Unforgettable Performances That Made Music History
Considering how expensive their tickets can be and how infrequently they can be in town, it’s understandable that people can get into such a frenzy when they have a chance to see their favorite bands and artists. Yet, while any of them can have an off night, the opposite can also be true and those who attend are treated to the best night out ever.
Naturally, when hundreds of people come away from a live show utterly spellbound, that show ends up with a reputation that will make future generations wish they saw it. Whether they felt that way at Woodstock or within the last year, the memories of what they saw will last forever.
Alice In Chains – MTV Unplugged, 1996
Although it’s fair to say that MTV’s famous unplugged performances could be a little overrated, that’s largely because the format worked with some acts better than others. What helps with the format’s legend is the fact that the grunge bands in vogue when it started happened to fit the format uncannily well.
Few bands exemplified this quite like Alice In Chains, as lead singer Layne Staley proved a vulnerable and haunted yet powerful presence as he wailed sombre hits like “Would?” and “Rooster” to his bandmates’ acoustic backing. It would be one of Staley’s final shows before his passing in 2002.
Jay-Z – Glastonbury Festival, 2008
Although legendary rapper Jay-Z rocked the spot when he appeared at the British rock festival Glastonbury, what made his 2008 appearance so iconic was how he began it. In the lead-up to the festival, Noel Gallagher of Oasis publicly objected to Jay-Z’s presence, saying that hip-hop didn’t belong as Glastonbury.
In response, Jay-Z came out with a guitar and started singing Oasis’s enduring hit “Wonderwall” intentionally ineptly before smoothly transitioning into his hit song “99 Problems.” Although the performance was great, the trolling was truly legendary.
Janis Joplin – Monterey Pop Festival, 1967
Although Janis Joplin did have a late-night performance at the famous Woodstock festival in 1969, her best-remembered live moment came a couple of years earlier at California’s Monterey County Fairgrounds.
At this spot in the Monterey Pop Festival, Joplin burst through with an emotional, layered performance that was just as likely to feature soft, sensuous singing and her signature raspy, powerful wailing. As she sang and the squealing guitars played around her, even Mama Cass could only behold her with wonder.
James Brown – Boston Garden, 1968
The Godfather of soul earned his title of the “hardest working man in show business” due to his studio perfectionism and his passion for giving the most electric and unpredictable of performances. Yet, while nobody would deny that his performance at Boston Garden was passionate, the mood in the air was more sombre than it usually was at Brown’s shows.
Indeed, the performance he scheduled at Boston Garden on April 5, 1968, would become much more emotionally powerful than even Brown would have expected by the time he arrived. That’s because it took place the day after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.
Eminem and Elton John – The 43rd Annual Grammy Awards, 2001
By the time Eminem released his landmark 2000 album, The Marshall Mathers LP, his edgy, provocative lyrics attracted frequent and credible accusations of misogyny and homophobia. Naturally, this meant that his famous performance with Elton John at the 43rd Grammys in 2001 was the last thing anyone expected.
Appropriately, the duo teamed up to perform one of Eminem’s most well-written, emotionally complex and atmospheric songs, “Stan.” While John sang the chorus — sampled from the Dido song “Thank You” — Eminem rapped the delusional yet heartbroken rants of an obsessed fan and his measured response. He and Elton John hugged and held hands when the song was over.
Nine Inch Nails, Woodstock ’94
Although the original Woodstock from 1969 has gone down in history as a legendary music festival despite its poor organization, none of the attempts to revive the concept in the ’90s share its reputation. Both Woodstock ’94 and Woodstock ’99 are considered disasters now, but the former had least had a few bright spots among the mud and price gouging.
Ironically, one of the brightest of those spots was a passionate, gritty Nine Inch Nails that made the festival’s muddy conditions fit Trent Reznor’s dark, primal aesthetic and performance style. If one performance from Woodstock ’94 is worth seeing, it’s this one.
