Frederic Chopin's 200th birthday falls on March 1, the date claimed by the composer and regarded today as official, even though Polish records mark an earlier day, February 22. This and a few other oddities and contradictions make Chopin's biography fascinating to study. But what matters most is his music, and Blair Sanderson weighs the facts of his short life against his far-reaching and enduring legacy.

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British R&B vocalist Taio Cruz has set the record for the largest jump to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 by an act with its first charting single. Cruz' song, "Break Your Heart" featuring rapper Ludacris jumped from 53 to 1. The record previously belonged to Kelly Clarkson's American Idol song "A Moment Like This," which leaped from 52 to 1 on Oct. 5, 2002. [Billboard.com]

Madonna has paired with fashion brand Iconix to launch an affordable clothing line for juniors called Material Girl. Reportedly inspired by the iconic vocalist’s 13-year-old daughter Lourdes, the line will feature shirts, skirts, shoes, jewelry, and handbags that range from $12 to $40. The Material Girl line will be available exclusively at Macy’s department stores beginning in August. [Eonline.com]

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Think back to 1990, the year before the first Lollapalooza, the year hip-hop went pop via MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice -- a year where classic rockers still had such a stranglehold on the mainstream that Paul Simon could appear on Billboard's Modern Rock Singles chart. It could be said that this was a year of transitions, with rap's golden age starting to slowly wind down and alt-rock beginning to boil over, but looking back 20 years on, 1990 sure delivers a number of stone-cold classics, whether it's the Bomb Squad in full flight on Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet, the pristine pure pop of the La's, the shimmer and roar of Ride's Nowhere, Neil Young lumbering with Crazy Horse on Ragged Glory, the Breeders' glorious Pod, or Digital Underground's inspired funk fantasia Sex Packets -- and that's just a list of albums! AllMusic celebrates all this and much, much more in the 1990 edition of AllMusic Loves.

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