Music History

Duff McKagan testified in court against his former Guns N' Roses bandmate Steve Adler. During the testimony, the so-called “spaghetti incident” was also discussed, which later became the title of another album by the band, “The Spaghetti Incident”.

The Los Angeles Police Department formally announced that Michael Jackson was the subject of a criminal investigation following allegations of child sexual abuse.

Snoop Doggy Dogg drove his passenger McKinley Lee in a Jeep Cherokee to Woodbine Park in Los Angeles, where Lee shot and killed a member of a rival gang. Both were charged with murder and Snoop Doggy Dogg was released on $1 million bail. In 1996 both were found not guilty.

Members of Oasis and The Verve were arrested in Sweden following an incident in which they allegedly damaged a hotel bar and broke into a church, taking communion wine.

John Denver, who was still on probation for a 1992 drunk-driving conviction, was again charged with driving under the influence after crashing his 1963 Porsche 356 into a tree near his home in Aspen, Colorado. It was his second such case within two years. The first trial ended with a hung jury, and the second trial was still pending at the time of his death on October 12, 1997.

His estate acquired the domain jimihendrix.com, which had been registered since 1996 by a domain investor who used it to sell email addresses.

The US Internal Revenue Service placed a lien on Aretha Franklin's home over $600,000 in unpaid taxes.

A helicopter crashed in Sequoia National Forest, about 150 miles north of Los Angeles, while a music video for Meat Loaf's song "I'd Lie for You" was being filmed. The pilot and cameraman were killed in the accident.

A women's shelter on Long Island rejected a $10,000 donation from a James Brown benefit concert because of domestic violence allegations involving the singer. Brown denied the allegations, which were later dropped.

Snoop Doggy Dogg reached an out-of-court settlement with the Woldemariam family in a wrongful-death case the family had filed against the rapper three years earlier. Their 20-year-old son Phillip Woldemariam had been shot by Snoop Doggy Dogg's bodyguard from the back of a moving car that the rapper himself was driving. Snoop Doggy Dogg and his bodyguard claimed the incident occurred in self-defense.

Former Talking Heads singer David Byrne sued the other members of the group in an attempt to prevent them from performing under the name “The Heads”. The dispute was settled out of court.

Rick James was released from Folsom Prison after serving two years of a five-year sentence for holding a woman hostage while under the influence of drugs and for assault.

Isaac Hayes, co-writer of Sam & Dave’s classic song “Soul Man”, protested against its use in the campaign of Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole. Dole supporters altered the lyrics to “I'm A Dole Man”. Hayes demanded that Dole stop using the song, and publisher Rondor Music subsequently issued a formal legal warning threatening a $10,000 fine for each further unauthorized use.

Isaac Hayes, co-writer of the classic song "Soul Man" released by Stax Records, sent a letter to presidential candidate Bob Dole asking him to stop using his song, which his supporters had adapted as "I'm A Dole Man".

Record company Tony Nicole Tony Records filed a lawsuit against Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, alleging intentional interference with drummer Peter Criss's contract with the company.

Former drummer of The Stone Roses Alan Wren was sentenced to seven days in prison after behaving disrespectfully toward a prominent Manchester judge. He appeared in court over driving without insurance and lost his temper after being questioned about his income.

Tim Weisberg sued his former collaborator Dan Fogelberg over alleged breach of contract and fraud related to the recording of the album “No Resemblance Whatsoever”.

Tony Nicole of TNT Records filed a lawsuit against Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS over alleged intentional interference with drummer Peter Criss's contract with the record company. The lawsuit claimed that Simmons and Stanley persuaded Criss to breach his contract and rejoin the original lineup. The case was settled out of court shortly after it was filed under undisclosed terms.

Members of Wu-Tang Clan were arrested following an alleged assault on a record promotion manager after a concert in Chicago.

Scott Weiland pleaded guilty to heroin possession and was sentenced to three months of treatment.

Priscilla Presley won $75,000 in damages in a libel lawsuit against Currie Grant, a former army friend of Elvis Presley, who claimed that he had an affair with her before she married Elvis Presley. This claim was used as the main source for the controversial biography “Child Bride: The Untold Story of Priscilla Beaulieu Presley” by Suzanne Finstad. Priscilla said she was very pleased that the verdict had cleared her name.

