This Day in Top 40 History: March 25
From top-charting hits to world tours, March 25 is a big day in Top 40 music history. The music industry has seen significant events on March 25, including Las Vegas…
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From top-charting hits to world tours, March 25 is a big day in Top 40 music history. The music industry has seen significant events on March 25, including Las Vegas residencies and concert cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Breakthrough Hits and Milestones
These are some significant events and milestones from this day:
- 2003: Celine Dion, best known for her smash hit "My Heart Will Go On" from the movie Titanic, launched her Las Vegas residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. After the success of her residency, many other artists, such as Adele and Britney Spears, held and continue to hold Las Vegas residencies.
- 2015: Pop star Sam Smith's song "Lay Me Down" hit the U.K. charts at No.1 with five weeks in the Top 40 category. At the 2015 Grammy Awards, Smith's album Stay With Me won Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
- 2024: At the age of 65 and after four decades of making music, pop queen Madonna played at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, for her Celebration Tour. This milestone highlights how a star with the right energy and vibe can keep selling concert tickets.
Cultural Milestones
Superstars and bands can have an impact on society and the music industry, including the following:
- 1968: March 25 was the last airing of the goofy television show The Monkees, starring the band The Monkees. What's interesting about this band is that they were actors created during the Beatlemania craze. Once they took some creative licensing with their music, they became a top-selling act.
- 1991: Madonna appeared at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles, California, with rocker Prince by her side. She performed her hit song "Sooner or Later," which later won an Oscar Award for Best Original Song.
- 2020: Whitney Houston's cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" was inducted into the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress. This song, from the movie The Bodyguard that starred Kevin Costner, was a massive success.
Notable Recordings and Performances
We give a nod to these notable recordings and performances:
- 1967: The pop band The Turtles had their only Billboard hit with "Happy Together." This snappy tune stayed at No.1 for three weeks.
- 2002: The all-boy pop band *NSYNC performed at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado, on March 25, with the band Smash Mouth opening for them. *NSYNC was the beginning of Justin Timberlake's career.
Industry Changes and Challenges
The music industry saw fun changes and hard challenges on March 25, including:
- 2015: Mariah Carey starred in the Late Late Show's host James Cordon's first Carpool Karaoke segment. Corden asked Mariah to join him on his way to work through congested Los Angeles, California, traffic, and they sang "Always Be My Baby."
- 2020: Grammy winner Billie Eilish canceled her world tour that would have included a performance on March 25 due to COVID-19.
It's always interesting to see how the Top 40 music industry changes and evolves, and we saw plenty of great events and recordings on March 25 that stayed with us to this day.
Kristina HallWriter
