Q 01/05

Which rock singer was born Farrokh Bulsara in Zanzibar and fled to England as a teenager?

A) Cat Stevens

B) Cliff Richard

C) Freddie Mercury

D) Engelbert Humperdinck

Answer · why

C) Freddie Mercury

Freddie Mercury went to British boarding schools in India from the age of eight, then left Zanzibar when revolution broke out there in 1964.

Q 02/05

Which country star wrote I Will Always Love You years before Whitney Houston made it a global hit?

A) Dolly Parton

B) Loretta Lynn

C) Tammy Wynette

D) Emmylou Harris

Answer · why

A) Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton wrote it about her professional break from mentor Porter Wagoner, and her own recordings topped the country chart twice.

Q 03/05

Which nearly deaf composer was turned around to see the applause at his Ninth Symphony's premiere?

A) Carl Maria von Weber

B) Franz Schubert

C) Bedřich Smetana

D) Ludwig van Beethoven

Answer · why

D) Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven was still beating time in Vienna in 1824 when contralto Caroline Unger gently turned him to face the cheering audience.

Q 04/05

Which heavy metal singer bit the head off a bat onstage in Des Moines, thinking it was rubber?

A) Alice Cooper

B) Ozzy Osbourne

C) Gene Simmons

D) Ronnie James Dio

Answer · why

B) Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne later said the bat thrown onstage in 1982 was alive and bit him back, so he had to be vaccinated against rabies.

Q 05/05

Which blind child prodigy signed with Motown's Tamla label at age 11 and topped the Hot 100 at 13?

A) Ray Charles

B) José Feliciano

C) Stevie Wonder

D) Ronnie Milsap

Answer · why

C) Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder reached number one with the live single Fingertips, making him the youngest solo artist to top the Billboard chart.