Events in 2009
- Rockabilly singer and musician Billy Lee Riley died on August 2, 2009, at the age of 75 from colon cancer.
- A Los Angeles judge awarded Katherine Jackson permanent custody of Michael Jackson’s three children; Debbie Rowe was granted visitation rights.
- A federal jury ruled that Boston University student Joel Tenenbaum must pay four music companies $675,000 for illegally downloading and sharing 30 songs.
- A man who claimed to be secretly engaged to Miley Cyrus was arrested and charged with attempting to stalk her.
- Steven Tyler of Aerosmith fell from the stage during a performance at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota. He suffered injuries, and the rest of the band's tour was canceled.
- Original Woodstock promoter Michael Lang canceled the planned free concert marking the festival's 40th anniversary in Prospect Park due to high costs and a lack of sponsors.
- Steven Tyler of Aerosmith fell from the stage into the crowd during a concert at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota after improvising for waiting fans on the front stage during a sound outage. He suffered a fractured left shoulder, a deep head laceration requiring 20 stitches and minor neck injuries. He was airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital, and the remainder of Aerosmith's 2009 North American summer tour was canceled.
- Willy DeVille, frontman of New York's Mink DeVille, died at the age of 58 after battling pancreatic cancer. In the 1970s, the band regularly performed at CBGB in New York and had the hit “Spanish Stroll.”
- Kesha vydala „Tik Tok“, první singl ze svého debutového alba „Animal“.
- Folkový zpěvák a hudebník Mike Seeger ze skupiny New Lost City Ramblers zemřel na rakovinu v Lexingtonu ve Virginii.
- Demi Lovato reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 for the first time with her second studio album "Here We Go Again".
- The Black Eyed Peas reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “I Gotta Feeling”. The song reached No. 1 in 23 countries, including the U.S.
- Lady Antebellum released “Need You Now,” a song about making a phone call while drunk. The song became a major crossover hit, reaching No. 1 on the country chart, No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and selling 9 million digital downloads.
- Les Paul, a pioneering guitarist, inventor and recording innovator, died at the age of 94 from complications related to pneumonia.
- Allen Shellenberger died in Artesia, California, from cancer at the age of 39. He was the drummer for Lit.
- Guitarist, songwriter, and inventor Les Paul died at a hospital in White Plains, New York, at the age of 94 from severe pneumonia. He was a pioneer of the solid-body electric guitar and made significant contributions to the development of overdubbing, tape delay, phasing, and multitrack recording.
- They broke the attendance record at Wembley Stadium when 88,000 people attended their concert. The previous record was held by Rod Stewart, whose 1995 concert drew 83,000 people.
- American singer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Jim Dickinson died at the age of 67. He was best known as the frontman of Mud Boy and the Neutrons.
- An arrest warrant was issued for singer Bobby Brown after he failed to appear at a court hearing concerning child support. According to the court, he owed approximately $45,000.
- A thief in New Zealand reserved a copy of Pink Floyd's album The Wall at a record store in Christchurch, left his name and telephone number, and subsequently robbed the store.
- American keyboardist and bassist Larry Knechtel, best known as a member of the studio collective The Wrecking Crew, died at the age of 69 at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital in Washington, apparently from a heart attack. In 1970, he won a Grammy for his piano part on Simon & Garfunkel's “Bridge over Troubled Water”. In 1972, he played on Johnny Rivers' recording “Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu”, and from 1971 to 1973 he was a member of Bread. As a member of The Wrecking Crew, he worked with Simon & Garfunkel, Duane Eddy, The Beach Boys, The Mamas & the Papas, The Monkees, The Doors, Jerry Garcia and Elvis Presley, among others. In 2007, he was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville along with other members of the Wrecking Crew studio collective.
- Doo-wop and R&B singer Johnny Carter, a member of The Dells (“Stay In My Corner” from 1968) and The Flamingos (“I Only Have Eyes for You”), died in Harvey, Illinois, at the age of 75 from lung cancer.
- Soul and doo-wop singer Johnny Carter, a member of The Dells and The Flamingos, died of lung cancer at the age of 75. He was known for his distinctive falsetto and was among the few artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with two different groups.
- Johnny Horton and guitarist James Burton were inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
- The Black Eyed Peas reached No. 1 on the British singles chart with “I Gotta Feeling”. The song was a worldwide hit and reached No. 1 on a total of 28 singles charts.
- A Los Angeles coroner ruled that Michael Jackson's death was a homicide caused by a combination of drugs used to treat insomnia. Doctor Conrad Murray was later charged with involuntary manslaughter and in November 2011 was sentenced to four years in prison.
- During his weekly radio programme on 6 Music, Bob Dylan revealed that he was in talks with several car companies about possibly becoming the voice of their satellite navigation systems.
- Edward “Ted” Kennedy died; although he was best known as an American senator, he supported music and the arts through legislation.
- 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.
- Christian rock band Skillet released their seventh studio album “Awake”. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, tying Underoath's “Define The Great Line” and Casting Crowns' “The Altar and the Door” as the highest-charting Christian rock albums. It included the hits “Hero” and “Monster” as well as “Awake and Alive”, the band's first song to reach the Billboard Hot 100.
- American pop singer, songwriter and producer Eleanor “Ellie” Greenwich died at the age of 68 from a heart attack after suffering from pneumonia. She collaborated with Phil Spector and Jeff Barry on numerous hits, including “Da Doo Ron Ron”, “Be My Baby”, “Then He Kissed Me”, “Do Wah Diddy Diddy”, “Leader of the Pack”, “Chapel of Love”, “Maybe I Know” and “River Deep – Mountain High”. In 1991, she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame together with her former husband Jeff Barry.
- Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein died at the age of 36 from an accidental overdose in his New York apartment. It happened almost a year after Goldstein and his friend Travis Barker survived a plane crash that killed four other people.
- Hit songwriter Ellie Greenwich, known for songs including “Be My Baby” and “Leader of the Pack”, died at the age of 68.
- Three days before the release of their second studio album “The First Days of Spring”, Doug Fink, brother of lead singer Charlie Fink, announced that he would leave Noah and the Whale to pursue a career in medicine. In a 2011 interview, Charlie said that Doug was still the person he consulted first about matters concerning the band.
- Noel Gallagher left Oasis after a series of conflicts with his brother Liam and announced that he could no longer work with him. As the band’s lead guitarist and main songwriter, he had recently been involved in a number of arguments with Liam; he said that the brothers barely spoke, did not travel together, and only saw each other onstage. Oasis were due to perform at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris, but their appearance was canceled at the last minute following an internal conflict within the band. Their departure brought the band’s existence to an end.
- Calvin Harris's second studio album "Ready for the Weekend" debuted at No. 1 on the UK album chart.
- George Strait's twenty-sixth studio album "Twang" reached No. 1 on the US Billboard 200.
- Rolling Stone published a 1970 interview with John Lennon in which he discussed some of the reasons for The Beatles' breakup. Lennon said that his bandmates did not respect and insulted Yoko Ono, and he also criticized his former songwriting relationship with Paul McCartney.
- 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.
- Two months after Michael Jackson's death, on what would have been his 51st birthday, 13,597 people in Mexico City danced to "Thriller", setting a new Guinness World Record.
- Noel Gallagher confirmed his departure from Oasis, saying that he could no longer work with his brother Liam.