00:03Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we'll be counting down our picks for those televised or live gigs that changed everything
00:11for the performers.
00:12We'll be highlighting positive shifts for this list, meaning that Milli Vanilli's lip-sync controversy amidst their Grammy win, she'll
00:20be saved for another day.
00:21She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah, she loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:29Number 10.
00:30Like a Virgin at the 1984 VMAs.
00:34Madonna.
00:35It seemed as if everyone had something to say about Madonna as the material girl began her seemingly inevitable climb
00:42to the top of the cultural conversation.
00:44I would be incomplete.
00:48I've been held.
00:50I was sad and blue.
00:53This upward mobility reached even more people during the 1984 Video Music Awards, thanks to Madonna's controversial and electric performance
01:01on the MTV stage.
01:03Like a virgin.
01:05Hey, yeah.
01:06Touch for the very first time.
01:10This was the burgeoning music channel's first-ever awards show, and Madonna made it count.
01:16By intentionally subverting ideas of female sexuality and gender roles with their performance.
01:21This was the moment where Madonna could no longer be ignored, but instead took her place as the ultimate tastemaker
01:28for the 80s, 90s, and beyond.
01:31Can't you hear my heart beat?
01:35For the very first time...
01:37Number 9.
01:40The 2011 Brit Awards.
01:43Adele.
01:4321 was an album that dominated the charts in the wake of its release in 2011.
01:49I heard that you're settled down...
01:57This was the same year its composer, Adele Adkins, delivered what was quite possibly the best performance of her life
02:05at the Brit Awards.
02:06Her stark and emotionally-charged performance of Someone Like You assisted 21 in achieving the over 31 million copy mark
02:14it enjoys today.
02:16Never mind, I'll find someone like you...
02:22But it wasn't only about sales figures when it came to Adele's performance on this night.
02:27It was about the singer's connection to her audience, and how Someone Like You struck a nerve with those fans.
02:33It was a night that frankly made Adele into the star she is today.
02:38Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts insane.
02:44Number 8.
02:46Going Electric at Newport.
02:48Bob Dylan.
02:49The Newport Folk Festival is one of those living legend music festivals.
02:54An annual get-together that's been going strong since 1959.
02:58Once upon a time, you dressed so fine.
03:00Through the bumps of time, in your prime.
03:04Then you.
03:05It also served as the site for many a landmark musical moment, such as the then-controversial
03:11decision for Bob Dylan and his band to go electric on July 25, 1965.
03:17How does it feel?
03:21How does it feel?
03:24Fans can be heard booing during this set, but it's Dylan's dedication to going even louder
03:29that helped make this performance a defining one for the man's career.
03:33Bob Dylan may not have returned to the Newport Folk Festival stage for 37 years, but this night
03:39was more than enough to make him feel like he was emerging from the shadow of being just
03:44another folk singer.
03:46And it's all over now, baby blue.
03:51Number 7.
03:53Performing live at Folsom Prison.
03:55Johnny Cash.
03:56The Man in Black's performance at Folsom Prison wasn't the first time Johnny Cash performed
04:01in a correctional facility, but it was a gig that helped revitalize the country music
04:06icon's career.
04:07I'm slipping please and blue, and time keeps dragging on the water.
04:13Cash's gig at San Quentin back in 1958 occurred during his early days, while the Folsom Prison
04:19Show took place after a battle with substance use disorder.
04:23Yet it was these personal struggles that enabled Cash to embrace his darker image.
04:28While the gig itself reminded fans just how much they admired the man's music, Johnny Cash
04:34emerged from Folsom emboldened, and with a career that was about to enter certified legend
04:40status.
04:42And I'd let that lonesome whistle roll my blues all the way.
04:47Number 6.
04:48Tina Turner at the Ritz.
04:50Tina Turner clearly felt like she had something to prove back in 1983, when she headlined a solo
04:56gig at the Ritz in New York City.
05:08Something to prove not only to herself, but to fans and the music industry that seemed
05:14to doubt her continued relevancy, outside of reliving her days with ex-husband Ike Turner.
05:19Who believed in you along the way?
05:22Me.
05:23All me.
05:23Yet members of the audience on this night included such musical luminaries as Keith Richards
05:29and David Bowie, two fans that knew all too well how hard Tina Turner could rock.
