Legal events
- Hank Williams was dismissed from the Grand Ole Opry and told not to return until he was sober. The reason was his drinking problem and frequent absences. He died four months later.
- Hank Williams was arrested for drunkenness and disorderly conduct in Alexander City, Alabama. The arrest came just days after he had been fired from the Grand Ole Opry because of his drinking.
- Pete Seeger testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee, where he was asked whether he had performed for communists. Seeger stated that he had sung for Americans of all political beliefs and that he was proud never to have refused to sing to any audience regardless of its religion, skin color or circumstances in life.
- A London judge fined Sidney Turner three pounds and ten shillings for "creating an awful noise" after he threatened his neighbors that he would "drive them mad". From 2:00 to 4:30 p.m., he played Bill Haley and His Comets' "Shake Rattle & Roll" as loudly as possible.
- A rock 'n' roll enthusiast was fined $9.80 at a London court after playing Bill Haley's “Shake Rattle and Roll” at full volume all day and neighbors complained.
- Bill Haley filed a lawsuit against Dave Miller of Essex Records, seeking to block the release of recordings he had made during his contract with Essex. The lawsuit described the recordings as inferior to his newer recordings at the time.
- Houston police arrested Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, and several others backstage at Music Hall and fined them for alleged gambling. Some believed the real reason for the raid was opposition to the newly integrated audience. The artists nevertheless managed to return and perform a second set.
- Bill Buchanan and Dickie Goodman had the third-best-selling song in the US with their novelty song “Flying Saucer”. It sold 500,000 copies in just three weeks and eventually surpassed one million. The recording's concept involved two radio reporters asking questions that were humorously answered with excerpts from mid-1950s hits. Buchanan and Goodman were sued for copyright infringement by seventeen different record companies, but all the lawsuits were dismissed with the ruling that the parodies did not interfere with sales of the original recordings.
- Jerry Lee Lewis filed for divorce from his second wife. Three months later, he married his cousin Myra before the divorce had been legally finalized.
- Billboard published an article warning that the payola scandal, involving secret payments by record companies to disc jockeys for playing their records, was rapidly getting out of control. The scandal soon ended the career of pioneering rock'n'roll radio personality Alan Freed.
- Following the stabbing deaths of two teenagers by a 17-year-old perpetrator and other similar violent incidents in New York, radio station WCBS banned all versions of “Mack the Knife.” Bobby Darin's version later won Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best New Artist and was added to the National Recording Registry in 2016.
- In communist East Germany, 15 teenagers were imprisoned in Leipzig after marching through the streets, chanting “Long live Elvis Presley,” and mocking officially approved local music. Authorities described their rock 'n' roll demonstration as capitalist subversion and sentenced them to terms ranging from six months to more than four years in prison; one source gives the upper limit as four and a half years.
- Barry White was sentenced at the age of 16 to four months in prison for stealing tires worth $30,000. He was released on parole after three months. While in prison, he heard Elvis Presley singing “It’s Now or Never”, which inspired him to devote his life to music. He left his street gang, joined the group The Upfronts, and later became a singer and producer. He sold more than 100 million records worldwide and earned numerous gold and platinum singles.
- The BBC banned Bobby "Boris" Pickett's "Monster Mash" because it was considered too morbid and tasteless. The ban lasted for more than a decade; after restrictions were relaxed, the single was reissued in the UK in 1973 and reached No. 3.
- The Four Seasons sued their financially struggling first record company, Vee Jay Records, over unpaid royalties and subsequently moved to Mercury/Philips Records. According to the source, this marked the beginning of a series of problems that led to the label's collapse.
- Paul McCartney was fined £31 and lost his driving licence for one year after being caught speeding.
- Paul McCartney was fined £25 and lost his driving licence for one year after being caught speeding. He received additional fines of £3 each for two further charges involving the late presentation of his driving licence and insurance document, bringing the total penalty to £31. Police stopped him at 11:45 p.m. on June 14, 1963, on Seabank Road in Wallasey while he was driving the other Beatles back to Liverpool after their performance at the Tower Ballroom in New Brighton.
- Police stopped soul singer Joe Tex in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, while he was driving his new Cadillac. He was charged with watching a television set installed in the dashboard while driving and became only the second American motorist to be formally charged with the offense.
- Johnny Cash was arrested while crossing the Mexican border into El Paso, Texas, after customs officials found hundreds of pills in his guitar case. He spent the night in jail, received a suspended prison sentence, and was fined $1,000.
- The Doors officially signed a seven-album contract with Elektra Records. The band also reluctantly agreed to release “Break On Through” as their first single. The lyric “She gets high” was changed to “She gets” for radio airplay.
- The new Marine Broadcasting Offences Act came into force in Britain, forcing all but one of the famous “pirate”, or unlicensed, radio stations to cease broadcasting. Radio Caroline continued broadcasting until March 1968.
- Bob Dylan renewed his recording contract with Columbia Records.
- Thieves broke into Mick Jagger’s London apartment while he was away and stole valuable jewelry and luxury furs belonging to his then-partner Marianne Faithfull.
- California narcotics agents raided the Grateful Dead's communal house at 710 Ashbury Street in San Francisco. A total of 11 people were arrested, but among the Grateful Dead members themselves, only Bob Weir and Ron “Pigpen” McKernan were present and arrested. Jerry Garcia and the other band members were not at the house at the time of the raid. The other nine people arrested included business managers Rock Scully and Danny Rifkin, equipment manager Bob Matthews, and six visitors or friends. Police seized approximately one pound of marijuana. Sensational headlines at the time about the “arrest of a rock band” later led to claims that the entire Grateful Dead had been arrested.
- Cass Elliot of The Mamas & the Papas spent the night in a London jail after being accused of stealing from a hotel. The charges were dropped the following day; the incident led to the cancellation of a television appearance and concert performance and, according to some reports, may have been an excuse to question her about a known suspected drug trafficker.
- Bobby Darin sold his music publishing company for one million dollars.
- Cynthia Powell Lennon initiated divorce proceedings against John Lennon because of his infidelity. After returning from a vacation in Greece, she discovered that John was with Yoko Ono, who was staying at their London home. She filed the petition on August 22, 1968, one day before the sixth anniversary of their wedding; the subsequent decree nisi was issued on November 8, 1968.
