Music News & Videos

It's another spectacularly eclectic day for birthdays today, as R&B singer Robin Thicke, Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament, legendary producer Rick Rubin, actress Sharon Stone, New Bohemians singer Edie Brickell and "Mad Men" star Jon Hamm will all be blowing out candles at some point in the next 24 hours. But there is one birthday boy who stands above all others — indeed, one who stands above all other mortal men, as well as the beasts of the field, the fish in the sea and whatever is living on Neptune.

Yes, Chuck Norris, he of "Walker, Texas Ranger," several dozen martial arts movies, "Karate Kommandos" and, of course, hundreds of Internet-based urban legends, turns 70 years old today. The American film, television and sports veteran has had a remarkable career both as an actor and as a martial artist. But in the 21st century, he is best known as the figurehead of all of the "Chuck Norris Facts" that are constantly circulated to the far corners of the Web. Because of the intrepid goofballs who invented the multitudes of abilities and accomplishments that Norris supposedly possesses, it is impossible to hear his name and not think, "Chuck Norris uses a night light not because he is afraid of the dark but because the dark is afraid of Chuck Norris" or "Chuck Norris can lead a horse to water and make him drink."

In honor of the beginning of Norris' eighth decade of excellence, here's hoping he enjoys Kings of Leon's "Four Kicks." Actually, four kicks from Chuck Norris probably killed the dinosaurs.

There are a handful of events that hip-hop fans will always remember, like the first time they heard Fear of a Black Planet, the day they saw the premiere of Tupac's "California Love" video or the fact that Jay-Z's The Blueprint came out on September 11, 2001. March 9 is one of those days, as it will forever be remembered as the day that Notorious B.I.G. (also known as Biggie Smalls and as his birth name Christopher Wallace) died after being gunned down in Los Angeles.

Biggie and his crew had just left a party following the Soul Train Awards and were stopped at a traffic light when another car pulled up next to them and opened fire on Biggie's vehicle. Since he was in the passenger seat, Biggie took the brunt of the shots that ultimately lead to his death. The execution was eerily similar to the shooting death of rival Tupac in Las Vegas some six months earlier, and many speculated at the time that Biggie's death was the final straw of the East Coast/West Coast feud between Bad Boy Records and Death Row Records. Despite the number of eyewitnesses, Biggie's murder remains unsolved.

In a macabre twist of fate, the Notorious B.I.G.'s death came only a handful of days before the release of his second album, which was already set to be called Life After Death. Though he only released a single collection while he was still alive (1994's game-changing Ready to Die), Biggie's legacy as one of the best MCs to ever rhyme words with a beat is set in stone. Unlike Tupac, Biggie didn't leave behind a wealth of material, and the posthumous albums collecting B.I.G.'s freestyles and demo recordings have ranged from middling to downright blasphemous. Still, there's "Dead Wrong," the imagined team-up with Eminem that appeared on Life After Death. It's a reasonable horrorcore tune, but the video is the real treat, full of behind-the-scenes clips of a genius at work and at play. Christopher Wallace was only 24 years old when he died, but the Notorious B.I.G. will live forever.

Of all the rock sub-genres that had their moment in the sun in the 1990s (and there were plenty of them), perhaps the most misunderstood was industrial rock. Combining the savagery of heavy metal with the surgical precision of electronic and dance music, industrial rock graduated from some basements in the midwest to the mainstream for a few minutes during the last decade of the 20th century. Its legacy is small, mostly consisting of a few good Ministry albums, a handful of Sister Machine Gun songs, KMFDM's Nihil and the entirety of the Nine Inch Nails catalog.

On this day in 1994, Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor released his masterpiece. The Downward Spiral was unlike anything the mainstream had heard, melding together huge arena rock guitars, dance beats, tape experiments, bits of hardcore, samples and — perhaps most importantly — Reznor's haunting voice, which could whisper, growl, shout and croon his unending supply of self-destructive pathos.

The Downward Spiral became an incredible cultural phenomenon. Through the power of Reznor's incredible, confrontational live performances and his stunning cinematic sense, the album sold millions of copies and made Nine Inch Nails an MTV staple. Despite its filthy chorus ("I want to f--- you like an animal/ I want to feel you from the inside"), "Closer" morphed into a radio hit and a video smash, instantly ascending onto many all-time greatest videos lists. Other singles became massive too, including "Hurt" (which Johnny Cash later fashioned into one of his biggest hits) and "March of the Pigs," a brutal three minutes that features an grim, low-fi video that focuses on Reznor's unending well of charisma and his unhinged approach to performing live. If Reznor is to be believed and the Nine Inch Nails moniker is really done forever (at least in a live setting), he can rest easy knowing that he crafted one of the best albums of the end of the millennium and a perfect distillation of haunting angst.