Nirvana – MTV Unplugged, 1993
In addition to being at the height of their fame when they sat in for their legendary MTV Unplugged performance in New York City, Nirvana was unknowingly staring down their final year together. That only added to the momentous feeling that comes from watching Kurt Cobain deliver some of the most vulnerable and passionate renditions of his most moving songs.
However, the fact that he brought that same raw energy to cover versions of songs like David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold The World” and The Meat Puppets’ “Lake Of Fire” arguably make the covers the best part of the performance. This is especially true with his gripping, show-stopping version of Leadbelly’s classic, “Where Did You Sleep Last Night.”
Kendrick Lamar – The Pop Out, 2024
After a whirlwind, world-conquering beef with Drake that saw the two trade deeply disturbing allegations about each other, Kendrick Lamar wasted no time building on the momentum afforded by his risky yet expertly venomous songs, “Euphoria,” “Meet The Grahams,” and especially “Not Like Us.”
The third of these tracks turned a song accusing Drake of being inappropriate with minors and exploiting hip-hop culture into a worldwide club hit that stayed strong all year and Lamar played it a grand total of six times at the surprise concert, The Pop Out. Not only was Lamar declaring victory with an energetic and exciting performance, but he brought practically every Compton celebrity on stage with him in one unforgettable evening.
Elvis Presley, The Ed Sullivan Show, 1957
It’s fair to say that Ed Sullivan walked a pretty delicate tightrope at the height of his fame. He had the biggest music stars of the day on his program but often found himself pressuring them to consider the delicate sensibilities of TV audiences during the 1950s and 1960s.
This often involved him asking some bands to change their lyrics, but his problem with Elvis Presley during the King Of Rock and Roll’s third appearance on his show had to do with his dancing. Since his famous pelvic shaking was considered too risqué, Presley was infamously filmed from the waist up.
Queen – Live Aid, 1985
Although legendary Queen frontman Freddie Mercury was already experiencing symptoms of a disease he would later understand to be AIDS by the time of his iconic performance at the Wembley Stadium branch of Bob Geldof’s ambitious 1985 Live Aid event, nobody would know it from watching him.
Instead, they saw him rock the stage in simple clothes and a microphone he carried around as a surprisingly versatile prop. Although “Radio Ga Ga” wasn’t Queen’s most popular song, its famous, crowd-pleasing inclusion in this electrifying event instantly made it a classic.
Joe Cocker – Woodstock, 1969
From Jimi Hendrix’s transformative guitar rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” to Richie Haven’s legendary improvisational song “Freedom” to the second-ever Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young performance in history, the original 1969 Woodstock festival is loaded with legendary moments.
However, one of the most forgettable of them is Joe Cocker’s deeply impassioned and practically unrecognizable cover of the jaunty, unserious Beatles hit “With A Little Help From My Friends.” From the atmospheric organ to the English bluesman’s primal wailing in the bridge, Cocker made himself one unenviable act to follow in this iconic moment.
The Beatles – Apple Records Building Roof, 1969
Although they hadn’t officially broken up yet, The Beatles signalled to their devoted fans that this eventuality was on the horizon with an ingenious final concert that saw them perform on the roof of their label’s headquarters.
Since the performance was not authorized and excited fans were blocking the road, police shut the impromptu performance down after about 40 minutes. However, the band was about ready to stop by then anyway, so John Lennon made one final quip about passing the audition before the band said goodbye.
Daft Punk – Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, 2006
Although so many headlining acts at Coachella try to make their performances into a big spectacle, it was hard to match the ambition that beloved French electronic duo Daft Punk showed when they ruled the festival from a giant hollow pyramid.
The spectacle and inventive, remixing attitude to their setlist would eventually lead the duo to let this performance blossom into a world tour that would spawn their landmark live recording, Alive by 2007. Although they would later leave audiences with one excellent final record in Random Access Memories, this tour would have also been a satisfying climax for Daft Punk’s legacy.
