"Hurt" is not an original song by Johnny Cash. Written by Trent Reznor for Nine Inch Nails' 1994 album The Downward Spiral, the song was later reinterpreted by Cash for his 2002 album American IV: The Man Comes Around. Producer Rick Rubin had to encourage him several times before he finally agreed to record it.
The iconic video, directed by Mark Romanek, was filmed at the House of Cash, Johnny's personal museum. By then, the 71-year-old singer was already in poor health, with failing eyesight and noticeable tremors. June Carter Cash appears throughout the video, which was filmed in February 2003 just a few months before her death in May and Johnny's own passing in September. Deeply moved by the reinterpretation, Trent Reznor famously said, "That song isn't mine anymore." Today, it is widely considered one of the greatest cover versions ever recorded.
Pearl Jam first played Letterman 30 years ago today!
PJ hadn't performed on TV since SNL '94, so when @Letterman offered a commercial-free episode the band really blew the roof off the dump. All eyes on Stone! #tfh
"Hail Hail," Sept. 20, 1996: https://t.co/nsOEMgLdp1
On the 1992 ZOOTV tour, Mirror Ball Man was Bono’s merciless parody of American prosperity-gospel televangelism and commodified religion.
Dressed in a dazzling, mirror-tiled silver lamé suit, white shoes, and cowboy hat, Mirror Ball Man threw stacks of cash from the stage and preached a gospel of prosperity.
At the time, Bono explained his inspiration: “The Mirror Ball Man, he’s ‘the preacher stealing hearts at the traveling show.’ He’s a cross between a tele-evangelist and a politician/country singer.”
Bono later described the character: “He had the confidence and charm to pick up a mirror and look at himself and give the glass a big kiss. He loved cash and in his mind success was God's blessing. If he’s made money, he can’t have made any mistakes.”
#U2#Twilight
It is deeply influenced by the environment in which they grew up. It reflects the isolation of a young man searching for his identity on the streets of a grey, economically depressed Dublin in the late 1970s, finding refuge in the aggression and art of post-punk.
#U2#AnCatDubh
The song details a brief fling Bono had with a classmate during a period when he was separated from his then-girlfriend (and future wife), Ali Hewson—capturing the intense physical attraction mixed with remorse over having betrayed his partner's trust.
“Party All the Time” began after Richard Pryor bet Eddie Murphy $100,000 that he would not release a serious music album with no jokes. Murphy teamed up with Rick James, who wrote and produced the track. They recorded it at James’s home studio in the Buffalo area during the so-called “Six-Pack” storm of 1985, which dumped about 33 inches of snow on the region. Murphy had planned to stay only a weekend and ended up snowed in with James for days that he later remembered as about two weeks.
The song is the lead single from Murphy’s 1985 debut album How Could It Be. The synth-funk track reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, kept off the top by Lionel Richie’s “Say You, Say Me” and also charted internationally.
Though often remembered as an ’80s novelty, Murphy took the project seriously and later returned to music, including the 2013 reggae single “Red Light,” featuring Snoop Dogg (then recording as Snoop Lion).
Elvis Presley’s performance of “Suspicious Minds” during the Aloha From Hawaii concert on January 14, 1973, is one of the most iconic moments of his later career. Broadcast live globally via satellite, the show was a monumental media event. Originally released as a studio single in 1969, “Suspicious Minds” became Elvis’s 18th and final #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 during his lifetime. Its passionate delivery in Honolulu cemented its status as one of his signature performances.
The Aloha From Hawaii broadcast was a historic television milestone and was promoted at the time as reaching an estimated 1–1.5 billion viewers in over 40 countries, making it one of the most ambitious live television events ever staged. Originally written by Mark James in 1968, the song evolved into one of Elvis’s signature recordings at American Sound Studio. Unsatisfied with the studio version’s mid-song fade-out, Elvis performed the song live with a seamless transition into a faster finale. To ensure perfection for the global broadcast, he even staged a full dress rehearsal the day before wearing his iconic “American Eagle” jumpsuit. Elvis also donated the proceeds from the show's souvenir album to the Kui Lee Cancer Fund, adding a charitable legacy to one of the most memorable performances of his career.