157 Fun Facts About Rock and Roll

Which Memphis mansion did Elvis Presley buy in 1957 and call home for the rest of his life?

Graceland cost Presley just over $100,000 when he was 22; he is buried in its garden, and the house opened to the public in 1982 to ease his estate's cash-flow problem.

What was the name of The Beatles' first studio album?

Please Please Me came together in a day: on 11 February 1963 the Beatles recorded ten of its songs, leaving 'Twist and Shout' to last because John Lennon, who had a cold, was losing his voice.

Which Nirvana song is the opening track and lead single of the 1991 album Nevermind?

Smells Like Teen Spirit got its title when Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill wrote 'Kurt smells like Teen Spirit' on Cobain's wall; she meant a deodorant, which he said he had not heard of.

Which 1965 hit's fuzz-toned riff came to Keith Richards in his sleep?

Satisfaction began on a bedside tape: Keith Richards woke in the night, recorded the riff and fell back asleep, leaving a cassette of a few bars followed by his snoring.

Which rock band is known for the song "Bohemian Rhapsody"?

Queen were told the single was too long for radio, but DJ Kenny Everett played it again and again on his London show, and it went on to top the UK chart for nine weeks.

Which city is home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which opened in 1995?

Cleveland won the museum in 1986 with a $65 million pledge from city officials and a groundswell of public support, beating rivals that included New York, Memphis and Chicago.

Which guitarist is known for playing his instrument left-handed and upside down?

Jimi Hendrix, a natural left-hander, turned right-handed guitars upside down and restrung them; at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 he ended his set by setting one on fire.

Which band's logo features a tongue and lips?

The Rolling Stones' logo began when Mick Jagger showed art student John Pasche a picture of the goddess Kali's tongue; Pasche was paid £50, and the V&A later bought his original artwork.

Which New York club became the cradle of American punk, hosting Television, Blondie and Talking Heads in the mid-1970s?

CBGB stood for Country, Bluegrass and Blues, the music owner Hilly Kristal meant to book when he opened the Bowery club in 1973; it became famous for punk instead.

Which album by Pink Floyd features a prism on its cover?

The Dark Side of the Moon got its prism without a debate: when Hipgnosis showed the band a set of cover designs, all four members pointed to the prism at once.

Which rock band released the iconic album "Back in Black" in 1980?

AC/DC recorded Back in Black months after singer Bon Scott died, with Brian Johnson taking his place; the all-black cover was meant as a sign of mourning.

What was the original name of the band Led Zeppelin?

The New Yardbirds was the name Jimmy Page's new line-up used in 1968 to play Scandinavian dates the Yardbirds had already booked; soon afterwards they became Led Zeppelin.

Which 1991 Pearl Jam debut album includes 'Alive', 'Even Flow' and 'Jeremy'?

Ten is named after the jersey number of basketball player Mookie Blaylock, whose name the band used before it became Pearl Jam.

What was Kurt Cobain's primary guitar brand of choice?

Fender even built a model to Kurt Cobain's design: he cut photos of its Jaguar and Mustang guitars in half and pasted them together to make the Jag-Stang.

Which 1975 Bruce Springsteen album features 'Thunder Road' and 'Jungleland'?

Born to Run made Springsteen a star after two albums that sold poorly: in October 1975 he appeared on the covers of Time and Newsweek in the same week.

Which band's debut album was titled "Appetite for Destruction"?

Guns N' Roses first released the album with a Robert Williams painting on the cover; when stores refused to stock it, the artwork was moved inside the sleeve.

Which drummer did Ringo Starr replace in the Beatles in August 1962?

Pete Best was sacked after two years as the Beatles' drummer, and fans took it badly: some chanted 'Pete forever, Ringo never!' and one gave a band member a black eye at the Cavern.

Which member of The Who was known for his explosive drumming style?

Keith Moon lived up to the word on US television in 1967, when the gunpowder packed into his bass drum went off with a blast that singed Pete Townshend's hair.

Which 1955 Chuck Berry debut single was adapted from the country fiddle tune 'Ida Red'?

Maybellene grew out of 'Ida Red', a country tune Berry heard on the radio; he rewrote it as a car chase after an unfaithful girlfriend, and it became his first hit.

Which Birmingham band, fronted by Ozzy Osbourne, released 'Paranoid' and 'Iron Man' in 1970?

Black Sabbath wrote 'Paranoid' as a last-minute three-minute filler to round out the album; it became the title track and their first hit single, reaching No. 4 in the UK.

What was the first single released by The Ramones?

Blitzkrieg Bop opens with its 'Hey, ho, let's go' chant, which the band added because they wanted their own answer to the Bay City Rollers' 'Saturday Night'.

