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GRAMMY Rewind: 25th Annual GRAMMY Awards

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Toto wins Album and Record Of The Year against these nominees
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm
GRAMMY.com

(For a list of 54th GRAMMY Awards nominees, click here.)

Music's Biggest Night, the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards, will air live from Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

In the weeks leading up to the telecast, we will take a stroll down music memory lane with GRAMMY Rewind, highlighting the "big four" categories — Album Of The Year, Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best New Artist — from past awards shows. In the process, we'll examine the winners and the nominees who just missed taking home a GRAMMY, while also shining a light on the artists' careers and the eras in which the recordings were born.

Join us as we take an abbreviated journey through the trajectory of pop music from the 1st Annual GRAMMY Awards in 1959 to last year's 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards.

25th Annual GRAMMY Awards
Feb. 23, 1983

Album Of The Year
Winner: Toto, Toto IV
John Cougar, American Fool
Donald Fagen, The Nightfly
Billy Joel, The Nylon Curtain
Paul McCartney, Tug Of War

Toto IV, which featured such well-crafted hits as "Rosanna" and "Africa," took Album Of The Year honors over a strong field. McCartney and Fagen received their first nominations in this category as solo artists. McCartney had previously won in the category with the Beatles and had been nominated with his subsequent group Paul McCartney And Wings. Fagen had previously been nominated with Steely Dan. Joel, who won the award three years earlier for 52nd Street, was back in the finals with The Nylon Curtain. John Mellencamp (then known as John Cougar) rounded out the field with American Fool, the album that made him a star. It spawned the hits "Hurts So Good," which won a GRAMMY for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male; and "Jack & Diane," Mellencamp's lone No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 single.

Record Of The Year
Winner: Toto, "Rosanna"
Joe Jackson, "Steppin' Out"
Paul McCartney And Stevie Wonder, "Ebony And Ivory"
Willie Nelson, "Always On My Mind"
Vangelis, "Chariots Of Fire"

Toto took honors for "Rosanna," which made them the first group or duo to win Album Of The Year and Record Of The Year in the same year since Simon & Garfunkel achieved the feat 12 years earlier. McCartney and Wonder were nominated for their glossy brotherhood anthem "Ebony And Ivory." Wonder had previously been nominated in the category for "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life." This was McCartney's first nomination in the category since the Beatles ("I Want To Hold Your Hand," "Hey Jude" and "Let It Be" were all Record Of The Year contenders). Vangelis' "Chariots Of Fire" was the first instrumental movie theme to be nominated for Record Of The Year since Isaac Hayes' 1971 classic "Theme From Shaft." Nelson, cited for "Always On My Mind," was the first country artist to be nominated in the category since Kenny Rogers, who received nods in 1979 and 1980 for "The Gambler" and "Lady," respectively. (The song won Nelson a GRAMMY for Best Country Vocal Performance, Male.) Jackson rounded out the field with his stylish "Steppin' Out," which broke the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982.

Song Of The Year
Winner: Willie Nelson, "Always On My Mind"
Donald Fagen, "I.G.Y. (What A Beautiful World)"
Paul McCartney And Stevie Wonder, "Ebony & Ivory"
Survivor, "Eye Of The Tiger"
Toto, "Rosanna"

"Always On My Mind" (written by Johnny Christopher, Mark James and Wayne Carson) became the first song to win both Song Of The Year and Best Country Song since Bobby Russell's "Little Green Apples" took both awards in 1968. McCartney, who won Song Of The Year with John Lennon for "Michelle" in 1966, was nominated for "Ebony And Ivory." "I.G.Y. (What A Beautiful World)" marked the first Song Of The Year award for Fagen. The other two nominated songs were written by members of the groups that made them hits: "Eye Of The Tiger," written by Survivor's Frankie Sullivan and Jim Peterik;; and "Rosanna," written by Toto's David Paich. Featured in the hit movie Rocky III, "Eye Of The Tiger" won Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals honors and was also nominated for an Academy Award.

