Today in Music History

Liam Gallagher flew to America to rejoin his Oasis bandmates on the tour for the album “(What's the Story) Morning Glory?”. The band played their first four concerts with his brother Noel as the singer after the singer watched their MTV Unplugged performance from backstage and claimed to be suffering from a throat infection.

Oasis’s third studio album “Be Here Now” began a four-week run at No. 1 on the UK albums chart.

After 11 weeks at the top, “I'll Be Missing You”, dedicated to The Notorious B.I.G. and recorded by his producer and record label boss Puff Daddy, lost the No. 1 position on the US chart. “Mo Money Mo Problems” by The Notorious B.I.G. featuring Puff Daddy and Mase reached the top and began a two-week run at No. 1. The song was released posthumously following the murder of The Notorious B.I.G. earlier that year.

The Verve released “The Drugs Don't Work”, which later became their only No. 1 single in the UK.

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

Marilyn Manson changed his appearance from heavily blackened eyes to lighter makeup and 1970s-style clothing, including platform shoes. The sound of his album “Mechanical Animals” represented a radical change from the 1996 album “Antichrist Superstar”.

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.

Red Hot Chili Peppers released the album “Californication” as part of its international release.

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

Alan Jackson reached No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 with his compilation album “Greatest Hits Volume II”.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z reached their highest position on the US chart with “Crazy in Love”.

Britney Spears and Madonna shocked audiences at the MTV Video Music Awards by kissing on stage.

Stella McCartney married publisher Alasdair Willis on the Scottish island of Bute. Guests included Sir Paul McCartney, Madonna, Chrissie Hynde and Chris Martin of Coldplay.

Björk released the album “Medúlla”, which was composed almost entirely of human voices.

At the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards, Usher won Best Male Video for “Yeah”, Outkast won Video of the Year for “Hey Ya!”, No Doubt won Best Group Video for “It's My Life”, and Jet won Best Rock Video for “Are You Gonna Be My Girl”.

Eric Clapton released the album “Back Home”, his first album of original material since the 2001 album “Reptile”. Guests on the album included his former Blind Faith bandmate Steve Winwood and Billy Preston. Clapton also included “Love Comes to Everyone” by his late friend George Harrison.

Kanye West released his second studio album “Late Registration”.

At the age of 17, Rihanna released her debut album “Music Of The Sun”. Its first single was the successful song “Pon De Replay”, which drew on her Bajan heritage and used Caribbean rhythms.

Rapper Lil Wayne was sued by a woman for $1 million, who claimed she had been crushed during one of his concerts after a large amount of cash was thrown into the audience. Tyrique Layne, who was 17 at the time, said that she lost consciousness during the concert in Maryland in October 2006 after being trampled by the crowd and subsequently suffered memory loss and severe headaches.

Jonas Brothers began a two-week run at No. 1 on the US chart with their third studio album “A Little Bit Longer”.

Worldwide media reported that a toilet once owned by John Lennon sold at auction for £9,500 ($14,740), approximately ten times its original estimated value. After a new toilet was installed, Lennon told builder John Hancock, who took away the original blue-and-white toilet: “Put some flowers in it or something.” The toilet had been stored for more than 40 years and was put up for sale after Hancock died.

Adele reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Someone Like You”.

His estate announced a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Arista Music, formerly RCA Records, claiming that Elvis Presley had been unfairly exploited by his record company during his lifetime. It sought proper payment of revenues from new media such as ringtones, downloads and entertainment applications. On June 1, 2017, a court ruled in favor of Arista, stating that Presley had sold the rights to his songs to RCA Records in 1973 for $5.4 million and had been properly and fully compensated.

A 96-year-old man who wrote a song for his late wife reached the US iTunes Top 10 alongside Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. Fred Stobaugh had no previous musical experience and wrote the song spontaneously for a contest. He mailed in his handwritten lyrics, and although the contest was held entirely online, the organizers were so moved by his story that they set the lyrics to music. The song “Oh Sweet Lorraine” reached No. 7 on the US iTunes chart and received more than 1.9 million views on YouTube.