05:34And rock she did, leaving the stage with a new lease on her musical life, and a destiny
05:40that was finally free from the Ike and Tina moniker.
05:43The people proclaimed me rock and roll, and so it was just forced.
05:49So it didn't matter what the radio stations were saying or were playing.
05:52Number 5.
05:53Elton John at the Troubadour
05:56Every famous musician can probably remember that all-important gig that changed everything.
06:01One that represented a seismic shift in popularity.
06:05Elton John's six-night stint at the Troubadour in West Hollywood was one of those shows.
06:10A 1970s showcase for a UK singer-songwriter who was still working on making a name for
06:16himself around this time.
06:18Contemporary critics such as Robert Hilburn of the LA Times emphasized John's rock star
06:23prowess and command of the stage.
06:26Meanwhile, the co-signing of such heavyweight musical hitters like Neil Diamond and Quincy
06:31Jones enabled these Troubadour dates to cement Elton John as a future star in his own right.
06:38Number 4.
06:39On Fire at Monterey Pop
06:41The Jimi Hendrix Experience
06:44The Woodstock Festival may exist as a cultural touchstone for the 1960s, but it wasn't the
06:50only music festival to change an artist's career overnight.
07:01The Jimi Hendrix Experience literally set the stage on fire during this iconic performance
07:07at the Monterey International Pop Festival back in 1967.
07:17It was an image that emboldened the psychedelic rock era and inspired it to new heights, as
07:24Hendrix offered up his Fender Stratocaster as a ritual sacrifice.
07:29A legend felt born in that instance as he played up the rising flames from his guitar and took
07:35his rightful place as a figurehead for 1960s hard rock.
07:46Number 3.
07:48Debuting The Moonwalk
07:49Michael Jackson
07:51The past met the future back on this 1983 television special titled Motown 25, Yesterday,
07:57Today, Forever.
08:07This wonderful musical retrospective was highlighted not only by a brief Jackson 5 reunion, but
08:13also by that group's leader, Michael Jackson, taking his first steps into superstardom.
08:18Steps that included Jackson doing the moonwalk, on stage, during a performance of the then-new
08:24tune Billie Jean.
08:32The Thriller album was still a few months away at this point, and the energy in the room frankly
08:38feels palpable as Jackson bowls over the audience with his moves.
08:43MJ's legacy may be complicated at this point, but there's no denying the importance this
08:48evening had to his career back in the early 1980s.
08:59Number 2.
09:00The 68 comeback special
09:02Elvis Presley
09:04The King of Rock and Roll's foray into motion pictures wasn't without merit, but it also took
09:09Elvis Presley away from what helped originally make him a star — performing.
09:15You ain't nothin' but a hound on up, cryin' all the time.
09:19This was what helped make Presley's 1968 comeback special so important — not only to Elvis,
09:26but to his fans.
09:27The special reminded those who loved Elvis why they loved Elvis, while The King's back-and-forth
09:33interactions with his band underlined how unique Presley was as a singer and arranger.
09:39For I can't die falling in love with you.
09:49Additionally, this comeback special also served as a reintroduction of sorts, particularly for
09:56younger pop fans who might have missed Elvis' OG heyday on programs such as The Ed Sullivan Show.
10:241.
10:26Beatlemania on The Ed Sullivan Show
10:29The Ed Sullivan Show was responsible for broadcasting many classic musical moments into
10:36the living rooms of families all across the United States.
10:39Now, tonight the whole country is waiting to hear England's Beatles, and you're gonna hear
10:44them.
10:45Moments such as the birth of Beatlemania after the Fab Four performed songs like I Wanna Hold
10:50Your Hand and All My Loving to an audience that was quite, frankly, going bananas.
10:56All my lovers, I will save you.
11:00A youth market seemingly sprung up overnight as kids everywhere started garage rock bands
11:06of their own and started growing their hair, all while buying up Beatles records like crazy.
11:12George, Paul, John, and Ringo would eventually embark upon more musically progressive and experimental
11:18works near the tail end of the 1960s.
11:21But it was this television performance that helped change everything for the Beatles.
11:26You let me hold your hand I wanna hold your hand
11:32Did you watch any of these moments live?
11:35Let us know in the comments.
11:37I'll see you in the comments!
11:38We'll catch you one more of them!
11:42Now, we'll catch you on the side, fair!
11:42I'll see you next time, alleine.
Comments