Best New Artist
Winner: Men At Work
Asia
Jennifer Holliday
Human League
Stray Cats

Australia's Men At Work, who topped the Billboard Hot 100 with their hits "Who Can It Be Now?" and "Down Under," took the award for Best New Artist. Asia, comprising former members of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, King Crimson and Yes, was also nominated. Asia's chart-topping debut album spawned the hits "Heat Of The Moment" and "Only Time Will Tell." The field also included Human League, an English group who topped the chart with "Don't You Want Me"; Stray Cats, a rockabilly trio from New York who scored such hits as "Rock This Town" and "Stray Cat Strut"; and Holliday, who became the toast of Broadway (and won a Tony Award for best actress in a musical) with her performance in "Dreamgirls." She won a GRAMMY for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female for her performance of the musical's signature song, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going."

Come back to GRAMMY.com Jan. 24 as we revisit the 30th Annual GRAMMY Awards. Meanwhile, visit The Recording Academy's social networks on Facebook and Twitter for updates and breaking GRAMMY news.

 

 

Eddie Murphy at the 25th GRAMMY Awards

Eddie Murphy

Photo: Ron Galella/WireImage.com

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John Williams To Eddie Murphy: 7 Things To Know About The 25th GRAMMY Awards

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Take a look back at the GRAMMY Awards' 25th-anniversary celebration and see who made headlines
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Jan 3, 2018 - 12:12 pm

The GRAMMY Awards' 25th anniversary saw the Recording Academy celebrating the creators and craftspeople whose musical output came to define our culture throughout the show's eligibility year, from October 1981 through September 1982.

Held on Feb. 23, 1983, at the historic Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, the GRAMMYs' silver anniversary was hosted by John Denver, and saw big wins by Toto, Marvin Gaye and John Williams; captivating performances by Miles Davis and Joe Cocker with Jennifer Warnes; and even some unexpected hijinks from the inimitable Eddie Murphy.

Let's take a look back this special night and some of the unforgettable GRAMMY moments that went down in history at the 25th GRAMMY Awards.

1. John Williams Hits A Home Run

GRAMMY-winning composer, conductor and arranger John Williams took home three GRAMMYs at the 25th GRAMMY Awards — tying his winningest year ever, and marking his sixth consecutive year with at least one GRAMMY win. His instrumental compositions and musical arrangements for Steven Spielberg's 1982 sci-fi hit film E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial took home GRAMMY gold for Best Instrumental Composition ("Flying — Theme From E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial"), Best Arrangement On An Instrumental Recording ("Flying") and Best Album Of Original Score Written For A Motion Picture Or Television Special (E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial).

2. "Always On My Mind" Takes Song Of The Year

Originally written by songwriters Johnny Christopher, Mark James and Wayne Carson, and first recorded by Gwen McCrae and Brenda Lee in 1972 before becoming one of Elvis Presley's best-known songs, "Always On My Mind" got its just due when it won the songwriters Song Of The Year at the 25th GRAMMYs. The GRAMMY-winning version of "Always On My Mind" was recorded by outlaw country great Willie Nelson and earned him Best Country Performance, Male. Nelson's version of the song was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 2008.

3. Another Feather In The Cap For Georg Solti

The Hungarian-born operatic and orchestral legend Georg Solti brought home the GRAMMY for Best Choral Performance (Other Than Opera) for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus' recording of Berlioz: La Damnation De Faust, marking his 11th consecutive year with a GRAMMY win. A prolific conductor, Solti became the first-ever recipient of the Recording Academy's Trustees Award in 1967, alongside producer James Curshaw. Solti also received the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995, just two years before his death. To date, Solti is the top GRAMMY winner of all time, with 31 career wins.

4. The MTV Generation Makes Its Presence Known

In just its second year of broadcast in its original 24-hour music videos all-the-time format, MTV was hard at work shaking up the music industry and breaking new artists into the mainstream with a then-unheard-of level of cultural influence. Four of the five Best New Artist nominees at the 25th GRAMMY Awards — Men At Work, Stray Cats, Human League, and Asia — made their bones through popular videos played heavily on the nascent network. Men At Work ultimately took home the Best New Artist GRAMMY, thanks largely to the success of their smash hit 1982 U.S. debut album, Business As Usual.