- The Rolling Stones' “Street Fighting Man” was banned by several radio stations in Chicago and other cities following violence during the Democratic National Convention, amid fears that its lyrics could provoke further unrest. Local authorities were concerned that its revolutionary lyrics could incite public disorder or further violence. According to one source, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were not particularly concerned about the censorship; Jagger joked that censorship had previously helped one of the band's records sell a million copies.
- Tiny Tim obtained a temporary restraining order from the New York Supreme Court and filed a $1 million lawsuit against Bouquet Records over the unauthorized release of his earlier recordings. The case also involved the album With Love and Kisses from Tiny Tim: Concert in Fairyland, which was compiled from his old demo recordings.
- Motown Records filed a $4 million lawsuit against songwriting trio Holland-Dozier-Holland after they had refused to write new material during the previous year because of a dispute over royalties and profit shares. The trio was subsequently released from Motown, founded the Detroit labels Invictus and Hot Wax, and released new songs under pseudonyms because of the legal dispute. The series of lawsuits and countersuits lasted nearly ten years and was privately settled in 1977.
- He was arrested at a motel in La Jolla, California, for possession of cocaine and barbiturates after being found crawling along a corridor in a confused and combative state. He was later released on $2,500 bail. It was another complication for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, who did not tour together again until 1974.
- During a four-week engagement at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, a security employee received a threatening phone call saying that Elvis Presley would be shot during his final performance. The caller demanded $50,000 in exchange for the name of the potential assassin. Later, a meal card with a damaged image of Elvis’s face and a drawn gun pointing at his heart was found in Elvis’s hotel mail. Elvis performed his final show without incident.
- Arthur Brown was arrested at the Palermo Pop ’70 festival in Italy after setting his helmet on fire and stripping on stage during his performance of “Fire”. He spent four days in solitary confinement and was subsequently deported by Italian authorities.
- The Rolling Stones, together with Brian Jones's father Lewis Jones, filed a lawsuit in the High Court against former managers Andrew Loog Oldham and Eric Easton. They alleged that in 1963 the managers had made a secret agreement with Decca Records intended to deprive the group of appropriate royalties.
- Former Grateful Dead manager Lenny Hart was arrested for embezzling $70,000 from the group’s funds.
- The Rolling Stones sued their former manager Andrew Loog Oldham over unpaid royalties.
- The Jefferson Airplane concert at the Rubber Bowl in Akron, Ohio was accompanied by an unusually heavy police presence because of a bomb threat. Fans began throwing rocks at the police, who responded by using tear gas. The band sided with the fans, and bassist Jack Casady called the police “pigs”, prompting the officers to intervene directly on stage and arrest him. A fight broke out, during which guitarist Paul Kantner was knocked to the ground and singer Grace Slick was hit with tear gas. Jack Casady, Paul Kantner and Grace Slick were later arrested and had to return to Akron to resolve the charges. Each was fined $50 and given a suspended 30-day jail sentence. Another member of the group was also injured during the incident.
- “Papa” John Phillips of The Mamas & The Papas filed a lawsuit against his former record label, Dunhill Records, on August 2, 1973, seeking $60 million in unpaid royalties.
- Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley finalized their divorce after six and a half years of marriage. Priscilla was awarded property, $725,000 in cash and $4,200 a month in support, plus half the proceeds from the sale of a Los Angeles home and five percent of the outstanding stock in two publishing companies. The couple left the Santa Monica courthouse arm in arm after the short hearing.
- John Lennon testified in federal court that the Nixon administration had sought to deport him because of his participation in anti-war demonstrations during the Republican convention in Miami, Florida, in 1972. He also said he suspected that his phones had been tapped and that he had been followed by government agents. The federal appeals court overturned the deportation order on October 7, 1975.
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned John Lennon's deportation order. The court ruled that his 1968 British conviction for marijuana possession did not provide sufficient legal grounds for his deportation. The decision also rejected selective deportation based on secret political motives.
- Variety reported that Marvin Gaye faced two consecutive five-day jail sentences in Los Angeles County for contempt of court over failure to pay child and spousal support.
- Judge Richard Owen ruled at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that George Harrison was guilty of "subconscious plagiarism". The court found that the melody of Harrison's 1970 solo song "My Sweet Lord" was legally identical to "He's So Fine", written by Ronnie Mack and recorded by The Chiffons in 1963. The royalties from the song were awarded to Mack's estate, and Harrison eventually paid $587,000 in damages to copyright holder Bright Tunes. The Chiffons subsequently recorded their own version of "My Sweet Lord".
- Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols was fined £125 at a London court after being caught with a knife at the 100 Club punk festival the previous year.
- Waylon Jennings was arrested by federal agents at American Sound Studio in Nashville and charged with conspiracy and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Shortly before, he had been named honorary police chief of Nashville. The monitored shipment contained 27 grams of cocaine and had been sent to Jennings in Nashville. The charges were later dropped because of procedural defects in the arrest and search warrants; before the agents could correct the error, drummer Richie Albright flushed most of the cocaine down the toilet. The incident later inspired Jennings's song „Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand“.
- Three men were arrested in Memphis while attempting to steal Elvis Presley's body from his mausoleum at Forest Hills Cemetery and demand a ransom for it. Police were waiting for them after receiving a tip about the planned break-in. The city of Memphis subsequently approved Vernon Presley's request to change the use of the land at Graceland and establish Presley Family Cemetery. Elvis's remains were then moved to the Meditation Garden at Graceland, where they were placed in safety.
- Britt Ekland filed a $15 million palimony lawsuit against Rod Stewart. The case never went to trial and was eventually settled out of court, with Stewart providing Ekland with a property settlement worth approximately $500,000.
- During an Aerosmith concert at the Fort Wayne Coliseum in Indiana, police arrested dozens of fans for possession or smoking of marijuana, underage drinking and other minor offenses. Among those arrested was reportedly Steven Tyler's seamstress, who was caught smoking an ordinary cigarette. Tyler strongly protested the police action from the stage, referring to the officers among other things as “Gestapo” and “scumbags.” After the concert, Aerosmith offered to pay bail for all the arrested fans. Estimates of the total number arrested vary considerably among sources, ranging from around 30 to more than 60; however, as many as 28 arrested fans accepted the band's offer. An Aerosmith accountant subsequently paid approximately $4,200 in bail and fines during separate court proceedings.