Which British band released the concept album "The Wall" in 1979?

Pink Floyd's Roger Waters conceived The Wall after a 1977 stadium show in Montreal, where he grew so irritated with rowdy fans that he spat at one.

Which guitarist was known as "Slowhand"?

Eric Clapton picked up the nickname "Slowhand" in his Yardbirds days. Manager Giorgio Gomelsky coined it as a pun on the slow handclap audiences gave while he replaced broken strings on stage.

Which punk band's only studio album was 1977's Never Mind the Bollocks?

Sex Pistols were dropped by both EMI and A&M within months, so Virgin, their third label, released the album; the band broke up in January 1978 at the end of a US tour.

Which band did Joy Division's surviving members form after Ian Curtis died in 1980?

New Order took a new name by prior agreement: Joy Division's members had vowed to drop that name if anyone left, so the three survivors started afresh and added Gillian Gilbert.

Which band backed Buddy Holly on the 1957 hit 'That'll Be the Day'?

The Crickets recorded the hit version in Clovis, New Mexico after Decca shelved Holly's first attempt; the title was John Wayne's catchphrase in the western The Searchers.

Which rock pioneer was nicknamed "The Architect of Rock and Roll"?

Little Richard first sang 'Tutti Frutti' with lyrics thought too suggestive to release; songwriter Dorothy LaBostrie rewrote them for the recording, and it became his first major hit.

Which Nirvana album, their last studio record, did Steve Albini produce in 1993?

In Utero was meant to sound raw after the polish of Nevermind, so Nirvana hired Steve Albini, who took a flat fee and refused the royalties he could have earned.

Which 1969 rock event is remembered for the Hells Angels' fatal stabbing of a fan?

Altamont Free Concert: Meredith Hunter was stabbed near the stage, and the Hells Angel charged with his murder was acquitted after jurors saw film of Hunter drawing a revolver.

Which Clash album's cover, with Paul Simonon smashing his bass, borrows its lettering from Elvis Presley's debut LP?

London Calling's cover photo was one its own photographer argued against: Pennie Smith called the shot too out of focus to use, but the band's singer insisted on it.

Which band featured brothers Ray and Dave Davies?

The Kinks were shut out of America at their peak: after a mid-1960s US tour, the American musicians' union refused the Davies brothers' band permits to perform there until 1969.

Which 1997 Radiohead album features 'Paranoid Android' and 'Karma Police'?

OK Computer's first single was 'Paranoid Android', which the band stitched together from separate song fragments; early versions ran more than twice as long before it was cut to about six and a half minutes.

Which record label bought Elvis Presley's contract from Sun Records in 1955?

RCA Victor bought the contract in November 1955 after a bidding war that Atlantic lost; weeks later, at his first RCA sessions, Presley recorded 'Heartbreak Hotel', his first No. 1.

Which band released the album "Rumours" in 1977?

Fleetwood Mac recorded Rumours in 1976 while the couples in the band were breaking up, and turned the splits into songs such as 'Go Your Own Way'.

Which December 1976 Eagles album features 'New Kid in Town' and 'Life in the Fast Lane'?

Hotel California was the Eagles' first album with guitarist Joe Walsh, who had replaced founder Bernie Leadon; its title track won the Grammy for Record of the Year, which the band did not turn up to collect.

Which Led Zeppelin song became a 1970s FM radio staple without ever being released as a US single?

Stairway to Heaven stayed an album track because manager Peter Grant refused Atlantic's requests for a single in 1972 and 1973, so fans bought Led Zeppelin IV to get it.

Which Louisiana-born rocker nicknamed 'The Killer' had a 1957 hit with 'Great Balls of Fire'?

Jerry Lee Lewis saw his rock and roll career falter months later, when a 1958 British tour exposed his marriage to Myra Gale Brown, a 13-year-old cousin.

Which Beatle wrote 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' for the White Album?

George Harrison built the song on chance: inspired by the I Ching, he opened a book at random, saw the words 'gently weeps' and started writing.

Which Creedence Clearwater Revival member wrote and sang 'Fortunate Son'?

John Fogerty wrote and sang 'Fortunate Son', which Creedence Clearwater Revival released in 1969 on Willy and the Poor Boys as a protest at privileged sons escaping the Vietnam draft.

Which female rock artist released the album "Jagged Little Pill" in 1995?

Alanis Morissette had been a teenage dance-pop singer in Canada; after moving to Los Angeles she wrote Jagged Little Pill with producer Glen Ballard and re-emerged as a rock artist.

Which producer is known as the "Fifth Beatle" for his work on nearly all Beatles recordings?

George Martin ran Parlophone, a small EMI label best known for comedy and novelty records by acts such as the Goons, when he signed the Beatles in 1962.