Of all the rock sub-genres that had their moment in the sun in the 1990s (and there were plenty of them), perhaps the most misunderstood was industrial rock. Combining the savagery of heavy metal with the surgical precision of electronic and dance music, industrial rock graduated from some basements in the midwest to the mainstream for a few minutes during the last decade of the 20th century. Its legacy is small, mostly consisting of a few good Ministry albums, a handful of Sister Machine Gun songs, KMFDM's Nihil and the entirety of the Nine Inch Nails catalog.

On this day in 1994, Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor released his masterpiece. The Downward Spiral was unlike anything the mainstream had heard, melding together huge arena rock guitars, dance beats, tape experiments, bits of hardcore, samples and — perhaps most importantly — Reznor's haunting voice, which could whisper, growl, shout and croon his unending supply of self-destructive pathos.

The Downward Spiral became an incredible cultural phenomenon. Through the power of Reznor's incredible, confrontational live performances and his stunning cinematic sense, the album sold millions of copies and made Nine Inch Nails an MTV staple. Despite its filthy chorus ("I want to f--- you like an animal/ I want to feel you from the inside"), "Closer" morphed into a radio hit and a video smash, instantly ascending onto many all-time greatest videos lists. Other singles became massive too, including "Hurt" (which Johnny Cash later fashioned into one of his biggest hits) and "March of the Pigs," a brutal three minutes that features an grim, low-fi video that focuses on Reznor's unending well of charisma and his unhinged approach to performing live. If Reznor is to be believed and the Nine Inch Nails moniker is really done forever (at least in a live setting), he can rest easy knowing that he crafted one of the best albums of the end of the millennium and a perfect distillation of haunting angst.

Of all the rock sub-genres that had their moment in the sun in the 1990s (and there were plenty of them), perhaps the most misunderstood was industrial rock. Combining the savagery of heavy metal with the surgical precision of electronic and dance music, industrial rock graduated from some basements in the midwest to the mainstream for a few minutes during the last decade of the 20th century. Its legacy is small, mostly consisting of a few good Ministry albums, a handful of Sister Machine Gun songs, KMFDM's Nihil and the entirety of the Nine Inch Nails catalog.

On this day in 1994, Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor released his masterpiece. The Downward Spiral was unlike anything the mainstream had heard, melding together huge arena rock guitars, dance beats, tape experiments, bits of hardcore, samples and — perhaps most importantly — Reznor's haunting voice, which could whisper, growl, shout and croon his unending supply of self-destructive pathos.

The Downward Spiral became an incredible cultural phenomenon. Through the power of Reznor's incredible, confrontational live performances and his stunning cinematic sense, the album sold millions of copies and made Nine Inch Nails an MTV staple. Despite its filthy chorus ("I want to f--- you like an animal/ I want to feel you from the inside"), "Closer" morphed into a radio hit and a video smash, instantly ascending onto many all-time greatest videos lists. Other singles became massive too, including "Hurt" (which Johnny Cash later fashioned into one of his biggest hits) and "March of the Pigs," a brutal three minutes that features an grim, low-fi video that focuses on Reznor's unending well of charisma and his unhinged approach to performing live. If Reznor is to be believed and the Nine Inch Nails moniker is really done forever (at least in a live setting), he can rest easy knowing that he crafted one of the best albums of the end of the millennium and a perfect distillation of haunting angst.

Of all the rock sub-genres that had their moment in the sun in the 1990s (and there were plenty of them), perhaps the most misunderstood was industrial rock. Combining the savagery of heavy metal with the surgical precision of electronic and dance music, industrial rock graduated from some basements in the midwest to the mainstream for a few minutes during the last decade of the 20th century. Its legacy is small, mostly consisting of a few good Ministry albums, a handful of Sister Machine Gun songs, KMFDM's Nihil and the entirety of the Nine Inch Nails catalog.

On this day in 1994, Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor released his masterpiece. The Downward Spiral was unlike anything the mainstream had heard, melding together huge arena rock guitars, dance beats, tape experiments, bits of hardcore, samples and — perhaps most importantly — Reznor's haunting voice, which could whisper, growl, shout and croon his unending supply of self-destructive pathos.

