From Poppy To The Beatles, What Happened In Music On January 1

Happy New Year! In today’s roundup of musical history, we highlight a pint-sized performance artist born on this day. But first, what other notable figures in music have birthdays today?

Notable Birthdays in Music for January 1

Milt Jackson (1923) – Jazz vibraphonist and founding member of the Modern Jazz Quartet, known for composing the jazz standard “Bags’ Groove.”

Grandmaster Flash (1958) – Pioneer of hip-hop DJing and production, instrumental in shaping the genre with techniques like scratching and back-spinning.

Morgan Fisher (1950) – British musician and keyboardist, known for his work with Mott the Hoople and later ambient and experimental solo projects.

Today, we spotlight viral sensation turned Grammy-nominated metal starlet Poppy.

“Hi, I’m Poppy. Hi, I’m Poppy. Hi, I’m Poppy.”

Do you like Grimes, Dorian Electra and navigating the uncanny valley during a midnight existential crisis? You’ll love Poppy, who serves up apocalyptic visions with a side of bubblegum.

Genres: Hyperpop, industrial metal, existential synthwave, avant-garde AI-core.

With her doll-like aesthetic and enigmatic persona, Poppy is an artist who may have stepped straight out of a dystopian anime about humanity’s obsession with technology. Initially known as a YouTube oddity blending surrealism and satire, she transformed into a genre-defying musician whose work spans hyperpop, metal, and experimental art-rock.

Poppy, born Moriah Rose Pereira in 1995, began her career with eerie, minimalist YouTube videos that combined childlike wonder and unsettling undertones. Her 2017 debut album Poppy.Computer introduced her as a quirky pop provocateur, but it was her foray into metal on Am I a Girl? (2018) and, more comprehensively, on I Disagree (2020), where fans met “the real Poppy.”

If there is such a thing. “I stand by my belief that everyone is wearing a mask in entertainment,” she told me a few years back. “I know that’s true for myself right now. Any time there’s a recorder or a camera or microphone presented in front of somebody, you’re not getting 1000% them. You’re not getting the mask off. It’s just a different form.”

Her most recent project is the TV series Improbably Poppy, which one YouTube commenter has described as “like if Eric Andre was a cutie patootie and didn’t do hallucinogens.” Watch it here.

Happy Birthday, Poppy!

Did You Know?

Poppy’s first viral video was “Poppy Eats Cotton Candy,” which garnered millions of views for its strange simplicity.

Today’s Life Lesson, Inspired By Poppy

Don’t be afraid to burn things down, and start over.

Essential Album by Poppy

With the intensity of a three-alarm fire in a candy store, I Disagree (2020) marks Poppy’s full embrace of industrial metal while retaining traces, of all things, of her Brian Wilson-inspired pop roots. Tracks like “BLOODMONEY” bristle with sharp guitar riffs and biting commentary on capitalism. Beyond the unnerving theatrics was a young woman finding her feet.

If You Listen to Only One Song by Poppy

“Concrete” is quintessential Poppy, combining jarring industrial metal chaos with Brian May-worthy guitar and saccharine pop. The coda will have you delightedly bouncing down the street singing “Cover me in concrete.”

Listen on Spotify or Apple Music.

Further Reading

One day, someone will write Poppy’s biography. In the meantime, I interviewed Poppy for Vanity Fair in 2020.

Six Degrees of Paul McCartney

Poppy collaborated with Diplo on “Time Is Up,” one of her best pre-I Disagree tracks; Diplo worked with Madonna producing the track “Bitch I’m Madonna”; Madonna and McCartney performed at Live8 in 2005.

Also On This Day in Music History

1953: Hank Williams dies at age 29, cementing his legacy as one of country music’s most influential figures. If you’re in New York, consider ringing in the new year at the 21st Annual New Year’s Hank-o-rama, a musical tribute to the man at the Bowery Electric.

1959: Johnny Cash plays a free concert at San Quentin Prison, inspiring a young Merle Haggard in the audience.

1964: The first-ever Top of the Pops airs, featuring The Beatles, Dusty Springfield, and The Rolling Stones.

On This Day in Beatles History

1962: The Beatles audition for Decca Records in London but are rejected in favor of Brian Poole and the Tremeloes.