On Aug. 12, 1968, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham played together during a rehearsal in the West End of London. Just one month later, they officially became known as Led Zeppelin. The band went on to have seven No. 1 albums. Keep reading for more Top 40 history from Aug. 12.

Breakthrough Hits and Milestones

Aug. 12 was the day for boy bands to thrive:

1981: Luther Vandross issued his debut solo studio effort, Never Too Much. The album stalled at No. 19 on the Billboard 200 and climbed to the No. 1 position on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It also delivered a Top 40 single, the title track, which landed at No. 33 and No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts, respectively.
1988: New Kids on the Block released Hangin’ Tough, their second studio album. It featured two No. 1 hits: “Hangin’ Tough” and “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever).”
1991: Metallica dropped their fifth self-titled studio LP, also referred to as “The Black Album.” It spent four weeks at the top of the Billboard 200. Three songs from this project, including “Enter Sandman” and “The Unforgiven,” cracked the Top 40 on Billboard’s Hot 100.
1997: The Backstreet Boys released their self-titled debut album in the United States. It became a massive success and sold over 14 million copies.
2008: The Jonas Brothers’ album A Little Bit Longer debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album included early 2000s bops, such as “Burnin’ Up” and “Lovebug.”

Cultural Milestones

Music is a powerful cultural connector, as evidenced by the following Aug. 12 events:

1963: Anthony Ray, better known as Sir Mix-a-Lot, was born in Seattle, Washington. His most successful record is Mack Daddy, which broke into the Top 10 on the Billboard 200. The album also delivered Sir Mix-a-Lot’s biggest hit, “Baby Got Back.” Apart from dominating Billboard’s Hot 100 for five weeks, the track earned him a GRAMMY for Best Rap Solo Performance in 1993.
1982: New York’s Museum of Modern Art opened a new exhibition called Performance Video. The exhibition explored how musicians present their work in front of a camera — think music videos.
1984: Lionel Richie performed a nine-minute rendition of his hit song “All Night Long” at the closing ceremony of the Los Angeles Olympics.
1997: MTV aired Fleetwood Mac’s reunion special, The Dance, marking the band’s first time on stage together since 1982. The concert featured two soundstage performances taped earlier in the year.
2001: Shania Twain and Robert “Mutt” Lange welcomed their son, Eja D’Angelo Lange. Twain and Robert would then relocate to Switzerland to bring up their little one. However, their union wasn’t meant to last. The pair separated in 2008 when Robert had an affair with Twain’s then-friend Marie-Anne Thiébaud. After they finalized their divorce in 2010, the “From This Moment On” singer and Marie-Anne’s ex-husband, Frédéric Thiébaud, got married.
2015: Billy Joel and his fourth wife Alexis Roderick welcomed their first child, Della Rose. Joel and Roderick, who are still together as of this writing, share another daughter, Remy Anne, born in October 2017. Additionally, the “We Didn’t Start the Fire” singer has another child, Alexa Ray, whom he shares with his ex-wife, Christie Brinkley. Ray was born in 1985 and is known for songs such as “The Heart of Me” and “Song of Yesterday.”
2015: Elvis Presley was granted the honor of a second U.S. postage stamp bearing his likeness. Featuring a black-and-white photo, it was released as part of the Postal Service’s Music Icon series, which began in 2013.

Notable Recordings and Performances

Can you imagine being one of the 700 lucky fans who got to see Mick Jagger on Aug. 12, 1989? New releases and live performances are always exciting:

1985: Neil Young released his 14th album, Old Ways. While Young is widely appreciated, this album was not.
1989: The Rolling Stones surprised 700 fans with an intimate concert at Toad’s Place in New Haven, Connecticut, before their tour officially started.
1994: Woodstock ’94 kicked off in New York with over 350,000 people in attendance. Sheryl Crow and Violent Femmes were among the performing acts on day one.
2010: Justin Bieber’s My World Tour stopped at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he played 18 tracks, including “Up,” “Never Say Never,” and “One Less Lonely Girl.” Sean Kingston also joined the Canadian on stage for a mind-blowing performance of their Top 20 single, “Eenie Meenie.” Note that the My World Tour supported Bieber’s debut studio effort, My World 2.0, which spent four weeks at No. 1 in the U.S.
2018: While on The Aubrey & The Three Migos Tour, Drake performed “Nice For What,” “God’s Plan,” and “Hotline Bling.” Other artists who graced the stage during this concert were Migos. Notably, this trek, which celebrated Drake and Migos’ collaborative history, grossed over $100 million after more than 50 dates across North America.
2018: Justin Timberlake owned the stage at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, Germany. He had a 25-song setlist that featured “CAN’T STOP THE FEELING!,” “Cry Me a River,” “Mirrors,” and “Say Something.” This show was part of Timberlake’s Man of the Woods Tour, a trek launched to support his No. 1 record of the same name. Both the album and the journey were named after his son, Silas, a name that, according to sources, means “man of the forest.”
2023: The Jonas Brothers kicked off their Five Albums, One Night tour at New York’s Yankee Stadium. The lengthy setlist included 66 songs from the band’s five studio albums.

Whether you’re a diehard pop music fan or simply an appreciator of all things music, Aug. 12 has something to offer you. This day was full of notable new music and wild moments in the industry.

The post This Day in Top 40 History: August 12 appeared first on Kiss 95.1.

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