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These are the moments that stopped the world and changed music forever. Join us as we count down the most instantly legendary moments to ever happen in music history! From game-changing TV performances to era-defining live concerts, these moments didn't just make headlines — they made history. Which iconic music moment is your all-time favorite? Let us know in the comments!
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00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most
00:10instantly legendary moments to ever happen in music history.
00:14Well, all right, I'm JJ Jackson, and I'll be sitting in with the latest video music
00:17performances the way they were meant to be. That's in stereo on MTV Music Television.
00:22You'll never look at music the same way again.
00:2610. Elton John's Doubleheader at Dodger Stadium
00:30Billy Joel wasn't the first musician to make history on a baseball field.
00:35On October 25th and 26th, 1975, Elton John played two sold-out shows at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles,
00:43being the first musical act to perform there since the Beatles nine years earlier.
00:51While those are some pretty big shoes to fill, it's safe to say that John more than rose to the
00:56occasion. The combined concerts were attended by over 100,000 fans, and at the time, were the
01:02two largest single artist concerts ever held. It wasn't widely known at the time, but John had
01:15attempted to take his own life just days before the concert.
01:18My stomach was pumped, and here I was on Dodger Stadium two days later,
01:22because, you know, I have a very strong constitution, and the show must go on.
01:26Thankfully, he survived, and the Rocket Man went on to give two of the greatest performances of his career.
01:31Number 9. We Are The World
01:351985's We Are The World wasn't the first charity single. That would be George Harrison's
01:40Bangladesh from 1971, but it's arguably the most well-known.
01:45There comes a time when we heed a certain call
01:50We Are The World was simply a moment in time where the charity group and organization USA for Africa
01:56made the pop culture zeitgeist. Even the most casual of music fans stood up,
02:01and took notice of the charity's cause of famine relief.
02:10This was thanks largely to the composition of We Are The World,
02:14which was expertly helmed by songwriters Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie.
02:18Elsewhere, the level of talent involved with singing the actual song made We Are The World not only a charity
02:25mega-hit,
02:25but the standard by which all other charity singles are measured.
02:36Number 8. The Who on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
02:40What's your, so what's your name?
02:42Pete.
02:42Pete?
02:43Townsend, yeah.
02:44Pete?
02:44And where are you from, Pete?
02:45London.
02:45By 1967, the British invasion was in full swing throughout the U.S.
02:50People try to pull us to the country of a generation.
02:55Most Americans were accustomed to the cheeky antics of the Beatles and the smarmy swagger of the Rolling Stones,
03:01but nobody was quite sure what to make of The Who when they appeared on the Smothers Brothers TV show,
03:06playing their literally smash hit, My Generation.
03:14The band's performance ended with smoke rising from their amplifiers,
03:19smashed instruments, and a bass drum explosion that went off with three times the firepower than was originally intended.
03:30The TV spot went down in infamy,
03:32and some of the roots of punk rock can be traced back to this legendary performance.
03:36Is the back of my hair caught fire?
03:40And in those days, I had a good hair,
03:43and I was pretty keen on having good hair because it, you know,
03:47it kind of, it was what we did in those days.
03:50Number 7.
03:51Nirvana on MTV Unplugged
03:54The music industry owes a lot to MTV,
03:57given the game-changing impact of its arrival,
03:59but the channel should also be recognized for some incredible music moments.
04:08Perhaps the most powerful performance ever aired on the channel
04:12was Nirvana's 1993 appearance on MTV Unplugged.
04:16Recorded in November of that year and aired a month later,
04:19it was one of the last televised performances by Kurt Cobain before his death in April of 1994.
04:31In the wake of his death,
04:33the performance inherited immense weight,
04:35where the funeral-like set dressings and melancholic song choices
04:39brought Cobain's declining mental state into focus.
04:49Number 6.
04:50The launch of MTV
04:52T-minus one minute mark and counting.
04:55It may be hard to imagine nowadays,
04:57as it's mostly known for trashy reality TV and award shows,
05:01but MTV was once at the center of the American music consciousness.
05:10When MTV first launched in 1981,
05:13it completely changed the musical landscape,
05:16single-handedly pushing music videos to the forefront of the music industry.
05:20Announcing the latest achievement in home entertainment,
05:23the power of sight.
05:25Video.
05:26The power of sound.
05:27MTV Music Television.
05:30Dedicated entirely to playing and premiering videos,
05:33as well as delivering music-related news,
05:35MTV quickly became a staple of 80s and 90s youth culture.
05:39We are all very excited here at MTV
05:41to be bringing you the best music all day, every day.
05:44Both bands and record executives became aware of the potential for success
05:48that could be garnered from music videos.
