AM ERICAN MUSIC TIMELIN E
1868: Cuba wins independence from Spain. Cuban soldiers gather in Havana
and help
1910s: Trío Matamoros brings the son sound out of Cuba, introducing it
to audienc
MUSIC MILESTONES
to create the modern son sound.
es in the United States and around the world.
1927: Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter family make their first recordings
for famed record scout Ralph Peer. Meanwhile, the Nashville
radio station WSM’s Barn Dance program officially becomes The Grand Ole
Opry.
1942: Roy Acuff teams with songwriter Fred Rose to form the music publishi
ng company Acuff-Rose in Nashville,
Tennessee. The center of the country music business soon shifts to Nashvil
le.
1949: Fats Domino records “The Fat Man,” considered by some to be the
first rock ‘n’ roll record.
Others say that the first rock ‘n’ roll song to be recorded was Bill Haley and
his band’s record “Rocket 88,” recorded two years
later.
1950s: The United States— especially New York City—experiences mambo
mania.
1953: Only four years after scoring his first number one country hit, “Lovesic
k Blues,” Hank Williams dies in the backseat of his Cadillac
on New Year’s Day.
1954: Elvis Presley bursts on the scene with the two-sided single “That’s
All Right” and “Blue Moon of Kentuck y.”
Ray Charles begins mixing gospel music and blues styles. His song “I Got
a Woman” helps define R & B music and points the
way toward soul.
1958: Ritchie Valens releases the Spanish-language rock song “La Bamba.
” The
song helps launch the Latin rock genre.
1959: Berry Gordy opens the Motown record label in Detroit. The bouncy,
catchy Motown sound is a hit with pop and R & B audiences.
Fidel Castro and the Communist Party come to power in Cuba, cutting off
many Cuban Americans from their homeland. These
musicians begin to develop their own sound, which later is called salsa.
Color Coding Key:
• Country
1961: Patsy Cline releases two of her greatest hits, “Crazy” and “I Fall to
Pieces.” Two years later, she dies in a plane crash.
Meanwhile, the Country Music Hall of Fame inducts its first members, Jimmie
Rodgers, Fred Rose, and Hank Williams.
1964: The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time. Beatlem
ania is born.
• Hip-hop
• Pop
• R & B
1965: James Brown starts a musical revolution with “Papa’s Got a Brand
New Bag.” By putting emphasis on “the one,” or the first beat in
a measure, Brown and his band pioneer funk music.
Bob Dylan goes electric at the Newport Folk Festival. He helps create a
style of music known as folk rock.
• Rock
• Latin
1967: Jimi Hendrix goes wild at the Monterey International Pop Festival
in Californ
™
ia.
American Music Milestones
HC ISBN: 978-0-7613-4499-5
Copyright © 2013 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Lerner Digital™ and Lerner eSource™ are trademarks of Lerner
Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. www.lernerbooks.com
AM ERICAN MUSIC TIMELIN E
1969: The Jackson 5, the first African American bubblegum pop group,
releases their
1970: The Johnny Cash Show has its first season on ABC-T V.
The TV series The Partridge Family, about a fictional pop group, launches. It is
MUSIC MILESTONES
first No. 1 hit single, “I Want You Back.”
on the air until 1974.
1971: The period knows as the Golden Age of Salsa begins.
1972: Philadelphia International Records hits the charts with records by
the O’Jays, Billy Paul, and Harold Melvin and the Blue
Notes. The shiny Philly soul sound comes to dominate the 1970s.
1973: DJ Kool Herc hosts his first block party at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue
in the Bronx, New York. His style of DJing helps create
hip-hop culture.
Aerosmith writes one of rock’s first power ballads, “Dream On.”
1976: The Ramones release their self-titled first album. The album inspires
other
bands to play punk music.
1977: Gloria Estefan joins the Miami Sound Machine.
1978: Blondie’s hit song “Heart of Glass” ushers in New Wave music.