Which Kiss member performed as 'The Demon', breathing fire and spitting blood on stage?

Gene Simmons, born Chaim Witz in Israel, briefly taught sixth grade in New York before co-founding Kiss and learning to breathe fire for the act.

What was the name of the Seattle-based record label that signed Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney?

Sub Pop began as Bruce Pavitt's fanzine Subterranean Pop and went on to release Nirvana's debut album Bleach, which cost about $600 to record.

Which rock musician was known as "The Lizard King"?

Jim Morrison declared 'I am the Lizard King, I can do anything' at the end of 'Not to Touch the Earth', an excerpt from his long poem 'Celebration of the Lizard', and took the title as a nickname.

Which U2 album features the songs "Where the Streets Have No Name" and "With or Without You"?

The Joshua Tree's famous sleeve tree never stood in Joshua Tree National Park: it grew in the desert nearer Death Valley, collapsed around 2000, and fans still visit the spot.

Who sang lead vocals and played bass in The Police?

Sting got his name in his early jazz-band days, when a fellow musician saw his black-and-yellow striped sweater and rechristened him.

What 1985 benefit concert raised money for Ethiopian famine relief?

Live Aid ran on two continents at once, and Phil Collins played both: after his Wembley set he flew Concorde across the Atlantic to perform in Philadelphia the same day.

Which Green Day album is a rock opera about a character named "Jesus of Suburbia"?

American Idiot was a fresh start forced by theft: the master tapes of Green Day's nearly finished album Cigarettes and Valentines were stolen, so the band began again from scratch.

Which instrument did John Bonham play in Led Zeppelin?

John Bonham played drums for Led Zeppelin from 1968 until his death in September 1980, after which the band announced in December 1980 that it could not continue without him.

Which rock star is nicknamed 'The Boss'?

Bruce Springsteen picked up the nickname 'The Boss' in his early New Jersey bar-band days, when he collected the night's pay and handed out his bandmates' shares.

Which Lynyrd Skynyrd song was written in reply to Neil Young's 'Southern Man'?

Sweet Home Alabama names Neil Young in its lyrics, yet none of its three writers came from Alabama, and singer Ronnie Van Zant often wore Neil Young T-shirts on stage.

Which Eddie Cochran hit of 1958 was later covered by The Who on Live at Leeds?

Summertime Blues was first issued as a B-side; Cochran wrote it with his manager Jerry Capehart, and it outran its A-side to reach the US top ten.

Which music genre emerged in the late 1970s from punk rock with a more experimental, electronic sound?

New Wave caught on partly as marketing: in 1977 Sire Records boss Seymour Stein ran a 'Don't Call It Punk' campaign, fearing the punk label would scare off radio and hurt sales.

Which small New York town hosted the Woodstock Music & Art Fair in August 1969?

Bethel, New York stepped in late: dairy farmer Max Yasgur leased out his fields there after the town of Wallkill, the planned site, passed a law that blocked the festival.

Which stage move became Chuck Berry's trademark as he played his guitar solos?

The duck walk began, Berry said, as a childhood trick that amused his family; he revived it at a 1956 New York show to hide the wrinkles in his rayon suit, and the ovation kept it in his act.

Which Roy Orbison single topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964?

'Oh, Pretty Woman' began when Roy Orbison's wife Claudette said she was off to town and he asked if she had money; co-writer Bill Dees quipped that a pretty woman never needs any, and the song spent three weeks at No. 1.

Which rock star was born Farrokh Bulsara in Zanzibar?

Freddie Mercury was born to Parsi parents in Zanzibar and sent to boarding school in India; his family fled to England during the island's 1964 revolution, when he was 17.

Which instrument did Little Richard pound with frenetic energy?

Piano was how his first hit reached tape: during a break in a flat 1955 New Orleans session, Little Richard pounded out a bawdy number from his club act, and producer Bumps Blackwell had the lyrics cleaned up on the spot.

Which 1965 single by The Who has a stuttered lead vocal that the BBC at first refused to play?

'My Generation' was kept off BBC radio at first for fear its stutter would offend people who stammer; the corporation relented as the single climbed to No. 2 in the UK.

Which band's 1965 cover of Bob Dylan's 'Mr. Tambourine Man' launched folk rock?

The Byrds' hit put Roger McGuinn's twelve-string up front, but he was the only Byrd to play an instrument on it: producer Terry Melcher, doubting the new band, hired Wrecking Crew session players for the rest.

Which Ramone sang lead for the punk band formed in Forest Hills in 1974?

Joey Ramone began as the band's drummer while bassist Dee Dee sang; within months Joey moved to the microphone, and Tommy took over the drums after auditions for a replacement failed.