A signed copy of John Lennon’s 1964 humorous book “In His Own Write” sold for more than $5,600 on eBay after 47 bids. The book contained short stories, poems and drawings.

Cinemas across the UK handed out earplugs to parents accompanying their children to the film One Direction: This Is Us 3D. The accompanying adults could therefore enjoy the film without worrying about the expected loud screaming and cheering in the theaters.

After returning to the stage, Kate Bush became the first woman to have eight albums in the UK chart simultaneously. Two of her albums were in the Top 10 and eight albums in total were in the Top 40. This happened after she returned to performing and played her first live concerts in 35 years. Before her, only Elvis Presley, who had twelve albums in the Top 40 after his death in 1977, and The Beatles, who had eleven in 2009, had placed more albums in the Top 40.

Taylor Swift and Kanye West reconciled when Swift presented him with the Video Vanguard Award at the MTV Video Music Awards, where West had famously interrupted her acceptance speech six years earlier.

Wilko Johnson, known for his work with Dr. Feelgood, returned to the stage after overcoming cancer, performing at the Rye Jazz Festival in East Sussex, England.

American singer Chris Brown was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after a woman reported to police that he had threatened her with a gun. Beauty queen Baylee Curran told the Los Angeles Times that Brown had pointed a gun at her after she admired her friend’s jewelry. Brown emerged from his home following a police standoff.

A copy of the first pressing of The Beatles’ “The White Album”, owned by Ringo Starr and bearing the catalog number 0000001, was officially confirmed as the most expensive LP ever sold at auction. In December 2015, it was sold for $790,000 at Julien's Auction House.

The Go-Go's completed their final tour and played their last concert at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.

Canadian drummer, guitarist and keyboard player Ronald Harry “Skip” Prokop, founding member of the rock groups The Paupers and Lighthouse, died at the age of 73. In 1969, he co-founded Lighthouse with Paul Hoffert, and the group later became internationally successful. During his career, Prokop also recorded with Janis Joplin, Carlos Santana, Peter, Paul & Mary, and Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield.

Ariana Grande reached No. 1 on the UK albums chart with her fourth studio album “Sweetener”. The album topped the charts in 22 countries worldwide and also won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album.

Jazz pianist and composer Randy Weston died at the age of 92.

Lana Del Rey released the album “Norman Fucking Rockwell!”.

Tool released their fifth studio album “Fear Inoculum”, their first album in 13 years. Their previous album was “10,000 Days” from 2006. The album debuted at No. 1 in six countries and two of its songs were nominated for Grammy Awards. “7empest” won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.

At the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards, Lady Gaga was the evening’s most successful performer. She won the Artist of the Year award, the Song of the Year award for “Rain on Me” with Ariana Grande, and the MTV Tricon Award. Due to restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic, new categories were also awarded: Best Music Video From Home, won by Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber for “Stuck with U”, and Best Quarantine Performance, won by CNCO for “Unplugged at Home”. BTS won Best Group, Coldplay won Best Rock for “Orphans”, and Video of the Year went to The Weeknd for “Blinding Lights”.

American guitarist Jack Sonni, known as the “second guitarist” of Dire Straits during the “Brothers in Arms” era, died at the age of 68. He met Dire Straits founding members and guitarists David and Mark Knopfler in 1978 while working at Rudy's Music Stop guitar store in Manhattan.

Danielle Moore, singer of the British electronic group Crazy P, died at the age of 52. The group released six albums and several singles, beginning with “Digging Deeper” in 1996, and built a strong following in Australia, where they performed several times.

Sabrina Carpenter became the first female artist and the third artist overall to simultaneously occupy No. 1 on the UK albums and singles charts with the single “Taste” and the album “Short ’n Sweet”. When “Taste” debuted at No. 2 on the US Hot 100, Carpenter became the first artist since The Beatles to place her first three hits in the Top 5 in a single week.