Curated playlist

Columbia Records artists

Louis ArmstrongLouis Armstrong fired a blank from his stepfather's gun and spent the night in juvenile court.
Bob DylanAt a 1966 Manchester concert, Bob Dylan told his band to play loud after a heckler called him Judas.
David BowieDavid Bowie died two days after releasing his final album. He planned Blackstar as a parting gift while privately dying.
Frank SinatraFrank Sinatra was dropped by his record label in 1952. A movie role then brought him back to the top.
Katy PerryKaty Perry grew up in a home where the word "luck" was banned. Her pastor mother said it reminded her of Lucifer.
Bruce SpringsteenBruce Springsteen threw the first acetate of his own album Born to Run into the swimming pool of his hotel in 1975. The record was being mastered while the band toured, and he was furious at what he heard. He briefly considered scrapping…
Billie HolidayBillie Holiday died with seventy cents in the bank. She earned $250,000 in the three years before her 1947 arrest.
BeyoncéOn the 13th of December 2013, Beyoncé released a complete album on the iTunes Store with no warning and no promotion. Within six days it had sold one million digital copies, a record for any album on iTunes at the time. The artist behind…
Aretha FranklinOtis Redding said Aretha Franklin took his song "Respect" away from him. Her version hit number one in 1967.
AC/DCAC/DC is an Australian rock band, and its name began as a label on a household appliance. When Malcolm and Angus Young were hunting for a name, their sister Margaret pointed to a symbol printed on the AC adapter of her sewing machine.…
Prince (musician)Prince once changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol to protest his record label.
Marvin GayeMotown boss Berry Gordy refused to release Marvin Gaye's What's Going On.
Metro Station (band)The band Metro Station began on the set of Hannah Montana. Mason Musso and Trace Cyrus met there in 2005.
Blink-182Blink-182, the American rock band formed in Poway, California, in 1992, owes the number in its name to a deadline it nearly ignored. When the debut album Cheshire Cat caught the attention of an Irish band also called Blink, the trio chose…
Wu-Tang ClanWu-Tang Clan made one label deal that let every member sign solo deals elsewhere.
AdeleA friend posted Adele's three-song class demo on Myspace, and a record label phoned.
Duke EllingtonDuke Ellington wrote his first piece while working as a soda jerk, before he could read music.
Nine Inch NailsNine Inch Nails began as the after-hours project of a janitor in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1987, Trent Reznor worked at Right Track Studios as an assistant engineer and cleaner. The studio's owner, Bart Koster, let him record demos for free…
George MichaelGeorge Michael refused to appear in his own music videos, so five supermodels lip-synced in his place.
Paul SimonPaul Simon, the American singer-songwriter and guitarist, nearly gave one of his best-known songs the wrong name. While writing music for the film The Graduate, he toyed with calling a new song "Mrs. Roosevelt." Art Garfunkel passed the…
Earth, Wind & FireEarth, Wind & Fire began as a small team writing commercials in Chicago. They later sold more than 90 million records.
Paul McCartneyPaul McCartney traded a trumpet for a guitar and wrote his first song on it. His father had given him the trumpet.
Miles DavisMiles Davis called jazz dead near the end of his life. He had spent five decades helping define it.
Oasis (band)Oasis, the rock band from Manchester, once drew applications for 2.5 million tickets to a pair of shows at Knebworth. Only 250,000 tickets were actually sold, which meant the band could in theory have filled twenty nights. Instead they…
Pharrell WilliamsPharrell Williams, the American musician, songwriter, record producer and fashion designer, was once behind a startling share of the songs on the radio. An August 2003 survey cited by The Age found that his production duo, the Neptunes,…
Jim MorrisonOn live TV in 1967, Jim Morrison sang a lyric censors had told him to change. Ed Sullivan then banned the Doors.
Tyler, the CreatorAt the age of seven, Tyler Gregory Okonma, known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, was already making albums that did not exist. He pulled the covers out of CD cases and made new ones for imaginary records, each with a tracklist and…
Bing CrosbyBing Crosby had to re-record "White Christmas" in 1947 because the 1942 master had worn out.
Johnny CashJohnny Cash never served a prison sentence. He was jailed seven times, one night each.
Will SmithWill Smith turned down the lead role in The Matrix to make Wild Wild West. He later called that choice a mistake.
Kate BushKate Bush's second UK number one came 44 years after her first. That gap beat Tom Jones's record of 42 years.
Daft PunkDaft Punk ended with a short video and no explanation. On the 22nd of February 2021, the French electronic duo posted a clip called Epilogue to their YouTube channel. In it, one robot explodes while the other walks away into the sunset. A…
Roger WatersThe Dark Side of the Moon, with lyrics written entirely by Roger Waters, spent 736 consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200 chart, a run that lasted until July 1988. Waters is an English singer-songwriter, musician and political activist,…
Mick JaggerMick Jagger was carrying records by Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters on Platform Two of Dartford railway station on the 17th of October 1961. The man he met there was Keith Richards. The records revealed a shared passion for rhythm and blues,…
BTSBTS debuted in 2013 from a small label outside K-pop's three dominant agencies. They practiced up to 15 hours a day.
Muhammad AliMuhammad Ali refused three times to step forward for his Army induction in 1967. He lost his boxing title that same day.
Mariah CareyMariah Carey handed her demo tape to a record boss at a party in December 1988. He turned his car around.
AerosmithSteven Tyler joined Aerosmith only after refusing to play drums.
Aaron CoplandComposer Aaron Copland planned one year of study in Paris with Nadia Boulanger but stayed three.
CherCher, the American singer and actress born Cheryl Sarkisian, first reached radio in 1964 with a record that programmers misjudged. The single was “Ringo, I Love You,” produced by Phil Spector and released under the name Bonnie Jo Mason.…
Ray CharlesRay Charles Robinson, known to the world as Ray Charles, carried two nicknames that pulled in different directions. Contemporaries called him "The Genius." Among friends and fellow musicians, he preferred to be called "Brother Ray." Frank…
Jane FondaJane Fonda sat on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun during a 1972 visit to Hanoi, and a photograph of that moment outraged a large number of Americans. It earned her a nickname that has followed her for decades: Hanoi Jane. For many…
One DirectionOne Direction began on the 23rd of July 2010, when five young singers who had each been knocked out of a talent show were put together as a group. Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson had all auditioned…
Celine DionCeline Dion spent her earliest months sleeping in a dresser drawer, because her family could not afford a crib. She was the youngest of 14 children, born on the 30th of March 1968 in Charlemagne, Quebec. Nothing about that crowded, careful…
Alice in ChainsAlice in Chains formed in Seattle in 1987 around four musicians: guitarist Jerry Cantrell, drummer Sean Kinney, singer Layne Staley and bassist Mike Starr. They rose alongside Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, and the world filed them…
John WilliamsSteven Spielberg laughed at John Williams's two-note Jaws theme, thinking it was a joke.
Paul McCartney and WingsPaul McCartney named Wings after a frightening hospital night in 1971. Both Linda and baby Stella nearly died.
Depeche ModeDave Gahan won a place in Depeche Mode by singing one Bowie song. He performed "Heroes" at a local Scout hut.
Mark RonsonMark Ronson was twelve years old when he pestered Jann Wenner, the founder of Rolling Stone, until the magazine gave him an internship. By his own description he was a music nerd, and the persistence paid off. Decades later he had won ten…
Robbie WilliamsRobbie Williams walked onto a stage at Knebworth on the 1st of August 2003 and faced a crowd of 125,000 people. He then did it again on the 2nd and the 3rd. Three consecutive nights, with that many people each time, made it the biggest…