Which Nirvana drummer went on to found Foo Fighters?

Dave Grohl joined Nirvana in 1990 and, after Kurt Cobain's death, recorded the first Foo Fighters album almost entirely by himself, releasing it in July 1995.

Which 1969 rock opera by The Who tells the story of a "deaf, dumb, and blind" boy?

Tommy follows a boy who becomes a pinball champion; Pete Townshend wrote 'Pinball Wizard' to win a good review from a pinball-loving critic, and Ken Russell filmed the story in 1975.

Which David Bowie alter ego was an androgynous alien rock singer introduced on his 1972 album?

Ziggy Stardust, the alien rock star of 1972's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, was retired by Bowie on stage at the Hammersmith Odeon on 3 July 1973.

At which festival did Bob Dylan 'go electric'?

Newport Folk Festival regulars heard only three songs from Dylan's hastily assembled electric band on 25 July 1965; some booed, and the night came to mark his break with the folk movement.

Which band did Janis Joplin front before going solo?

Big Brother and the Holding Company were a little-known San Francisco band until Joplin's set stunned the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival; Columbia Records signed them on the strength of it.

Which 1986 Bon Jovi album includes 'Livin' on a Prayer'?

Slippery When Wet nearly went without its signature song: Jon Bon Jovi disliked the first recording of 'Livin' on a Prayer' and wanted it left off, until it was reworked with a talk-box guitar hook and became a No. 1 single.

Who was the lead singer and lyricist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.?

Michael Stipe met guitarist Peter Buck in the Athens, Georgia record shop where Buck worked; with Mike Mills and Bill Berry they played their first show in April 1980 in a disused church.

Which Iggy Pop-fronted band released 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' in 1969?

The Stooges cut 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' with producer John Cale of the Velvet Underground, who hammered one repeated piano note and shook sleigh bells over its three-chord riff.

Which 1982 Clash hit began as drummer Topper Headon's piano tune?

'Rock the Casbah' began with Headon alone in the studio, taping its piano, bass and drums himself; Joe Strummer threw out the drummer's own lyrics, wrote new ones, and the single became the band's only US top-ten hit.

Which band released 'Truckin'' and 'Friend of the Devil' on its 1970 album American Beauty?

Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter worked the band's January 1970 drug arrest in New Orleans into 'Truckin''; the album followed that November, four months after Workingman's Dead.

Which 1972 Neil Young album includes 'Heart of Gold'?

Harvest leaned acoustic because a back injury left Neil Young unable to stand for long with an electric guitar; 'Heart of Gold' became his only US No. 1 single.

What imagery is on the cover of "Led Zeppelin IV"?

An old man carrying sticks stares from a framed picture Robert Plant is said to have found in an antiques shop; long taken for a painting, it was traced in 2023 to an 1892 photograph of Wiltshire thatcher Lot Long.

Which 1992 comedy's car sing-along sent 'Bohemian Rhapsody' back up the US charts?

Wayne's World had its heroes head-banging to the six-minute song in a hatchback; the reissued single climbed to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, seven places above its 1976 peak.

Which 1966 Beach Boys album includes 'God Only Knows' and 'Wouldn't It Be Nice'?

Pet Sounds was Brian Wilson's reply to the Beatles' Rubber Soul, made after he quit touring to work in the studio; Paul McCartney in turn named it a main influence on Sgt. Pepper.

Which blues-rock trio behind 'La Grange' and 'Legs' kept the same three members from 1970 until 2021?

ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard first played together in February 1970 and stayed a trio until Hill died in 2021; after a late-1970s break, Gibbons and Hill came back with chest-length beards.

Who was the original charismatic lead singer of the hard rock band Van Halen?

David Lee Roth first dealt with the Van Halen brothers as the owner of a PA system they rented for their band Mammoth; he then joined as its singer, and Sammy Hagar replaced him in 1985.

What image is on the cover of the 1991 album Nevermind?

A baby swimming after a dollar bill grew out of a TV programme on water births; the label sent a photographer to a baby swim class, where he shot four-month-old Spencer Elden.

Which singer co-founded the Red Hot Chili Peppers with his high-school friends Flea and Hillel Slovak?

Anthony Kiedis first fronted the group as a throwaway opening act for a friend's show, billed as Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem; the crowd's response turned it into a real band.

Who fronted Green Day on the 1994 breakthrough album Dookie?

Billie Joe Armstrong rewrote 'Basket Case' from scratch around the panic attacks he had suffered since childhood, and later called the change his best decision as a songwriter.

Metallica's self-titled 1991 album is nicknamed after which colour?

The 1991 self-titled release is known to everyone as The Black Album: its cover is almost entirely black, with the band logo and a coiled snake embossed so faintly they are barely visible.

