Pick a Day

Music History Events: Trends and Memes

June 7, 2024 Charli XCX releases her sixth album, Brat. It becomes a social media sensation, leading to "Brat Summer" as creators post dances and memes en masse. The movement transforms the word "brat," which is redefined to mean carefree, honest, and unapologetic.

January 21, 2020 Ever the trendsetter, Dolly Parton creates a viral meme that shows off four sides of her personality, as represented by LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Tinder. Celebrities like Oprah, Janet Jackson, Jennifer Garner, and Miley Cyrus join in on the fun with their own versions.More

July 15, 2012 The "Gangnam Style" video is posted to YouTube; we are powerless to resist.More

February 18, 2012 "Call Me Maybe," a catchy pop song from Canadian Idol alumna Carly Rae Jepsen, goes viral via a YouTube lip dub video by Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez. The attention helps send the single to #1.More

December 17, 2009 The much-read blog Boing Boing posts the video of "Prisencolinensinainciusol," the 1972 "gibberish rock song written by Italian composer to sound like English." The song quickly gains an American following and is later used in episodes of Fargo and Trust.

April 1, 2008 On April Fools' Day, YouTube tricks users with the popular bait-and-switch prank called Rickrolling by featuring video links that actually lead to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" music video. Several other websites have the same idea, creating an unintentional, internet-wide April Fools' joke.More

December 18, 2005 After airing on Saturday Night Live, the Digital Short "Lazy Sunday," about two gangsta wannabes who plan a trip to see The Chronicles of Narnia movie, appears on YouTube. It quickly goes viral, becoming the first TV segment to do so on YouTube, which launched 10 months earlier.More

January 5, 1998 In the Ally McBeal episode "Cro-Magnon," a thirty-something Ally is reminded of her ticking biological clock when she hallucinates a baby dancing to the tune of Blue Swede's "Hooked On A Feeling." By the end of the episode, Ally relents and grooves along with the tot.More

January 3, 1997 Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm publish an article called "Nitric Oxide And Inflammation: The Answer Is Blowing In The Wind" in the journal Nature Medicine. The article deals with the detection of mucosal inflammation, and while we can't speak to its medical efficacy, it does reveal a trend of biomedical researchers using Bob Dylan song titles and lyrics in their articles. The Swedish scientists had a friendly bet going to see how many Dylan references they could inject into their published work; a later study reveals hundreds of medical articles that had borrowed from Dylan, with the most popular song being "The Times They Are A-Changin'."

March 27, 1982 "Pac-Man Fever," a song about the arcade game that has America enthralled, cracks the Top 10, becoming the only song about a video game ever to do so.More

March 19, 2026 Airbnb reports on the rise of concert tourism (also known as "groupie getaways"), a Gen Z trend where fans plan trips around major tour stops and festivals, often sharing accommodations to save money and make new musically compatible friends.

July 16, 2025 Coldplay do a jumbotron segment at their concert in Foxborough, Massachusetts, that lands on a couple with a very guilty reaction. "Either they're having an affair or they're just really shy," frontman Chris Martin quips. That night the footage shows up on social media and goes viral. The couple are quickly identified as a tech company CEO and one of his employees, both married... to other people.

May 19, 2025 "Pretty Little Baby," an obscure 1962 B-side by Connie Francis, goes to #1 on TikTok's Viral 50 and Top 50 charts after millions of creators use it in videos, including celebs like Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner. When told by her publicist that she has a viral hit, the 87-year-old Francis replies, "What's that?"

December 1, 2024 Matvii Grinblat posts a video on TikTok using the song "Doot Doot (6 7)" by Skrilla. It goes viral and spawns the "6-7" meme, a bane of teachers and parents.

June 18, 2024 Justin Timberlake is arrested for DWI after a night out in the village of Sag Harbor, New York. He reportedly tells the arresting officer, "This is going to ruin the tour," which quickly becomes a meme. Timberlake pleads guilty to a lesser charge of driving while impaired, and in 2026 police bodycam footage is released, showing that the arresting officer - just 23 years old - had no idea who Timberlake was.

December 3, 2022 SZA performs two cuts from her album SOS on Saturday Night Live, but it's a song called "Cuffing Season" in the skit "Big Boys" - a celebration of hefty boyfriends - that takes off of TikTok.

April 4, 2022 Jack Harlow previews his song "First Class" on TikTok with an eight-second snippet four days before its official release. It quickly spreads on the platform and helps the song debut at #1, setting up a new paradigm for launching music.

September 12, 2000 LL Cool J popularizes the phrase "GOAT," meaning the Greatest Of All Time, with the release of his eighth album, G.O.A.T., where he claims that title. The album lives up to its billing, going to #1.

December 5, 1960 Billboard reports on a spate of answer songs to Elvis Presley's hit "Are You Lonesome Tonight?," writing, "All of the answer disks are by fem artists, indicating the effect that Elvis still has his large, loyal and young female following."

April 24, 1954 Keeping an eye on the new trends, Billboard publishes an article titled, "Teenagers Demand Music With A Beat - Spur Rhythm And Blues."

March 24, 2020 Producers Swizz Beatz and Timbaland face off in the first Verzuz battle, where songwriters, producers and artists take turns performing their hits and are judged by an online audience. The series quickly becomes very popular, regularly drawing virtual audiences in the six figures. Popular battles include Gladys Knight vs Patti LaBelle, Teddy Riley vs Babyface, and Erykah Badu vs Jill Scott.

July 23, 2018 The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) warns against the trend of jumping out of moving cars and dancing to Drake's "In My Feelings."More

October 13, 2016 Jon Sudano posts a video on YouTube where he sings the lyrics to Smash Mouth's "All Star" over the music to John Lennon's "Imagine." It takes off, and he racks up millions of views with similar videos where he sings "All Star" over other famous songs, including "Y.M.C.A.," "Under the Bridge" and "Wonderwall."More

April 6, 2016 Hello Billboard, my old friend. Simon & Garfunkel's 1966 chart-topper "The Sound of Silence" peaks at #6 on the Hot Rock Songs chart thanks to its appearance in a meme involving Ben Affleck and his botched blockbuster Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice.More

February 13, 2011 Arcade Fire's The Suburbs scoops Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards, beating Eminem's hotly tipped comeback, Recovery. Many folks have not heard of the Canadian band, prompting the internet meme, "Who Is Arcade Fire?" Esperanza Spalding surprisingly beats out Justin Bieber for Best New Artist, becoming the first jazz artist to win the award.

September 23, 2006 The Australian band Sick Puppies post a video set to their song "All The Same" where lead singer Shim Moore gives out free hugs to strangers, igniting the "Free Hugs" campaign. The video quickly goes viral and earns Moore an appearance on Oprah.