- Mick Jagger apologized to Reverend Jesse Jackson over the controversial lyrics of “Some Girls,” which Jackson described as racist and offensive toward Black people and women. Jagger nevertheless refused to change the lyrics and explained that the song was parodying real racial stereotypes rather than endorsing them. Atlantic Records, represented by Ahmet Ertegun, also met with Jackson about the song.
- Billboard reported that Marvin Gaye had filed for personal bankruptcy and bankruptcy protection for his company Right On Productions twice during the year. His financial problems were connected to heavy debts, tax liabilities, and his divorce settlement with Anna Gordy.
- Leaveil Degree of the soul group The Whispers began serving a two-year prison sentence in Boron, California, for his involvement in a diamond robbery.
- Former Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten was arrested in Dublin for taking part in a pub brawl.
- The Bee Gees filed a $136 million lawsuit against their manager Robert Stigwood, accusing him of fraud, withholding royalties and unfairly handling their careers. The group claimed that contracts signed with Stigwood in 1968 were exploitative and that they were too young at the time to fully understand what they were signing. Stigwood filed a $310 million countersuit for libel. The dispute was settled out of court in May 1981, with both sides publicly apologizing.
- Judge Joseph Evans ruled that Elvis's estate no longer had to make further payments to Colonel Tom Parker, ending his 36-year control over a large part of Elvis's finances. The question of Parker's identity and citizenship was also revealed for the first time.
- Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy appeared before Kingston Crown Court in London, where he was fined £200 for possession of cocaine. He later publicly expressed great concern about how the case and sentence would affect his career.
- Mark David Chapman, who murdered John Lennon outside the Dakota building in New York on December 8, 1980, was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. His parole requests were repeatedly denied.
- John Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman, was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.
- A London court found Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page guilty of possessing cocaine. He received a 12-month conditional discharge and was ordered to pay £100 in court costs.
- Little Richard crashed a rented Nissan 300ZX into a telephone pole in West Hollywood, California. He suffered a broken right leg, bruised ribs, and head and facial injuries. He later pleaded guilty to reckless driving. His serious injuries prevented him from attending the first Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in January 1986.
- Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers Band was arrested in Florida for driving under the influence shortly after regaining his driver's license following a five-year suspension. Police spotted his 1985 Pontiac Trans Am weaving along Route 441; he was arrested in Belleview, with one source placing the area south of Ocala. His blood alcohol level was recorded at 0.27, and he was also charged with driving with an expired license. He was sentenced to five days in jail and community service, which he completed by performing at drug- and alcohol-free high school proms at local schools. He served the sentence in January 1987.
- The jury failed to reach a verdict and the judge declared a mistrial in the case of Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra, who was accused of distributing harmful material to minors because of H. R. Giger's illustration “Work 219: Landscape XX”, known as “Penis Landscape”, which was included as a poster with the 1985 album “Frankenchrist”. It was the first case in which a musician was prosecuted over an album cover, and the costly trial contributed to the subsequent breakup of Dead Kennedys.
- Ian Astbury of The Cult was arrested after a concert in Vancouver following disturbances at the show, with security staff alleging that he had assaulted them.
- Wanda Nicholls filed an official complaint accusing David Bowie of rape and biting her legs and back. Bowie denied the allegations and, according to the source, claimed that Nicholls was seeking publicity.
- Three members of LL Cool J's backing group were arrested and charged with the rape of a 15-year-old girl. The incident allegedly occurred after a concert after the girl obtained backstage access through a radio contest.
- Ringo Starr obtained an extension of a preliminary court injunction intended to prevent producer Chips Moman and CRS Records from releasing material that Starr considered to be of poor quality because of his deteriorated condition at the time it was recorded. In January 1990, the court ordered Starr to pay Moman $74,000 in costs; in exchange, Moman handed all the master tapes over to the former Beatle.
- Izzy Stradlin of Guns N' Roses was arrested at Phoenix airport after urinating on the floor of an airplane, reportedly angered by having to wait to use the toilet. His publicist said it was his “way of expressing himself”.
- Billy Joel fired his manager and former brother-in-law Frank Weber after an audit uncovered serious financial irregularities, substantial depletion of his accounts and a $5 million debt to the US Internal Revenue Service. The following September, he sued Weber for $90 million, accusing him of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and extortion under federal law. A few days after the lawsuit was filed, Weber declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy to protect his remaining assets. The legal dispute eventually ended in an out-of-court settlement, and Joel recovered only part of the lost funds, approximately $8 million. Frank Weber was never criminally prosecuted or imprisoned.
- Izzy Stradlin of Guns N' Roses was arrested for disorderly conduct during a flight in the United States. He urinated on the floor, verbally abused a flight attendant and smoked in the non-smoking section of the plane.
- A judge in Dublin ruled that Adam Clayton of U2 would not be sentenced for possession of marijuana, despite his admission to the offense. Clayton agreed to make a financial contribution to a women's center in Dublin.
- Ozzy Osbourne was charged with threatening to kill his wife Sharon after attempting to strangle her at their home in Buckinghamshire. He later said he had no memory of the attack. He was released on condition that he immediately enter detoxification, and the case was later dropped after the couple reconciled.
- Judas Priest were cleared of liability in Reno, Nevada, in a civil case concerning the suicides of two seventeen-year-old fans who had listened to the album „Stained Class“. The victims' families claimed that the music contained subliminal messages that led to their actions and sought a total of $6.2 million.
- The owner of E-C Records in Fort Lauderdale, Charles Freeman, was found guilty of obscenity on October 3, 1990, for selling the 2 Live Crew album “As Nasty As They Wanna Be.” He sold the album two days after a federal court ruled that its content was obscene. Freeman had originally been arrested on June 8 after selling the recording to an undercover police officer. He was later fined $1,000, which he was ordered to donate to a local elementary school specializing in arts education. In 1993, the conviction was overturned.
- A federal court in Georgia heard two lawsuits against Ozzy Osbourne and CBS Records. The parents of two teenagers claimed that their children had committed suicide after listening to the song “Suicide Solution” and that the recording contained subliminal messages encouraging suicide. The cases were dismissed with reference to a 1988 California precedent, and in 1992 the US Supreme Court declined to hear the families' appeal.
- All four members of The Stone Roses were each fined £3,000 after being found guilty of criminal damage at their former record company's offices.
