7 August 1997: Garth Brooks turns to hard rock

Country singer Garth Brooks performed at a free concert in New York’s Central Park, singing virtually no country songs; instead, his set is driven by Kiss and Billy Joel covers. At the end of the concert, Brooks announces that he is no longer going to be performing country music, but will sing his first love, hard rock.

In reality, Garth Brooks did have the largest crowd to ever attend a concert in Central Park on August 7, 1997 (it is estimated that over 1 million people showed for the live concert and 14.6 million saw it live on HBO), but he didn't announce that he would switch to hard rock.