Curated playlist

Kennedy Center honorees

Bob DylanAt a 1966 Manchester concert, Bob Dylan told his band to play loud after a heckler called him Judas.
U2U2, the Irish rock band, began with a note pinned to a school notice board in Dublin in 1976. Larry Mullen Jr., then a 14-year-old pupil at Mount Temple Comprehensive School, was looking for musicians for a new band. The first practice…
Frank SinatraFrank Sinatra was dropped by his record label in 1952. A movie role then brought him back to the top.
Martin ScorseseMartin Scorsese's love of movies began because asthma kept him out of games.
Al PacinoAl Pacino's mother told him poor people don't do acting. He went on to earn nine Oscar nominations.
Andrew Lloyd WebberAndrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera closed on Broadway in 2023 after 13,981 performances.
Steven SpielbergSteven Spielberg walked into Universal Studios without a pass, and the guard waved him in.
Tennessee WilliamsTennessee Williams wanted to be sewn into a canvas sack and dropped into the sea.
Elton JohnElton John sang "Candle in the Wind 1997" live only once, at Princess Diana's funeral. He wrote it days before.
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…
George LucasGeorge Lucas turned down a higher directing fee for Star Wars. He asked for toy and merchandise rights instead.
Aretha FranklinOtis Redding said Aretha Franklin took his song "Respect" away from him. Her version hit number one in 1967.
James StewartJames Stewart gave his Oscar to his father for the shop window.
Katharine HepburnKatharine Hepburn bought out her own studio contract after theater owners called her box office poison.
Led ZeppelinAtlantic Records signed Led Zeppelin without ever seeing them play. The November 1968 deal came with a $143,000 advance.
Meryl StreepDino De Laurentiis insulted Meryl Streep in Italian, not knowing she spoke it. She answered him in Italian too.
Ella FitzgeraldElla Fitzgerald walked onstage at the Apollo Theater planning to dance, then chose to sing. She was 17 in 1934.
Kirk DouglasKirk Douglas insisted on giving blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo an on-screen credit for Spartacus.
Elizabeth TaylorAfter Rock Hudson said he was dying of AIDS, Elizabeth Taylor helped found a research foundation in 1985.
Johnny CarsonUri Geller failed on Johnny Carson's show, and it made him famous. Carson had asked James Randi for help.
Mel BrooksMel Brooks was 14 years old when he climbed onto a diving board at the Butler Lodge, a second-rate hotel in the Borscht Belt. He worked there as a pool-side tummler, an entertainer hired to keep the guests amused. On this day he wore a…
Jack NicholsonJack Nicholson improvised one line in the 1980 horror film The Shining, and it was not in the script.
Sylvester StalloneSylvester Stallone has said that he once slept for three weeks in the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City. Decades later, he is one of only two actors in history, alongside Harrison Ford, to have starred in a box-office number one…
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…
Tina TurnerTina Turner crossed a Texas freeway on foot on the 1st of July 1976 with 36 cents and a Mobil credit card in her pocket. She had slipped out of a hotel suite in Dallas after a fight, while her husband slept. Her destination was a nearby…
James BrownJames Brown pointed out band members' wrong notes with hand signals.
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.
Bette DavisBette Davis's tombstone reads, "She did it the hard way." A director suggested the epitaph after All About Eve.
Clint EastwoodPresident Reagan quoted Clint Eastwood's line "Go ahead, make my day" to Congress.
Elia KazanIn 1952, Elia Kazan gave a congressional committee the names of eight former colleagues.
Ginger RogersGinger Rogers and Fred Astaire were only supporting players in Flying Down to Rio, a film meant for other stars.
Joni MitchellAfter a 2015 brain aneurysm, Joni Mitchell relearned guitar at living room jam sessions. Brandi Carlile organized them.
Eagles (band)The Eagles, an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971, spent the 31st of July 1980 promising to beat each other up. The trouble began before the concert in Long Beach, California. Guitarist Don Felder said 'You're welcome - I…
Chuck BerryChuck Berry was buried with a cherry-red guitar bolted inside his coffin lid. The rock and roll pioneer died in 2017.
Tom HanksTom Hanks lost 35 pounds to play a dying lawyer in Philadelphia. He thinned his hair and learned to walk differently.
Johnny CashJohnny Cash never served a prison sentence. He was jailed seven times, one night each.
Lucille BallLucille Ball's real-life pregnancy became an I Love Lucy episode, and CBS banned the word "pregnant."
The WhoThe Who played the Valley, the home ground of Charlton Athletic, on the 31st of May 1976. The Guinness Book of Records listed that show as the world's loudest concert, at over 120 dB. The English rock band had formed in London in 1964. Its…
Aaron CoplandComposer Aaron Copland planned one year of study in Paris with Nadia Boulanger but stayed three.
Arthur MillerArthur Miller wrote Death of a Salesman in less than six weeks. He finished the first act in less than a day.
Brian WilsonOn a flight to Houston in 1964, Brian Wilson broke down sobbing. He then quit touring with the Beach Boys.
Jimmy PageJimmy Page was thirteen when a television host asked what he planned to do with his life. His answer had nothing to do with music. The year was 1957, and the programme was All Your Own, a talent show on BBC1 hosted by Huw Wheldon. Page had…
BonoBono, the lead singer of U2, took his name from the sign of a hearing aid shop in Dublin. The shop was called Bonavox, and it stood just off O'Connell Street, the city's principal thoroughfare. The word comes from the Latin for good voice.…
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…
Kiss (band)Kiss played its first show on the 30th of January 1973 at the Popcorn Club in Queens, New York. Fewer than ten people were in the audience. The band was paid $50 for two sets, after Gene Simmons cold-called the venue and talked the owners…
John WilliamsSteven Spielberg laughed at John Williams's two-note Jaws theme, thinking it was a joke.
Sammy Davis Jr.Sammy Davis Jr. once answered a simple golf question with a line that became his signature. Playing a round with Jack Benny, he was asked what his handicap was. Davis replied, "Handicap?" and then went on: "Talk about handicap. I'm a…
David LettermanDavid Letterman got fired from campus radio for treating classical music irreverently.