Michael Jackson – Motown 25, 1983
It can’t be overstated what an utter cultural juggernaut Michael Jackson was throughout the 1980s, but this was especially true in 1983. This was partially because he was still riding very high off the success of the mega-successful landmark album Thriller from the previous year.
However, that year, the King of Pop’s legend was solidified in one unforgettable moment. As part of a special television event honoring Motown’s 25th anniversary, Jackson’s performance of his classic song “Billie Jean” saw him unveil a dance move that would have sounded impossible before then: His famous moonwalk.
Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. – The Palladium, 1993
Although some iconic performances are clear in their pomp and circumstance the moment they happen, others are a lot more meaningful in retrospect. While Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. likely brought the house down when they performed together at New York City’s Palladium venue in 1993, that’s not why this moment matters so much.
Indeed, it’s such an enviable concert to attend and makes for such a bittersweet moment now because it featured two of the biggest fallen titans in hip-hop history performing together at the height of their tragic friendship. The start of the feud that would last the rest of their lives and lead to both of their deaths was less than two years away.
Pink Floyd – Earl’s Court, 1981
Although The Wall was a tremendously ambitious album on its own, Pink Floyd’s ambitions behind it didn’t stop with the record. Indeed, the film version in 1982 likely didn’t come as the biggest surprise to fans, who at already witnessed a striking and spectacular visual experience when they saw the band tour.
Throughout 1980 and 1981, Pink Floyd The Wall tour took them around the world, but this stop at London’s Earl’s Court venue proved particularly significant in unveiling the surreal and artistic animations that completed the atmosphere of the landmark record.
Johnny Cash – Folsom Prison, 1968
Although this shot came from a similar visit to Cummins Prison in Arkansas the following year, it was at California’s Folsom State Prison that country legend Johnny Cash boldly pursued a historic experiment: A live album recorded at a prison.
Not only did Cash meet the moment to some adoring fans who understood being an outlaw as much as he did, but this decision inspired other entertainers to put on similar concerts for decades after the fact. As we’ve already established, Folsom may have been Cash’s most celebrated prison concert but it was far from his only one.
Bruce Springsteen – Radstadion Weissensee, East Berlin, 1988
Although the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was certainly big news, a Bruce Springsteen concert — of all things — showed that a big change of that magnitude was on the horizon just a year earlier. That’s because 100,000 people bought tickets but an additional 200,000 showed up to hear the Boss and his E Street Band play in a land that would have few chances to see someone like him.
To the world’s surprise and in a move that seemed like a sign of things to come, these people were all allowed to attend. During his show, Springsteen said in German, “I’m not here for any government, I’ve come to play rock and roll for you in the hope that one day, all the barriers will be torn down.”
Lauryn Hill – MTV Unplugged, 2001
Not every performance is memorable for the right reasons. Indeed, those who attended Lauryn Hill’s infamous MTV Unplugged 2.0 concert would be just as likely to describe it as “tedious” as “uncomfortable,” as it was composed entirely of rough drafts of — often untitled and unfinished — songs and long, rambling speeches by Hill.
So why does it loom so large over music history? Genuine defenses of this performance praise Hill’s raw vulnerability and moments that could sound great under more polished conditions. However, it’s also because the CD recording marks the final time the otherwise legendary artist has released a full album to date.
Madonna and Britney Spears – MTV Music Video Awards, 2003
Although Madonna has had her share of iconic and controversial live moments throughout her venerable career, a 2003 incident that saw her and Britney Spears share a long open-mouthed kiss stands out in a career full of intentionally shocking moments in retrospect.
As for why, it’s because this marks the last time that Madonna could direct the public’s attention with such a calculated purpose. After the flop of her album American Life, Madonna only intermittently courted that kind of controversy again, and usually for reasons she didn’t entirely intend. Whether they knew it or not, viewers who saw this kiss were witnessing the end of an era.
