What happened in Music on this day !?

March 16th

2015

Sam Smith stopped Madonna from topping the UK album chart, denying her the 12th No.1 of her career. Madonna's latest album, Rebel Heart, had been in pole position throughout the week, but Smith's In The Lonely Hour sneaked ahead at the last minute, beating Madonna by 12,000 sales. In The Lonely Hour had now spent six separate spells at No.1 - a record for a male solo artist.

March 17th

1979 

Gloria Gaynor started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with I Will Survive. The song was originally released as the B-side to a song first recorded by The Righteous Brothers called 'Substitute.'

March 18th

1989 

Stock, Aitken and Waterman had three singles in the UK Top 5: Jason Donovan's 'Too Many Broken Hearts', Bananarama's 'Help', and Donna Summer's 'This Time I Know Its For Real.' SAW are considered to be one of the most successful songwriting and producing partnerships of all time, scoring more than 100 UK top 40 hits.

March 19th

2015 

Ed Sheeran sold the two millionth copy of his second album, X, (pronounced multiply), in the UK, nine months after it was released. He became only the fifth artist to achieve the feat this decade, following in the footsteps of Adele, Emeli Sande, Take That and Michael Buble.

March 20th

1976 

Status Quo started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK chart with their third No.1 album Blue For You. The bands record label set up a deal with Levi Jeans, advertising in over 6,000 clothes shops to help promote the album.

AD

March 21st

1988

American alternative rock band Pixies released their debut studio album Surfer Rosa on the British label 4AD which had allocated the group a budget of $10,000 to record the album. Produced by Steve Albini it peaked at No.2 on the UK Indie Chart the following week and spent 60 weeks in the chart.

March 22nd

2009 

Lady Gaga started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Poker Face', her second UK chart-topper and a No.1 hit in over 20 countries. With over 14 million copies, 'Poker Face' is one of the world's best-selling singles of all time and became the best-selling single of 2009 worldwide with over 9.8 million in sales that year alone.

March 23rd

1991 

 R.E.M. scored their first UK No.1 album with their seventh LP Out Of Time featuring the singles 'Losing My Religion' (which became R.E.M.'s highest-charting hit in the US, reaching No.4), and 'Shiny Happy People.' The video for 'Losing My Religion' won two Grammy Awards and six MTV Awards.

March 24th

1985 

'Easy Lover' by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins was at No.1 on the UK singles chart. Bailey was a former vocalist with Earth, Wind & Fire. Phil Collins produced, drummed and sang on the track. 'Easy Lover' won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Overall Performance in a Video.

March 25th

1989 

Madonna was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Like A Prayer', the singers sixth UK No.1, also No.1 in the US. The song was accompanied by a highly controversial music video, which in 2005 was voted the "Most Groundbreaking Music Video of All Time" by viewers of MTV.

March 26th

1996

The Woman in Me the second studio album by Shania Twain was at No.1 on the Country chart. It went onto become her biggest-selling recording at the time of its release, selling 4 million copies by the end of the year. 'Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?', a song about a woman confronting her lover about his frequent infidelity, was released at the first single from the album.

March 27th

1988 

Was born Jessie J, (Jessica Ellen Cornish), English singer-songwriter, who had the 2011 UK No.1 single 'Price Tag' and the 2012 UK No.1 'Domino.'

March 28th

1954 

Was born Reba McEntire country music artist and actress who has scored 35 No.1 singles and released over 25 albums. Sometimes referred to as 'The Queen of Country', she has sold more than 70 million albums worldwide as well as starring in her television sitcom, Reba for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance in a Television Series–Musical or Comedy.

March 29th

1981

Shakin' Stevens was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with his version of the Rosemary Clooney hit 'This Ole House', the Welsh singers first of four UK No.1's.

March 30th

1996 

The Prodigy started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Firestarter', the first single from the album The Fat of the Land. The wah-wah guitar riff in 'Firestarter' was sampled from The Breeders' track 'S.O.S.'

March 31st

1992 

 Def Leppard released their fifth studio album Adrenalize, the first by the band following the 1991 death of guitarist Steve Clark. Former Dio and Whitesnake guitarist Vivian Campbell, was brought in as the newest member in April 1992. He appears in all promotional videos for the album's singles (except 'Let's Get Rocked'), despite not playing on the album.