The Downward Spiral became an incredible cultural phenomenon. Through the power of Reznor's incredible, confrontational live performances and his stunning cinematic sense, the album sold millions of copies and made Nine Inch Nails an MTV staple. Despite its filthy chorus ("I want to f--- you like an animal/ I want to feel you from the inside"), "Closer" morphed into a radio hit and a video smash, instantly ascending onto many all-time greatest videos lists. Other singles became massive too, including "Hurt" (which Johnny Cash later fashioned into one of his biggest hits) and "March of the Pigs," a brutal three minutes that features an grim, low-fi video that focuses on Reznor's unending well of charisma and his unhinged approach to performing live. If Reznor is to be believed and the Nine Inch Nails moniker is really done forever (at least in a live setting), he can rest easy knowing that he crafted one of the best albums of the end of the millennium and a perfect distillation of haunting angst.

Of all the rock sub-genres that had their moment in the sun in the 1990s (and there were plenty of them), perhaps the most misunderstood was industrial rock. Combining the savagery of heavy metal with the surgical precision of electronic and dance music, industrial rock graduated from some basements in the midwest to the mainstream for a few minutes during the last decade of the 20th century. Its legacy is small, mostly consisting of a few good Ministry albums, a handful of Sister Machine Gun songs, KMFDM's Nihil and the entirety of the Nine Inch Nails catalog.

On this day in 1994, Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor released his masterpiece. The Downward Spiral was unlike anything the mainstream had heard, melding together huge arena rock guitars, dance beats, tape experiments, bits of hardcore, samples and — perhaps most importantly — Reznor's haunting voice, which could whisper, growl, shout and croon his unending supply of self-destructive pathos.

The Downward Spiral became an incredible cultural phenomenon. Through the power of Reznor's incredible, confrontational live performances and his stunning cinematic sense, the album sold millions of copies and made Nine Inch Nails an MTV staple. Despite its filthy chorus ("I want to f--- you like an animal/ I want to feel you from the inside"), "Closer" morphed into a radio hit and a video smash, instantly ascending onto many all-time greatest videos lists. Other singles became massive too, including "Hurt" (which Johnny Cash later fashioned into one of his biggest hits) and "March of the Pigs," a brutal three minutes that features an grim, low-fi video that focuses on Reznor's unending well of charisma and his unhinged approach to performing live. If Reznor is to be believed and the Nine Inch Nails moniker is really done forever (at least in a live setting), he can rest easy knowing that he crafted one of the best albums of the end of the millennium and a perfect distillation of haunting angst.

There were a handful of things we could have celebrated this morning. After all, today is the birthday of Charlie and Craig Reid (better known as the Proclaimers, who scored one of the biggest one hit wonders of all time with "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)"). Former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante will also be blowing out candles today, as he turns 40 years old (hopefully he celebrates with a little "Californication"). But just as we did last week, today we celebrate Michael Jackson's ascent to superstardom.

On this day in 1983, "Billie Jean" found itself at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time. The second single from Thriller bounded over Patti Austin and James Ingram's "Baby, Come to Me" to take the top spot, where it stayed for seven weeks before being ousted by (of all things) "Come on Eileen" by Dexys Midnight Runners. One week later, Jackson would top the charts again with "Beat It," a track that would reign for another three weeks until it was displaced by "Flashdance ... What a Feeling."

"Billie Jean" remains one of the cornerstone's of Jackson's deep catalog and storied career. Though there was never actually a Billie Jean, Jackson always said that the girl in the song was a composite of the types of women who used to follow around the Jackson 5. "The kid is not my son" is a pretty racy chorus lyric for a chart-topping song (then again, the Police's "Every Breath You Take," which also topped the charts in '83, is just as intense). But "Billie Jean" lives on because of the killer bassline, the deft blending of disco and R&B and the distinctive video, which saw a tuxedo-clad Jackson dancing his way across that iconic light-up sidewalk.

U2 are a profoundly polarizing band. They are simultaneously easy to love (they make wonderfully glorious rock anthems, put on ridiculously great concerts and have been consistently good for 30 years) and extremely difficult to love (they're constantly experimenting and circling back, and Bono's politics sometimes eclipse everything else about the band).