Mark David Chapman stated that he did not want any money obtained from the sale of the signed album “Double Fantasy”, which John Lennon had signed for him on the same day Lennon was murdered. At the time, Chapman was serving his sentence for the murder of John Lennon on December 8, 1980.

Roberto Augusto Miranda Soares was shot four times after refusing to hand over the keys to his Mercedes to robbers. Soares was president of Sony Music/Brazil.

Madonna filed a lawsuit against the YMCA seeking to prevent the construction of a high-rise residential building near Lincoln Center in New York City.

Noreaga, whose real name is Victor Santiago, of Capone-N-Noreaga was charged with assaulting a dissatisfied fan in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Ian Gillan of Deep Purple was charged with assault and causing bodily harm after allegedly hitting a security guard on the head with a microphone during a concert in August.

The London High Court declared the marriage of Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall invalid. The court ruled that their 1990 ceremony in Bali was not a valid marriage under either Indonesian or English law.

Former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash was arrested in Los Angeles on suspicion of assaulting his girlfriend at his recording studio on Sunset Boulevard. He was released on bail.

The former teen idol pleaded guilty to drug possession in Los Angeles so that he could enter a rehabilitation program. He had been arrested on June 29, 1999.

Former Bay City Rollers drummer Derek Longmuir appeared in court in Edinburgh on charges of possessing child pornography and drugs. He denied the charges and was later sentenced to 300 hours of community service.

Alice Cooper claimed that the KISS song “Dreamin'” was copied from his 1971 song “Eighteen”. The two sides subsequently reached an out-of-court settlement.

Survivor filed a lawsuit against TVT Records after the label released a soundtrack to the television show “Survivor”. Survivor guitarist Frankie Sullivan said it was unfortunate that, after 23 years of building, promoting and protecting the group's name, someone could come along and release a recording using it.

The group's last surviving original member, Herb Reed, obtained an injunction against a group using the name The Platters that had none of the original members.

Several hours before murdering his wife, Justin Barber downloaded the Guns N' Roses song “Used to Love Her”. The song was later used as evidence in court, and Barber was sentenced to life imprisonment for first-degree murder.

Atomic Kitten faced legal action after dismissing Andy McCluskey, the writer of their first No. 1 hit “Whole Again”. The group faced being dropped by Innocent Records after recording a song that became a major hit. The members then demanded a larger share of royalties, which McCluskey refused. Under the original contract, each member received four pence from the sale of each single.

Pepsi withdrew its commercial featuring Ludacris after Bill O'Reilly criticized the rapper on his program The O'Reilly Factor for "promoting antisocial behavior". Ludacris nevertheless continued to enjoy a successful career; his next three albums reached No. 1, and he landed a role in the Fast & Furious film series.

Björk’s apartment in west London was burgled while she was asleep. Valuable recording equipment was stolen.

Thieves broke into Icelandic singer Björk’s London apartment and stole valuable recording equipment. The 36-year-old singer was sleeping in the apartment at the time of the incident.

Phish bassist Mike Gordon was arrested backstage at a Grateful Dead concert at Jones Beach after he was found photographing a nine-year-old girl. He was later cleared of the charges, and the girl's parents described the case as an unfortunate misunderstanding.

Blue singer Lee Ryan was arrested in London while driving a Porsche and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.

In Rhode Island, OSHA fined Derco LLC, which operated The Station club, $85,200 for one willful and six serious violations related to the February 20 fire, in which 100 people died and nearly 200 were injured. Great White was fined $7,000 for failing to protect employees from fire hazards.

The IRS seized Peabo Bryson's personal property to pay his outstanding taxes.

Lee Ryan of boy band Blue was banned from driving for 18 months after admitting to driving under the influence of alcohol. The court at Tower Bridge Magistrates' Court in London also fined him £2,250.

P Diddy faced a $5 million lawsuit from a woman who claimed that a security guard assaulted her outside his New York restaurant. Stephanie Grieso said the guard grabbed her by the neck during an argument and pushed her onto the sidewalk, injuring her leg.

A woman claimed that she suffered serious injuries after Rick Springfield went into the audience during a concert in Syracuse, New York, and struck her with his buttocks. Her lawsuit became the subject of many jokes, but it represented a genuine legal dispute. The case was not decided until 2015, when a jury ruled in Springfield’s favor.