Events in 2015
- Gwen Stefani filed for divorce from Gavin Rossdale.
- Country music producer, songwriter, and arranger Billy Sherrill died after a short illness at the age of 78.
- Supertramp canceled their planned European tour so that Rick Davies could undergo treatment for multiple myeloma.
- In an interview with Esquire magazine, Keith Richards harshly criticized The Beatles' “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.”
- Kimberley Rew sold the rights to “Walking on Sunshine” and his remaining catalog to BMG for $16 million.
- Members of Grateful Dead—Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann—announced the formation of the new group Dead & Company, with John Mayer joining them.
- The musical “Hamilton,” a hip-hop-inspired work about the life of Alexander Hamilton, premiered on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre six months after its sold-out Off-Broadway debut.
- The Chemical Brothers reached No. 1 on the UK album chart with their eighth studio album, “Born in the Echoes.”
- Future reached No. 1 on the U.S. chart for the first time with his album "DS2 (Dirty Sprite 2)". In Canada, the album reached No. 5.
- Little Mix were at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Black Magic”, the lead single from their third studio album, “Get Weird”. The song became the first song by a girl group since 2008 to spend multiple weeks at No. 1.
- Columbia House, the mail-order music club that originally offered customers eight albums for one dollar, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after nearly two decades of declining sales. The company was founded in 1955 by CBS’s Columbia Records division, and its sales gradually declined first because of Napster and later because of iTunes, Amazon and Netflix. BMG, a longtime competitor, bought the company in 2005, and it ended its mail-order business in 2009.
- Elvis Presley Forever, the second US postage stamp featuring his likeness, was unveiled at Graceland, featuring a 1955 black-and-white portrait by photographer William Speer; it was part of the Music Icons series.
- In an interview with The Daily Beast, Jimmy Page said he did not expect another Led Zeppelin reunion. The last performance by the three surviving members took place in 2007 at a one-off concert at London's O2 Arena, with Jason Bonham on drums in place of his father, John Bonham.
- The first presidential playlists were released. The selection included songs by Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin and John Legend.
- The American music producer died at the age of 83 in Nashville, Tennessee. He produced numerous important albums, including Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde on Blonde, John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline, Self Portrait and New Morning; Simon & Garfunkel's Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme and Sounds of Silence; Leonard Cohen's Songs from a Room; and Johnny Cash's At Folsom Prison. He also produced for Aretha Franklin, The Byrds and Patti Page.
- She released her solo album Midnight, marking the end of her group Grace Potter And The Nocturnals. Her current and future husbands played on the album: Matt Burr, whom she married in 2013, and Eric Valentine, whom she married in 2017.
- The manager of Wham!, Snow Patrol, Scissor Sisters and The Verve died of lung cancer. He co-managed Wham! and is credited with helping them break into the American market in 1985 and subsequently tour China as the first Western pop group.
- Her fifth studio album “Woman” reached No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 and became her second album to reach the top spot.
- One Direction reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with "Drag Me Down". It was their first single following Zayn Malik's departure.
- Rapper and producer Dr. Dre reached No. 1 on the UK chart with his third studio album, “Compton”. The album also reached No. 1 that year in Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, France, Ireland, New Zealand and Switzerland.
- 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.
- Charlie Puth and Meghan Trainor reached No. 1 on the British singles chart with their debut single “Marvin Gaye”.
- Michael McDonald joined The Doobie Brothers on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”, where they performed a medley of “Long Train Runnin'” and “Takin' It to the Streets”. The group also performed a web-exclusive version of “What a Fool Believes”.
- Westboro Baptist Church, known for its protests against homosexuality, staged a demonstration before the Foo Fighters concert in Kansas City. The group responded by positioning a truck in front of the demonstrators and mocking them by loudly playing Rick Astley's song “Never Gonna Give You Up”.
- The soundtrack album to the musical fantasy adventure comedy film “Descendants” reached No. 1 in the United States.
- Singer and songwriter The Weeknd achieved his first U.S. No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Can't Feel My Face”.
- Iron Maiden announced that they would use a huge Boeing 747-400 Jumbo Jet named “Ed Force One” for the 2016 The Book of Souls World Tour, carrying the band, their crew and more than 12 tons of stage equipment. Singer Bruce Dickinson was preparing to pilot it. The aircraft subsequently transported the band and equipment more than 55,000 miles across six continents and 35 countries.
- Aretha Franklin told Billboard.com that there was a possibility her life story could appear on Broadway. She said she would like to see a dramatic musical and felt the timing was right, especially following the success of “Jersey Boys”. The Broadway project ultimately did not happen.
- Jess Glynne reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart for the fifth time with “Don't Be So Hard on Yourself”. The song was an international hit and also reached the top in Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland.
- Dr. Dre’s album “Compton” was released internationally.