Musically speaking, the band was probably at its most polarizing on this day in 1997, when they released Pop. After dropping the watershed album Achtung Baby in the beginning of the '90s and embarking on a game-changing worldwide stadium tour, the group spent the next few years experimenting with just about everything. The odd, electronic Zooropa set the table (as did the truly odd Original Soundtracks, the album credited to the Passengers that was actually just a U2 record), but Pop was an entirely different reality for the group. With dance music making a bid to take over the airwaves and influencing rock artists left and right (even the Rolling Stones were sampling), U2 decided to go all the way with Pop.

The album's first single, "Discotheque," set the tone. It was essentially a club song based around a thumping disco beat that featured shimmery guitars and keyboards and nary a mention of a blue collar uprising. Instead, the group decided to party. Was it ironic? Perhaps. Probably. Actually, nobody was entirely sure. The rest of the album stretched even deeper into the dance music abyss (especially the house-influenced "Mofo" and the beat-mining "Miami").

Pop became one of the most-debated albums of 1997 and holds an odd place in the band's history (as in, they tend not to bring it up). Still, there were tremendous songs lurking under all that electronic slop — like the effervescent "Staring at the Sun."

People say that the thing that makes Madonna such a brilliant, vital artist is that she has stayed fresh over the course of 30 years of pop music by constantly reinventing herself. While that may be true, there's another layer to her that is often overlooked: She does an incredible job of constantly couching herself as an underdog. Because of her constant risk taking and experimentation, each of her albums seems like a comeback effort (even though she's never really gone away).

The best example of this came in 1998, when on this day she released Ray of Light. The middle part of the 1990s were unusually rocky for Madonna, as she focused a lot of her energy on the somewhat-maligned film version of the musical "Evita" (in which she played Eva Peron). Her last pop album was 1994's Bedtime Stories, a more straight-ahead R&B album that saw her attempting to transition from her Erotica persona into something different (though the ill-defined goals of that album make it sound unfocused today). With the word "electronica" on the lips of music aficionados around the world and albums by the Prodigy topping the Billboard album chart, Madonna tapped dance music maven William Orbit to guide Ray of Light. The result deftly melds Madonna's traditional pop and R&B sounds with bits of techno, trip-hop, house and trance.

Despite the fact that the lead single was the extremely odd "Frozen," Ray of Light became one of Madonna's biggest albums, spawning hits like "The Power of Goodbye" and "Drowned World (Substitute for Love)." But no doubt the biggest hit was the title track, which remains one of the finest radio singles of the '90s and whose clip scored a VMA for Video of the Year in 1998.

Right now is a great time to be a basketball fan. NBA enthusiasts are in the middle of what is certainly one of the game's golden ages, full of talented, charismatic superstars and dynamic, history-making teams. LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade and Steve Nash are all among the greatest players of all time, and they're all playing right now.

They're contributing to the game's evolution and destroying records along the way, but there is one particular feat that seems untouchable. On this day in 1962, Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain scored 100 points by himself as his Philadelphia Warriors beat the New York Knicks 169-147 in Hershey, Pennsylvania. It was a pretty absurd game for Chamberlain, who put up 63 shots (sinking 36 of them) and took another 32 free throws (making 28). Wilt was a dominant player, but as you can see by the score of the game (which was a regulation game — 48 minutes, no overtime), it was during an era where there wasn't a whole lot of defense being played.

The 100 point game was part of a larger season of insanity for Chamberlin, who scored over 4,000 points over the course of the year, making him the only player to ever cross that barrier. (Consider this: Only one other player has ever scored over 3,000 points in a single season, and that was Michael Jordan.) He also set a record for scoring in an All-Star game (42 points) and played 3,882 of a possible 3,890 total minutes, putting his average at 48.5 minutes per game. (Those eight minutes he didn't play came all at once, when he was ejected for getting two technical fouls in a game.)

Sadly, Wilt didn't win a championship that year, as he was surrounded by a weak supporting cast and couldn't handle the Celtics in the playoffs. (That '62 Celtics team — featuring Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Sam Jones and Tommy Heinsohn — is considered by some to be the best team ever assembled, so Wilt had an uphill battle.) In honor of his 100 point night, here's Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings with "100 Days, 100 Nights."

It's a big day for birthdays in the music world, as Justin Bieber turns 16 today (more on that later) and current Billboard Hot 100 dominator Ke$ha. She turns 23 years old today, which is astounding considering all that she has managed to accomplish.

