Historic events this week from Van Halen, Janis, U2, Pink Floyd and Soundgarden
FEBRUARY 25, 1984: VAN HALEN’S “JUMP” IS #1
“Jump” was the first single from Van Halen’s classic sixth album, 1984. The track spent 5 straight weeks at #1. “Jump” was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocal, but ultimately lost to Prince & the Revolution’s “Purple Rain.”
FEBRUARY 27, 1971: JANIS JOPLIN’S PEARL IS #1
Janis Joplin’s final album, Pearl, was released 3 months after her death. The album spent nine consecutive weeks at #1. Containing “Me and Bobby McGee” & “Mercedes Benz”, Pearl has sold over 4 Million copies in the US alone.
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FEBRUARY 28, 1983: U2’s WAR
U2’s third album, War, was their first multi-Platinum album. Containing the well-known singles “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “New Year’s Day”, the album has gone on to sell over 11,000,000 copies worldwide.
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MARCH 1, 1973: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON RELEASED IN AMERICA
Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon gave the band international recognition. With over 45 million sold, it’s their best selling album. With each new generation discovering the album, it has spent 900 non-consecutive weeks on the charts.
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MARCH 1, 1995: SOUNDGARDEN WIN THEIR ONLY GRAMMYS
Soundgarden were previously nominated for Best Metal Performance for the albums Ultramega OK and Badmotorfinger, as well as the song “Into the Void (Sealth)”.
They finally became Grammy winners when their album, Superunknown, brought them four more nominations.
Soundgarden won their only Grammys for “Spoonman” (Best Metal Performance) and “Black Hole Sun” (Best Hard Rock Performance).
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MARCH 2, 1988: U2 WIN THEIR FIRST GRAMMYS
U2’s The Joshua Tree received 4 Grammy nominations in 1988.
In addition to winning Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, they won Album of the Year by beating out Whitney by Whitney Houston, Bad by Michael Jackson and Sign o’ the Times by Prince.