A moment of fame, when it comes for the first time, is like the first drop of rain which requires the presence and optimization of various factors before it is realized. A famous music moment similarly requires occurrences and the optimization of several factors like the event, venue, audience, performers, and content to name a few. Not every famous moment arises out of a celebration. It sometimes emerges from a nearby tragic event like the moment Whitney Houston’s song ‘Yes, Jesus Loves Me,’ was sung just a night before she expired. The year 2012, in the perspective of music, was also marked by the death of: Ian Bargh, Whitney Houston, Etta James, Davy Jones, Earl Scruggs, Levon Helm, Adam Yauch, Donna Summer, Robin Gibb, Doc Watson, Bob Welch, Jon Lord, and Andy Williams. The best musical festivals seen in America in 2012 included: Bumbershoot, Burning Man, Austin City Limits, SXSW, Bonnaroo, Coachella, Wanderlust, JazzFest, Summerfest, and CMJ. In the year 2012, The Beach Boys embarked on a world concert tour celebrating their 50th Anniversary. The year 2012 has witnessed many famous music moments in almost all genres and on all types of media.

1. Britney Spears

Britney Spears signed a $15 million contract to join the judging panel on X Factor, and she remarked about it, ‘Just really being able to be there and inspire the other contestants … they’re so young, and they’re trying to fulfill their dreams,” Spears said about the show. “It’s just a whole beautiful concept. It’s just really cool.’ “Happy Birthday pop princess Britney Spears,” Kardashian told MTV News. “I think you’re phenomenal and amazing, and I wish you many, many more.’ As of January, 2012, she is the best-selling, digital artist. She is 1 of the top 25, Teen Idol Breakout Moments of all time. She stands at #11 of the ‘100 Greatest Women in Music.’ She is the highest-paid, female musician of 2012. She had recorded a song ‘Scream and Shout’ in 2012.

2. Swan Song of Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston’s last song is one of the memorable music moments. Only a night before her death on February 11, 2012, at Kelly Price & Friends pre-Grammy Concert she sang:

”¦Yes, Jesus loves me
For the Bible tells me so (so)
Jesus loves me this I know
For the Bible tells me so
Little ones to Him belong
They are weak but He is strong

(I know I am loved) For the Bible tells me so
(Feels so good to know ) That I’m never alone
See sometimes I’m lonely but never alone…

See I know that He loves me
Whether I’m right (mm)
Whether I’m wrong (oh, yes, He did)
For the Bible tells me (so)’

3. Adele; Let the Sky Fall

Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, better known as Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. Her album 21 earned 6 Grammy Awards in 2012. It was also honored as Album of the Year and recognized for the most Grammy Awards Won by a Female Artist in One Night. The album is 16 times certified platinum in the U.K., and it is certified Diamond in the U.S. Time magazine has named her among ‘The Most Influential People in the World.’ Adele’s ‘Skyfall’ was released on October 5, 2012 and was nominated for a golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.  Lyrics include:

‘This is the end
Hold your breath and count to ten
Feel the earth move and then
Hear my heart burst again…

Let the sky fall
When it crumbles
We will stand tall
Face it all together
At skyfall
At skyfall

4. Pussy Riot; ‘Mother of God, Chase Putin Out!’

February 21, 2012 included a memorable moment when Pussy Riot, the Russian punk band, comprised of Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, performed a punk prayer in chorus. In their less than one minute’s performance, before being taken into custody by guards, they kneeled, crossed, and danced before the high altar of the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow. Its lyrics contained these words:

‘Virgin birth-giver of God, drive away Putin!
Drive away Putin, drive away Putin!
So as not to insult the Holiest One
Woman should bear children and love…
Virgin birth-giver of God, become a feminist!’

The band members were sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment for ‘hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.’

5. The Beach Boys ‘Celebration!’

The American rock band The Beach Boys celebrated their 50th anniversary by organizing a world concert tour. The founding member Brian Wilson performed on the full tour, although since its founding in 1967, he had been performing only on very select occasions. According to Wilson, the tour and the associated album That’s Why God Made the Radio, released in June, 2012, has been dedicated to the 2 deceased brothers Carl and Dennis. During the tour, the Beach Boys had performed on many TV programs like CBS’s Sunday Morning, Late Night With Jimmy Falcon, and an interview on the QVC channel.

6.  Mumford & Sons; Babel

Mumford & Sons are known as an English Folk Rock band and is comprised of the members: Marcus Mumford, Winston Marshall, Ben Lovett, and Ted Dwane.The band is best known for its second studio album Babel, released on September 21, 2012 in Ireland, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand. It debuted at #1 on the U.K. Albums Chart and the U.S.’s Billboard 200 in the very first week. The album has been nominated for four Grammy Awards.

7. Goyte; Now You’re Just Somebody That I Used to Know

Wouter de Backer, better known by his stage name Goyte, debuted on February 1, 2012 on Jimmy Kimmel Live. He performed ‘Eyes Wide Open’ and ‘Somebody That I Used to Know.’ Soon after its performance, ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’ became his signature song. It reached #1 on the U.K. singles chart. It also topped more than 23 national charts including the U.S. and Australia. It was covered in NBC’s live vocal competition show The Voice in April, 2012. Its lyrics include:

”¦No you didn’t have to stoop so low

Have your friends collect your records and then change your number

I guess that I don’t need that though

Now you are just somebody that I used to know’¦’

8. Yothu Yindi

Yothu Yindi is an Australian band comprised of aboriginal and non-aboriginal members being: Mandawuy, Stuart, Ben, Cal, and Gapanbulu Yunupingu.The band is backed up by famous Australian artists including: Paul Kelly, Andrew Farris, Jess Maubo, Peter Garret, and Dan Sultan. After receiving a standing ovation for their performance, they were announced by the Australian Recording Association, ARIA, in October, 2012, to be inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.

9. Guy Sebastian

Guy Theodore Sebastian, the first winner of the Australian Idol Award has been Australia’s X Factor judge since 2010. He has performed for Pope Benedict XVI and Queen Elizabeth. His song ‘Battle Scar’ debuted in the U.S. and was #1 at R&B/ Hip-Hop’s Digital Song Chart. Fiasco and Sebastian performed the song live on  X Factor. The song’s lyrics are:

‘Hope the wound heals but it never does

That’s cause you’re at war with love

You’re at war with love, yeah

These battle scars don’t look like they’re fading

Don’t look like they are going away

They ain’t never gonna change

These battle’¦’

10. Missy Higgins -The Ol’ Razzle Dazzle

Missy Higgins’s comeback in 2012 with her third successful album The Ol’ Razzle Dazzle is a notable music event. The album debuted at #1 on the ARIA chart on June 12, 2012. She had been off the scene for almost four years.  The Ol’ Razzle Dazzle has been rated by ARIA as the Best Adult Contemporary Album. Missy’s 2012 live shows were the best music moments of the year.

Conclusion:

What exactly makes a music moment famous and another not so, even by the same performer and under similar conditions of performance, is not known. Had it been so, people would have devised some foolproof formulation to earn fame, which is not the case anyway. In addition to the personality of the performer, the lyrics, the event, the audience, and the ambience, there is almost always an invisible and beyond the calculation luck factor.