- Rick James and his girlfriend Tanya Hijazi were arrested in Hollywood on August 2, 1991, and charged with, among other offenses, assault with a deadly weapon, torture, and unlawful imprisonment.
- Billy Preston was arrested in Los Angeles on charges of assaulting a sixteen-year-old boy. Later, in a separate case involving possession of cocaine and a dangerous weapon, he pleaded no contest and received five years' probation and 90 days of house arrest.
- Michael Jackson’s crystal-encrusted white glove was stolen from the Motown Museum in Detroit. According to one source variant, the glove was found two days later; M.C. Hammer offered a $50,000 reward for its return.
- Apple Computer settled its name-and-logo dispute with The Beatles' Apple Corps for a reported $26.5 million. Apple Corps retained exclusive use of the Apple name and logo for creative works centered on music, while Apple Computer could use the branding for computers, software, data transmission and reproduction devices, provided it did not package or distribute physical music.
- Apple Computer and Apple Corps, the company associated with The Beatles, reached a settlement in their long-running dispute over trademarks and business activities. Sources cite different figures: $26.5 million for an agreement concerning music software rights and approximately $29 million for the settlement over Apple's name and logo. The agreement followed a 1981 arrangement that restricted Apple Computer from entering the music business. It was later revised as music became an increasingly important part of Apple's business.
- A U.S. doctor filed a $35 million lawsuit against Southwest Bell. He claimed that his wife died because he was unable to get through to the 911 emergency line, as all telephone lines were overloaded by demand for tickets to a Garth Brooks concert.
- During the controversy surrounding the song “Cop Killer”, Ice-T appeared in “Rolling Stone” magazine wearing a police uniform. Inside the magazine was an interview titled “You Gotta Problem With That?”. He had already removed the song from future editions of the “Body Count” album after employees of his record label Warner Bros. had received death threats.
- The US Supreme Court declined to reinstate lawsuits against Ozzy Osbourne alleging that his music had allegedly encouraged two teenagers to die by suicide.
- Los Angeles police began investigating allegations of child abuse made against Michael Jackson. No criminal charges were ultimately filed, and the civil lawsuit was settled out of court in January 1994.
- Police raided Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch after a child staying there made allegations of sexual abuse. Jackson allowed police to conduct a personal search, which was deeply humiliating for him. He was not charged, but later faced further allegations.
- 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.
- Wilson Pickett was sentenced to one year in prison after driving under the influence of alcohol and hitting an 86-year-old pedestrian with his car. During his sentence, he suffered an eye injury in a confrontation with another inmate that required several operations.
- 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.
- Tone Loc was arrested in Los Angeles for taking $80 from a pizzeria. He later pleaded no contest.
- 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.”
- A man wrecked a $300,000 sports car owned by hip-hop star Missy Elliott after losing control of the 550-horsepower vehicle and crashing into a traffic sign and a tree. Joseph Johnson had taken the Lamborghini Diablo from the garage where it was stored without permission.
- 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.
- The long-running dispute between The Ronettes and producer Phil Spector reached the New York Court of Appeals in Albany. The Ronettes recorded 28 songs for Spector between 1963 and 1967 and, under their 1963 contract, received a one-time payment of $14,482. The group argued that the contract did not cover royalties for use of the recordings in films, television and advertising. The court ultimately ruled in favor of Spector’s ownership claim, while also awarding Ronnie Spector her share of licensing income.
- Heather Mills, the wife of Paul McCartney, received £50,000 in damages from The Sunday Mirror over a false article concerning her handling of funds intended to help earthquake victims in India. She donated the entire amount to a charity fighting landmines.
- Adam Ant avoided a prison sentence after a judge ruled that an incident in which he threatened patrons at a London pub with a replica gun was the result of mental illness. Following the incident, he voluntarily attended psychiatric treatment.
- John Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman, was denied parole for a second time on October 9, the date Lennon would have turned 62. After 22 years in prison, the parole board said releasing Chapman would deprecate the seriousness of the crime. Although his prison conduct was considered acceptable, the board did not consider this sufficient to guarantee that he would not pose a threat to society.
- Muse took legal action against Céline Dion after she announced that she would name her upcoming Las Vegas show "Muse". Singer Matt Bellamy explained that the band did not want people to think they were Céline Dion's backing band.
- 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.
- Libertines singer Pete Doherty was sentenced to six months in prison for burglary and drug possession; after an appeal, the sentence was reduced to two months.
- Police were called in the early morning hours over a suspected break-in at the Los Angeles home of Jim Barber, Courtney Love's former boyfriend and manager. Love was found in the street outside the house and arrested; shortly after her arrest, she was taken to a hospital because of a suspected drug overdose.
- Courtney Love was charged with a drug-related misdemeanor. Several hours after being released on bail, she was taken to a hospital because of an overdose.
- Coldplay singer Chris Martin asked Australian police to drop charges of intentional property damage after he was accused of smashing a photographer's car windshield with a rock. The photographer had previously been taking pictures of him surfing.
- Ambrose Kappos, 37, of New York, was charged with three counts of stalking and harassing singer Sheryl Crow. He was arrested after allegedly sneaking into New York's Hammerstein Ballroom and then trying to get into Crow's limousine when she left the venue. His brother said he was harmless but "infatuated" with the singer.
- 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.
- Jamiroquai singer Jay Kay was banned from driving for six months and fined £750 after being caught driving at more than 100 miles per hour. At court in Perth, his lawyers argued that he needed his driving licence as a "release" from his demanding working life. The judge described his behavior as unacceptable. Kay admitted that he had driven at 105 mph on the A9 in Perthshire in February while overtaking.
- Ms Dynamite was arrested on suspicion of assault following an incident at a restaurant in central London. She voluntarily went to the police station and was later released on bail.
- Britney Spears and Kevin Federline filed documents legally confirming their surprise wedding several weeks earlier. Spears had signed a prenuptial agreement, which proved useful during their divorce in 2007.
- Beanie Sigel was sentenced to one year in federal prison for weapons possession in a case that arose from a traffic stop in 2002.
- The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) accused Ronald Isley, singer with The Isley Brothers, of tax evasion over unreported royalties and concert income from 1997 to 2002. In 2005, he was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison and was later ordered to pay $3.1 million in back taxes.
- The Babyshambles frontman was subjected to a full-body search at Gardermoen Airport in Norway after customs officials detained him for three hours to check whether he was carrying drugs.
