released their debut studio album ‘Mer de Noms’ on Virgin Records. It was a commercial success and it debuted at No.4 on the Billboard 200, making it the highest ranked first album for a rock group.
2006 – Country music group the Dixie Chicks released their seventh studio album ‘Taking the Long Way’ on this day May 23. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart and it won the group five Grammy Awards.
2009 – Soul and R&B music singer and songwriter Chrisette Michele reached No.1 on the US Albums chart with her second studio release ‘Epiphany’.
2009 – Punk rock band Green Day topped the UK Albums chart with ’21st Century Breakdown’ on this day May 23 in music history.
2009 – With ‘Boom Boom Pow’, the Black Eyed Peas took the top spot on the UK Singles chart. The song was also a big hit in the US that year where it held the top spot for 12 consecutive weeks.
2015 – With their third studio album ‘Wilder Mind’, British folk rock band Mumford & Sons went to number one in the US on this day May 23.
2019 – Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran ft. singer Justin Bieber hit No.1 on the UK Singles chart with ‘I Don’t Care’ for the first of eight consecutive weeks.
2020 – The number one single in the United States on this day May 23 was ‘Stuck With U’ by the pop singers Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber.
2020 – Canadian rapper Nav scored his second chart-toper on the US Billboard 200 chart with his third studio album ‘Good Intentions’.
BORN ON MAY 23 IN MUSIC HISTORY
1910 – American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, and actor Artie Shaw was born in New York City.
1928 – American singer and actress Rosemary Clooney was born in Maysville, Kentucky. Best known for hit songs such as Come On-a My House’, ‘Tenderly’, ‘Both-a-Me’, ‘Sway’, and ‘Mambo Italiano’ among others.
1934 – Engineer and pioneer of electronic music Robert Moog was born in New York City. Best known for inventing the first commercial synthesizer – the Moog synthesizer.
1943 – Singer, songwriter, and producer General Norman Johnson was born in Norfolk, Virginia. Best known as the frontman of the group Chairmen of the Board.
1944 – American drummer Ramon ‘Tiki’ Fulwood was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Best known as a member of Parliament-Funkadelic with whom he was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
1946 – Bass guitarist Daniel ‘Danny’ Klein was born in the Bronx, New York City. Best known as a member of the J. Geils Band.
1946 – Multi-instrumentalist and composer Ruth Underwood was born Ruth Komanoff. Best known for her work with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.
1951 – Country music singer, songwriter and instrumentalist Judy Rodman was born in Riverside, California. Best known for her chart-topping single ‘Until I Met You’.
1952 – Co-founder and guitarist of the alternative rock band Concrete Blonde, James Andrew Mankey was born in Washington.
1953 – Guitarist Richard “Rick” Fenn was born in Oxford, England. He gained popularity as a member of the rock band 10cc.
1967 – Drummer, backing vocalist, and founding member of the rock group Radiohead, Phillip Selway was born in Abingdon, England.
1970 – American drummer and record producer Matthew Flynn was born in Woodstock, New York. Best known as a member of the pop rock group Maroon 5.
1973 – Singer-songwriter and record producer Gerald Maxwell Rivera was born in Brooklyn, New York. Best known for hit songs such as ‘Fortunate’, ‘Lifetime’, ‘Pretty Wings’, etc.
1974 – American singer, songwriter and actress Jewel Kilcher was born in Payson, Utah. She has sold over 30 million records worldwide.