Happy tenth birthday, Twitter. The very first tweet was posted by co-founder Jack Dorsey on 21 March 2006, making today a notable anniversary for the social network.
It took a little longer for musicians to get interested in blarting their thoughts to the world in 140 characters or less, but artists have become a big part of Twitter in the years since.
That’s why when Twitter launched a webpage where you can search for any account’s first tweet, our first thought was to find out how prominent musicians had announced their debut on the service.
Lady Gaga was rehearsing; Diplo was getting ready to rock; Yoko Ono was dancing; Taylor Swift was apologising to her cat; Wiz Khalifa was, ahem, feeling his bad azz dog; Pink was getting her centuries confused; Blake Shelton was confessing his rice/pasta shame; and Liam out of One Direction was making it absolutely clear that he was the real Liam out of One Direction, and not an imposter Liam out of One Direction.
Just as interestingly, when you lay musical stars’ first tweets out in chronological order, you get a sense of the period when Twitter really started gathering momentum within the music community: early adopters in 2008, but a notable spike in the spring of 2009 – three years after Twitter first launched.
Anyway, enjoy stars’ first tweets: they’re in order below.
I'm in Starkville, MS. Show at Rick's cafe later!
— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) February 20, 2008
op rehearsing for my video just dance and am now at wmc to perform at the Armani and nervous records party. But I am no nervous record! …
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) March 27, 2008
lifting off to NYC
— Janelle Monáe👽🚆🤖🚀🪐 (@JanelleMonae) April 2, 2008
My first Twit.
— ?st (@questlove) August 21, 2008
Welcome to Britney Spears' Twitter! Follow the latest in Britney news and get updates straight from Britney and her entourage.
— Britney Spears 🌹🚀 (@britneyspears) October 10, 2008
gettin ready to rock #current
— diplo (@diplo) November 5, 2008
dancing
— Yoko Ono (@yokoono) November 27, 2008
working on the LudaJuice/REMY Martin event in LA & SF featuring Ludacris
— Ludacris (@Ludacris) November 28, 2008
is preparing for a show in Pittsburgh tomorrow! http://amandapalmer.net/tour for tickets…
— Amanda Palmer 🎹 (@amandapalmer) November 29, 2008
https://twitter.com/taylorswift13/status/1041806998
https://twitter.com/iamdiddy/status/1065398944
https://twitter.com/50cent/status/1066616199
sleeping. just joined this thing.
— St. Vincent (@st_vincent) December 31, 2008
https://twitter.com/CalvinHarris/status/1096614076
The official Coldplay twitter (with the official Coldplay twitter url) is go. Welcome one and all. Anchorman
— Coldplay (@coldplay) January 13, 2009
is waiting for the video clip to arrive.
— Iron Maiden (@IronMaiden) January 19, 2009
Johnny Marr has now officially entered Twitter. Add yourself now and get all of the latest news on Johnny Marr first !
— Johnny Marr (@Johnny_Marr) January 20, 2009
Welcome to Mariah’s Official Twitter Page! Bookmark http://twitter.com/MariahHBF and feel free to write back to @MariahHBF about Miss M!
— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) January 28, 2009
is with justin and alan, learning to be a lady
— Lily A (@lilyallen) January 30, 2009
Feeding My Bad Azz Dog!
— Wiz Khalifa (@wizkhalifa) February 7, 2009
( Admin setup for Graham )
— graham coxon (@grahamcoxon) February 8, 2009
procrastinating in school listening to interested – House Of Fools. only a few more weeks left till i'm done for GOOD!!!
— Demi Lovato (@ddlovato) February 17, 2009
Just got into Berlin… feeling better thank you, have my vicks inhaler by my bedside… and P.S. I TWITTTTER! GAH. Such a follower!
— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) February 21, 2009
Watching Family Guy Back 2 Back!!! Whats Twitter all about My why are my Numbers Running Out!?
— Tinie (@tinie) February 27, 2009
heading out
— Skrillex (@Skrillex) February 28, 2009
cant believe i have a twitter… I'm not even sure if I'm using this correctly haha
— Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) March 9, 2009
Frightened Rabbit – Midnight Organ Fight – cannot stop listening to it! Hello, I got a twitter, sue me.
— Frank Turner (@frankturner) March 11, 2009
Hello followers ! 🙂
— David Guetta (@davidguetta) March 17, 2009
Carly Is finally on twitter
— Carly Rae Jepsen (@carlyraejepsen) March 17, 2009
Songz baby….new to this. Eating wit da fam. Holla at me
— TreySongz.eth (@TreySongz) March 17, 2009
Just got to Fallon with Rostam.
— Ezra Koenig (@arzE) March 18, 2009
We Made You
— Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) March 21, 2009
Fine…you got me.
— Drizzy (@Drake) March 28, 2009
i have officially entered the 20th century. i mean the 21st.
— P!nk (@Pink) April 4, 2009
Tennman Records released its first single today, Esmee Denters' "Outta Here". http://tinyurl.com/cs55pa. What do you think?
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) April 14, 2009
What they do? My first day on TWITER! Im on tour right now and will be in Amarillo, TX tonight! Make sure your there!! – Pit
— Pitbull (@pitbull) April 16, 2009
https://twitter.com/ArianaGrande/status/1591017802
It's officially me, the real AK…trying to figure out the Twitter thing.. Looking forward to the weekend, gonna be gorgeous in NY!
— Alicia Keys (@aliciakeys) April 25, 2009
I was FINALLY convinced to get on Twitter! Follow me guys!