What is the name of the skeletal, zombie-like mascot that appears on most Iron Maiden album covers?

Eddie's face was kept in shadow on the sleeve of the band's first single, 'Running Free', so that Derek Riggs's full painting could be unveiled on Iron Maiden's debut album in 1980.

Which band released the 1989 album Doolittle, with 'Here Comes Your Man' and 'Monkey Gone to Heaven'?

Pixies built Doolittle on lurches from quiet verses to loud choruses; Kurt Cobain later admitted that he had been trying to rip the band off when he wrote his own breakthrough hit.

Deep Purple's 'Smoke on the Water' recounts which 1971 event in Montreux?

'Smoke on the Water' describes a casino fire: the Montreux Casino burned down on 4 December 1971 during a Frank Zappa concert, sending smoke over Lake Geneva while Deep Purple waited to record Machine Head.

What guitar effect is famously heard on The Kinks' 1964 hit 'You Really Got Me'?

Distortion: the band's lead guitarist got the snarling tone by slicing the speaker cone of his small Elpico amplifier with a razor blade, making it one of the first hits built on fuzzy power chords.

Who was the primary vocalist for the influential avant-garde rock band The Velvet Underground?

Lou Reed was a staff writer of pop songs at Pickwick Records before forming the band with John Cale; Andy Warhol then became its manager and brought in Nico to sing on the debut album.

Who fronted Blondie on hits such as 'Heart of Glass' and 'Call Me'?

Deborah Harry gave Blondie its name: truck drivers kept shouting 'Hey, Blondie' at her in the street after she bleached her hair, and the band she formed with Chris Stein in 1974 adopted it.

Who co-founded Talking Heads and sang lead on 'Psycho Killer' and 'Once in a Lifetime'?

David Byrne met Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth at the Rhode Island School of Design, where 'Psycho Killer' began as a song for his and Frantz's art-school band, the Artistics.

Which singer co-founded The Cure and sang 'Just Like Heaven' and 'Friday I'm in Love'?

Robert Smith formed the group with school friends in Crawley, and in 1983 he doubled as guitarist for Siouxsie and the Banshees, playing on their hit cover of the Beatles' 'Dear Prudence'.

Which Manchester band paired singer Morrissey with guitarist Johnny Marr from 1982 to 1987?

The Smiths began when guitarist Johnny Marr turned up at Morrissey's home in Stretford and asked him to form a band.

What is the title of Coldplay's debut studio album, released in 2000?

Parachutes carried 'Yellow', whose title Chris Martin has said came from a Yellow Pages phone directory lying in the studio when he needed a word to fit the tune.

Which band's 1995 double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness includes '1979' and 'Tonight, Tonight'?

The Smashing Pumpkins nearly lost '1979': producer Flood judged the unfinished song not good enough for the album, so Billy Corgan completed it within a day, and it became the band's highest-charting US single.

What was the title of Oasis's debut studio album, released in 1994?

Definitely Maybe's lead single, 'Supersonic', was written by Noel Gallagher and recorded in a single day in a Liverpool studio, after the song the band had gone there to record was abandoned.

Which Britpop band had a 1995 hit with 'Common People'?

Pulp formed in 1978; weeks after 'Common People' reached No. 2 in 1995, they headlined Glastonbury as last-minute stand-ins for the Stone Roses, whose guitarist had been injured.

Who was the lead singer and bassist for the influential progressive rock band Rush?

Geddy Lee's wail on 'Working Man' caught on when an Ohio radio station put the debut album on air; the listener response won Rush an American deal with Mercury Records.

Which Fleetwood Mac singer was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice?

Stevie Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac only because Lindsey Buckingham, the guitarist the band wanted, refused to come without her; in 2019 she became the first woman inducted into the Hall twice.

Which disc jockey popularised the phrase 'rock and roll' on mainstream radio from 1951?

Alan Freed began playing R&B on Ohio station WJW in July 1951, and in March 1952 staged the Moondog Coronation Ball, often called the first rock concert, which was shut down when far more fans came than the arena could hold.

Which New Orleans pianist had 1950s hits with 'Blueberry Hill' and 'Ain't That a Shame'?

Fats Domino refused to leave his Lower Ninth Ward home when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005 and was feared dead for days, until word came that a Coast Guard crew had rescued him.

Which Big Joe Turner hit of 1954 did Bill Haley cover that year with its racier lines rewritten?

'Shake, Rattle and Roll' kept one double entendre even in Bill Haley's clean-up: the line about a one-eyed cat peeping in a seafood store stayed in, and went over most pop listeners' heads.

Which Memphis producer recorded 'Rocket 88', often called the first rock and roll record, in March 1951?

