FDR asked singer Eddie Cantor if he could get a million people to send in a dollar to support polio research. He replied that it would be easier to ask for dimes. By the end of the month, the White House had received 2.68 million dimes ($268,000) and the “March of Dimes” began.
Singer Lorde has sound-to-color synesthesia, a unique condition where sound blends with sight to create certain colors. This greatly contributed to the creative process on Melodrama, where she wrote music to the "violets and blues" that appear on the album's cover.
During the Beijing Olympics, a 9-year-old girl who sang a patriotic song at the opening ceremony was revealed to be lip-syncing. The real singer was a 7-year-old girl who was kept backstage because officials said she was not good looking enough and would have damaged China’s image.
Tina Turner was diagnosed with kidney failure after she opted to take homeopathic remedies instead of blood pressure medication, something she now regrets. She was considering an assisted suicide until her current husband donated a kidney to her, saving her life.
Nirvana played a concert in Beunos Aires where the crowd threw mud and trash at the all-girl opening act. Kurt Cobain was so upset that he sabotaged the show by playing mostly lesser-known songs and teasing “Smells Like Teen Spirit” without ever playing it.
When actress/singer Vanessa Williams was born, her parents put out a birth announcement that read: "Here she is: Miss America." In 1983, she became the first African American to be crowned Miss America.
There is a bird that lacks a singing voice to attract mates—instead, it beats its wings faster than the speed of sound to create sonic booms that can be heard by all the females in the area.
In December 1987, Nikki Sixx from Mötley Crüe had a heroin overdose. On route to the hospital, he was declared legally dead. But a paramedic (who was also a big fan) revived Sixx with two shots of adrenaline. It was the inspiration for the song "Kickstart My Heart."