MUSIC HISTORY

On This Day in 1957, Elvis Bought Graceland

He bought the mansion for his parents to live in.

25 Surprising Facts About Nirvana

On April 5, 1994, the music world mourned the death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, who died by suicide at the age of 27.

Al Capone's Hobby: Rewriting Songs

There weren’t many constants in Al Capone’s rocky life, but the crime boss had a love of music, and it never wavered.

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12 Educational Facts About the Recorder

The recorder doesn’t have a reputation for being the coolest instrument in the world, but everyone from William Shakespeare to Paul McCartney has turned to it for inspiration.

Don’t Stop The Music: The Smiths Fan Who Plotted to Hijack A Radio Station

In 1987, one teenage fan in Denver, Colorado took his love of the English rockers a bit too far.

Read the Beautiful Letter Frank Sinatra Wrote to George Michael

"Dust off those gossamer wings and fly yourself to the moon of your choice and be grateful to carry the baggage we've all had to carry since those lean nights of sleeping on buses and helping the driver unload the instruments."

The Story of Ethel Smyth, Breaker of Operatic Glass Ceilings

On December 1, 2016, the Metropolitan Opera premiered an opera composed by a woman. The last time that happened, it was 1903.

Beethoven: How the World's First Rock Star Changed Music Forever

Thumbing his nose at authority and whipping crowds into a frenzy, he changed music forever.

Concert of Long-Lost Stravinsky Work to Stream for Free

This will mark the second-ever performance of the piece.

The Brutal Letter John Lennon Wrote to Paul McCartney Post-Breakup

The cringeworthy artifact sold for $30,000.

Raymond Scott, Avant-Garde Creator of Classic Cartoon Music

The man who gave Looney Tunes their sound was an eccentric electronic music pioneer.

Johnny Cash's Tennessee Ranch Has Been Turned Into a Museum

Cash called the retreat “the center of my universe.”

6 Jazzy Facts About Charlie Parker

The musical icon would have turned 96 years old today.

10 Facts About Pearl Jam's Ten

Part of the album's appeal might just be a fire extinguisher and a pepper shaker.

Bastoszak, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Miles Davis’s Childhood Home to Become a Museum

Think of it as the birthplace of the 'Birth of Cool.'

The Accidental Origins of ‘American Woman’

The song would not have been written if not for a broken string.

The Time a U.S. Army Helicopter Dropped Snacks on Woodstock

It’s hard to say exactly how many concert-goers attended Woodstock, but some low counts estimate at least 400,000 were there—which is great when it comes to peace and love, but a little less so when it comes to adequate food and drink for the masses.

11 Heavy Facts About Metallica's 'Black Album'

These facts aren't all sad, but they are all definitely true.

5 People Who Became Famous By Singing Badly

It's more than Florence Foster Jenkins

Retrobituaries: Fanny Crosby, America’s Greatest Hymn Writer

Fanny Crosby—poet, public speaker, activist—wrote so many hymns that publishers had to give her dozens of pseudonyms.

10 Kind of Blue Facts About Miles Davis

Celebrating the legendary musician, who said he "changed music five or six times," was born on May 26, 1926.

25 Freewheelin' Facts About Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan—the legendary artist formerly known as Robert Zimmerman—has spent the past 50-plus years trying to keep a low profile.

Behind the Scenes of Run DMC and Aerosmith’s "Walk This Way"

Washington Post reporter Geoff Edgers has crafted an oral history of the making of the groundbreaking song and video.

The Stories Behind 8 Photographs That Were Reused For Album Covers

These photos were never intended to be famous album artwork, but that's exactly what they became.

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