Michael Jackson didn't perform at the Grammys at the height of his career

Michael Jackson's halftime show created the modern Super Bowl spectacle

In 1993, Michael Jackson's Super Bowl halftime performance prompted the NFL to extend the break and reimagine it as a must-watch event. It is widely regarded as the first modern halftime show built around a global superstar.

Grammy snubs and losses have generated controversy over the years

While there’s always some friction when major award nominees are announced from those who believe a favorite has been snubbed, the Grammys have attracted quite a bit of pushback in the last few years. Much of the controversy centers around the show’s purported unequal treatment of artists of color, particularly Black artists.

People have tied for Grammy Awards at least 34 times

Because of the Grammys voting structure, it's possible for two artists (or songs or producers, etc.) to receive the same vote totals. What happens then? Two Grammys! It has led to some funny moments, including in 1981, when classical musician Itzhak Perlman tied with … himself, for best classical performance as a soloist.

James Brown was considered one of rock's greatest performers

"The T.A.M.I. Show" is a 1964 film featuring live performances from the biggest names in rock 'n' roll: Chuck Berry, the Beach Boys, and the Supremes. The most memorable performance from James Brown and his band the Famous Flames, is regarded as one of the greatest performances in pop music.

Watch one of country music's most infamous performances

Jerry Lee Lewis started in the 50s as a supercharged rock ‘n’ roll star. His career imploded when it was revealed he’d married his teenaged cousin. By the time he was invited to the Grand Ole Opry, he’d reinvented himself as a country troubadour and promised to play by the venue’s strict rules. But as this infamous performance shows, Lewis couldn’t help bringing some of his past to the stage, much to the audience’s delight.

Every ‘SNL’ host who's doubled as musical guest

This chronological list details every entertainer who’s both hosted and performed as musical guest through the show’s five decades. You’ll find some interesting tidbits, like Paul Simon breaking ground as the first to do it in 1975, and some serious headscratchers, like Garth Brooks performing as his alter ego Chris Gaines.

Steve Martin was a wildly successful stand-up—and abruptly quit doing it

In the ‘70s, few stand-up comics were bigger than Steve Martin, who released multiplatinum albums and regularly sold out arenas. As he detailed in his 2007 memoir, Martin had grown disillusioned with his success as a stand-up and pivoted into film.

Live Aid featured 16 hours of live music across two continents

The 1985 benefit concerts took place in London and Philadelphia, and performances from both locations were televised simultaneously.

Watch a long, personal interview with Prince from 1999

Prince often avoided press junkets, especially after he became a superstar. In 1999, though, in advance of a televised New Year's Eve concert, he sat down for a lengthy interview with Larry King, speaking about his childhood, career, and his conflicts with Warner Bros. He noted that it was uncharacteristic for him to spend so much time reflecting. "As I go through this journey, I don't look back much at all," he told King. "I try to stay in the now and live in the now."

2025 marked the first time in 35 years a hip-hop song wasn't in the top 40

The Billboard Hot 100 chart dated October 25, 2025, didn't have any rap or hip-hop songs in its top 40 singles, something that hadn't happened since Feb. 2, 1990. One explanation is a Billboard methodology change, and another is Taylor Swift's "The Life of a Showgirl."

Bob Dylan asked Patti Smith to perform in his place at the Nobel Prize ceremony

Dylan didn't attend the ceremony, citing "other commitments," and asked Patti Smith, the legendary poet and punk pioneer, to perform in his place. Smith sang "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," accompanied by an orchestra, though she had to request to restart one verse after stumbling over Dylan's dense lyrics.

Michaels doesn’t care when people say ‘SNL’ was funnier when they were younger

"Generally when people talk about the best cast I think, 'Well, that's when they were in high school,'" Michaels told "Today" in 2015. "Because in high school you have the least amount of power you're ever gonna have. ... Staying up with friends later on a Saturday is great, and people attach to a cast."

Juvenile Oscars were handed out from 1935 to 1961

The Academy Juvenile Award recognized the best child actors in a given year, with luminaries like Shirley Temple, Judy Garland, and Mickey Rooney taking home the prestigious trophies. Fittingly, they were 7 inches tall, about half the size of a regular Oscar.

Why ‘Shoeless Joe’ Jackson was banned from Major League Baseball

Few baseball stars are more infamous than "Shoeless Joe" Jackson, one of the game's greatest hitters. Jackson was part of the Chicago White Sox team (notoriously dubbed the "Black Sox") accused of fixing the 1919 World Series. This resource breaks down the criminal trial that investigated those allegations. Curiously, Jackson and his teammates were acquitted, but Major League Baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis still banned them from the league for life.

Frank Ocean's 2023 appearance was a notorious catastrophe

Ocean's Coachella performance was one of the most anticipated in the festival's 20-plus years. He was an enigmatic but generation-defining artist, so a headlining set on Coachella's legendary stage seemed like the perfect place for him to reveal the next step in his artistic journey. Unfortunately, it was a slipshod and confusing spectacle—rife with technical issues—and left fans disappointed and confused.