05:50And to this day,
05:51it's pretty much a given that if an artist is going to drop a hot single,
05:55they'll also drop an accompanying music video.
05:57That's the way you do it.
05:59You play the guitar on the MTV.
06:03Number 5.
06:04Bob Dylan goes electric at Newport.
06:12A fan favorite of the Newport Folk Festival,
06:15thanks to his appearances in 1963 and 64,
06:19Bob Dylan rattled the cage a little too hard in 1965.
06:22By 65, Dylan had been labeled the spokesman of a generation
06:26and had earned Newport's headlining bill.
06:30Who killed Davey Moore?
06:33Why and what's the reason for?
06:35Taking the stage with members from the Paul Butterfield Blues Band
06:38and armed with a Fender Stratocaster electric guitar,
06:42Mr. Zimmerman parted ways with his folk brethren.
06:44As boos and jeers erupted from the pursuits of the festival,
06:48including its organizers,
06:52Dylan let loose with electric guitars and the energy of rock and roll.
06:56It was a major turning point,
06:58signaling the decline of folk and the rise of rock and roll.
07:01How does it feel?
07:05How does it feel?
07:08Number 4.
07:09Elvis on the Milton Berle Show.
07:12You ain't nothing but a hound dog.
07:14Cry out a pound.
07:16By the time he performed on the Milton Berle Show on June 5th, 1956,
07:21Elvis had already appeared on television plenty of times,
07:24including a previous appearance on Berle's show.
07:27Yeah, you ain't nothing but a rabbit and you ain't no friend of mine.
07:32This time around, however, things were different.
07:35Guitar-less and free to move around the stage,
07:37Presley became a quivering mass of windmilling arms and gyrating hips
07:41while performing an overcharged version of Hound Dog.
07:44You ain't nothing but a hound dog.
07:49He may have been chastised by the press and conservative America,
07:52but Elvis won over America's youth,
07:55who very promptly crowned him the king of rock and roll.
07:58Well, you ain't never gonna rabbit.
08:02You ain't no friend of mine.
08:04Number 3.
08:05The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show.
08:08Every while I'm away, I'll ride home every day.
08:14The Ed Sullivan Show gave the world a collection of incredible
08:17and controversial music moments,
08:19like the censored hip-swinging of Elvis Presley,
08:21but no moment compares to the debut performance of The Beatles.
08:25When I say that something, I wanna hold your hand.
08:32On February 9th, 1964,
08:34to an estimated U.S. television record of 73 million viewers,
08:38The Beatles took the stage and kicked off the British invasion.
08:41Now, I'll never dance with another.
08:46Oh!
08:47On that night,
08:48John, Paul, George, and Ringo bridged the gap
08:50between British and American music,
08:52globalizing the industry with a forged bond
08:55that would forever link the two.
08:56The performance launched America into a craze
08:59unlike anything before it.
09:01Beatlemania had arrived,
09:02and would eventually figuratively end
09:04with The Beatles' iconic rooftop concert in 1969,
09:07and music would never be the same again.
09:16Number 2.
09:18Queen at Live Aid
09:24On July 13th, 1985,
09:27the biggest bands in the world of rock and roll
09:29came together for Live Aid
09:30to support relief efforts for the Ethiopian famine.
09:33On a day featuring a reunited Led Zeppelin,
09:36The Who, Black Sabbath,
09:37and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young,
09:39and U2's epic 14-minute rendition of Bad,
09:42it was Queen that stole the show.
09:51In a mere 21-minute set,
09:53they crammed in Bohemian Rhapsody,
09:55Radio Gaga, Hammer to Fall,
09:57Crazy Little Thing Called Love,
09:58and a finale of We Will Rock You
10:00and We Are the Champions.
10:08The performance was incredible,
10:10as Freddie Mercury commanded the stage
10:12and the 72,000-person crowd
10:15in what proved to be one of his last major performances.
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10:41Number 1.
10:42Michael Jackson's Moonwalk
10:49He didn't create the move,
10:51but MJ sure as hell popularized it.
10:53The Moonwalk has cropped up throughout pop culture
10:56since the 1930s,
10:57such as James Brown and the Blues Brothers, for example,
11:00but there's only one name synonymous with the move,
11:03Michael Jackson.
11:10He lit up the world
11:11when he first rocked the Moonwalk at Motown 25
11:13yesterday, today, and forever in March 1983.
11:17Jackson added his signature flair and gravitas to the move
11:20by spinning and posing in his sequins,
11:23black jacket, and white glove,
11:25stopping the world for a moment
11:26and then dropping the Moonwalk bomb.
11:28In modern times, it would have broken the internet,
11:30but in the 1980s,
11:32Jackson had to just settle for blowing minds.
11:40Can you think of any more iconic music moments?
11:44Let us know in the comments.
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