Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia

If you were an angsty American teenager in the 1980s—whether in real life, or in a John Hughes movie—the rock you loved ... Read more

Music fans in 2019 are gobsmacked that the No. 1 song in America is not only a Christmas song but a 25-year-old recordin... Read more

A Star Is Born, the movie Hollywood can’t stop remaking, is a fairy-tale about the American dream factory. But it has al... Read more

When a band member leaves to go solo, usually it means the band’s best days are over. That’s what everybody thought when... Read more

This month, Hit Parade explores the legacy of songs by The Beatles topping the charts...without The Beatles. This is the... Read more

The B-52’s and R.E.M. don’t sound all that much like each other. One group were avatars of kitsch, fusing punk, girl-gro... Read more

When you think of Stevie Wonder’s legendary career, what chart-toppers come to mind? “Superstition,” right? Maybe “I Wis... Read more

In 2004, Prince joined Tom Petty onstage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony for what is now regarded a... Read more

Sped-up voices. Wacky instruments. Songs about cavemen, bathtubs, bikinis and mothers-in-law. From the very birth of roc... Read more

From a very young age, Britney Spears seemed destined for stardom. The kid from Louisiana had landed a role on the reviv... Read more

Spin̈al Tap was right: Death sells. When musical icons die, their songs and albums climb the charts all over again—somet... Read more

In just a couple of years, Creedence Clearwater Revival generated one of the most amazing runs of hits inAmerican pop hi... Read more

Are you tired of hearing how awe-inspiring the Woodstock Music and Art Fair was 50 years ago for 400,000 lucky hippies i... Read more

In 1998, Madonna was at a career crossroads. After dominating the ’80s with hits like “Like a Virgin” and “Open Your Hea... Read more

Bon Jovi are many things: platinum-selling, chart-topping and now, Hall of Fame–inducted. That angers music critics, who... Read more

Ever since the ’60s, the recording industry emphasized the album over the single. By the ’80s, they were milking as many... Read more

Musical theater is one of America’s greatest cultural products—and in the mid–20th century, it also dominated the Billbo... Read more

In the second part of our two-part episode about the B-52’s and R.E.M.—the bands that put Athens, Georgia on the map, an... Read more

When Elton John came out as bisexual in 1976, it was a really big deal. It was covered on the evening news. There were a... Read more

Guest performers have existed since, literally, the beginning of the pop charts—the first Billboard No. 1 hit had a feat... Read more