Music History

INXS, Men at Work, and John Paul Young performed at the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games.

Madonna topped the US album chart with “Music”, her fourth album to reach No. 1 in the United States.

Midnight Oil performed “Beds Are Burning” at the closing ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Sydney. The members of the band wore the word “sorry” on their black clothing as a symbolic gesture toward Australia’s Indigenous people.

The Recording Industry Association of America introduced rules for labeling recordings containing material considered unsuitable for children in the United States.

Coldplay began their first headline concert tour with a performance at Cambridge Junction in England.

Sources report that divorce proceedings were filed between Paul Anka and his wife Anne de Zogheb, a former model, after 37 years of marriage. Some sources state that Anne Anka filed, while others say Paul Anka filed. One source states that the couple had been married since 1963 and had five daughters.

Radiohead released their fourth album “Kid A.”

The High Court of Justice in England ruled that Robbie Williams's song “Jesus in a Camper Van” used lyrics from Woody Guthrie's song “I Am the Way,” which had been adapted for parody purposes by Loudon Wainwright III. In 2001, it was decided that no punitive damages would be awarded, but the authors were entitled to 25% of royalties and 25% of legal costs.

Benjamin Orr, bassist, singer and co-founder of The Cars, died at his home in Atlanta, Georgia, at the age of 53 from pancreatic cancer. He sang lead vocals on many of the group's best-known hits, including “Just What I Needed,” “Bye Bye Love,” “Drive,” “Let's Go” and “Moving in Stereo.” In 1986, he also had a solo hit with “Stay the Night” from his debut album The Lace. The Cars were voted Best New Artist in a 1978 Rolling Stone readers' poll; their debut album The Cars sold six million copies and spent 139 weeks on the Billboard 200.

Mark David Chapman, the killer of John Lennon, was denied parole for the first time after 20 years in prison. He testified for approximately 50 minutes before the parole board. The board concluded that his release would “deprecate the seriousness of the crime.” Yoko Ono strongly supported his continued imprisonment through letters.

Paul Simon released You're the One, his tenth studio album, approximately ten years after his previous album The Rhythm of the Saints.

Craig David won three awards at the MOBO Awards: Best R&B Act, Best UK Newcomer, and Best UK Single for “Fill Me In.”

The Dixie Chicks were major winners at the CMA Awards. They won Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year for Fly, Vocal Group of the Year, and Video of the Year for “Goodbye Earl.”

The series Gilmore Girls premiered on The WB, featuring a new version of Carole King's “Where You Lead” as its theme song, performed by King with her daughter Louise Goffin.

The Beatles released their autobiography. The book contained 350,000 words, cost £35 and, according to the publishers, had more than 1.5 million orders worldwide; shops in Japan and the UK opened at midnight in anticipation of demand.

The British television program Top of the Pops published a Top 40 ranking of the singles that had spent the longest time on the UK chart. At No. 1 was Relax by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, followed by She Loves You by The Beatles at No. 2 and My Way by Frank Sinatra at No. 3.

Rapper Busta Rhymes was sentenced by the Manhattan Supreme Court to five years of probation after pleading guilty to a weapons possession charge.

Three investors in Steven Seagal's unreleased album sued the actor, claiming that he had no intention of completing the project. Michael Vanderhoof, Michael Khaled and Donald Danks claimed that they had jointly invested $600,000 in recording the album and filming an accompanying documentary.

The television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation premiered on CBS with “Who Are You” by The Who as its theme song. Three other series in the franchise also used The Who songs as their theme songs: CSI: Miami (“Won't Get Fooled Again”), CSI: NY (“Baba O'Riley”) and CSI: Cyber (“I Can See For Miles”).

Howard Stern was named Personality of the Year in the nationally syndicated radio personalities category at the Billboard/Airplay Monitor Radio Awards.

Chris LeDoux underwent a liver transplant in Omaha after being diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis in August 2000. His friend Garth Brooks had originally wanted to donate part of his liver, but he was not a suitable donor and another donor was found.

Madonna's album Music reached No. 1 on the US albums chart. The album topped the charts in more than 20 countries.

Phish played the final concert of their 2000 tour at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California, and subsequently began an 815-day hiatus. They returned to live performance on New Year's Eve 2002 with a concert at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Radiohead began a two-week run at No. 1 on the UK album chart with their fourth studio album, “Kid A.” The album was also the band's first release to debut at No. 1 in the US, and it also topped the charts in New Zealand, Ireland, Canada, and France.

Barry White gave a speech before the debating society at Oxford University.

On what would have been John Lennon's 60th birthday, the book "Lennon Remembers: The Complete Rolling Stone Interviews" was released, containing previously unpublished controversial interviews and material considered too controversial to publish years earlier.

The John Lennon Museum opened in Japan on what would have been his 60th birthday. It operated for exactly ten years under an agreement with Yoko Ono.

Styx member Dennis DeYoung sued the band after it toured without him while he was unable to perform because of chronic fatigue. The dispute was settled out of court, but DeYoung never returned to the lineup.

Britney Spears made her UK concert debut during the first of three sold-out concert nights at London's Wembley Arena.

Former Styx frontman Dennis DeYoung filed a federal lawsuit against his bandmates after they replaced him and began touring under the name Styx without his consent. DeYoung had been forced to stop performing because of severe chronic fatigue syndrome, which caused extreme sensitivity to light and made performing impossible for him. The dispute was eventually settled out of court, and DeYoung was permanently barred from returning to the group. Styx continued to perform his signature songs “Come Sail Away” and “The Grand Illusion.”

Eddie Vedder, Ani DiFranco, Ben Harper, and Patti Smith took part in a rally at Madison Square Garden in support of presidential candidate Ralph Nader. George W. Bush ultimately won the US presidential election; according to the source, Nader received some votes that might otherwise have gone to Democratic candidate Al Gore.

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.