- 50 Cent sued American car dealer Gary Barbera Enterprises over the alleged unauthorized use of his name and photograph in an advertisement. In the lawsuit, he described himself as an exceptionally successful artist known for his appearance, gangster image, and hard life story. He sought more than $1 million over an advertisement for the Dodge Magnum with the slogan “Just Like 50 Says”.
- Bay City Rollers singer Les McKeown appeared in court in London on charges of possessing and distributing cocaine. At the age of 49, he was charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine along with four other people, including the band's drummer Pat McGlynn. McKeown was arrested in June in Dalston, East London, as part of a major police operation. In February 2006, he was acquitted of intending to distribute the drugs.
- The woman whose son accused Michael Jackson of sexual abuse was charged with welfare fraud for allegedly obtaining nearly $19,000 illegally. In November 2006, she pleaded guilty without admitting liability and was ordered to pay restitution and complete 150 hours of community service.
- Justin Timberlake accepted a libel settlement over a fabricated article alleging an affair with model Lucy Clarkson behind the back of his then-girlfriend Cameron Diaz. He donated the settlement to charity.
- Former Guns N' Roses members Slash and Duff McKagan sued singer Axl Rose over claims that he had taken exclusive control of the band's copyrights. They claimed that Rose was no longer willing to recognize the contributions of his former bandmates.
- Art Garfunkel, who had admitted to possessing marijuana in upstate New York the previous year, was charged again after a marijuana cigarette was allegedly found in the ashtray of his car. In September 2005, a judge ordered him to give two motivational speeches to local high school students.
- Rap producer Marion “Suge” Knight was hospitalized after being shot in the leg. The incident occurred at a party at a club in Miami, Florida, held in connection with that year’s MTV Video Music Awards and also as a party for Kanye West.
- Pete Doherty was arrested during a police drug operation in Shrewsbury, where his band Babyshambles was performing. Police said that a man and a woman were arrested for possession of Class A drugs, while another 17 people were searched. A subsequent Babyshambles concert in Norwich was canceled.
- Boy George was arrested in New York after falsely reporting a burglary at his Manhattan apartment. Police discovered more than 3.5 grams of cocaine during a search. The drug charges were later dropped, while George pleaded guilty to filing a false report and was fined and sentenced to five days of community service cleaning streets.
- Pete Doherty, frontman of Babyshambles, appeared before Thames Magistrates' Court in London on seven charges of drug possession.
- German prosecutors announced that they had decided not to open an investigation into Madonna after she performed a controversial mock crucifixion scene during a concert on August 20.
- Ronald Isley, frontman of The Isley Brothers, was sentenced to 37 months in prison for tax evasion against the federal government. The 65-year-old singer was found guilty on five counts of tax evasion and one count of willfully failing to file a tax return concerning income worth millions of dollars.
- Ronald Isley, lead singer of The Isley Brothers, was sentenced to three years in prison in the US for several counts of tax fraud. The 64-year-old singer was also ordered to pay the Internal Revenue Service more than $3.1 million. The court said he had collected royalties belonging to his brother O'Kelly, who died in 1996, and had also spent millions of dollars in undeclared performance income on a yacht and two houses.
- Victor Willis, singer of The Village People who performed in a police officer costume, received a three-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to drug offenses related to a March 2006 incident in which police found cocaine and drug paraphernalia in his car. The suspended sentence spared him several years in prison on the condition that he undergo long-term addiction treatment. Willis helped create some of the group's biggest hits, including "Y.M.C.A." and "In The Navy".
- George Michael was arrested in London for possession of drugs.
- Jeffrey Borer, owner of XtraJet, which sold Michael Jackson his private Gulfstream jet, was sentenced for secretly filming Michael Jackson on the aircraft. He had two video cameras installed in the plane in an attempt to obtain material with which Jackson could be blackmailed; according to sources, he was sentenced to six months of house arrest and fined $10,000.
- EMI Virgin India announced the withdrawal of all copies of Slayer's latest album Christ Illusion after the Christian organization Catholic Secular Forum from Mumbai protested against it.
- The parole board informed Mark David Chapman that he would have to spend at least another two years at Attica Correctional Facility for the murder of John Lennon. Although the board acknowledged his satisfactory behavior in prison, it concluded that, given the extraordinary violence of his crime, his release would not be in the public interest.
- Former Savage Garden singer Darren Hayes was arrested on suspicion of racially assaulting an employee of a Thai restaurant in London’s Soho. He was released on bail pending further investigation.
- Judge Rodney Melville ruled that the lawsuit filed by the family of a woman who died in a hospital after being moved to make room for Michael Jackson could not proceed in its original form. The lawsuit alleged that 73-year-old Manuela Gomez Ruiz did not receive the necessary intensive care after suffering a heart attack on the same day Jackson was admitted with flu-like symptoms during his child-abuse trial. Jackson was dismissed from the lawsuit in April 2008, and in September 2008 the family decided to voluntarily end the entire dispute with the hospital because of the stress of the lengthy legal proceedings.
- Comedy writer Buddy Sheffield sued Disney, claiming that he had originally come up with the idea for the series “Hannah Montana” but was never paid for it. He claimed that in 2001 he had offered Disney Channel an idea for a series called “Rock and Roland” about a junior high school student who led a secret double life as a rock star.
- Police raiding rapper DMX's home in Arizona found 12 neglected pit bulls, the buried bodies of three other dogs and several weapons. DMX told police that he had not been on the property for at least two months.
- Kevin Federline's lawyers asked Britney Spears to pay part of her former husband's legal costs in their divorce proceedings. According to documents filed in Los Angeles, Federline had no net income after various expenses, while Spears had an average monthly income of $737,868.
- 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.
- A court awarded Kevin Federline custody of his two children with Britney Spears. The judge cited, among other concerns, issues related to her use of controlled substances and alcohol.
- A judge in Los Angeles ordered Britney Spears to turn over her two young children to her former husband, Kevin Federline. Federline was granted temporary custody of Sean Preston and Jayden James. The court also ordered Spears to undergo random drug and alcohol tests twice a week as part of the ongoing custody dispute.
- A federal jury in Minnesota found Jammie Thomas-Rasset guilty of sharing music files through the KaZaa service and ordered her to pay $220,000 in damages.
