Music History

With director Steve Barron, a-ha began filming the music video for "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." at Saint Alban the Martyr church and in the gardens of Udney Hall in England.

Approximately 250 Gary Numan fans protested outside BBC Radio 1 in London, demanding more airtime for their favorite artist.

Nike placed a full-page advertisement in the Los Angeles Times in response to the controversy surrounding the use of The Beatles' song “Revolution” in a commercial.

Madonna vyvolala kontroverzi mezi obyvateli svého rodného města Bay City v Michiganu, když jej v pořadu Today označila za „smelly little town“.

A Los Angeles radio station bypassed Epic Records' strict security measures concerning master tapes and broadcast a pirated sample of Michael Jackson's song “Bad” four days before its official release. The leak did not slow the album's expected success, as pre-orders had already exceeded 2.2 million copies.

The Rolling Stones filmed the music video for “Mixed Emotions” at Wykeham Rise Girls School in Connecticut.

Pete Townshend responded to claims by The Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood that The Who were touring for their 25th anniversary solely for the money. He pointed to Mick Jagger's financial needs and the failure of his latest album Dirty Work.

The Go-Go's posed for the first PETA “Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” campaign poster.

Boston rock radio station WFNX gave Nirvana's album "Nevermind" its worldwide radio premiere at 7:00 p.m., playing the album in its entirety from beginning to end. DJ Kurt St. Thomas hosted the broadcast, which included the song "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

David Bowie appeared on the cover of Architectural Digest magazine. According to the source, he was the first person to appear on the cover in four years.

Madonna's provocative music video for “Erotica,” containing footage from the making of her book “Sex,” premiered on MTV. The video was broadcast only three times before being banned.

Prince released the home video “3 Chains O' Gold”.

Megadeth became the first musical act to launch its own official website on the then newly accessible World Wide Web. The site included a chat, photo gallery, and song samples.

The British Daily Mirror published a photograph of Michael Jackson wearing a scout leader’s uniform with five young scouts. It was later clarified that the photograph came from a ceremony in Los Angeles in September 1990, where Jackson received the Good Scout Humanitarian Award. A representative of the scouting organization subsequently stated that Jackson had no connection with the organization and had never served as a scout leader.

Natalie Merchant, former singer of 10,000 Maniacs, became the first guest of a series of live chats on the Elektra Entertainment Group website.

Time magazine published the article “It's a Ska World After All” about the growing popularity of ska in the U.S.; Sublime, No Doubt and 311 all had albums on the charts at the time.

Liam Gallagher failed to show up for Oasis's MTV Unplugged recording at the Royal Festival Hall in London before an audience of 400. He later watched the concert from the audience while his brother Noel took over the vocals.

Sonny West, Red West, Lamar Fike and Marty Lacker, four prominent members of Elvis's “Memphis Mafia,” recalled Elvis in a one-time online chat.

Genesis’s first album in six years was presented live in a special edition of the radio program Album Network and simultaneously broadcast via webcasting on www.atlantic-records.com.

The Microsoft Network broadcast a U2 concert in Dublin over the internet.

Billy Joel presented his new classical compositions on National Public Radio's "Performance Today".

Britney Spears' music video for “...Baby One More Time” was filmed at Venice High School, the same school used for the filming of “Grease”. The song topped the charts in at least 23 countries.

Bob Geldof of The Boomtown Rats, known for Live Aid, began hosting a program on London's XFM radio and during his first broadcast incorrectly announced that Ian Dury had died.

Pearl Jam’s animated music video for “Do The Evolution”, their first music video since 1992, premiered on MTV. The band did not appear in the video, and the animation was created by Todd McFarlane.

Paul McCartney anonymously took part in an online question-and-answer session as part of The Fireman project. On the official website of his ambient duo, he provided anonymous answers and promoted the new album “Rushes.”

Music by Johann Sebastian Bach was discovered in Ukraine among the musical estate of his son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. The material had been thought to have been destroyed for more than 50 years.

David Bowie offered a virtual guided tour of the controversial exhibition “Sensation: Young British Artists From The Saatchi Collection” on his official website. The exhibition included, among other works, Damien Hirst's shark suspended in formaldehyde, “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living,” and Tracey Emin's tent, “Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995.”

Madonna’s “Music” music video premiered.

The British newspaper The Mirror reported that Toni Braxton had withdrawn from the MOBO Awards after one of her breast implants ruptured. A spokesperson for her record label, Arista, declined to comment on the singer’s personal life.

