On May 28 1966, Percy Sledge started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘When A Man Loves A Woman’. A No.4 hit on the UK chart and No.2 when re-issued in 1987. Before the recording session, the song had no title or lyrics. The session proceeded with the expectation that Sledge would produce them for the vocal takes. When it came time to record the vocals, Sledge improvised the lyrics with minimal pre-planning, using the melody as a guide for rhythm and phrasing. The performance was so convincing that others working on the session assumed Sledge had the lyrics written down.

It’s official that The Weeknd is the most popular artist in the world. The singer-songwriter, whose real name is Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, is statistically the most popular musician on the planet, according to Guinness World Records (GWR). The Canadian singer, 33, has set two new Guinness World Record titles. He currently has the most monthly listeners on Spotify, with 111.4 million as of March 20. He also became the first artist to reach 100 million monthly listeners. According to GWR, The Weeknd’s surge was fueled in part by TikTok, after his “Die for You” remix with Grande went viral on the platform. The track went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 – The Weeknd’s seventh time at the top spot.

On August 10th 1968, Tom Jones went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Delilah’. The lyrics were written by Barry Mason, and the music by Les Reed, who also contributed the title and theme of the song. It earned Reed and Mason the 1968 Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. Shortly after its release, “Delilah” became an unofficial anthem in Welsh rugby.