- Bruce Springsteen faced an $850,000 lawsuit from a man who claimed that the singer had withdrawn from an agreement to purchase a horse. Florida court documents named Springsteen, his wife Patti Scialfa and a horse named Pavarotti. The man claimed that the couple had withdrawn from a $650,000 horse purchase agreement.
- Karl Wiosna of Graig near Pontypridd, Wales, had his stereo equipment and music collection confiscated and destroyed after violating a noise-abatement order. Authorities acted following a neighbor's complaints about loud records by Cher and U2. Two tape and record players, a radio and CDs were seized, and Wiosna was fined £265.
- Mark David Chapman was denied parole for the fifth time.
- Jackson Browne sued US presidential candidate John McCain over the unauthorized use of the song “Running on Empty” in a campaign advertisement. Browne claimed that the use of the song violated copyright and could create the impression that McCain supported him.
- Gary Glitter was released from prison in Vietnam after serving three years for abusing two young children.
- The family of Manuela Gomez Ruiz formally requested the dismissal of their lawsuit against Marian Medical Center in Santa Monica. They claimed that 73-year-old Ruiz had been denied critical care after suffering a heart attack on the same day that Michael Jackson was brought to the hospital with flu-like symptoms during his 2005 trial on child abuse allegations. The family had originally sued Jackson, but a judge removed him from the lawsuit in April.
- Gary Glitter returned to Thailand after being denied entry to Hong Kong. Chinese authorities informed the British Foreign Office that they had barred him from entering. He had previously been deported from Vietnam, where he spent almost three years in prison for sexually abusing two girls. From Bangkok, he refused to fly to the UK and requested medical treatment after stating that he had suffered a heart attack.
- Disgraced pop singer Gary Glitter, whose real name was Paul Francis Gadd, returned to Britain after being deported from Vietnam, where he had served two years and three months for abusing two girls aged 10 and 11. In an attempt to avoid repatriation, he flew 2,661 miles from Vietnam to Bangkok, then to Hong Kong and back to Bangkok, with each country refusing him entry. He spent three days at Asian airports and was refused entry by at least 19 countries, forcing him to return to Britain. After his return, he had to register as a sex offender and his movements in Britain were restricted so that he could not approach children.
- Mackenzie Phillips, daughter of John Phillips of The Mamas And The Papas and former star of the television series “One Day At A Time”, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport at the age of 48 on suspicion of drug possession. She later pleaded guilty to cocaine possession and was sentenced to an eighteen-month drug treatment and diversion program.
- Organizers of the French music festival Rock En Seine threatened legal action after Amy Winehouse cancelled her appearance. The singer did not attend the three-day festival in Paris, and according to the organizers, they received notification of the cancellation only two hours before her scheduled performance.
- American rapper DMX pleaded guilty to attempting to purchase cocaine and marijuana in Miami. The 37-year-old singer, whose real name was Earl Simmons, pleaded guilty in a Florida court and was sentenced to a term covering time already served. He remained in custody awaiting extradition to Arizona over further charges related to drugs and animal cruelty.
- American rock band Great White, whose pyrotechnics caused the 2003 fire at The Station nightclub in Rhode Island, which killed 100 people and injured more than 200 others, agreed to pay $1 million to the victims' survivors and those who were injured. Guitarist Ty Longley also died in the fire. Tour manager Daniel Biechele pleaded guilty in 2006 to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter.
- Dave Grohl criticized Republican presidential candidate John McCain after his campaign used the Foo Fighters song “My Hero” without permission. Grohl said the song was written as a celebration of an ordinary person and his extraordinary potential.
- An arrest warrant was issued for singer Bobby Brown in Massachusetts after he failed to appear at a court hearing on a contempt complaint regarding child support. He had fallen $45,000 behind in payments for his two teenage children with former girlfriend Kim Ward.
- Chris Brown was sentenced to five years' probation and six months of community service for assaulting Rihanna in February 2009 on the night before the Grammy Awards. He was also ordered to stay away from her for five years and complete a one-year domestic violence programme.
- The Los Angeles coroner confirmed that Michael Jackson's death was classified as a homicide, with propofol identified as the primary cause. The report listed propofol and lorazepam as the main substances responsible for his death and also found four other drugs.
- Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff awarded permanent custody of Michael Jackson’s children to his mother, Katherine Jackson.
- A New York judge dismissed a $300 million lawsuit filed against Michael Jackson's estate by Allgood Entertainment. The company claimed that Michael Jackson and his agent Frank Dileo had backed out of planned Jackson 5 concerts. According to the court, the decisive factor was that Michael and his brothers had never signed the contract.
- George Michael pleaded guilty at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court in London to driving under the influence of drugs. In July he had been arrested after crashing his car into the Snappy Snaps store in Hampstead while returning from London's Gay Pride.
- Mark David Chapman's request for parole was denied again, nearly 30 years after he murdered former Beatles member John Lennon outside the Dakota building in New York. It was his sixth parole hearing since 2000, when he first became eligible to apply for release.
- George Michael was released from Highpoint Prison in Suffolk after serving 27 days of an eight-week sentence related to a July incident in which he drove under the influence of drugs and was found in possession of cannabis. Outside his London home, he thanked the supporters who had stood by him.
- KISS were removed from the planned Michael Jackson tribute concert after organizers reconsidered public statements by Gene Simmons concerning allegations against Jackson.
- The California Supreme Court unanimously declined to review music producer Phil Spector's murder conviction. Spector was serving a sentence of 19 years to life for the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson.
- A New York judge dismissed a $300 million lawsuit brought against Michael Jackson's estate by Allgood Entertainment because no contract with The Jackson 5 had been signed.
- Lindsay Lohan sued Pitbull, Ne-Yo, and DJ Afrojack over the mention of her in the song “Give Me Everything (Tonight)” (“Hustlers move aside, so I'm tiptoeing, keep flowin', I got it locked up like Lindsay Lohan”). The judge ruled in Pitbull's favor, citing protection of freedom of speech and creative expression under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
- 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 California court ruled that Madonna did not have a trademark on the term "Material Girl" for her clothing brand simply because she had written a song of the same name in 1985. Merely recording the famous song did not automatically give her priority rights in retail. Los Angeles retailer LA Triumph had been using the name "Material Girl" for clothing and had registered it as a trademark in 1997. The ruling allowed the trademark infringement dispute to continue.