1979: The Sugarhill Gang releases the first single by a rap group, “Rappe
r’s Delight.” It reaches No. 36 on the Billboard charts. Kurtis
Blow becomes the first rapper to sign to a major record label, Mercur y.
1981: MTV makes its debut.
Joan Jett releases the hugely successful I Love Rock N’ Roll.
Color Coding Key:
1982: Michael Jackson’s Thriller arrives, dominating the music landscape
with its songs and music videos. The album kicks off an era
of blockbuster, pop-oriented R & B.
• hip-hop
1983: Country Music Television (CMT), the first cable television network
devoted to country music, premieres.
The group Run-D.M .C. brings in the new school era of hip-hop with its first
single “It’s Like That.”
• R & B
1984: Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin form Def Jam.
Madonna’s second album, Like a Virgin, is released. It is her first album to
reach No.
• country
• Pop
• Rock
1 in the U.S. charts.
1988: MTV creates its first rap show, Yo! MTV Raps.
• Latin
1991: The first Lollapalooza Festival brings alternative rock to twenty cities.
1992: Mary J. Blige drops the hip-hop soul classic What’s the 411? Hip-ho
p soul ensures
™
that R & B and rap remain linked.
American Music Milestones
HC ISBN: 978-0-7613-4499-5
Copyright © 2013 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Lerner Digital™ and Lerner eSource™ are trademarks of Lerner
Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. www.lernerbooks.com
AM ERICAN MUSIC TIMELIN E
1994: Tejano star Selena is shot and killed by the former president of her
fan club.
1995: The East Coast-West Coast hip-hop feud becomes violent when
fights between the crews break out at the 1995 Source
Awards in New York City.
MUSIC MILESTONES
1997: Shania Twain releases the smash crossover album Come on Over. One
year later,
Faith Hill puts out another crossover hit, Faith.
1998: Britney Spears releases her debut album, One More Time.
1999: Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca” sets off a movement known as
the Latin Explosio
n.
2001: The best-selling, Grammy-winning sound track to the film O Brother,
Where Art Thou? Triggers a nationwide interest in old-time
mountain music.
2002: The Detroit rapper Eminem stars in and performs music for the movie
8 Mile. “Lose Yourself,” a hit song from the sound track, is
the first rap song to win the Oscar for Best Original Song.
2003: The Atlanta duo OutKast becomes the first hip-hop group to win
the Grammy award for Album of the Year.
T-Pain begins using a new technology called Auto-Tune. The software makes
his vocals sound robotic. Across R & B, artists
and producers use effects that lend R & B a futuristic feel.
2005: The video game Guitar Hero is released, renewing interest in classic
rock.
2007: Justin Bieber’s mother posts a YouTube video of her son performing
“So Sick”
at a local talent competition.
2008: Lil Wayne releases Tha Carter III, a hit with critics and fans that confirm
s his status as one of hip-hop’s biggest names.
Lady Gaga releases her debut album, The Fame.
Color Coding Key:
• country
2010: Shakira’s song “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” is selected as
the official song of the 2010 World Cup. The choice gives
Latin music a worldwide boost in popularity.
• Pop
2011: Adele releases her second album, 21, which features such hit songs
as “Someone Like You.”
Her retro R & B song “Rolling in the Deep” becomes the biggest crossover
hit of the past twenty-five years. She sells more
than five million copies of the track, the biggest of several singles from 21
.
• hip-hop
• R & B
• Rock
2012: Garth Brooks is inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
The British boy band One Direction is featured on Saturday Night Live.
The Foo Fighters sweep the rock categories at the Grammy Awards, winning
Best Rock Song, “Walk,” Best Rock Album
(Wasting Light), and other honors.
Jennifer Lopez wins Best Latin Artist at the American Music Awards.
• Latin
™
American Music Milestones
HC ISBN: 978-0-7613-4499-5
Copyright © 2013 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Lerner Digital™ and Lerner eSource™ are trademarks of Lerner
Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. www.lernerbooks.com