Sam Phillips cut 'Rocket 88' with Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm, but the record came out credited to singer Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, leaving Turner's own band unnamed on a No. 1 R&B hit.

Which 1955 film's opening sequence turned 'Rock Around the Clock' into a hit?

Blackboard Jungle rescued a modest seller: Bill Haley's record had come out in 1954 as the B-side of 'Thirteen Women', and only after the film's credits did it spend eight weeks at No. 1.

Which rockabilly pioneer wrote and recorded the 1956 hit 'Blue Suede Shoes' for Sun Records?

Carl Perkins, by Johnny Cash's account, took the idea from Cash's tale of an airman fussy about his shoes; a car crash on the way to a national TV appearance then put Perkins in hospital just as the record peaked.

Which R&B singer's 'Roll with Me, Henry' was cleaned up as Georgia Gibbs's 1955 hit 'Dance with Me, Henry'?

Etta James cut it as an answer to Hank Ballard's 'Work with Me, Annie'; the title was thought too suggestive for radio, so it went out as 'The Wallflower' and became an R&B hit before Gibbs's tamer cover topped the pop chart.

Which blues singer had the original hit with 'Hound Dog' in 1953?

Big Mama Thornton's original topped the R&B chart for seven weeks in 1953; Presley's 1956 hit instead copied a comic lounge version he saw Freddie Bell and the Bellboys play in Las Vegas.

Which Don McLean hit mourns the 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly?

American Pie grew from a morning in 1959 when McLean, a 13-year-old paperboy, cut open his bundle of newspapers and saw the crash on the front page.

Which British singer's 1958 debut single 'Move It' is often called Britain's first authentic rock and roll record?

Cliff Richard's 'Move It' was meant to be a B-side until TV producer Jack Good heard it and insisted he sing it on his show Oh Boy; the single was flipped and reached No. 2.

Which American singer had 1960s hits with a live cover of 'Memphis' and the spy theme 'Secret Agent Man'?

Johnny Rivers was the opening act when Hollywood's Whisky a Go Go launched in January 1964; the live album he cut there gave him a No. 2 hit with 'Memphis' while British bands were sweeping the US charts.

Which file-sharing service did Metallica sue in 2000 after a demo of 'I Disappear' reached radio?

Napster ended up banning more than 300,000 users after the band delivered a 60,000-page list of people sharing its songs.

Which company added U2's 2014 album 'Songs of Innocence' to 500 million customers' libraries without asking?

Apple faced such a backlash that it built a dedicated web page letting users delete the album from their iTunes accounts. Bono later apologised in his memoir.

Which Rob Reiner mockumentary about a touring heavy metal band gave the world the phrase 'up to eleven'?

This Is Spinal Tap shows Nigel Tufnel's custom amplifier, whose knobs make it 'one louder' than any ordinary amp.

Lynyrd Skynyrd's name mocks Leonard Skinner, who held which job at the members' Jacksonville high school?

Gym teacher Leonard Skinner strictly enforced the school's policy against long hair on boys. The New York Times later called him arguably the most influential high school gym teacher in American popular culture.

Kurt Cobain's title 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' came from a phrase a friend wrote, referring to which product?

A deodorant called Teen Spirit was what Kathleen Hanna meant when she wrote 'Kurt smells like Teen Spirit'. Cobain took it for a revolutionary slogan and learned the truth months after the single came out.

Which singer bit the head off a bat on stage in Des Moines in 1982, thinking it was rubber?

Ozzy Osbourne later said the bat was alive and bit him back, so he had to be vaccinated against rabies.

Which star, born Reginald Dwight, borrowed his stage name from two members of his early band Bluesology?

Elton John honoured saxophonist Elton Dean and singer Long John Baldry, then made it legal in 1972 with the middle name Hercules, after a horse in the sitcom Steptoe and Son.

Which Kingsmen hit did the FBI investigate for 31 months over lyrics rumoured to be obscene?

Louie Louie defeated the FBI laboratory, which concluded it was 'unable to interpret any of the wording in the record', so nobody was prosecuted.

Which pop artist designed the peelable banana cover of the 1967 album 'The Velvet Underground & Nico'?

Andy Warhol was also the album's only credited producer, though he did little beyond paying for the sessions. Early copies told buyers to 'Peel slowly and see'.

Which instrument does Will Ferrell overplay in Saturday Night Live's sketch about '(Don't Fear) The Reaper'?

A cowbell can faintly be heard on Blue Öyster Cult's real recording, which is what gave Ferrell the idea. Christopher Walken plays the producer who keeps demanding more of it.

Which band's career revived when hip-hop trio Run-DMC remade its 1975 song 'Walk This Way'?

Aerosmith had been out of the mainstream for several years, and in the video Steven Tyler literally breaks through the wall that separates the two groups' studios.

