Music History

Tupac Shakur was released from Clinton Correctional Prison on $1.4 million bail paid by Suge Knight. In return, Tupac signed a three-album deal with Knight's record label, Death Row Records.

Tupac Shakur was released from prison after eight months, having served a sentence in connection with a case involving the sexual assault of a woman in a New York hotel room.

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".

Jimmy Chamberlin, drummer for The Smashing Pumpkins, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct in connection with heroin use with touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin, who subsequently died of an overdose. Chamberlin was fired from the band but returned in 1999.

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.

Fan Juanita L. Evans filed a lawsuit against Wu-Tang Clan members RZA and Method Man, rapper Redman, the University of Pennsylvania, and the student government after Method Man landed on her during a concert and knocked her unconscious. She claimed that Redman distracted her and that she did not see Method Man when he jumped from the stage. Concerns about similar lawsuits subsequently contributed to some bands limiting stage diving.

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 U.S. Supreme Court refused to dismiss composer Ray Repp's lawsuit against Andrew Lloyd Webber. Repp claimed that Webber's composition Phantom Song from the musical The Phantom of the Opera copied his 1978 composition Till You. The dispute began with a lawsuit filed in 1990.

Gospel star Kirk Franklin and Interscope Records faced a $75 million lawsuit from Linda Searight, founder of the gospel group God's Property, who had recorded and performed with Franklin. Searight claimed that she had been denied compensation for her participation in the group God's Property.

Backstreet Boys reached an out-of-court settlement with their former manager Lou Pearlman, whom they had sued in an effort to gain control of their finances.

Bruce Springsteen testified at London's High Court in a dispute with Masquerade Music over its attempt to release some of his early-1970s recordings in the UK. He said that when the songs were created, he was living from paycheck to paycheck and relying on financial assistance from his then co-manager Mike Appel.

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.

Don Henley and Eagles Ltd. filed a federal lawsuit against Sarasota, Florida-based internet company Lovearth over the registration of several domain names associated with Henley and the Eagles, including don-henley.net, don-henley.org, donhenley.org, theendoftheinnocence.com, and e-a-g-l-e-s.com. The dispute concerned trademarks and cybersquatting.

Michael Jackson's wife, Deborah Rowe, filed for divorce after three years of marriage. The divorce was finalized in April 2000, and Rowe gave Jackson full custody of their two children, Prince and Paris.

Michael Jackson's second wife, Debbie Rowe, filed for divorce and gave Jackson full custody of their two children, Prince and Paris.

The city of Miami allowed the Cuban dance band Los Van Van to perform at the James L. Knight Center after the American Civil Liberties Union and Havana Caliente Records threatened legal action.

Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee was released on $5,000 bail in connection with charges of disorderly conduct at a 1997 concert in North Carolina. He was accused of encouraging the audience to attack a security guard and pouring a drink on him.

British radio DJ Johnny Walker was convicted of possessing cocaine and fined £2,000. According to the source, the tabloid The News of the World had encouraged him to take the drug in a London hotel and filmed him doing so. BBC Radio 2 suspended him after the incident but later rehired him.

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.

MP3.com agreed to pay Universal Music $53.4 million to settle a legal dispute concerning licensing.

Timothy Commerford, bassist of Rage Against The Machine, disrupted the MTV Video Music Awards by climbing onto the stage structure while Limp Bizkit were accepting the award for Best Rock Video for “Break Stuff”. He confused the organizers and band members and delayed the program by 20 minutes. Rage Against The Machine had been nominated in the category for “Sleep Now in the Fire”. Commerford was eventually persuaded to come down, then arrested and charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”