- David Cassidy filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Sony over alleged unpaid royalties from sales of Partridge Family merchandise bearing his likeness, including lunch boxes, magazines, and board games. He won the case in January 2015 and was awarded $158,000.
- Joe Jackson withdrew his wrongful death lawsuit against Dr. Conrad Murray, who was serving a sentence for the involuntary manslaughter of Michael Jackson. Murray's lawyer said that withdrawing the lawsuit would allow the family to focus on Jackson's life rather than the circumstances of his death.
- Three members of the Russian feminist punk group Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in prison for performing in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, where they protested the support for Vladimir Putin by an Orthodox Church official.
- Rapper LL Cool J heard an alarm at his home in Los Angeles during the night and ran downstairs to confront alleged intruder Jonathan Kirby. After a struggle in which Kirby suffered a broken nose, jaw, and rib, LL Cool J subdued the intruder, who was subsequently arrested by police.
- John Lennon's murderer Mark David Chapman was denied parole for the seventh time. The board stated that his release at that time would undermine respect for the law and diminish the tragic loss of life caused by his act. Chapman was held at Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, New York.
- One Direction won a legal dispute over the right to use their group name. An American punk band of the same name claimed that it had used the name first. One Direction US sought $1 million in damages from the British group and a share of licensing revenues.
- The British High Court ruled that The Times had not libeled Elton John in articles about tax avoidance because the singer was not directly connected to the story.
- Michael Jackson's former wife testified at the Los Angeles Superior Court in a civil case concerning the death of her former husband. She said that Michael had a very low tolerance for pain and that some doctors treating his pain tried to determine who could provide him with the best pain medication.
- A man found in the pool house at Jennifer Lopez's estate in the exclusive Hamptons area of New York was charged with stalking. John Dubis, a former firefighter, was reportedly subject to a restraining order keeping him away from the singer and was also charged with burglary, contempt of court and possession of burglary tools.
- After the Internal Revenue Service accused the Michael Jackson estate of undervaluing some of Jackson's assets by hundreds of millions of dollars, it assessed the estate $702 million in federal taxes and penalties. The valuation dispute continued for almost ten years.
- Michael Jackson's family lost a lawsuit against concert promoters AEG Live over alleged negligence related to his death. A 12-member jury concluded that the doctor responsible for Jackson's care before the planned concert tour was not unfit for the job, and therefore AEG Live was not negligent in hiring him.
- Michael Jackson's family lost a negligence lawsuit against concert promoters AEG Live in connection with the singer's death. The jury concluded that the doctor responsible for Jackson's care before his concert tour was not unfit for the job, and therefore AEG had not been negligent in hiring him. Jackson died in 2009 after an overdose of a surgical anesthetic.
- Michael Jackson's estate sued three companies in Japan over the alleged unauthorized use of his name and likeness on pendants, pots, towels, postcards, and other products.
- Police raided his estate in Berkshire, England, searching for evidence of an alleged sexual assault dating from 1985. He was in Portugal at the time, while the BBC received a tip and had reporters and a helicopter at the scene. He was later cleared of the allegations and sued the BBC for invasion of privacy.
- John Lennon's murderer, 59-year-old Mark David Chapman, was denied parole for the eighth time by New York State authorities. The parole board stated that his release would be incompatible with public safety and would diminish the seriousness of his crime to such an extent that it would undermine respect for the law.
- Marion „Suge“ Knight, founder of Death Row Records, was shot at a party hosted by Chris Brown in Los Angeles. Two other people, a man and a woman, were also injured, and all three were treated at hospitals.
- The Raskins, who had paid $1 million for the opportunity to accompany Mötley Crüe on tour, were attacked during their performance at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center by members of the headliner's crew, who came onto the stage and poured urine on them. The group subsequently filed a lawsuit.
- Don Henley sued The Duluth Trading Company over alleged unauthorized use of his name, trademarks and publicity rights in an email advertisement using the pun "Don a Henley and Take it easy" to promote Henley shirts. Duluth settled the suit the following April and published an apology on its website.
- The LAPD Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force searched the home of Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed in Los Angeles. Authorities clarified that neither the rocker nor any member of his family was a suspect or person of interest; the investigation concerned a crime that had allegedly occurred on their property the previous year while Simmons was on tour with KISS. Simmons and his wife Shannon Tweed fully cooperated with the investigation.
- After a 90-minute hearing, a US federal judge granted Aretha Franklin an emergency injunction preventing the premiere of the film Amazing Grace that evening at the Telluride Film Festival. Franklin objected to the use of footage from her 1972 concert in Los Angeles in the film. After her death in 2018, her family arranged for the film's release, and Amazing Grace was released worldwide on April 5, 2019.
- Former teen idol David Cassidy was charged with leaving the scene of an accident and driving with an expired registration following a September crash in Florida. Police said that 65-year-old Cassidy sideswiped a truck, attempted to conceal his license plate and drove away with a flat tire. His lawyer said Cassidy had handed his driver's license and registration to police before leaving. In March 2016, Cassidy accepted a no-contest plea agreement and received two years of probation.
- A Los Angeles court finalized Stevie Wonder's divorce from fashion designer Kai Millard Morris. They married in 2001, separated in 2009 and Wonder filed for divorce in 2012. The couple received joint custody of two sons, and Wonder agreed to pay $25,000 per month in child support; court documents were signed with his thumbprint.
- Experience Hendrix LLC, which manages Jimi Hendrix's estate, sued Rainbow Guitars in Tucson, Arizona, seeking the return of the rare Black Widow acoustic guitar. The instrument was valued at between $750,000 and $1 million and had reportedly been stolen by a family member before changing hands several times. The store said it had purchased the guitar in good faith for $80,000 without knowing that its ownership was disputed. The court eventually ordered the instrument returned to the Hendrix estate.
- It was announced that pills seized at Prince's home contained the dangerously potent synthetic opioid fentanyl but were incorrectly labeled as hydrocodone, a weaker type of opioid. Investigators into his death said that the autopsy results released in June revealed that Prince had died from an accidental fentanyl overdose.
- Ann Wilson's husband was arrested for assault after getting into a physical altercation with Nancy Wilson's sixteen-year-old twins. The incident caused a rift between the Heart sisters, who completed the tour with separate dressing rooms and no contact with each other.
