This week, we dive into the topic of weird music fun facts that you may (but mostly may not) have known. Here’s what our writers had to say…
Brylee Stubbs:
“Warner Music Group actually owns the licensing for “Happy Birthday” and they collect millions of fees each year for it. Which is wild since we sing it all the time, but it is in fact copyrighted!!”
Kate Pfaff:
“I don’t know if this is really music related but…I can lick my elbow!”
Cathy Horwege:
“Did you know that Julien Baker graduated from MTSU with a degree in literature and secondary education?”
FJ Miller:
“After confessing to manager Phil Kaufman that he wished to be cremated at Joshua Tree National Park, Gram Parsons's manager, and his assistant Michael Martin took Gram Parsons's body from the Los Angeles International Airport in Martin’s personal Cadillac hearse to Joshua Tree. Here they took the body of the musician, who died of an overdose, and set his casket on fire. The burning body alerted nearby campers who contacted the authorities. Parsons' partially cremated body was returned to his family and Martin and Kaufman were accused of grand theft and fined for burning the casket. Gram Parsons was buried in New Orleans but the question stands, were Kaufman and Martin desecrating a body or honoring the wishes of a friend and colleague?”
Christian Oates:
“Taylor Swift used to babysit the kids of pro wrestling hall of famer Jeff Jarrett. This is ironic because Jeff Jarrett's "gimmick" was being a country music star!”
Alyssa Andrews:
“Harrison Ford was once a roadie for The Doors…and yes, you read that right…Han Solo was a roadie for Jim Morrison. In the late 1960s, Harrison joined The Doors on tour to help film some of their live performances for a film about the band.”
Connor Crafton:
“It's not uncommon to know that the rap artists Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar are cousins, but a lesser known fun fact is that Baby Keem, as a kid, used to have a YouTube channel featuring... Minecraft content. The true Gen Z experience, eventually even our politicians will have their YouTube channels with Just Dance videos exposed.”
Aaliyah Soto:
“My weird music fun fact is Dennis Wilson, the drummer of the Beach Boys, was friends with Charles Manson. One of the Beach Boys songs "Never Learn Not to Love" is based on a Charles Manson song, “Cease to Exist.”
Morgan Rusk:
“My favorite weird music fun fact is that there is an entire album recorded in space. In 2015 Chris Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut, recorded an entire album while in outer space. The album is called “Space Sessions: Songs for a Tin Can.” The album includes 11 original songs and a cover of “Space Oddity” by David Bowie. My favorite song on the album is “Space Lullaby.”
Gabe Roach:
“Danny Fields, the man who managed the Ramones, is the same guy who interviewed John Lennon when he said that The Beatles are bigger than Jesus.”