Her breakout single "Tik Tok" spent nine weeks at the top of the charts (only recently upended by Black Eyed Peas' "I'mma Be"), fighting back such upstart juggernauts as the "We Are the World" remake and Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance." Animal, the debut album that contains "Tik Tok" and also her latest single "Blah Blah Blah," has sold 375,000 copies and is one of the biggest success stories of 2010 so far.

But her success hasn't just come from Animal — in fact, you've been hearing Ke$ha longer than you might think. She has written hit songs for some massive stars (including Britney Spears' "Lace and Leather," Miley Cyrus' "The Time of Our Lives" and the Veronicas' "This Love," and that's her singing the hook on Flo Rida's chart-topping hit "Right Round." (She also makes a cameo in Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" video.)

By far the greatest Ke$ha story is from early in her career, when she desperately wanted Prince to produce her music. She told the New York Post that she broke onto the Purple One's property in Beverly Hills to try to give him her demo. "I know people who know people who knew Prince's home address," she said. "One day I paid the gardener to let me in after I was unable to sneak under the fence. I figured the side door being unlocked was an invitation to enter. I found him jamming in a room with his band. His assistant grilled me for a while, and then I dropped a demo I made for him wrapped in a purple bow on the floor and ran out of the house. I felt it was harmless at the time, but looking back it was pretty psychotic."

Prince never got back to her, but that's okay, because she ended up hooking up with Dr. Luke and knocking out "Tik Tok," a truly killer single.

It has been eight months since the passing of Michael Jackson, and his death continues to be felt deeply in the music world (you need only listen to the emotional Jackson part left in the remake of "We Are the World" for proof). It seems certain that Jackson's legacy will be truly immortal, and the reason why is his music. The artist left behind some of the most iconic pop songs ever written — many of which came from his staggering breakout album Thriller, which came out in 1982 and first topped the Billboard album chart on this day in 1983.

Fueled by huge singles "Billie Jean," "Beat It" and "Human Nature," Thriller kept a stranglehold on the top spot for most of 1983. After it entered the position on February 26, it stayed there for 17 consecutive weeks before getting bumped by the soundtrack to "Flashdance." Two weeks later, it returned to #1 before getting knocked out again by the Police's Synchronicity. It bounced back for one more week in September before dropping out, but it returned to the top for the last two weeks of the year. It then spent the first 15 weeks of 1984 at #1 as well. All told, Thriller was the top-selling album in America for a grand total of 37 weeks, an absolutely unheard of run.

Thriller sold 15 million copies in 1983 alone and has become the best-selling album of all time. Even more impressive? There are only nine songs on Thriller, and seven of them became Top 10 hits (with "Beat It" and "Billie Jean" both topping the singles chart). In honor of his tremendous feat, check out the video for "Thriller," which would get little argument against its place as the greatest music video of all time.

Remember when radio was really, really weird? In the late 1990s, there was a gap between the dominant forces in modern rock. Grunge had sputtered but the nü metal movement had yet to take hold, which left about a three year window where modern rock radio was just bizarre. Odd tunes like Marcy Playground's "Sex and Candy," Harvey Danger's "Flagpole Sitta," Nada Surf's "Popular" and Primitive Radio Gods' "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand" became inescapable radio staples, partially because they were great songs but also because nobody really knew what else to do. It was a wild time, because you never knew what was going to break out. It seemed like anything could become a hit, and as a result, the radio world felt a little more open-minded a free-wheeling for a time.

Case in point: 1997 saw the rise of Diddy (then still known as Puff Daddy), the strange dominance of Hanson and the first hints of the Backstreet Boys on pop radio. Meanwhile, a wacky little tune called "Your Woman" snuck its way onto modern rock radio and landed in heavy rotation for a few months. The song was by a group called White Town (actually just a straight-edge former Marxist named Jyoti Prakash Mishra), who released the album Women in Technology on this day back in '97. Built around a trumpet line lifted from a Bing Crosby tune and a sample from the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star," the gender-bending track was hypnotic, subversively catchy and refreshingly off-kilter.

Unfortunately, "Your Woman" was White Town's only hit, but Women in Technology remains a fabulous curiosity and the video for "Your Woman" is a delightfully cinematic homage to the classic surrealist film "Un Chien Andalou."

There are some days on the calendar that, for reasons undefined by the universe, are simply lousy with top-shelf celebrity birthdays. Today will feature celebrations by Metro Station frontman (and brother of Miley) Trace Cyrus, Alkaline Trio singer and guitarist Matt Skiba, Neptunes co-mastermind Chad Hugo, ace actor Billy Zane and late geniuses George Harrison and Mitch Hedberg. But this morning's virtual cupcake goes to Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (mostly because he could knock everybody in the MTV Newsroom unconscious with one punch).

