Events in 2010
- Arcade Fire released the album “The Suburbs.” It was released in the United Kingdom on August 2, while its release in the United States and Canada followed on August 3.
- Bobby Hebb, singer and songwriter best known for “Sunny,” died in Nashville at the age of 72 from lung cancer.
- Madonna launched her “Material Girl” fashion brand through Macy’s, targeting teenage girls. Her daughter Lourdes also helped with the project.
- The documentary “Elvis on Tour” was released on DVD.
- Don Henley reached an out-of-court settlement with Republican candidate Chuck DeVore over the unauthorized use of parodies of the songs “All She Wants to Do Is Dance” and “The Boys of Summer” in campaign videos.
- Rondor Music threatened legal action over the use of the title and borrowed lyrical elements from “California Girls” in Katy Perry's “California Gurls.” No lawsuit was ultimately filed.
- The Wanted reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “All Time Low”, the lead single from their debut studio album.
- Mark David Chapman's parole hearing was postponed until early September so that authorities could gather additional information.
- Ted Kowalski, a member of the Canadian vocal group The Diamonds, died of heart disease at the age of 79. The group had fifteen Billboard Top 40 hits during the second half of the 1950s.
- Olivia Newton-John was appointed an Officer of the General Division of the Order of Australia in Canberra.
- Richie Hayward, drummer and co-founder of Little Feat, died at the age of 64.
- Iron Maiden released the studio album The Final Frontier, which debuted at No. 1 on the UK album chart and became their fourth UK chart-topping album.
- Bassist Robert Wilson of The Gap Band died at the age of 53 from a heart attack. From the late 1970s onward, the group had four platinum albums and placed 30 songs on the Billboard R&B chart.
- Kenny Edwards, a founding member of the country-rock group The Stone Poneys, died at the age of 64 from cancer. The group, led by Linda Ronstadt, reached No. 13 in 1967 with “Different Drum.”
- Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees underwent surgery on his digestive tract for the same health problem that had claimed the life of his twin brother Maurice seven years earlier. Robin had been hospitalized with severe abdominal pain several days earlier, and his health problems repeatedly returned in the following months. He died in a London hospital in 2012.
- French brand État Libre D'Orange announced a collaboration with the Sex Pistols to launch the band's first perfume, intended to capture the scent of the punk era.
- A section of Interstate 40 near Memphis, Tennessee, was named the Isaac Hayes Memorial Highway in honor of Isaac Hayes on what would have been his 68th birthday.
- 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.
- Alternative rock group Arcade Fire reached No. 1 in the US with their third studio album “The Suburbs”. The album also reached No. 1 in Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Norway, Portugal and the UK.
- Eminem reached No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart with his seventh studio album “Recovery”. The album was nominated for three Grammy Awards and reached No. 1 in seventeen countries.
- Flo Rida and French producer David Guetta reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Club Can't Handle Me”.
- Plans were announced for an auction of a toilet from John Lennon's luxury estate, Tittenhurst Park, in Berkshire. Lennon used the floral-patterned porcelain toilet while living at the estate from 1969 to 1971. When it was replaced, he reportedly told builder John Hancock to keep it and “use it as a flower pot”. Instead, Hancock stored it in his shed for 40 years, and after his death, his family offered it for sale. It was expected to sell for $1,500. However, the August 28, 2010 auction far exceeded expectations, with the item acquired by a private overseas bidder for £9,500, approximately $14,740, nearly ten times the original estimate.
- Bob Dylan announced his intention to fight ticket scalpers by allowing fans to purchase only one ticket at the entrance to each concert.
- 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.
- Katy Perry released her third studio album „Teenage Dream“ on Capitol Records, her second album for a major label. The album reached No. 1 in the U.S. and several other countries and later sold more than 12 million copies. Its first five singles, beginning with „California Gurls“, all reached No. 1 on the Hot 100.
- An unpublished series of photographs of The Beatles by Astrid Kirchherr was exhibited at the Victoria Gallery and Museum in Liverpool, documenting their early years, their stay in Tenerife and the filming of “A Hard Day’s Night” in Liverpool in 1964.
- British EMI Records confirmed that Iron Maiden's album “The Final Frontier” debuted at No. 1 in 21 countries around the world. Almost four years earlier, the band's previous studio album “A Matter Of Life And Death” had also reached the top of the pan-European chart.
- Songwriter George David Weiss, author of “What a Wonderful World” and “Can't Help Falling in Love”, died at the age of 89.
- Iron Maiden reached No. 1 on the UK chart with their fifteenth studio album “The Final Frontier”. The album was a major international success and topped the charts in 28 countries worldwide.
- “Green Light” by Roll Deep reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart.
