Music Trivia World's Random Facts Pages

Music Trivia World presents a heaping helping of random interesting music facts. This site is updated regularly, so check back often for new trivia, older music quizzes and lyrics quizzes.

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*The 33 1/3 rpm “Long-Playing” record was introduced in 1948. It boasted a whopping 25 minutes of music per side, as opposed to a paltry 4 minutes per side on the laughable 78 rpm. The 7” single was introduced a year later.

*Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart debuted in 1958. The first recording to go #1 on this chart was Ricky Nelson’s “Poor Little Fool.”

*The first punk single is considered to be “Hey Joe” by Patti Smith. It was released in 1974.

*The compact disc was introduced in 1983, but only started to outsell vinyl records by 1988.

*Stephen Stills of Buffalo Springfield/Crosby, Stills and Nash, originally tried out to be a Monkee, but producers thought his hair was getting too thin and that his teeth were too bad.

*The Sugarhill Gang is credited with scoring the first-ever commercial rap hit, with their song “Rapper’s Delight” in 1979.

*The first foreign-language song to top Billboard’s charts was “Sukiyaki”, in 1963, recorded by Japanese artist Kyu Sakamoto.

*The first album to ever be released in CD format was Billy Joel’s 52nd Street, in 1982. It was initially only released in Japan. The first CD pressed and released in The U.S. was Born In The U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen in 1983.

*Pete Townshend has smashed at least 87 guitars since his early days with The Who. Most were not cheap guitars either: at least 23 Fender Stratocasters, 12 Gibson Les Pauls, and 21 Gibson SGs have been destroyed at his shows.

*On Jan. 20, 2002, George Harrison's 'My Sweet Lord' usurped Aaliyah's 'More Than A Woman' at the top of the British charts. This marks the only time in chart history that one deceased artist has replaced another at the Number 1 position.

*Speaking of which, "My Sweet Lord" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen are the only two songs to ever chart at Number 1 in The UK twice. "My Sweet Lord" peaked in 1971 and again in 2002. "Bohemian Rhapsody" reached #1 in 1975 and again in 1991.

*Singer/songwriter Jim Croce died in a plane crash the day before his album "I Got A Name" was released. It spawned three posthumous hit singles.

*The Ramones and AC/DC both have composed music for writer Steven King's movies.

*Queen have decided to reunite, replacing the late great Freddie Mercury with… Paul Rodgers.

* James Brown holds the record for most entries into the Billboard Hot 100 chart (99 total songs entered into the charts) without making it to #1.

*Jerry Lee Lewis is related to both Mickey Gilley and evangelist Jimmy Swaggart.

*Chrissie Hynde has children with two famous rock stars: Jim Kerr of Simple Minds and Ray Davies of the Kinks.

*Harry Connick Jr. was once busted for taking a firearm through the airport.

*According to RIAA data, Rush is the biggest selling Canadian band in the world.

*The 40-Watt club in Athens, Ga., was so-named because of a single 40-watt lightbulb that illuminated the place.

*The album with the most Top Ten singles charted is Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814. The album the most #1 singles charted is Michael Jackson’s Bad.

* Creedence Clearwater Revival holds the record for most #2 hits (5 different songs) that never made it to #1.

*The Beatles’ first #1 hit was “From Me To You” (1963). Their last #1 hit was ironically titled “The Ballad Of John and Yoko”.

*Pete Anderson, who served as guitarist for Dwight Yoakam, also produced an album for indie-rock legends The Meat Puppets.

*The Ryman Auditorium, home of the Grand Ole Opry, was originally named the Union Gospel Tabernacle, and is said to have the second-best acoustics for a theatre in the entire world.

*R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe is the godfather to Kurt Cobains’ daughter Francis Bean.

*Mariah Carey is the only artist ever to have a #1 hit in every year of a decade (the 1990's).

*The Who has never scored a #1 hit in either North America or the U.K. Guitarist Pete Townshend was reportedly ‘crushed’ when their song “I Can See For Miles” stalled just at the bottom of the Top Ten.

*After Michael Jackson's arrest on child molestation charges in 2003, many radio stations across the U.S. pulled his songs from their playlists.

*“House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals took all of 15 minutes to record (they were on a tight budget), and went all the way to #1 in 1964.

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