Ryan Adams filmed the music video for “New York, New York” with the World Trade Center buildings in the background. Four days later, the buildings were destroyed in the terrorist attacks, and the video was dedicated to their victims after its release.

Under pressure to change their name because of the attacks involving letters containing anthrax bacteria, the metal band Anthrax issued a statement announcing that they would not do so. “In light of current events, we are changing the band's name to something friendlier, ‘Basket Full Of Puppies,’” they said. “Actually, the fact that we are making fun of our name is already ridiculous.”

Enrique Iglesias and tennis star Anna Kournikova made their first public appearance as a couple at the MTV Video Music Awards, where Eminem won the Video of the Year award for "Without Me".

NASA announced that Lance Bass, singer with *NSYNC, was set to become the first celebrity in space. His seat aboard the Russian Soyuz module was expected to cost $23.8 million, and at age 23 he was set to become the youngest person in orbit. The flight ultimately did not take place because he failed to pay the required $20 million.

Twelve protesters dressed as monkeys demonstrated outside former Stone Roses singer Ian Brown's holiday home in North Wales. They criticized the £150,000 price of the five-bedroom house, which they considered too expensive for local residents. The costumes referred to Brown's solo album Unfinished Monkey Business.

Readers of Mojo magazine voted Elvis Presley's recording of "That's All Right," made at Sun Studio in July 1954, the most important moment in rock music history. Bob Dylan's move from acoustic to electric guitar came second, The Clash's "White Riot" third, The Beatles' appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show fourth, and The Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" fifth. Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, John Lennon and Led Zeppelin also appeared in the Top 10.

The British medical journal Thorax warned music fans that listening to loud music in a car could cause a collapsed lung. A 19-year-old man was treated in Bristol after his left lung collapsed while listening loudly to music from a 1,000-watt speaker in his Fiat Panda.

Yahoo! launched a beta version of Yahoo! Audio Search, allowing users to search more than 50 million audio files, including music, podcasts, and spoken-word content.

Bob Dylan's song “Like a Rolling Stone” won an Uncut magazine poll of the music, films, television shows and books that changed the world.

A survey of 560 British funeral homes found that grieving families were increasingly favoring popular music over traditional religious hymns at funerals. Among the most requested songs were “Wind Beneath My Wings” by Bette Midler, “Angels” by Robbie Williams, “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston and “Candle in the Wind” by Elton John.

Two jurors who voted to acquit Michael Jackson of charges involving child sexual abuse and other offenses later said on NBC's Today show that they regretted their decision.

Kanye West called for an end to homophobia in the hip-hop world.

The Gap company hired seven artists to sing their favorite songs in an advertisement for its new fall denim collection. The commercial aired during the MTV Video Music Awards. Alanis Morissette sang Seal’s “Crazy”, while Keith Urban, Joss Stone, Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child, Jason Mraz, John Legend, and Incubus frontman Brandon Boyd also took part.

Kanye West criticized President George W. Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina during a televised benefit concert in New York. The concert was raising funds to help victims of the disaster, and West made a controversial statement during the live broadcast about the president and his relationship with the Black community. The statement was broadcast live on the US East Coast, but was removed from the edited version for the West Coast.

Janet Jackson appeared on the cover of Vibe magazine wearing only bikini bottoms and a necklace made of large shells. She had lost a significant amount of weight shortly beforehand.

The Times published an article about rock stars' demands while on tour. Ozzy Osbourne required a doctor specializing in the eyes, ears, nose and throat at every venue. The Beach Boys required a licensed masseur, Meat Loaf a mask and a small oxygen tank, David Bowie a dressing-room temperature between 14 and 18°C, Paul McCartney a large arrangement of Casablanca white lilies, and Mick Jagger a reading device containing the lyrics to all the songs that also reminded him of the name of the city where they were performing.

A Florida man named Paul van Valkenburgh died of lung cancer. His obituary in a local newspaper was picked up by the Associated Press, which mistakenly used the name of the real Paul Vance, who was alive and living in Coral Springs, Florida. When he learned about his supposed death from television, he contacted local media and proved he was alive by showing, among other things, ASCAP royalty checks from his biggest hit, "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini".

Justin Hawkins, singer for the British band The Darkness, announced that he was leaving the group to continue treatment for drug addiction. The band went on hiatus until Hawkins returned in 2011.

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon proclaimed August 9 as the official Frank Zappa Day in the city, recognizing his musical achievements and his advocacy of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.