Mayweather's place among the greatest boxers of all time is already solidified, as the welterweight has won all 40 of the opponents put in front of him (with 25 of those by knockout). He has won six different championships across five weight classes and has left some of the biggest names in the sport in his wake (including Oscar De La Hoya, Arturo Gatti and Ricky Hatton). He also notched a win at Wrestlemania 24 (sure, it was fake, but a victory over the Big Show is a victory nonetheless).

Mayweather "retired" for a few years, but his comeback is currently in full swing. He beat Juan Manuel Marquez back in September, and is set to fight Shane Mosley in May. A planned showdown with Manny Pacquiao (the other contender for the "Best Pound for Pound Fighter in the World" title) was scheduled for March but has been left in limbo due to disagreements over drug testing. Still, the boxing world is hoping that the fight happens and that one man will stand alone as the dominant pugilist of this generation.

Mayweather's nickname is "Money," which is why one of his theme songs is 50 Cent's "I Get Money." Dig it.

Even if you're one of the best rappers alive and one of the most recognizable superstars in the music world, you have to start somewhere. On this day back in 1999, Eminem kicked off what became a dominant run through the music industry when he dropped his debut album The Slim Shady LP.

The single "My Name Is" had already been getting a ton of play on MTV and on radio (including modern rock radio, which treated "My Name Is" as a novelty record as though it were a "Weird Al" tune), so there was plenty of buzz surrounding the album by the time it dropped. Most people could see that Eminem had star power, a cheeky sense of humor and charisma to spare, but what The Slim Shady LP best revealed were Em's skills as an MC. He was able to harness Dr. Dre's production better than anybody since Snoop Dogg, and he used it to spin intricate narratives ("'97 Bonnie and Clyde"), revenge fantasies ("Brain Damage"), goofs ("My Fault") and old-fashioned battle raps ("Just Don't Give a F---").

A year later, Eminem managed to top himself with his career-defining album The Marshall Mathers LP, which better tapped into his intricate flow and bonded together his humor and his rage perfectly (for proof, you only need to hear "Stan" again). But a handful of his career highlights still live on his debut, including "Role Model." It uses a great G-funk beat that wouldn't have been out of place on Dre's 2001, and though some of the cultural references are a little bit dated (there is a nod to LL Cool J's feud with Canibus and a joke about Lauryn Hill), but the chorus still rules.

It's a great morning for the United States hockey program, as they walked away from their match-up with Canada with a 5-3 victory on Sunday (February 21). Goalie Ryan Miller played an improbably stellar game, and the U.S. now has a bye into the quarterfinal round of the tournament. They'll have to see how the rest of the seeding shakes out, but for now the U.S. is the top seed in an already topsy-turvy Olympic tournament in Vancouver.

It's appropriate that the United States got the win a mere 24 hours before the anniversary of the biggest upset in the history of Olympic hockey. On this day in 1980, the underdog United States team defeated the Soviet Union by a score of 4-3 in the semifinals of the Olympic tournament in Lake Placid, New York. The game was a freestanding metaphor for the height of the Cold War: The Soviet Union team consisted of more experienced, state-sponsored athletes, while the U.S. was made up of mostly college players and true amateurs. The grit and tenacity of the American squad — along with some deft coaching care of hockey legend Herb Brooks — overcame the streamlined efficiency of the Soviets, and the U.S. outlasted them in one of the most stunning upsets in sports history. Two days later, the United States went on to win the gold medal following a win over Finland.

The victory over the Soviet Union became known as the "Miracle on Ice" (after play-by-play announcer Al Michaels jubilantly shouted "Do you believe in miracles?" following the final buzzer at the end of the game). While Sunday night's win over Canada doesn't quite hold the same cultural caché as the win in 1980, it's still a huge upset and could mean big things for the U.S. squad (which hasn't won a medal since 2002 and hasn't scored gold since 1980). Maybe it's time for another run. Maybe it's "Time for Miracles" (thanks, Adam Lambert).