- Ultimate Classic Rock published the feature “This Day in Rock History: August 28”, which recalled Bob Dylan’s meeting with The Beatles in 1964, Dylan’s first performance with Robbie Robertson and Levon Helm in 1965, Bruce Dickinson’s final concert with Iron Maiden in 1993, and the release of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” in 1975.
- Country singer and songwriter Luke Bryan scored his second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with his fifth studio album "Kill the Lights".
- Jamaican singer Omi returned to No. 1 on the US singles chart with "Cheerleader".
- Taylor Swift and Kanye West reconciled when Swift presented him with the Video Vanguard Award at the MTV Video Music Awards, where West had famously interrupted her acceptance speech six years earlier.
- Wilko Johnson, known for his work with Dr. Feelgood, returned to the stage after overcoming cancer, performing at the Rye Jazz Festival in East Sussex, England.
- Van Morrison performed two concerts on Cyprus Avenue in Belfast on his 70th birthday. The street had inspired him to write the song "Cyprus Avenue".
- At the MTV Video Music Awards, she won Video of the Year for “Bad Blood.”
- Black Sabbath announced their final tour, titled The End, which was scheduled to begin in January 2016. Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler were confirmed to participate, while original drummer Bill Ward was not mentioned in the announcement.
- Jess Glynne reached No. 1 on the UK album chart with her debut studio album I Cry When I Laugh.
- Rachel Platten earned her first UK No. 1 single with “Fight Song”.
- 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.
- Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones told the New York Daily News that rap music was for “people who can't hear” and criticized its musical construction. He said that, in his view, rap listeners only needed a drum beat and someone shouting over it. In the same interview, he also commented on Metallica and Black Sabbath.
- Cuban-Jamaican ska and reggae trombonist Rico Rodriguez died at the age of 80. He recorded with numerous musicians, including Karl Pitterson, Prince Buster and Lloyd “Matador” Daley. He was one of the earliest and most influential ska performers and had been performing and recording in Britain since the early 1960s, including with The Specials, Jools Holland and Paul Young.
- The Arcs released the album Yours, Dreamily.
- Travis Scott, already known for his mixtapes, released his debut album Rodeo, a psychedelic trap recording featuring guests including Kanye West, Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, Future and Swae Lee.
- Dennis Greene, an original member of Sha Na Na, died at the age of 66. He sang lead vocals on the group's version of “Tears on My Pillow,” which appeared in the film Grease.
- David Gilmour reached No. 1 on the UK album chart with his fourth solo studio album, “Rattle That Lock”; the album topped the charts in ten other countries.
- An original recording of The Beatles performing at the Cavern Club in 1962 was discovered in Liverpool. The recording included the song “Some Other Guy” and had remained forgotten in a desk drawer for almost 50 years.
- 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.
- The Weeknd replaced his previous hit "Can’t Feel My Face" at the top of the US chart when "The Hills" began a six-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
- Johnny Cash was posthumously inducted into the Music City Walk of Fame in Nashville.
- 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.
- Country and pop singer Billy Joe Royal, who had four songs in the Billboard Top 40, died suddenly at the age of 73. His hits included “Down in the Boondocks” (#9 in 1965), “I Knew You When” (#14 in 1965) and “Cherry Hill Park” (#15 in 1969).
- Johnny Cash was posthumously inducted into the Music City Walk of Fame in downtown Nashville. His younger brother Tommy Cash accepted the plaque bearing his name. Johnny Cash died on September 12, 2003, at the age of 71.
- The music video game Rock Band 4 was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
- Gail Zappa, widow of Frank Zappa and longtime head of the Zappa Family Trust, died on October 7, 2015, at her home in Los Angeles at the age of 70. After Frank's death in 1993, she oversaw the release of dozens of posthumous albums and protected his musical legacy and rights to his work.
- Scottish singer and songwriter Jim Diamond died at the age of 64. His first hit was the 1982 song “I Won't Let You Down” as the singer of the trio PhD, and in 1984 he had the solo hit “I Should Have Known Better,” which reached No. 1 on the British chart.
- Recording Industry Association of America midyear figures showed vinyl record sales rising 52.1% to more than $221 million in revenue. CD sales fell 27.6% to just over 41 million units, generating nearly $495 million, more than 30% below the previous year's $722 million.
- American tenor saxophonist Steve Mackay died at the age of 66 from sepsis in a hospital in Daly City, California. He was best known for his work with The Stooges and also performed with Violent Femmes.
- Carey Lander, keyboardist for the Scottish indie-pop band Camera Obscura, died at the age of 33 from osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. The band's debut album, Biggest Bluest Hi Fi, was released in 2001.
- 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.
- Guitarist Steve Morse revealed in the GuitCast podcast that Deep Purple had completed several recording and songwriting sessions while preparing a new album. The material later developed into the album inFinite, released on April 7, 2017.