A 17-year-old promoter in Cologne booked jazz pianist Keith Jarrett but a mistake left an out-of-tune piano with dead keys on stage. The promoter pleaded and the show went on and was even recorded. “The Köln Concert” became the best-selling solo album in jazz history and the best-selling piano recording ever. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: BBC Radio 4 – For One Night Only, Series 6, Keith Jarrett: The Cologne Concert
Canadian radio stations are required by law to play Canadian artists on the airwaves at least 35% of the time. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Canadian content requirements for Canadian music on radio stations | CRTC
In 2003, the London Underground piloted playing classical music in tube stations to deter anti-social behavior which resulted in train robberies falling by 33%, verbal assaults on staff dropping 25%, and vandalism decreasing by 37% over an18 month period. – WTF Fun Facts
In 1997, Mötley Crüe created a soda called “Mötley Brüe” to help promote their new album “Generation Swine.” They intentionally added so much blue dye to the soda it would turn the drinker’s urine into a green color. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Swine
At the end of 2019, Hasbro (the toy company behind the likes of My Little Pony, NERF, Transformers, and Furby) acquired eOne, which includes music label Death Row Records with albums by artists including Tupac, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Hasbro Now Owns Death Row Records Because Why Not, It’s 2020 (vice.com)
Heavy metal band Black Sabbath’s original name was The Polka Tulk Blues Band – named after the brand name of a talcum powder Ozzy Osbourne’s mother used. – WTF Fun Facts
From 1746 until the precedent was overturned in 1996, English law considered bagpipes not as a musical instrument but a weapon of war instead. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: David declares his bagpipes a weapon of war | HeraldScotland
A Decibel is not its own unit, but actually 1/10th of the seldom used “Bel”, a unit named in honor of Alexander Graham Bell for his contribution to acoustics. – WTF Fun Facts
Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury once threw a party where he had dwarves walk around with plates full of cocaine strapped to the tops of their heads, as an offering to his guests. – WTF Fun Facts
The leading theory behind why humans enjoy music is that we learn patterns and regularities within music, and we unconsciously predict what will come next. When we are right, our brain gives us a dopamine rush. Thus the constant dance between expectation and outcome is pleasurable to us. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Will we ever… understand why music makes us feel good? – BBC Future
In 2015, a fan of the Australian band Peking Duk got backstage at their concert by adding himself as a family member on their Wiki page and showing it to security. The duo wasn’t even upset, saying “We ended up having a bunch of beers with him and he was an absolute legend.” – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Fan Edits Wikipedia Page to Go Backstage at Peking Duk Concert | Time
Bob Marley gave a songwriter credit on “No Woman, No Cry” to his friend Vincent Ford, who ran a soup kitchen in his hometown of Trenchtown, to ensure the royalty checks would keep it open. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Bob Marley Shared His Royalties With a Soup Kitchen | LedgerNote
In 2002, Saddam Hussein’s campaign theme song for re-election was Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.” – WTF Fun Facts
Michael Bublé, while working as an extra, was fired from the set of The X-Files for stealing a hot dog from craft services table. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: The Hilarious Reason Michael Buble Was Fired From The X-Files – CINEMABLEND
In 2003, American Rock Band ‘The Postal Service’ was sent a cease and desist letter by the United States Postal Service for trademark infringement. After negotiations, the USPS allowed the band to use their name in exchange for playing a free show and some publicity. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Postal Service Tale: Indie Rock, Snail Mail and Trademark Law – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
In 1995, Chris “Fenderman” Black married his Fender Stratocaster guitar that he purchased 35 years prior. He did so after his actual wife joked that he spent so much time with it that he should marry it. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.deseret.com/1995/6/1/19215651/wife-fumes-as-briton-weds-object-of-desire
Researchers found that male bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay in Western Australia have formed “boy bands” that harmonize their mating calls together in order to better attract females. – WTF Fun Facts
The longest music performance in the world is being performed in the city of Halberstadt in Germany: John Cage’s composition for organ ORGAN2/ASLSP – As SLow aS Possible – began playing on September 5, 2001 and will play until the year 2640!–WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://universes.art/en/specials/john-cage-organ-project-halberstadt