He's Got a Record Trivia Quiz

Answer: Music Record

Robert Plant is one of rock's most influential front men, best known as the soaring vocalist and lyricist for the world-renown band Led Zeppelin from 1968 to 1980. His signature banshee wail and mystical stage presence defined a generation of hard rock. Some of Led Zeppelin's best records, according to many, include "Led Zeppelin IV" (released in 1971), "Physical Graffiti" (1975), and "Led Zeppelin II" (1969).

After Led Zeppelin's disbandment, he embarked on an eclectic solo career, refusing to simply recreate or relive his past glories. His solo work has spanned from synth-rock in the '80s to world music, folk, and Americana. A major career highlight was his 2007 collaboration with bluegrass artist Alison Krauss, "Raising Sand", which earned him the Grammy Award for Record of the Year.

Answer: Music Record

Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott was the legendary Scottish-Australian singer and lyricist for the hard rock band AC/DC. He joined the group in 1974 after originally being their chauffeur. Born in Scotland, his family moved to Australia when he was six. The iconic AC/DC sound was created by Bon Scott.

Co-writing most of the band's classic songs with guitarists Angus and Malcolm Young, he penned the lyrics for iconic tracks like "Highway to Hell", "T.N.T.", and "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap". This prolific output resulted in an astonishing string of six studio albums in just five years, with each record giving the band more success and fame.

The band was on the cusp of international superstardom following the success of the "Highway to Hell" album when Scott tragically died in London, England, on February 19, 1980, from acute alcohol poisoning. He was only 33.

Answer: Music Record

Sir Michael Philip Jagger, better known as "Mick" is the archetypal rock front man, best known as the lead singer and co-founder of The Rolling Stones. His distinctive, blues-inflected vocals and famously energetic, often flamboyant stage presence have been central to the band's six-decade success. This helped establish him as one of music's most influential personalities.

Mick Jagger alongside guitarist Keith Richards formed one of rock's most successful songwriting partnerships. They created the vast majority of the Stones' extensive catalog. Together, they have too many hits to single out a few, though my favourite is "Paint it Black". Jagger's lyrics often captured a sense of rebellion, cynicism, and cutting-edge social commentary. As an artist who has continuously toured and released new material, Jagger has been at the forefront of popular culture for over 60 years and his 'complex' relationship with Richards has created news for ages.

Answer: Music Record

James Alan Hetfield is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and primary songwriter for the band Metallica. He co-founded the group in 1981 alongside drummer Lars Ulrich. He is widely considered one of the most influential figures in heavy metal history, especially in the development of the thrash metal genre.

Hetfield's signature sound is defined by his powerful, aggressive vocals and his "down-picking" guitar technique. His performances deliver the dense, intricate, and heavy rhythm guitar attack that became the foundation of Metallica's music on groundbreaking albums like "Master of Puppets" which was then followed up by the "Black Album".

As the band's main lyricist, Hetfield's deeply personal writing explores themes of betrayal, anger, addiction, and religious hypocrisy. His words often stem from his strict Christian Science upbringing and his mother's early death.

Answer: World Record

Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time, a swimming legend whose dominance spanned five Olympic Games from 2000 to 2016. Across his career, he amassed an astonishing total of 28 Olympic medals, including a record 23 gold medals.

The pinnacle of his performance came at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. There, he achieved a historic and unmatched feat, winning eight gold medals in a single Games and setting seven new world record times in the process (breaking the record held by fellow swimmer Mark Spitz). He dominated the butterfly and individual medley events, successfully defending his titles over multiple Olympic Games.

Answer: World Record

Duke Paoa Kahanamoku was a legendary Hawaiian swimmer, surfer, and the global face of the "Aloha Spirit". Hailing from Waikiki, he shattered the world record for the 100-yard freestyle in his first amateur race in 1911, an incredible feat that shot him to fame and ultimately launched his international career.

Kahanamoku won five Olympic medals in swimming, including gold in the 100-meter freestyle at both the 1912 and 1920 Games. Beyond his medals, he is revered as the father of modern surfing. Growing up with it as a Hawaiian tradition, he managed to popularize the sport through exhibitions in places like Australia and the mainland United States where it got a large audience.

After he was done with his sporting career, Duke Kahanamoku took office in Hawaii as the sheriff, a post he held for around 30 years, and was the "Ambassador of Aloha", trying to embody the warm welcoming nature of the people of the island state.

Answer: World Record

Johnny Weissmuller was an American swimmer and, later, actor who became one of the 20th century's first sports superstars. He set 67 world records (often breaking his own records) and was the first man to swim the 100-meter freestyle in under one minute.