Hip-hop legends the Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, and DMX all attended the same New York high school

All four emcees attended George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School, a vocational public school in downtown Brooklyn. Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes were well-known as rappers when they were in school, once even battle-rapping one another in the lunchroom. (Jay-Z won.)

Soaps launched the careers of countless Hollywood A-listers

Soap operas may not be considered high culture, but many actors who would go on to win television and film’s highest honors got their start with soaps. That includes Julianne Moore (“As the World Turns”), Morgan Freeman (“Another World”), Leonardo DiCaprio (“Santa Barbara”), and Michael B. Jordan (“All My Children”).

Michael Jordan’s mother persuaded him to meet with Nike instead of Adidas

Michael Jordan wore Converse when he played at UNC Chapel Hill, but always wanted to wear Adidas when he went to the NBA. He tried to get Adidas to match Nike's $2.5M deal, but Adidas wouldn’t do it.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was unpopular with most Americans during his lifetime

Polling shows that public opinion of Dr. King shifted dramatically after his death: viewed unfavorably by most Americans in the mid-1960s, more than 80% of the public now believes he had a positive impact on our country, according to data from Pew and Gallup.

In 1924, elephants from the Central Park Zoo marched in Macy's inaugural parade

Enormous balloons didn’t make an appearance until 1927, and the parade wasn’t televised until 1948. But no matter the decade, a visit from Santa Claus has always been a highlight.

Watch archival footage of Jesse Owens in the 1936 Berlin Olympics

The 1936 Berlin Games were the first Olympics to be shown live on television (though not broadcast). The Germans used a closed circuit television network to bring the Games to 25 viewing halls in black and white. View footage of American Olympic hero Jesse Owens winning his four gold medals, and his historic interaction with German long jumper Luz Long in Nazi Germany.

Met Gala fashion over the decades

Check out the wildest, most impressive Met Gala looks of past decades. This video covers notable outfits from every year of the event. From themes like “The Eighteenth-Century Woman” to First Lady Jackie Kennedy Onassis to the many looks of Rihanna, the video walks viewers through every stitch and sequin. An inside look into just what makes the Met Gala one of the most important fashion events of the year.

Marlon Brando used his 1973 Oscar win to protest the US government's treatment of Native Americans

Brando declined his best actor award at the Academy Awards, sending Chiricahua Apache activist Sacheen Littlefeather in his place to read a statement protesting Hollywood's depiction of Native people and the federal siege underway at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

BTS was the 2020 Time Entertainer of the Year

The COVID-19 pandemic brought a lot of good fortune to BTS, who were able to reach audiences worldwide with their talent, appearance, and messaging. This Time profile of the group reflects on the epoch-defining group and how they stood out from other musical acts by being more socially progressive and uplifting. Their success is recognized as a triumph for Asian representation and the boundless popularity of K-pop idols.

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

The longest-running Broadway musical is 'The Phantom of the Opera'

Andrew Lloyd Webber's legendary show holds the record for the longest-running musical on Broadway, with an astounding 13,981 performances. When it was announced the show would close, its dedicated "phans" rushed to buy tickets, leading to an unexpected extension.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

In preparation for this weekend's Eurovision finale, which is something like the World Cup of pop music, here's a young Céline Dion performing (for Switzerland?) at the 1988 competition.

Prince's sexually explicit 1984 track 'Darling Nikki' attracted the ire of the Parents Music Resource Center, an advocacy group that inspired the Parental Advisory sticker, even though the song ends with a Christian message.

Watch a 1934 short film starring jazz legend Cab Calloway, a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance's music scene

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

One disco producer saw 'Star Wars' four times on its opening weekend and was so inspired that he recorded the album 'Star Wars and Other Intergalactic Funk,' which produced a chart-topping single.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

The Mona Lisa's celebrity status and repeated restorations have obscured what made the painting so revolutionary for its time

The distributor behind 'Rocky Horror' pulled the film from its scheduled national release, believing it would be a failure, though it eventually amassed a dedicated fanbase through midnight showings, a trend that continues over 50 years later.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

Frank Lloyd Wright's houses are historically hard to sell because they're old, subject to local landmark commissions, and often unfashionable

Despite being favored by 87% of Americans, Congress does not have term limits.

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

Firework or sparkler burns, even if they cover a relatively small area of skin, can significantly affect our range of motion.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

Tattoos remain visible on your skin thanks to immune cells called macrophages

The USPS spent $3.97B in 2024, accounting for .058% of the federal budget.

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

Volcanoes 'die' when their supply of magma runs out, if they are shifted away from their underlying magma reservoir, or if they get clogged by collapsing or their magma cooling back into rock.

An Ebola vaccine was developed during the 2018 west African Ebola outbreak, but the 2026 Ebola outbreak is with a different species of the virus, not the one that the vaccine is approved to treat.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight