Pick a Day

11 OCTOBER

In Music History

2024 The movie Piece By Piece, a biography of Pharrell Williams set in the animated LEGO universe, opens in theaters. Many of his close collaborators, including Gwen Stefani, Justin Timberlake, Snoop Dogg, lend their voices and appear as Lego avatars.

2024 Brantley Gilbert stops his show in Tupelo, Mississippi when he gets word that his wife is in the tour bus and has gone into labor (assisted by a midwife). Gilbert witnesses the birth and returns to the stage to finish the set, telling the crowd, "We got a baby!"

2018 The Music Modernization Act is passed into law, clarifying how artists, songwriters and producers are compensated for music played on streaming services, online radio, and satellite radio. It also grants royalties for songs written before 1972.

2018 Kanye West, an ardent supporter of Donald Trump, visits the White House, where he delivers a rambling, 10-minute monologue as the President looks on.More

2016 Rod Stewart is knighted at Buckingham Palace, becoming Sir Roderick David Stewart.

2013 Lady Gaga makes her movie debut playing shape-shifting assassin La Camaleon in the Robert Rodriguez action-crime flick Machete Kills.

2011 Esquire names Rihanna the Sexiest Woman Alive. She's the only musician ever to win the award, which they bestow from 2004-2015. Other winners include Minka Kelly and Halle Berry.More

2011 George "Mojo" Buford (harmonica player for Muddy Waters's band) dies after a long illness in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at age 81.

2006 The Darkness lead singer Justin Hawkins announces that he's leaving the British band to continue his drug rehabilitation. This shutters the band until 2011, which Hawkins returns.

1999 Debbie Rowe, Michael Jackson's second wife, files for divorce and grants Jackson full custody of their two children, Prince and Paris.

1999 The City of Miami, under threat of legal action from the American Civil Liberties Union and Havana Caliente Records, allows Cuban dance band Los Van Van to perform at the James L. Knight Center.

1998 The first Smoke Out Festival sparks up in San Bernardino, California. Organized by Cypress Hill, about 40,000 fans converge in the celebration of music and marijuana. The festival returns every year through 2003, then returns in 2009.

1997 Gregg Allman, Bo Diddley, Keb'Mo', Buddy Guy and John Hiatt are among the musicians who perform at a tribute to Muddy Waters at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

1997 On the UK albums chart, it's battling Britpop as The Verve's Urban Hymns knocks Oasis' Be Here Now out of #1.

1994 Korn release their self-titled debut album, a furious set of songs that deal with lead singer Jonathan Davis' demons - a common theme in their lyrics. The album gets little attention at first but goes on to sell over 2 million copies as the band builds a fanbase.