5. Joe Cocker And Jennifer Warnes Take The GRAMMY Stage

"Up Where We Belong," performed by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes, had a cultural moment in 1982. The moving ballad's popularity was thanks in large part to its placement as the backing track to the emotional final scene of director Taylor Hackford's romantic military drama, An Officer And A Gentleman, starring Richard Gere and Debra Winger. Hackford credits Cocker's fantastic 24th GRAMMY Awards performance of "I'm So Glad I'm Standing Here Today" alongside the Crusaders as playing an instrumental part in his decision to give Cocker a shot at singing "Up Where We Belong" for his film the next year. Cocker and Warnes performed a live duet of the tune on the telecast and later that night took home their first GRAMMYs for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.

6. Toto Take A Shot At Critics

The 25th GRAMMY Awards marked a big year for the American fusion rock outfit Toto, who were then largely under-appreciated by contemporary rock critics.  Previously nominated for Best New Artist at the 21st GRAMMY Awards, the band took home three GRAMMYs this year, nabbing Record Of The Year for "Rosanna," Album Of The Year for Toto IV and Producer Of The Year. With additional wins for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s) and Best Vocal Arrangement For Two Or More Voices for "Rosanna," and Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical, Toto IV brought home a total of six GRAMMYs. During the band's acceptance speech for Producer Of The Year, keyboardist/vocalist/co-songwriter David Paich took a moment to thank rock critic Robert Hilburn "for believing in us," a sarcastic stab at the journalist who once wrote "there's a disheartening lack of depth or daring in [Toto's] music."  

7. Eddie Murphy's Hijinks And Poignant Statements

Eddie Murphy took every stage opportunity to ease the tension and garner a chuckle. As part of a brief stand-up performance during the telecast, the then-rising star of "Saturday Night Live" took a lighthearted stab at the night's jilted hopefuls, pointing out, "A lot of people gonna lose tonight — and you got your tuxedos on and you're losing and it's funny." Never one to leave himself out of a roasting, Murphy went on to declare, "I ain't leaving here without a GRAMMY," despite having already been passed over for both of his nominated categories. Murphy also crashed the stage during Lionel Richie's acceptance speech for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, taking temporary possession of the GRAMMY winner's statuette amid a standing ovation from the gathered audience.

Effortlessly switching tones later in the evening, Murphy made a poignant statement about the influence of the Recording Academy, stating, "You're real important to people's lives because you give people's lives atmosphere. … I thank you for being what you are and keep kicking butt in the '80s."

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Your GRAMMY Performer Checklist

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A handy guide to every performance scheduled for the 56th GRAMMY Awards
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm
GRAMMY.com

The GRAMMY Awards telecast stands as the richest collection of musical talent on any one show, three-and-a-half hours of nearly nonstop music from today's hottest performers as well as surprise GRAMMY Moments that create indelible memories for fans.

Is there a downside to such a giant, wide-ranging night of music? Well, sometimes it can be difficult to keep track of the sprawling list of performers.

The star-studded performance lineup for the 56th Annual GRAMMY Awards has a bit of everything — a number of first-time GRAMMY performances; a not-to-be-missed metal/classical mashup; the Daftest band in music; performances from half of arguably the greatest band ever; and of course the best in country, rock, pop, and hip-hop. And don't forget the coolest host around: LL Cool J.

It's a lot to keep track of, so we've compiled a handy alphabetical guide to artists who will be taking the GRAMMY stage. Of course, be sure to stay logged on to GRAMMY.com and follow our live-blog to complement your GRAMMY experience.

 And the performers for the 56th GRAMMY Awards are: 

  • Billie Joe Armstrong and Miranda Lambert in tribute to Phil Everly
  • Sara Bareilles with 2014 MusiCares Person of the Year Carole King
  • Gary Clark Jr.
  • Daft Punk with Nile Rodgers (of Chic), Pharrell Williams, Stevie Wonder and the RAM (Random Access Memories) session players: Chris Caswell, Nathan East, Omar Hakim, and Paul Jackson Jr.
  • Merle Haggard, 2014 Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and Blake Shelton
  • Hunter Hayes
  • Kendrick Lamar and Imagine Dragons
  • John Legend
  • Lorde
  • Madonna with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Mary Lambert
  • Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, who as members of the Beatles will receive the 2014 Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Metallica and GRAMMY Cultural Ambassador to China Lang Lang
  • Kacey Musgraves
  • Nine Inch Nails, Queens Of The Stone Age, Dave Grohl, and Lindsey Buckingham in a rousing finale
  • Katy Perry
  • Pink and Nate Ruess (of Fun.)
  • Taylor Swift
  • Robin Thicke and GRAMMY-winning group Chicago
  • Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
  • Keith Urban

