A person rifling through the pages of The Spokesman-Review on December 6th 1980 would find in bold "Rock Group Led Zeppelin Disbands." As it was only the eighties, it took two days for the news to travel from a press release in London to a write up in the Pacific Northwest.
Read More
Who was Charles Atlas? An actual man, or merely the creation of an advertising firm? The answer, it turns out, is "both."
Read More
Bob Marley and the Wailers' 1973 classic "I Shot the Sheriff" seems simple. Marley, within the context of the song, finds it prudent, even necessary, to shoot the sheriff. In a moment of quiet pause, however, he refuses to give in to his baser instincts, and refrains from shooting the deputy.
Read More
Kris Kristofferson is a force of nature. Singer, songwriter, colleagues with Willie Nelson, credited as the man who discovered John Prine. And he works in mysterious ways.
Read More
The very idea that the squeaky-clean Philbin and the crusty Crüe crew would even be within the same zip code beggars belief. Yet, in 1997 this unlikely group sat down together, and Philbin even attempted to join the band. Here's what happened when Regis Philbin 'auditioned' for Mötley Crüe.
Read More
The Sound of Music was based on real people -- the von Trapps. Here is their story.
Read More
They were arguably the two biggest divas in the world. Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey had voices that could bring the lights down. But people still think they didn't like each other. After all, behind the big voices were big personalities.
Read More
Robin Williams' comedic genius and acting chops earned him a lot of love from his fans. However, away from the spotlight, his final year was defined by his struggle against a mysterious illness. This is what the last 12 months of Robin Williams' life were like.
Read More
Woody Guthrie was a giant of Western American folk music, looming large in the American imagination. But the man who helped pioneer resistance music was also unfairly blacklisted and didn't have an easy life. Here's the tragic story of Woody Guthrie.
Read More
A Plan B is not such a bad thing. George Foreman, born in 1949 in Marshall, Texas, embraced that principle.
Read More
It all started with skiffle. Here's how the Beatles got their name.
Read More
Netflix's new documentary, Anelka: Misunderstood, promotes itself as an in-depth documentary which explores French footballer Nicolas Anelka's "controversial legacy," according to the official description. That's certainly one way to put it.
Read More
Throughout the band's 50-year career, the prog-rock legends in Rush kept fans on their toes with ever-changing setlists. Although the slew of songs always included a handful of crowd-pleasers, the band was known to throw curve balls into their live sets right up until the end.
Read More
"Take care of your business, man, and don't listen to people. Do your own business. Be careful who you listen to, 'cause that's the last time I let Wesley Snipes help me out with my taxes." That's a line pulled directly from Chris Tucker's 2015 Netflix stand up comedy special.
Read More
Although its name derives from modern French, there has been an existing layer of controversy surrounding how Depeche Mode got its name.
Read More
The late blues guitarist Peter Green, born Peter Allen Greenbaum, is most often remembered for his early contributions to Fleetwood Mac, years before internal strife and relationship dramas would fuel the band's musical career.
Read More
Run For Your Life was written by John Lennon in 1965 and appeared on the band's album, Rubber Soul. The song has an upbeat, fast tempo, but it certainly doesn't have an upbeat topic if you take the time to really listen to the malicious lyrics.
Read More
Cagney once said, "Absorption in things other than self is the secret of a happy life." He died in 1986, age 86. And rich.
Read More
The highly influential 1999 classic, The Blair Witch Project, has humble roots. First conceived in 1993 by University of Central Florida students Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, according to the BBC, the original 35-page outline led to an eight-day shoot, four years later.
Read More
There is a list, seemingly growing on a daily basis with the verdant ferocity of a kudzu vine, of seemingly random products, images, or pop culture fixtures which the generally well-meaning public has never realized perpetuate a history of racism.
Read More
A casual music fan might find it difficult to get a grip on Steve Vai, simply because the virtuoso's body of work is so vast and many-faceted, yet entirely guitar-themed.
Read More
In 1968, the Beatles were riding the mighty crest of the psychedelic wave. The formerly squeaky-clean Fab Four's transition to facial hair, colorful costumes and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the full-length, Beatle-themed animated movie Yellow Submarine certainly drove the point home.
Read More
You'd think that with an illustrious career, Wyclef Jean would be absolutely rolling in cash. So, how did he manage to lose all his money?
Read More
Alexander Hamilton has long been renowned as one of America's Founding Fathers, but he hasn't received quite as much attention in history as fellow founders. Lin-Manuel Miranda's epic rap-musical isn't entirely historically accurate, but it's close-ish. Here's the real story of Alexander Hamilton.
Read More
With Avatar: The Last Airbender once again streaming on Netflix, fans are revisiting their favorite moments. One of these occurred toward the show's end, when Prince Zuko suddenly became one of the most compelling characters.
Read More
At the end of his years, The King weighed roughly 350 pounds. Here's why.
Read More
You might love Green Day's songs, but how much do really you know about the man behind the music? Here's what fans don't know about Billie Joe Armstrong.
Read More