Usually, Wake-Up Video is dedicated to a moment in history, a birthday, a memorable album release or a relevant piece of news. But this morning's dedication is to Layne Staley, the former Alice in Chains singer who died of an overdose in 2002 and a guy who we miss dearly. He was brought up on Thursday night's tearful episode of "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" on VH1 (which, if you haven't been watching, is a compelling train wreck of a show) when former Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr told the emotional story of Staley's death. Starr blames himself for his best friend's death, as he was with Staley during his final days but did not call 911 even when Staley told him that he thought he was dying. It was an amazingly sad confession from Starr, who has been struggling with addiction himself for most of his adult life.

Staley was a fascinating talent who lent his haunting voice to some of the best songs of the grunge era. Though Alice in Chains' albums were wildly inconsistent affairs, nobody was better when they were on than the boys in AIC. Songs like "Them Bones," "Rooster," "We Die Young" and "Would?" combined the savage guitar work of Jerry Cantrell with the haunting harmonies their two voices often created. And for a group who could be remarkably loud and jagged, their finest moments were the quiet times, like on their acoustic EP Sap or on their edition of "MTV Unplugged" (which remains one of the best entries in that series).

Alice in Chains recently got back together and replaced Staley with a remarkable vocal doppelganger named William DuVall. They put out a remarkably good album in 2009 called Black Gives Way to Blue, but their legacy will still be their incredible output at the beginning of the '90s. Need proof? Look no further than "No Excuses," and remember a talent who went before his time.

If you're like the denizens of the MTV Newsroom (and the surprisingly massive audiences watching at home), you've caught a nasty case of Olympic Fever. Wednesday (February 17) was a banner day for the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, as the nation took home three high-profile gold medals. Lindsey Vonn overcame an ankle injury and an extremely dangerous course to win the women's downhill event (narrowly beating teammate Julia Mancuso, who took home the silver). Speedskater Shani Davis repeated his stellar performance in Turin back in 2006, scoring the top spot in the 1,000 meter race. And in another jaw-dropping performance, Shaun "The Flying Tomato" White scored the second Olympic gold medal of his career in the snowboarding halfpipe competition.

White's performance in the halfpipe was truly awe-inspiring, and the 23-year-old scored a 46.8 in his first run — a number that none of the other 11 competitors came remotely close to challenging. With the gold medal in the bag and his second run a moot point, one would think that White would simply call it a day. But he rose to the occasion and wowed the crowd with an incredible trick called the Double McTwist 1260. The death-defying stunt saw White pull off two full flips and three-and-a-half turns all in the same jump. (Check out video of the trick here and try not to lose your breakfast.)

The true highlight of the run may have been White's choice of music for his finale. White dropped into the pipe to the sounds of Guns N' Roses' "Paradise City," the ultimately victory song for one of the most accomplished athletes on the U.S. team. We're not sure if Axl has been watching the games in Vancouver, but we're pretty sure he'd be proud.

On Tuesday night (February 16), a cutthroat competition came to a close and saw a dominant champion crowned once again. No, it had nothing to do with the Winter Olympics (where Russian figure skater Evgeni Plushenko took home a gold in the Short Program and Canada's Maelle Ricker took the top spot in Women's Snowboardcross) nor did it involve the ongoing saga of "American Idol" or the thrilling overtime win that the University of Kentucky posted over Mississippi State in basketball. The real action took place at Madison Square Garden, where the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show came to a close with Sadie the Scottish terrier taking the prize for Best in Show.

It was a nail-biter of an evening. Following Sadie's victory in the Terrier group, she went up against stiff and eclectic competition in the all-around category. Though the crowd at MSG loved the Doberman pinscher, the toy poodle, the brittany, the puli, the French bulldog and the whippet, the Scottish terrier clearly had the most support. It's been a dominant career for that dog, as Tuesday night's victory represented Sadie's 112th Best in Show Award (a staggering figure), and in winning she also became the first pooch ever to win the dog show version of the Triple Crown (adding to her victories at the National Dog Show in November at the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship in December).

In honor of Sadie's dominant victory (consider her the Michael Jordan of the dog world) and because every elite athlete needs a badass theme song, here's Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog."

If you are climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and happen to pass by Lupe Fiasco, be sure to be wearing a party hat. The rapper born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco turns 28 years old today, and it should be a very happy birthday for Lupe, as he just recently completed a climb with Kenna, Jessica Biel and a number of other stars for Summit on the Summit, which sought to raise awareness for the over one billion people worldwide who do not have access to clean drinking water. (You can check out "Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro," the documentary of the group's climb, when it airs on MTV on March 14 at 9 p.m.) Fiasco also recently cut the track "Resurrection," a tribute to earthquake victims in Haiti for the Music For Relief charity compilation.