The 56th Annual GRAMMY Awards will take place live on Sunday, Jan. 26 at Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast in high-definition TV and 5.1 surround sound on the CBS Television Network from 8–11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). For GRAMMY coverage, updates and breaking news, visit The Recording Academy's social networks on Twitter and Facebook.

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The GRAMMYs' Rich Kennedy Center Honors History

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Several GRAMMY winners and Recording Academy Special Merit Award recipients have graduated with Kennedy Center Honors
Paul Grein
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm
GRAMMY.com

Three of this year's five recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors are past GRAMMY winners for Album Of The Year. Billy Joel took the award in 1979 for 52nd Street, Carlos Santana in 1999 for Santana's blockbuster Supernatural and Herbie Hancock in 2007 for the star-studded River: The Joni Letters.

Joel also swept Record and Song Of The Year in 1978 for "Just The Way You Are." And he received a GRAMMY Legend Award in 1991. Santana also took home Record Of The Year for "Smooth," a collaboration with Rob Thomas that was the lead single from Supernatural.

Joel, Santana and Hancock are hardly the first winners of GRAMMYs in marquee categories to receive Kennedy Center Honors. Fourteen previous Kennedy honorees have won GRAMMYs in one or more of the "Big Three" categories — Album, Record and Song Of The Year.

Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon, who share the GRAMMY record for most Album Of The Year victories (three each) received Kennedy Center Honors in 1983, 1999 and 2002, respectively. (Simon's tally includes one album with Art Garfunkel.)

Bob Dylan and Quincy Jones, who have each won Album Of The Year twice, received Kennedy Center Honors in 1997 and 2001, respectively. Dylan took Album Of The Year for 1997's Time Out Of Mind and as a guest artist on George Harrison's The Concert For Bangla Desh, the 1972 winner. Jones won in 1990 for Back On The Block and as producer of Michael Jackson's Thriller, the 1983 champ.

Other past Album Of The Year winners who have received Kennedy Center Honors are Barbra Streisand, Paul McCartney, Tony Bennett, Ray Charles, Tina Turner, and Robert Plant. Streisand won Album Of The Year in 1963 for The Barbra Streisand Album, McCartney for the Beatles' 1967 opus Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Bennett for 1994's MTV Unplugged, Charles for 2004's Genius Loves Company, Turner as a guest artist on the aforementioned River: The Joni Letters, and Plant for 2008's Raising Sand, a collaboration with Alison Krauss.

(Several of these Album Of The Year winners have also won additional "Big Three" GRAMMYs.)

Three Song Of The Year winners, not already named, have received Kennedy Center Honors. They are Jerry Herman, who took Song Of The Year for 1964's "Hello, Dolly!," Stephen Sondheim, who won in 1975 for "Send In The Clowns," and Bruce Springsteen, who won in 1994 for "Streets Of Philadelphia."

Nearly 60 recipients of Kennedy Center Honors (57 to be exact) have received one or more honorary Recording Academy Special Merit Awards — the Lifetime Achievement Award, Trustees Award or GRAMMY Legend Award. As such, they have received the highest form of recognition for career achievement from both The Recording Academy and the Kennedy Center Honors.

Here they are, arranged by genre — with the year that the individual(s) received the Kennedy honor in parentheses.

Classical: Marian Anderson (1978), Artur Rubinstein (1978), Aaron Copland (1979), Leonard Bernstein (1980), Leontyne Price (1980), Isaac Stern (1984), Georg Solti (1993), Jessye Norman (1997), Andre Previn (1998), Van Cliburn (2001), Luciano Pavarotti (2001), and Itzhak Perlman (2003).