- Mark David Chapman's request for parole was denied for the ninth time. Chapman was convicted of murdering John Lennon.
- 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.
- The Kidd Creole, one of the founding members of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, was arrested in connection with the fatal stabbing of a homeless man in New York City.
- Jerry Yester, a member of The Lovin' Spoonful since 1967, was arrested in Arkansas on 30 charges of possessing child pornography and was subsequently expelled from the group. In October 2018 he pleaded guilty to eight charges, and in July 2019 he was sentenced to two years in prison and mandatory registration as a sex offender.
- Photographer Larry Philpot filed a lawsuit in federal court in California against Lynyrd Skynyrd for using his copyrighted photograph of Jerry Lee Lewis without permission. Philpot claimed that the band removed the copyright information and used the photograph at the first twenty-two shows of their farewell tour. The lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice shortly after it was filed, suggesting that the parties reached a private settlement.
- Mark David Chapman, who murdered John Lennon in December 1980, was denied parole for the tenth time. He was held at Wende Correctional Facility in Alden near Buffalo, New York.
- The Music Modernization Act was signed into law, clarifying how artists, songwriters and producers are paid for music played through streaming services, internet radio and satellite radio. The law also granted royalty payments for songs written before 1972.
- Pitbull had his famous catchphrase “grito” registered as a trademark, making it one of the few sounds protected by a trademark and probably the first such sound registered by a recording artist.
- John Lydon lost a High Court case aimed at preventing the use of Sex Pistols music in a new television drama. Former drummer Paul Cook and guitarist Steve Jones sued Lydon after he attempted to veto the use of the band's songs in a series directed by Danny Boyle. The series “Pistol” was based on Jones's 2016 memoir “Lonely Boy: Tales of a Sex Pistol”.
- Thirty years after appearing as a baby holding a dollar bill on the cover of Nirvana's album „Nevermind“, Spencer Elden sued the band and others involved in the cover photograph. He claimed that the photograph had caused him „extreme and permanent emotional distress“. He ultimately lost the lawsuit.
- Police in Ohio conducted a search of the home of singer Afroman, author of the song “Because I Got High”, looking for evidence related to kidnapping and drug trafficking. Afroman was not charged, and he later used security camera footage in the music video for his song “Lemon Pound Cake”, which also focused on the moment when a police officer discovered a cake in the kitchen.
- Adidas announced that it would review its partnership with Kanye West after he made several antisemitic statements and appeared at a Paris fashion show wearing a White Lives Matter shirt. Balenciaga, Vogue, Creative Artists Agency, and MRC also responded to his behavior by ending their relationships with him. Adidas's Yeezy sneaker sales exceeded $1.3 billion.
- Lady Gaga did not have to pay a $500,000 reward to the woman who returned her stolen French bulldogs in 2021. The judge ruled that Jennifer McBride was not entitled to the reward because she later admitted to receiving stolen property. McBride also sought $1.5 million in damages, but the court rejected her claim.
- Coldplay and their former manager Dave Holmes filed competing claims in London's High Court, with each party seeking millions of pounds from the other. Holmes, who worked with the band from 2005 to 2022, sued them for £10 million in unpaid commission. In a counter-claim, the band rejected his claim, said Holmes had allowed tour costs to spiral out of control, and demanded £14 million in damages. According to lawyers, Coldplay were paid an advance of £35 million for their tenth album and £30 million for their eleventh and twelfth albums.
- Foo Fighters announced that they had not given Donald Trump permission to use the song “My Hero” at his campaign rally in Glendale, Arizona, where he brought Robert F. Kennedy Jr. onto the stage. The band said that they had not been asked for permission and that, had they been asked, they would not have allowed the use of the song. A Foo Fighters representative said that any royalties from the use of the song would be donated to Kamala Harris's campaign.
- ABBA and their record label Universal Music protested against the use of the song “The Winner Takes It All” at a campaign rally for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign without permission. They joined artists including Foo Fighters, Celine Dion, Adele, R.E.M., and The Rolling Stones in protesting the unauthorized use of their music at campaign rallies.
- Spotify won a legal dispute brought by publisher Eight Mile Style over Eminem’s songs. The publisher claimed Spotify had used the rapper’s music without a proper license since 2019 and sought £30 million. The court found that Spotify did not have a proper license to stream the songs, but did not order the company to pay the claimed lost licensing revenue.
- The UK's competition regulator launched an investigation into ticket sales for Oasis's reunion tour, focusing in particular on the use of dynamic pricing through Ticketmaster.
- Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers of The Police reportedly sued Sting and his company Magnetic Publishing Limited over authorship of the group's biggest hit, “Every Breath You Take”. Summers claimed that he created the song's distinctive guitar part. The British newspaper The Sun estimated Sting's annual royalties at $745,000.
- Sting was sued by his former The Police bandmates Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland over alleged unpaid shares of royalties from songs recorded by the group between 1977 and 1984. In the civil case at the High Court, they claimed they had an oral agreement to share the income, which was later formalized in written contracts. Sting, who wrote The Police's biggest hits, denied the allegations, and his lawyers described the claims as unjustified.
- Sean “Diddy” Combs was sentenced to a little over four years in prison after being found guilty of offenses related to prostitution involving two of his former partners. His lawyers sought a 14-month sentence, arguing that he had changed during his 13 months in a New York jail, while prosecutors sought 11 years, citing his history of domestic violence. Before being sentenced to 50 months, Combs addressed the court in what was his first public statement since the beginning of the trial.
- A judge dismissed the defamation lawsuit filed against Universal Music Group over Kendrick Lamar's song "Not Like Us", ruling that diss tracks are protected speech and that an ordinary listener would not regard them as statements of verified fact.
- Metal band Demon Hunter sued Netflix for trademark infringement in connection with the film KPop Demon Hunters, which produced the No. 1 hit “Golden” and a concert tour. The band said people were confusing it with the Netflix franchise and that it had even received a refund request from someone who bought tickets to a Demon Hunter concert believing it was a K-pop concert.
- Gary Glitter, 82, pleaded not guilty at a British court to eight counts of sexual abuse of a girl aged between 8 and 11. The alleged offenses were said to have taken place between 1978 and 1981 under his legal name, Paul Gadd. Judge Tony Baumgartner adjourned the case for a three-week trial scheduled to begin on November 22, 2027.