Trivia

1) Who was awarded the very first gold record?

-Although there were earlier publicity stunts involving records sprayed with gold lacquer, the actual award recognized today as a Gold Record was first awarded to Perry Como in 1958 for his recording of “Catch a Falling Star”.

2) What pop singer is known as “The Material Girl”?

-Madonna became known as “The Material Girl” after her hit single of the same name hit the charts in 1984. She hates it, claiming she would never have done the song if she knew the name would stick.

3) How much pressure do the strings in a grand piano exert on the frame?

-Each string has a tension of 160-200 lbs, resulting in a total combined force of up to 30 tons in a concert grand.

4) What is the oldest surviving musical instrument?

-An ancient bone flute, estimated to be about 43,000-82,000 years old, was found by Dr Ivan Turk, a palaeontologist at the Slovenian Academy of Science at a Neanderthal campsite in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 1998. The oldest known musical instrument, it is made of an old cavebear femur segment with four holes (two complete and two partial).

5) What singer holds the world record for most words in a hit single?

-The Detroit rapper achieved a world record with “Rap God”. The six-minute track contains 1,560 words which means that Eminem is rapping a tongue-twisting 4.28 words per second.

6) Who was rocketed to super-stardom in 1998 by the hit single “Baby One More Time”?

-“Baby One More Time” was Britney Spears’ first hit. The album sold over 13 million copies in the US and rocketed Britney to super-stardom.

7) What was the name of the airplane Buddy Holly died in?

-The airplane that Buddy Holly died in was named American Pie. Don McLean would later write a song about the accident with the same title. The single was a number-one hit in the U.S. for four weeks in 1972.

8) Who was the oldest living artist to top the UK Singles Chart?

-The oldest artist to top the UK singles chart was Tom Jones, who was 68 when “(Barry) Islands in the Stream” reached the top in 2009.

9) What 1985 charity single sold more than 20 million copies?

-“We Are the World” raised over $63 million for humanitarian aid in Africa and the US.

10) What is the most instruments (different kinds) used in a single piece of music?

-The most instruments (different kinds) used in a single piece of music was 315 and was achieved by Rupam Sarmah and his team, performing a symphony at Jorhat Sports Complex, Assam, India, on 24 February 2013.