Which band's 1981 song 'Don't Stop Believin'' plays over the final scene of The Sopranos' last episode?

Journey singer Steve Perry hesitated before allowing the scene, and the 2007 broadcast sent digital downloads of the 26-year-old song soaring.

Which cable channel went on air in August 1981 by playing the Buggles' 'Video Killed the Radio Star'?

MTV's 'I Want My MTV!' campaign, launched in 1982, was adapted by George Lois from a 1950s cereal commercial whose slogan was 'I Want My Maypo!'

In which Irish city did U2 form in 1976, after a pupil pinned a note to his school's notice board?

Dublin schoolboy Larry Mullen Jr. was 14 when he posted the note at Mount Temple Comprehensive School, and early rehearsals were held in a classroom there.

Which David Bowie song did astronaut Chris Hadfield record while orbiting Earth as an ISS commander in 2013?

Space Oddity became the first music video filmed in space, with Hadfield singing and strumming as he floated around the station.

Which author's fantasy books supplied the imagery for Jefferson Airplane's 1967 hit 'White Rabbit'?

Lewis Carroll's Alice stories gave Grace Slick the hookah-smoking caterpillar, the White Knight and the Dormouse, which she set to what she called 'a dark Spanish march'.

Which Detroit duo posed as brother and sister although Jack and Meg had in fact been married?

The White Stripes kept insisting they were siblings even after proof of the 1996 marriage and 2000 divorce emerged. Their 'Seven Nation Army' went on to become a sports anthem.

Which British band kept drummer Rick Allen after a 1984 car crash cost him his left arm?

Def Leppard waited while Allen adopted a specially designed electronic kit, with pedals under his left foot for the parts his arm once played. Their most successful years followed.

Pearl Jam cancelled a mid-1990s summer tour in protest at service charges added by which company?

Ticketmaster had added a service charge to tickets for two of the band's charity benefit shows. Two members testified in Washington, and the band refused to play venues tied to the firm.

Survivor wrote 'Eye of the Tiger' at Sylvester Stallone's request for which of his films?

Rocky III got an original theme only because Stallone was refused permission for the hit he first wanted. He asked Survivor for 'something street' with a pulse to match the punches.

Which Los Angeles band took its name from an Aldous Huxley book title that quotes poet William Blake?

The Doors borrowed from The Doors of Perception, a title Huxley drew from Blake's line that if the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is: infinite.

Which flute-led band beat favourites Metallica to the first Grammy for hard rock and metal in 1989?

Jethro Tull had been told by their label not to bother attending because they 'weren't likely to win'. Metallica later put a 'Grammy Award LOSERS' sticker on the beaten album.

Which guitarist with a PhD in astrophysics built his 'Red Special' partly from an old fireplace mantel?

Brian May was a teenager when he and his father, Harold, built the instrument in the early 1960s; its neck came from a mantel that a family friend was about to throw away.

Which Birmingham guitarist lost two fingertips in a sheet metal factory accident on his last day of work?

Tony Iommi was 17 at the time. He later tuned his strings down to ease the pain in his fingertips, which changed the sound of his band.

Which architect designed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a tower with a glass pyramid beside Lake Erie?

I. M. Pei had already put a glass pyramid outside the Louvre in Paris. He took on the museum as his last major project as an active partner in his firm.

Which soul star was the first woman to enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in its 1987 class?

Aretha Franklin's voice had already been officially declared a 'natural resource' of the state of Michigan when the Hall inducted her.

Which band's 1976 debut grew from demos taped in Tom Scholz's basement and gave us 'More Than a Feeling'?

Boston looked so much like one man's project that the label suspected the 'band' was really 'a mad genius at work in a basement'. The record became the best-selling debut LP in the US at the time.

Which band led by Mark Knopfler released 'Brothers in Arms', the first album to sell a million copies on CD?

Dire Straits made a fully digital recording when most pop was still taped on analog equipment, and it became the first album whose CD outsold its LP version.

Which band promoted its drummer Phil Collins to lead singer after Peter Gabriel quit as frontman?

Genesis listened to numerous audition tapes for a replacement and even began recording without a singer before Collins took over on 'A Trick of the Tail'.

Which English music festival, first staged in 1970, takes place on Michael Eavis's working dairy farm?

Glastonbury began after Eavis saw Led Zeppelin headline the 1970 Bath Festival of Blues at a nearby showground, and about 1,500 people came to his first event at Worthy Farm.

Which touring festival did Perry Farrell create in 1991 as a farewell for his band Jane's Addiction?

Lollapalooza was inspired by Britain's Reading Festival, which Farrell had been due to play in 1990. He revived the tour in 2003 after reconvening his band.