Traditional pop and Broadway: Fred Astaire (1978), Richard Rodgers (1978), Frank Sinatra (1983), Lena Horne (1984), Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe (1985), Perry Como (1987), Sammy Davis Jr. (1987), Stephen Sondheim (1993), Julie Andrews (2001), Tony Bennett (2005), Andrew Lloyd Webber (2006), and Barbra Streisand (2008).

Jazz: Ella Fitzgerald (1979), Count Basie (1981), Benny Goodman (1982), Dizzy Gillespie (1990), Benny Carter (1996), Dave Brubeck (2009), and Sonny Rollins (2011).

R&B: Ray Charles (1986), Aretha Franklin (1994), Stevie Wonder (1999), Quincy Jones (2001), James Brown (2003), Smokey Robinson (2006), and Diana Ross (2007).

Country: Roy Acuff (1991), Johnny Cash (1996), Willie Nelson (1998), Loretta Lynn (2003), Dolly Parton (2006), George Jones (2008), and Merle Haggard (2010).

Rock and contemporary pop: Bob Dylan (1997), Chuck Berry (2000), Paul Simon (2002), Elton John (2004), Brian Wilson (2007), The Who's Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey (2008), Paul McCartney (2010), Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (2012), and Billy Joel (2013).

Misc. (calypso, folk and blues): Harry Belafonte (1989), Pete Seeger (1994) and B.B. King (1995).

This year's other two Kennedy Center Honors recipients are GRAMMY-nominated opera singer Martina Arroyo and actress Shirley MacLaine. The artists will be saluted at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 8. The show will be telecast on CBS on Dec. 29.

(Paul Grein, a veteran music journalist based in Los Angeles, writes the weekly Chart Watch column for Yahoo.com.)

Billy Joel performs at Madison Square Garden, 2015

Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden, 2015
Photo: Al Pereria/Getty Images

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The GRAMMYs, Billy Joel, Phish: 9 Big Music Moments At Madison Square Garden

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From iconic concerts to philanthropic shows and Music's Biggest Night, revisit just a few of the iconic New York venue's musical highlights
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Jan 23, 2018 - 8:04 pm

To celebrate the diamond anniversary of Music's Biggest Night, the 60th GRAMMY Awards will return to New York City's iconic Madison Square Garden to honor excellence in music performance, recording and craft on Jan. 28.

Watch Spike Lee's Star-Studded 'NY Stories' Film

In honor of the GRAMMY Awards' latest musical milestone, here's a look back at nine of music's biggest moments that went down at the beautiful venue where this year's show will be held.

George Harrison's Concert For Bangladesh, 1971

To spread awareness and raise funds for relief efforts for refugees in East Pakistan who were fighting to found the now-independent nation of Bangladesh, former Beatles guitarist George Harrison, along with close friend and collaborator Ravi Shankar, hosted a back-to-back pair of benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden on Aug. 1, 1971, raising nearly $250,000 through UNICEF. Boasting sets by Harrison, Shankar and GRAMMY-nominated Bengladeshi classical musician Ali Akbar Khan, along with Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Leon Russell, among others, the concerts attracted more than 40,000 combined attendees. Recordings of the event were later compiled and released as a concert film and live album, with the latter taking home Album Of The Year honors at the 15th GRAMMY Awards.

John Lennon's Final Live Appearance, 1974

Stepping onstage as a surprise guest during a Thanksgiving concert held by Elton John on Nov. 28, 1974, John Lennon made what turned out to be the final live appearance of his career at Madison Square Garden. Lennon's three-song set with John — consisting of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds," "I Saw Her Standing There" and the then-recent Lennon hit featuring John, "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night" — was the result of a promise he had made that he'd join the "Candle In The Wind" singer onstage if their collaboration charted No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — a feat he did not believe would ever occur. Instead, the song became the only No. 1 hit of Lennon's solo career, and he made good on his promise. In a further flash of his old trademark wit, Lennon also introduced the duet of the Beatles' hit "I Saw Her Standing There" as "a song written by an old estranged fiancée of mine called Paul."