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) April 27, 2009
IM IN LA MAKING MY DEBUT ALBUM 🙂
— Jessie J (@JessieJ) April 28, 2009
Check out my single "ONE TIME" on my myspace and spread the word for me. Thanks www.myspace.com/justinbieber
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) May 12, 2009
al made me do it
— benjamin folds (@BenFolds) May 25, 2009
https://twitter.com/AndrewWK/status/1929485166
@lilyroseallen yes, twilly. i am now in the game, albeit late
— Mark Ronson (@MarkRonson) May 31, 2009
Well I'm finally on here. First…<shudder>…tweet…from Atlanta. Big thanks to PBS for a great trip. 961 followers…lets get to work.
— josh groban (@joshgroban) June 5, 2009
is putting it together in Miami… Welcome to the official Twitter page!
— Craig David (@CraigDavid) June 6, 2009
https://twitter.com/LanaDelRey/status/2060802679
https://twitter.com/blakeshelton/status/2095536138
Hi guys! A little late in the game but I’m starting to figure out this whole twitter thing. Finally out of the studio for a week
— Shakira (@shakira) June 12, 2009
This is my first tweet follow me @enrique305 #fb
— Enrique Iglesias (@enriqueiglesias) June 17, 2009
i just made a twitter account because it isnt cool for someone to blame you and blast you with lies…
— will.i.am (@iamwill) June 22, 2009
本当のリバースです。
— Rivers Cuomo (@RiversCuomo) July 2, 2009
Bueno mi gente, soy nuevo en esto de twitter! Vamos a tripiar con este rollo! Ya estoy en el estudio trabajando con unos sonidos super cool.
— Ricky Martin (@ricky_martin) July 24, 2009
starting
— lcdsoundsystem (@lcdsoundsystem) September 30, 2009
The Wait Is Ova. Nov 23 09
— Rihanna (@rihanna) October 13, 2009
just joined tiwtter at mr @jakegosling house, he said its a good idea, do you agree? im not convinced yet
— Ed Sheeran HQ (@edsheeran) October 26, 2009
@KimKardashian @RyanSeacrest U got me curious.Rehearsing 4 AMAs, in the studio and shooting a movie! I’ll do my best with this twitter thing
— jlo (@JLo) November 7, 2009
I promised a few people I would try this twitter thing out. I make no promises, however, that I will say anything worth reading 🙂
— Kelly Clarkson 🍷💔☀️ (@kellyclarkson) January 4, 2010
In The Studio With Far east Movement
— Bruno Mars (@BrunoMars) January 6, 2010
im super new to this twitter shit but wudup tho !……….follow me biot¢h……….wudup mak……happy bday LO……8 days of freedom..ym
— Lil Wayne WEEZY F (@LilTunechi) February 22, 2010
https://twitter.com/thomyorke/status/9838224150
Hello Twitter!
— Cher (@cher) May 5, 2010
— Avril Lavigne (@AvrilLavigne) May 6, 2010
@luciejones1 you are an absolute babe ha . Fantastic voice my favourite from last year x
— Louis Tomlinson (@Louis_Tomlinson) May 8, 2010
What's up ya'll. @monascottyoung been bugging me 2 join and I'm finally here! Where myTweeps at!!!!
— Missy Elliott (@MissyElliott) May 19, 2010
I am the real Liam Payne
— Liam (@LiamPayne) June 22, 2010
hi guys zayn malik here 🙂
— zayn (@zaynmalik) August 9, 2010
Enjoying my day at home 🙂
— Harry Styles. (@Harry_Styles) August 22, 2010
Adele fans! Head over to @VEVO's Facebook page to submit questions for Adele to answer! http://www.facebook.com/VEVO
— Adele (@Adele) September 14, 2010
Listen to the official version of the new Dr. Dre song "Kush" featuring Snoop Dogg & Akon. Only at www.drdre.com
— Dr. Dre (@drdre) November 17, 2010
https://twitter.com/flea333/status/15667357091373056
Sounded great on the radio craigy. Well mixed old bean. X
— Guy Garvey (@Guy_Garvey) January 14, 2011
this is my new twitter. i'm losing my fucking mind
— Billie Joe Armstrong (@billiejoe) January 21, 2011
Here goes my first Tweet! Brace yourselves… So excited to connect with all my fans here. xo – Xtina
— Christina Aguilera (@xtina) March 23, 2011
Welcome to the official Miley Cyrus "Gypsy Heart Tour" twitter page!!!
— Miley Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) March 30, 2011
d'eon sleeps in a coffin
— Feyd H (@Grimezsz) April 5, 2011
got a thousand fans on facebook so we made a twitter, now just gotta find out how to use it
— Disclosure (@disclosure) June 30, 2011
It's official, I know it's taken a while. It's really me! We're live in 10 minutes. I'll keep you posted. Lots of love #iamsimon
— Simon Cowell (@SimonCowell) November 17, 2011
my cup is empty pic.twitter.com/RLesLyft
— Courtney Barnett (@courtneymelba) March 15, 2012
Madonna answers you Monday at 10pm ET via Twitter account @MadonnaMDNAday use #askmadonna in your tweet. Watch http://t.co/Dmez4Qf9
— Madonna (@Madonna) March 25, 2012
Hey World, It's B!
— BEYONCÉ (@Beyonce) April 5, 2012
I'm so excited to invite you to my new http://t.co/fZxlrtAh – we've been working
hard, and it's finally ready for you XO
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/335569132214972416
ddd
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