But Lupe isn't all activism all the time. In fact, through his two proper albums (and at least one staggeringly excellent mixtape), he remains one of the most underrated MCs working today. He is able to shift adroitly from issue-based songs (like "Little Weapon," the song about child soldiers from his 2007 album The Cool) and social commentary (like "Gotta Eat," from the same album) to old-school jams (his breakout single "Kick, Push") and travel fantasies ("Paris, Tokyo"). He also has a knack for selecting beats: Even though The Cool is a complicated concept album that touches on a number of different stories and plot threads, it still sounds coherent despite the fact that there are contributions from more than a half-dozen producers.

His third album Lasers is due this year, and it comes hot on the heals of his astoundingly good mixtape Enemy of the State, which was released on Thanksgiving last year (and on which he rapped over Radiohead's "The National Anthem"). Anybody who watched any of the events from NBA All-Star Weekend probably has Fiasco's best single stuck in his or her head, as "Superstar" got a lot of play inside the stadium in Dallas.

Two people in the Nirvana universe share a birthday today. Courtney Love turns 45 today. The controversial wife of Kurt Cobain has had a bit of a checkered history, but it’s hard to deny the fact that she released one of the definitive albums of the grunge era (Hole’s Live Through This) and her first solo album was totally underrated. Love hasn’t released any new music since 2004, but supposedly we’ll be seeing a new solo album, a Hole reunion, or both by the end of the year.

In a strange bit of cosmic coincidence, today also marks the 18th birthday of Spencer Elden, better known as the nude baby on the cover of Nirvana’s Nevermind. Elden’s parents were paid $200 to take the photo, with the fishhook and dollar bill added later. In an interview in 2007, Elden remarked that he sort of feels like a porn star because so many people have seen his penis.

Nevermind represented the beginning of the ’90s alt-rock revolution and made Nirvana into one of the biggest bands in the world — and it also turned both Elden and Love into generational icons. In honor of their birthdays, enjoy a live version of Nirvana’s “Drain You.”

Happy birthday to Beck, who turns 39 years old today. The man born Bek David Campbell (later Beck Hansen) has been an MTV staple since his first big breakout with “Loser” in 1994. Beck has always had a pretty stunning visual sense — his videos for “E-Pro” and “Think I’m In Love,” though not seen by many people, still try to extend the video as an art form. His musical focus has always seesawed between stoic neo-folk and raucous electro mash-ups, but it’s his first hit that remains a perfect distillation of what we love about Beck: The marble-mouthed croon, the nods to funk, the grittiness of it all.

Incidentally, more than a few people here in the Newsroom have a deep history with the original Beck, as James Montgomery’s IM name is built around the man and Rya Backer had a Beck-themed bat mitzvah. Here’s to them, and here’s to the original “Loser.”

July 7 is a big day for astronomers, conspiracy theorists and David Duchovny fans, as it’s the supposed day that flying saucers were spotted over Roswell, New Mexico in 1946. Without the Roswell incident (wherein people thought the government was covering up the fact that they found wreckage and bodies from a fallen UFO), we wouldn’t have gotten “The X-Files,” “Independence Day” or Foo Fighters.

Today also marks the Michael Jackson memorial in Los Angeles, and the best example of aliens and MJ coming together is the Alien Ant Farm cover of “Smooth Criminal.” The song was the first major hit for the band, who performed it live before the Video Music Awards in 2001. “How many of you guys like Michael Jackson?” asks frontman Dryden Mitchell. Answer: Hundreds of thousands of us.

Yesterday, tennis sensation Roger Federer won Wimbledon in an epic battle with Andy Roddick. A whole host of records fell during the over four hour match: Federer served up a personal best 50 aces and took Roddick to the longest fifth set (it went 30 games) in Wimbledon history. But most importantly, Federer’s win represented his 15th Grand Slam title, which breaks Pete Sampras’ individual record.

One of the best parts about watching the Wimbledon final (or any championship match featuring Federer) is that you can bet that Gavin Rossdale will get plenty of TV time. He’s friends with Federer and often sits next to Federer’s wife during matches. The former Bush frontman is a skilled tennis player himself (he also could have had a career playing professional soccer), and also happens to have had a minor hit last year with his first official solo album Wanderlust, a ballad-heavy outing that featured an excellent little tune called “Forever May You Run.”