No Nukes: The MUSE Concert For A Non-Nuclear Future, 1979

Hosted by the nascent activist group Musicians United for Safe Energy, formed in 1979 by Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Bonnie Raitt, Harvey Wasserman, and John Hall, the No Nukes concert series was held at MSG in September 1979, and comprised five nights of music aimed at promoting safe alternatives to nuclear energy in the wake of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant accident earlier that year. Featuring musical appearances by Crosby, Stills And Nash, James Taylor, Chaka Khan, Doobie Brothers, Gil Scott-Heron, Tom Petty, among others, the concert series is particularly notable for its companion live album and documentary film, both titled No Nukes, which contain the first official live audio recordings and performance footage of Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band, who played sets during two of the five concerts.

Barbra Streisand: The Concert, 1994

GRAMMY-winning songstress Barbra Streisand's 1994 concert tour — her first live appearances in 27 years — was heralded by Time as "the music event of the century." Her appearance at Madison Square Garden provided the source material for a live album and HBO concert special, both monolithically titled Barbra Streisand: The Concert. Backed by an all-out media promotion blitz across radio, TV and print, Streisand earned the distinction of being the highest-paid concert performer in history at the time, and the MSG show became the highest-grossing single concert of 1994. The HBO special achieved the highest ratings ever for a concert special in the network's then-histor, and earned five Emmys and a Peabody Award. The live album also earned GRAMMY nominations for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance ("Ordinary Miracles") at the 37th GRAMMY Awards.

The GRAMMYs' First Trip To MSG, 1997

The 39th GRAMMY Awards on Feb. 26, 1997, was the inaugural paring of Music's Biggest Night and the Garden. The night of notable firsts was a major step forward for the GRAMMYs — marking the show's first big step from auditoriums to a major arena. Among other highlights, the evening saw 14-year-old country music phenom LeAnn Rimes become the youngest GRAMMY winner ever when she took home GRAMMYs for Best New Artist and Best Female Country Vocal Performance ("Blue"). 

The Concert For New York City, 2001

Organized by former Beatles bassist Paul McCartney in response to the devastating terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the Concert For New York City represented a city in turmoil collectively standing together and making the decision to show the world that, even in the face of tragedy, music can sow hope where despair seeks to take root. Held at Madison Square Garden five weeks after the attacks, the event honored the New York City fire and police departments, the victims of the attacks and their families, and the people of New York City who were still working to rescue, recover and rebuild. The concert featured more than 60 music luminaries, including the Who, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, David Bowie, John, Eric Clapton, Bon Jovi, Jay-Z, Destiny's Child, Backstreet Boys, and James Taylor, among others.

Verizon Ladies First Tour Hits MSG, 2004

With support from Verizon, in 2004 GRAMMY winners Beyoncé, Missy Elliott and Alicia Keys set out on the first major tour highlighting female stars in the urban music scene. Booked in support of Elliott's fifth album, This Is Not A Test!, Keys' Best R&B Album GRAMMY-winning sophomore release, The Diary Of Alicia Keys, and Beyoncé's Best Contemporary R&B Album GRAMMY-winning solo debut LP, Dangerously In Love, the three-act show sold out MSG on April 12, 2004, making the night the third-highest-grossing appearance of the entire tour.

Billy Joel's Record-Setting Appearances, 2006

The eternally touring favorite son of both New York's small club and grand arena music scenes, Billy Joel smashed MSG's record for most sold-out appearances in a single tour by selling all 12 scheduled appearances at the New York arena in 2006. The record was first set by Elvis Presley in 1972 with four shows, and was then held by Springsteen And The E Street Band, who sold out 10 nights with his 1999 Reunion Tour. The achievement also earned Joel the distinction of being the only non-athlete to earn a retired number ("12") on a jersey hanging in the arena. This coming summer will mark another MSG triumph for Joel, as his July 18, 2018, concert will mark his 100th performance at the venue.

Phish: The Baker's Dozen, 2017

The GRAMMY-nominated psychedelic jam band Phish set an intriguing record with their Baker's Dozen shows at Madison Square Garden in the summer of 2017 — the longest string of consecutive nightly appearances by a band. Trey Anastasio & Co.'s well-established reputation for both possessing a deep catalogue, and the ability to expand those songs into extended live grooves that often time out north of 25 minutes, was on full display during the 13 consecutive shows that made up the aptly named concert series. To wit, they played a total of 26 sets, comprising 237 songs across the two-week residency, and they never played the same song twice.