“Gangnam Style” Reaches One Billion YouTube Views
PSY’s Korean-language hit becomes the first YouTube video to cross the billion-view threshold.
Beyoncé Headlines Coachella
The festival’s first Black woman headliner stages a performance rooted in HBCU musical traditions.
Live Aid Links Two Stadiums and a Global Audience
Simultaneous concerts in London and Philadelphia turn satellite television into a worldwide music event.
Michael Jackson Performs the Moonwalk on Motown 25
A televised “Billie Jean” performance turns a dance movement into a worldwide pop image.
MTV Begins Broadcasting
A new cable channel makes music video a daily programming format and a central marketing force.
Michael Jackson Releases Thriller
A cross-genre album expands the commercial and visual possibilities of global pop.
The Beatles Reach America Through Television
The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show before a massive U.S. television audience.
Berry Gordy Founds Motown
A Detroit record company begins building one of popular music’s most influential creative systems.
K-Pop Goes Global
The international rise of South Korean pop through highly produced music, choreography, fandom, television, and online video.
The British Invasion
The wave of United Kingdom artists who achieved major U.S. popularity during the 1960s.