Events in 1997
- At NASA’s request, Diamond Rio hosted a celebration marking the 30th anniversary of the Kennedy Space Center.
- Yungblud, born Dominic Harrison, was born in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England.
- U2 performed in Oslo, where the giant lemon they were supposed to emerge from onstage failed to open.
- Garth Brooks odehrál bezplatný koncert v Central Parku v New Yorku. Odhadovaná návštěvnost se v dodaných záznamech pohybuje od více než 100 000 do jednoho milionu lidí. Dalších 14,6 milionu diváků koncert sledovalo živě na HBO.
- The Verve played their first concert in Sheffield, England, following the band’s breakup two years earlier.
- Lzzy Hale and her brother Arejay performed their own song “Love Is Power” at the Schuylkill County Fair talent show in Pennsylvania under the name Halestorm.
- Puff Daddy & The Family reached No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 with their debut album “No Way Out”. The album also reached No. 1 in Austria, Canada and Switzerland, and No. 8 in the UK.
- Backstreet Boys released their second album Backstreet's Back in international markets. The album reached No. 1 in several countries, including Canada, Spain and Germany. In the US, some of its songs appeared on their next album, Millennium, in 1999.
- Sonny West, Red West, Lamar Fike and Marty Lacker, four prominent members of Elvis's “Memphis Mafia,” recalled Elvis in a one-time online chat.
- Blues guitarist Luther Allison died of cancer in Madison, Wisconsin, at the age of 57.
- 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.
- More than 30,000 fans came to Memphis on the 20th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death and gathered at his grave for a ten-minute memorial ceremony.
- A memorial concert was held in Memphis to mark the 20th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. Lisa Marie Presley unveiled the music video "Don't Cry Daddy", a virtual duet combining her father's original vocals with her own singing.
- The seventh Lollapalooza tour concluded at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California, with Korn, Snoop Dogg and Tool among the main acts. It was the final Lollapalooza tour until 2003.
- The two-day UK V97 festival took place in Chelmsford and Leeds, featuring among others Blur, The Prodigy, Beck, Kula Shaker, Dodgy, Foo Fighters, Placebo, James, Ash and Gene.
- Will Smith began a four-week run at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with "Men In Black" from the film of the same name. He won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for the song.
- On the 20th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death, fans gathered in Memphis for a ten-minute vigil at his gravesite.
- A pair of Elvis Presley's black underwear was stolen from the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum in Los Angeles. The thief reportedly reached the exhibit through the plexiglass barrier or with the aid of a tool during opening hours.
- The Hank Snow Country Music Centre, dedicated to local country music legend Hank Snow, opened in Liverpool, Nova Scotia.
- Will Smith began a four-week run at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Men in Black”, the title song from the film Men in Black.
- The Rolling Stones made a spectacular announcement of their forthcoming Bridges to Babylon tour. The band arrived at the Brooklyn Bridge in New York in a 1955 red Cadillac driven by Mick Jagger, with Keith Richards beside him and Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood in the back.
- Boyz II Men released the single “4 Seasons of Loneliness” to radio stations for airplay. The single was made available to the public on September 9.
- They released the reunion live album The Dance on Reprise Records, capturing their successful return in the classic lineup and their appearance on MTV Unplugged. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and sold one million copies in just eight weeks. Although it was primarily a live retrospective of well-known concert songs and fan favorites, it also contained new material by the group’s principal songwriters, including two songs by Lindsey Buckingham.
- Governor of Alabama Fob James, together with the mayors of Montgomery and Georgiana, ceremonially dedicated a 50-mile section of Interstate 65 to the memory of Hank Williams. The section was renamed the “Hank Williams Memorial Lost Highway”, beginning near his childhood home in Georgiana and ending in Montgomery, where Hank Williams is buried. The ceremony took place in Montgomery, and Hank Williams Jr. spoke at the event.
- BBC broadcast the documentary Oasis Right Here Right Now, in which the group discussed their troubled previous year and also introduced three new songs.
- 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.
- Oasis released their long-awaited third studio album “Be Here Now” through Creation Records. It became an immediate commercial success, selling more than 350,000 copies on its first day and becoming one of the fastest-selling albums ever. The album reached No. 1 in sixteen countries around the world, although it later received mixed reactions and was criticized as overly long and derivative. Britpop was beginning to lose popularity. The album cover was photographed at Stocks House in Hertfordshire, the former home of Victor Lownes, head of Playboy Clubs in the UK.
- Twelve-year-old Georgia Lee Moses was found dead in South Petaluma, California. Tom Waits learned of her story and was inspired by it to write the song “Georgia Lee”, the thirteenth track on the album “Mule Variations”.
- Mark Wills made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry and performed his song “Jacob's Ladder”.
- 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”.
- U2 played the first of two sold-out concerts at Wembley Stadium in London. During the encore, they performed a medley of several songs and six songs in full.
- Puff Daddy and the Family returned to number one on the US album chart after a one-week break with the album “No Way Out”. The album also reached number one that year in Austria, Canada, Switzerland and the UK.
- Scottish rock group Texas returned to number one on the UK album chart with their fourth studio album “White on Blonde” after a six-month break at the top.
- DJ and producer Alan Walker was born.
- 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.
- A man who escaped from a psychiatric facility near Helsinki, Finland, was arrested after planning to set fire to the stage where Michael Jackson was due to perform. He had already placed petrol on the stage but was arrested before he could ignite it.
- Oasis released the single “Stand by Me”.
- Boyzone began their Southeast Asian tour in Bangalore, India. It was the first time an international act had launched a tour in this region.
- Coolio released the song “My Soul”.
- Creed released their debut album “My Own Prison”.
- Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers was hospitalized after crashing his motorcycle while riding along Sunset Boulevard.
- Steven Seagal began a North American music tour in support of his new film “Fire Down Below”.
- Genesis’s first album in six years was presented live in a special edition of the radio program Album Network and simultaneously broadcast via webcasting on www.atlantic-records.com.
- During U2’s PopMart Tour in Leeds, Bono responded to George Harrison’s comment that Bono and his band were “so egotistical” by raising his middle finger and saying, “This is for you, George!”
- 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.
- Diana, Princess of Wales, died at the age of 36 in a car accident in Paris. Elton John released a reworked version of "Candle in the Wind" dedicated to her memory, and the recording became the best-selling single of all time.
- James Brown became the first American performer to appear in Lebanon after a recent lifting of the ban on American citizens traveling to the country.
- Oasis reached No. 1 on the British albums chart with their third album, "Be Here Now". More than one million copies were sold on the first day of release, making it the fastest-selling album in the United Kingdom at the time.
- The Microsoft Network broadcast a U2 concert in Dublin over the internet.