Free Music Trivia - Disc Jockey Slang, Advertising Jingles, Buddy Holly, the Tennessee Waltz, Vanilla Ice, Liberace, Aretha Franklin, Best Female Singer, Luciano Pavarotti, and More!

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Free music trivia questions and answers with topics like Barry Manilow, Disc Jockey Slang, Carole King, LIberace, and more.

Music trivia quiz questions and answers.

What gold-plated 33-rpm record did the Apollo astronauts leave behind on the moon?
A: Camelot--a favorite of President John F. Kennedy.

What popular performer was named best female singer of the year a record 21 times by Down Beat magazine?
A: Ella Fitzgerald.

Who sang advertising jingles for McDonald's, Pepsi, Chevrolet, Kentucky Fried Chicken and others before making it big on the music scene?
A: Singer-composer Barry Manilow.

How many Beatles songs were at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles list in early April 1964?
A: An unprecedented and never duplicated five. From NO.1 to No.5 they were: "Can't Buy Me Love," "Twist and Shout," "She Loves You." "I Want to Hold Your Hand," and "Please Please Me."

What did Buddy Holly originally call "Peggy Sue," the rock 'n' roll classic he recorded with the Crickets in 1957?
A: "Cindy Lou." Holly renamed it at the urging of Crickets drummer Jerry Allison, whose girlfriend's name was Peggy Sue.

What modern musical instrument is based on the medieval sackbut?
A: The trombone.

What popular singer was heard on the first multi-track vocal--on a recording that was billed as a duet?
A: Patti Page, in 1951. The song was "The Tennessee Waltz."

Who wrote the title song for the 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die?
A: Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney.

How much did a piano cost in the 1900 Sears, Roebuck and Company catalog?
A: It cost $98--FOB Chicago.

Carole King's song "The Loco-Motion" was made into a hit record in 1962 by her maid. Who was she?
A: Little Eva--Eva Narcissus Boyd.

What did opera great Luciano Pavarotti do for a living before he became a professional tenor?
A: He taught in an elementary school and then sold insurance--because he found teaching too hard on his vocal cords.

Who is the famous clarinetist who performs with the New Orleans Funeral and Jazz Band?
A: Woody Allen.

How long was the train on pianist-showman Liberace's 175-pound Norwegian blue shadow fox coat?
A: 16 feet. The coat is on display at the Liberace Museum in Las Vegas.

What jazz great was known by the nicknames Dippermouth and Gatemouth.
A: Louis Armstrong--who is better known as Satchmo, a shortened version of Satchelmouth.

In disc jockey slang, what is a lunar rotation?
A: An infrequently played record.

In the world of music, adagio is a direction to play slowly. What do the terms adagietto and adagissomo mean?
A: Adagietto is a direction to play slightly faster than adagio; adagissomo, to play very slowly.

What did Aretha Franklin wear on her head when she sang "Funny Girl" at the Academy Awards ceremony in 1969?
A: Antlers.

What popular recording star's real name is Robert Van Winkle?
A: Vanilla Ice's.

What musical masterpiece commemorates a battle fought at a place called Borodino?
A: Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture." Borodino is a village 70 miles west of Moscow. The battle was between Napoleon's troops and the Russian Army.