- Worldwide media reported that a toilet once owned by John Lennon sold at auction for £9,500 ($14,740), approximately ten times its original estimated value. After a new toilet was installed, Lennon told builder John Hancock, who took away the original blue-and-white toilet: “Put some flowers in it or something.” The toilet had been stored for more than 40 years and was put up for sale after Hancock died.
- Elton John and Leon Russell released the first single from their forthcoming joint album, "The Union". The song "If It Wasn't For Bad" featured vocals from both artists, with Russell on piano.
- Papa Roach released their first live album, "Time for Annihilation". In addition to nine live tracks, it contained five new studio recordings and reached No. 23 on the U.S. Billboard 200.
- Apple launched the social network Ping, which was integrated into iTunes. The service was discontinued two years later.
- Curt Smith of Tears for Fears made the first of three appearances on the television series Psych, whose main character Shawn Spencer is a major fan of the group.
- Brooks & Dunn played their final joint concert at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville as part of a benefit event for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
- Mike Edwards, founding member and cellist of Electric Light Orchestra, died at the age of 62 in an accident in Devon, England, when a bale of hay weighing approximately 600 kilograms rolled down a steep slope and struck his van.
- Eminem reached number one on the UK albums chart with his seventh studio album, Recovery.
- Taio Cruz's “Dynamite” was at number one on the UK singles chart on September 4. The song also topped the charts in six other countries and reached number two on the US Hot 100.
- Paintings by Bob Dylan displayed at a museum in Copenhagen came under criticism from some Danish critics and academics.
- Jane's Addiction announced that they had parted ways with bassist Duff McKagan. McKagan had been with the group for only five months.
- 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.
- Morrissey caused controversy after telling the British newspaper The Guardian that he considered Chinese people a "subspecies" in connection with what he claimed was their treatment of animals.
- Queen's song “Bohemian Rhapsody” was voted the greatest song of all time for waving a lighter in the air in a poll conducted by Zippo. “Stairway To Heaven” by Led Zeppelin came second, followed by “I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)” by Meat Loaf.
- Justin Timberlake portrayed Napster co-founder Sean Parker in the film “The Social Network”, which tells the story of the creation of Facebook and was nominated for an Academy Award.
- In the seventh series of the British competition The X Factor, One Direction performed together for the first time. Before judge Simon Cowell at his villa in Marbella, Spain, they sang “Torn.” The members had originally been eliminated as solo contestants and were then given the opportunity to continue as a group. They eventually finished the competition in third place.
- Bruno Mars released his debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans.
- Joe Satriani released the album Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards.
- Three surviving members of John Lennon's first group, The Quarrymen, were invited to perform at a special benefit concert for Amnesty International near Lennon's former home at the Dakota Apartments in New York on the occasion of what would have been his 70th birthday.
- The cast of the television series Glee surpassed The Beatles in the number of Billboard Hot 100 entries by a non-solo act. Glee had 75 songs compared with 71 songs by The Beatles.
- The FBI seized a set of John Lennon's fingerprints from a New York music memorabilia dealer who wanted to sell them for a minimum bid of $100,000. The fingerprints had been taken at a New York police station in 1976 when Lennon applied for permanent residency in the United States. The FBI believed the card still belonged to the government and investigated how it had ended up in private hands.
- Davy Jones announced plans to reunite The Monkees for a 2011 tour. The An Evening with The Monkees: The 45th Anniversary Tour brought Jones, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork together for their first live performances in ten years and became Jones's final tour with the group before his death in February 2012.
- Neil Sedaka received the Silver Heart Award from Britain's Variety Club in Manchester for his outstanding contribution to the music industry.
- The three surviving members of The Quarrymen, John Lennon's original band, performed a special Amnesty International charity concert in New York to mark what would have been Lennon's 70th birthday. Held at the Society for Ethical Culture, just blocks from Lennon's former home at the Dakota Apartments, the concert concluded a 21-day U.S. tour and featured guest appearances by folk legend Pete Seeger.
- With their second studio album "Science & Faith," Irish rock band The Script went to number one in the UK.
- The Zac Brown Band hit number one in the United States with their second studio album "You Get What You Give."
- Soul pioneer and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Solomon Burke died at the age of 70 aboard an airplane at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport after arriving from Los Angeles. He had a scheduled performance in the Netherlands. The cause of death was not immediately confirmed; his doctor suspected a pulmonary embolism. Burke was known for songs including “Cry to Me,” “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love” and “If You Need Me.”
- 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.
- General Norman Johnson, singer with the soul group Chairmen of the Board, died of lung cancer at the age of 69. In 1970, the group had four songs in the US Top 40, including "Give Me Just a Little More Time", which reached number three. Johnson was also a successful songwriter: he won a Grammy for "Patches", recorded by Clarence Carter, and wrote songs including "Want Ads" for Honey Cone and "Bring the Boys Home" for Freda Payne.