Which film director shot The Band's 1976 farewell concert and released it as 'The Last Waltz'?

Martin Scorsese was suggested by The Band's former tour manager, who had produced his film Mean Streets. Guests on stage included Neil Diamond and the group's old employer Ronnie Hawkins.

A 2009 Facebook campaign made Rage Against the Machine the UK's Christmas number one to spite which TV show?

The X Factor winners had taken the Christmas top spot four years running. Simon Cowell called the campaign 'stupid' and 'cynical', which only drew it more attention.

Which band's 'Country House' outsold an Oasis single in the 1995 chart race dubbed the Battle of Britpop?

Blur sold 274,000 copies to their rivals' 216,000 in what was the best week for UK singles sales in a decade, giving the band its first number one.

Radiohead let fans download the 2007 album 'In Rainbows' under which unusual pricing arrangement?

Pay what you want meant any amount, including nothing, and one study found 62% of downloaders paid nothing. The band's managers called it 'a solution for Radiohead, not the industry'.

Foo Fighters took their name from a World War II pilots' term for what?

Unidentified flying objects reported by Allied pilots were known as foo fighters. The name first went on a one-man recording, chosen in the hope that listeners would assume several people had made it.

The British band Uriah Heep took its name from a character in which Charles Dickens novel?

David Copperfield features Uriah Heep, who keeps calling himself 'umble. The band picked the name late in 1969, when Dickens was everywhere ahead of the centenary of his death.

The white lines on Joy Division's 'Unknown Pleasures' sleeve plot radio waves from what kind of object?

A pulsar named CP 1919, discovered at Cambridge in 1967 by student Jocelyn Bell Burnell, supplied the image. Designer Peter Saville inverted its colours against the band's stated preference.

Which effects unit became Peter Frampton's trademark after the 1976 live album 'Frampton Comes Alive!'?

Talk box sounds first caught Frampton's ear in 1970, while he sat in on sessions for George Harrison's All Things Must Pass. His concert record became the best-selling album of 1976.

Which name is given to Phil Spector's dense production style, heard on the Ronettes' 'Be My Baby'?

Wall of Sound was a phrase used as early as 1884, in a report on Wagner's opera house, which is fitting, because Spector called his own approach 'Wagnerian'.

Which band was conceived by two television producers in the mid-1960s for an NBC sitcom of the same name?

The Monkees at first mostly sang over session musicians, but after a brief power struggle they won full control of their own recordings in 1967.

Which band did Lemmy form in 1975 after Hawkwind dismissed him over a drugs arrest at the Canadian border?

Motörhead took its name from the final song Lemmy had written for Hawkwind. He said his old band had dismissed him 'for doing the wrong drugs'.

Which Twisted Sister singer testified at a 1985 Senate hearing on record warning labels alongside Frank Zappa?

Dee Snider accused Tipper Gore of fabricating evidence about the band's T-shirts. His 'We're Not Gonna Take It' was on the campaigners' 'Filthy Fifteen' list of objectionable songs.

Meat Loaf's album 'Bat Out of Hell' grew from Jim Steinman's futuristic musical about which children's hero?

Peter Pan became Neverland, a show Steinman had written for a workshop. Three of its songs seemed so exceptional that he and Meat Loaf built an album around them, which has sold over 43 million copies.

Which one-word label stuck to late-1980s Seattle bands such as Soundgarden, Mudhoney and Alice in Chains?

Grunge was shrewdly marketed by a local record label, which encouraged the media to use the word, and the style became known as a hybrid of punk and metal.

Which instrument maker first sold its solid-body Les Paul model in 1952?

Gibson was answering a public craze for solid-body electrics set off by a rival's models, and Les Paul himself gave the new design its stage debut at the Paramount Theatre that June.

Which singer's 1975 debut album 'Horses' has a cover portrait taken by her friend Robert Mapplethorpe?

Patti Smith recalled that Mapplethorpe took about twelve pictures and said 'I have it' at around the eighth. The record fused punk with spoken poetry.

Which Southern group recorded 'At Fillmore East' in 1971, months before its leader died in a motorcycle crash?

The Allman Brothers Band taped it over two March nights, playing two shows a night for $1,250 a show. Duane Allman was 24 when he was killed that October.

Which Metallica bassist was killed when the group's tour bus skidded off a road in Sweden?

Cliff Burton had won first choice of bunk that night, by drawing the ace of spades in one bandmate's telling. A memorial stone was later unveiled near the crash site.

Rick Wakeman staged his 1975 'King Arthur' concerts at Wembley in which unlikely format?

As an ice show with skaters, the album ran for three nights at Wembley because Wakeman wanted a unique English concert. It was not performed in full again until 2016.