This Day in Top 40 History: April 25

Breakthrough Hits and Milestones

• 1979: Donna Summer put out her seventh studio album, Bad Girls. It ruled the Billboard 200 for six weeks and delivered two No. 1 hits on the Hot 100, the title track and “Hot Stuff.” The project's “Dim All the Lights” stalled at No. 2 on the same chart. 
• 1983: Heaven 17's sophomore album, The Luxury Gap, came out via Virgin Records. The set climbed to No. 4 on the U.K. Official Albums chart. Additionally, it produced at least three Top 30 hits in the U.K., including “Come Live With Me,” "Crushed by the Wheels of Industry,” and “Temptation.” 
• 1987: Pop queen Madonna became the first female solo artist to have four No. 1 singles in the U.K. with "La Isla Bonita."
• 1995: Mobb Deep released their second studio LP, The Infamous, which reached No. 18 on the Billboard 200 and No. 3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Some of the well-received tracks from this set were “Survival of the Fittest,” "Give Up the Goods (Just Step),” and  "Shook Ones, Part II.” 
• 2008: Headliners at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 25 included Jack Johnson and The Verve. Several artists who are now big names also performed, such as Vampire Weekend and Diplo.
• 2008: Pop diva Mariah Carey illuminated the Empire State Building in New York with her signature colors — purple, pink, and white — to celebrate the release of her album E=MC².
• 2023: The Jonas Brothers held one of three secret concerts in Los Angeles, California. The others were held in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, and Baltimore, Maryland.

Cultural Milestones

• 1945: Björn Ulvaeus was born in Gothenburg, Sweden. He started playing the guitar and singing traditional Swedish songs at an early age. Today, Ulvaeus is best known as a member of ABBA, who placed hits such as “Dancing Queen,” “The Winner Takes It All,” and “Take a Chance On Me” in the Top 10 on the Hot 100. 
• 1994: Sam Fender was born in North Shields, England. He started listening to music when he was barely 10, with Bruce Springsteen and Jimi Hendrix topping the list of his favorite artists. Fender would then start performing at local clubs, which allowed him to improve his vocal skills and amass more fans. As of this writing, he has a number of U.K. Top 40 singles, including “Rein Me In,” which hit No. 1.

Notable Recordings and Performances

• 1987: Cyndi Lauper's "What's Going On" reached No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Lauper is known for her quirky voice and style, and her hit songs include "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "True Colors."
• 2007: Christina Aguilera took her Back to Basics Tour to Providence, Rhode Island, and she lit up the stage at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. This trek promoted her 2006 album of the same name. In addition to soaring to the top of the Billboard 200, Back to Basics delivered “Candyman,” “Hurt,” and “Ain't No Other Man,” all of which cracked the Top 30 on Billboard's Hot 100. 
• 2013: Taylor Swift swept the crowd off their feet at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. She was on her The Red Tour, which supported her chart-topping fourth studio effort, Red. As such, Swift played songs from the record, including “State of Grace” and “Everything Has Changed,” as well as a few from previous releases. 
• 2016: Singer Drake announced the launch of his Summer Sixteen Tour with American rapper Future and special guests. This 30-city tour supported his new album View.
• 2022: Superstar Harry Styles, formerly of the all-boy band One Direction, was announced as the headliner for two major U.K. music festivals, BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend on May 29 in Coventry and Capital FM's Summertime Ball on June 12 at Wembley Stadium in London.

Industry Changes and Challenges

• 1974: Pamela Courson overdosed on heroin and died in her Los Angeles apartment. This was about three years after the death of her partner, Jim Morrison, the frontman of the Doors. Courson had found the “Hello, I Love You” singer dead in the bathtub of his house. Although the official cause of Morrison's death was declared heart failure, rumor has it that he died from a heroin overdose, too. Both Courson and Morrison passed away at 27. 
• 1994: A jury found crooner Michael Bolton guilty of plagiarizing the Isley Brothers in his song "Love Is a Wonderful Thing." While Bolton denied copyright infringement, he still had to pay $5.4 million in damages.
• 2002: Pop singer/rapper and TLC member Lisa Lopes was killed in an automobile accident. Lopes contributed to TLC's album CrazySexyCool and recorded a solo album, Supernova. 
• 2023: Harry Belafonte died of congestive heart failure. He was 96. Belafonte was the first artist to place a No. 1 record on the Billboard 200. After his chart-topping Belafonte, he scored another No. 1 album, Calypso. Belafonte's successful career also enabled him to collaborate with many big names, including Bob Dylan, Doug E. Fresh, Stevie Wonder, and Diana Ross.