Weissmuller dominated the pool at two Olympic Games, winning a total of five gold medals and one bronze. He claimed three golds at the 1924 Paris Games and two more at the 1928 Amsterdam Games. He retired from amateur swimming with an undefeated record as an individual swimmer. His immense fame transitioned to Hollywood, where he starred as Tarzan in twelve feature films between 1932 and 1948, forever linking him with the iconic jungle character.

Answer: World Record

Mark Spitz is an American former competitive swimmer and one of the most decorated athletes in Olympic history. He made his mark at the 1967 Pan American Games, winning five gold medals in the one meet.

Spitz's first Olympic appearance in Mexico City in 1968 earned him two relay gold medals, a silver, and a bronze. However, Spitz's career climaxed at the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, where he achieved an unprecedented feat at the time: he entered seven events and won seven gold medals, setting a world record in every single one! This astounding achievement saw victories in the 100m and 200m freestyle, the 100m and 200m butterfly, and three relay events.

Interestingly, Spitz retired from competitive swimming at the young age of 22.

Answer: Criminal Record

Frank Castiglia was an Italian-American crime boss who became better known by his adopted name, Frank Costello. Born in Italy, he immigrated to America in 1895 and became a major figure in the American Mafia, earning the nickname "The Prime Minister of the Mob" due to his political influence.

As a young man, he was associated with the Five Points Gang in Lower Manhattan and was jailed for assault, robbery, and weapons possession, between the years of 1908 to 1917. He was a close ally of Charles "Lucky" Luciano and was involved in bootlegging during Prohibition. After the underworld's Castellammarese War in 1931, he became the consigliere of the Luciano crime family and later served as the acting boss.

His later criminal record includes convictions for contempt and tax evasion, both convictions requiring him to serve time. He later survived a 1957 assassination attempt ordered by rival Vito Genovese. Costello retired from leadership but remained an advisor, though his US citizenship was stripped in 1961. He died of a heart attack in 1973 at the age of 82.

Answer: Criminal Record

Charles "Lucky" Luciano was an American mobster who was born in the Old Country (Italy), and was widely considered by many to be the father of modern organized crime in the United States. Born Salvatore Lucania in Sicily, he rose to power by ending the bloody Castellammarese War of 1930-31, by eventually arranging the assassinations of crime bosses Joe Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano.

Luciano then created the Commission. It was like a governing body for the American Mafia that replaced the "boss of bosses" title, mediating disputes and transforming the Mafia into a more cohesive, business-like National Crime Syndicate. He organized New York's crime families into the notorious Five Families.

His criminal record includes a 1936 conviction on compulsory prostitution and extortion charges, resulting in a 30-to-50-year sentence. He was paroled and deported to Italy in 1946 in exchange for alleged "wartime services" in assisting US Navy intelligence with waterfront security during World War II. He lived the remainder of his life under surveillance in Italy, dying of a heart attack in Naples in 1962.

Answer: Criminal Record

Maier Suchowljansky, better known as Meyer Lansky, was the financial wizard of the American organized crime mob. Born in what is now Belarus, this Jewish immigrant teamed up with Bugsy Siegel and Lucky Luciano to become a dominant force in the underworld, as he was instrumental in forming the National Crime Syndicate.

Lansky managed the Mob's global gambling empire, establishing sophisticated money laundering schemes through numbered Swiss bank accounts, at the time, untouchable. He was a major investor in Siegel's Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas and allegedly sanctioned Siegel's execution after the project's spiraling costs. Despite nearly fifty years in the underworld, he successfully kept his criminal record surprisingly clean of any major convictions (though gambling and disorderly conduct were regular convictions for him). In 1970, he fled to Israel to avoid indictment, but his application for permanent residency was rejected due to his chequered past. Unusually, he was deported and died of lung cancer in Miami in 1983.

Answer: Criminal Record

Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel was anotoious American mobster, a founding member of Murder, Inc., the National Crime Syndicate's enforcement arm. Born Benjamin Siegelbaum, he rose from a Brooklyn street tough to a prominent gangster, with a violent temper that earned him the nickname "Bugsy". He hated that nickname.

Siegel played a pivotal role in the early development of Las Vegas from a desert to an oasis, most famously overseeing the construction of the Flamingo Hotel. His lavish spending and cost overruns on the project. The budget ballooned to $6 million, much of it syndicate funds, and this led his mob partners to suspect he was skimming money. Although he never convicted of murder (he was once famously acquitted), his lifelong criminal record of bootlegging, gambling, and violence made him a target for police scrutiny. He was shot and killed in 1947 in his girlfriend's Beverly Hills home, but by who? We will never know...