This week in music history, an iconic show hits Broadway, the course of rock history changes, records are broken and memes are made. 26 years ago this week, the reason why all cringey theater lovers — who? Me? — celebrate the strike of 9 PM, Eastern Standard Time on Christmas Eve opened on Broadway. After a successful off-Broadway run, Rent opened at the Nederlander Theatre on April 29, 1996. The show won a Pulitzer Prize and five Tonys including Best Musical, according to Playbill’s celebration of the anniversary. The show is a grungy rock retelling of the 19th century Italian opera La Bohème detailing the lives of starving artists in New York City struggling with poverty, drug addiction, selling out and AIDS — the ever looming threat of the ‘80s and ‘90s. On the Broadway stage audiences saw an unapologetic view of what was plaguing the queer people, poor people and addicts at the time, right in the same city. The artists’ fears that they will die young and unaccomplished is accelerated by the fact that they may very well die young. By 1990, when the show’s finale took place, over 100,000 deaths had been attributed to AIDS. This Broadway premier came at a pivotal time when public knowledge of the virus was widespread but there was still the stigma, the fear and the hatred this brought upon the LGBTQ+ community. The USA’s growing conservatism in the ‘80s brought a misguided belief that this epidemic was purposely brought about by queer people. As gay people kept dying, the government stayed silent, says an NBC article on LGBTQ history. The next decade brought works like Rent, which forced the public to acknowledge the human cost of this epidemic. The character Angel’s slow deterioration from optimistic life of the party to shell of a person ravaged by AIDS brings the tolls of the virus into the spotlight. Her poignant funeral is — in my opinion — the most heartbreaking scene in the entirety of theater. Mixing gritty realism with vibrant show tunes, 26 years ago this week, Broadway opened a new show whose influence can never be forgotten. ~Madison Reinhold

On April 30, 1991, Nirvana signed a $290,000 record deal with DGC Records after leaving their previous label Sub Pop. This was definitely a good move on DGC’s part as Nirvana’s sophomore album Nevermind is the best selling record put out by DGC to date. Nevermind was the first album on the label to achieve diamond status and has since sold 30 million copies worldwide. This move was controversial for the grunge band as many in the Seattle scene at the time saw signing to a large label as selling out. Despite the opinions of the Seattle grunge scene, Nirvana’s move to DGC was one of the most influential decisions in determining the future of rock music. Nevermind brought the Seattle grunge scene into the light and inspired many to put out raw and emotional music similar to that of Nirvana. ~Paige Drob

On April 27, 1963, a young girl broke a music industry record. Little Peggy March, a 15-year-old from Pennsylvania, released her song “I Will Follow Him.” The song shot up to No. 1 on the charts, making March the youngest female artist with a No. 1 hit. Her song sold millions of copies and brought her into the spotlight. She signed with RCA records and went on to record many singles. “I Will Follow Him” was later covered in the 1992 movie The Sister Act. March is often referred to as a one-hit wonder, however, she went on to have a successful musical career in Europe. She may have been a flash in the pan to some, but her song secured her place in musical history.

On the contrary, a meme born on April 29, 2008 remains relevant to this day. 14 years ago this Friday, singer Bruno Mars appeared to be shocked to see bassist Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy on the street. Every year on this day, you can expect emos far and wide to repost this image in celebration and remembrance of the iconic day. According to Mars himself, he was actually in shock of a photographer shoving him, not the sight of the emo heartthrob per this  radio interview. Despite the truth coming to light, I’m making the choice to live in ignorance and keep the original story of a surprised Mars in my mind. ~Norene Bassin