1996 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1996.__TOC__

Events

January

* January - Israel's Son gained controversy in which Two American teenagers - Nicholaus McDonald and Brian Bassett - had been charged with the murder of Bassett's parents and young brother. Defense lawyers attempted to lay the blame for these murders on the fact the pair had been listening to Israel's Son prior to the crimes what was dubbed the "Israel's Son Murders". Murmur Records released an official statement on behalf of Silverchair, responding to these allegations, which pointed out that silverchair did not condone violence of any kind and that the song "seeks to criticize violence and war by portraying them in all their horror." Although no further connection was made between the song and the actions of the two young murderers, the US video was re-edited, much to the band's annoyance.
* January 8 - Madonna's stalker, Robert Hoskins is found guilty and convicted on five charges of assault, stalking, and threatening to kill the singer. [cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1431648/19960112/madonna.jhtml|title=Madonna Faces Stalker In Court|last=anonymous|date=12 January 1996|publisher=MTV Networks|accessdate=2008-04-15]
* January 16
**Jamaican authorities open fire on Jimmy Buffett's seaplane, "Hemisphere Dancer", mistaking it for a drug trafficker's plane. U2 singer Bono and Island Records executive, Chris Blackwell, were also on the plane. No-one was injured. [cite web|url=http://www.buffettworld.com/incidents/jamaicamistaica/|title=Incidents -> Jamaica Mistaica|last=anonymous|date=undated|publisher=BuffettWorld|accessdate=2008-04-15]
**At a pre-trial hearing, Tom Copland, the lawyer representing teenager Nicholaus McDonald, blames Silverchair's song "Israel's Son" for inspiring his client, together with fellow teenager Brian Bassett, to murder Bassett's parents and five-year-old brother in McCleary, Washington, USA. [cite web|url=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/archives/1996/9601180034.asp|title=ATTORNEY WANTS TO OPEN TEEN'S MURDER TRIAL WITH ROCK SONG|last=P-I Staff and News Services|date=18 January 1996|publisher=Seattle Post-Intelligencer|accessdate=2008-04-15]
* January 18 - Lisa Marie Presley files for divorce from Michael Jackson. [cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9601/jacko_presley/|title=She's out of his life|last=anonymous|date=18 January 18 1996|publisher=Cable News Network, Inc. (CNN)|accessdate=2008-04-16]
* January 25 - Madonna receives death threats from Argentine conservatives who are enraged and insulted that she is playing Eva Peron in "Evita".Fact|date=April 2008 After she arrives in Argentina, over 50 walls throughout the city have been spray-painted with the words: "¡Viva Evita! ¡Fuera Madonna!" (Long Live Evita! Get Out, Madonna!). [cite web|url=http://www.elmundo.es/papel/hemeroteca/1996/01/21/cultura/78600.html|title=Madonna empieza a pasar los primeros apuros en Buenos Aires|first=Juan Ignacio|date=21 January 1996|publisher=Mundinteractivos, S.A. (El Mundo)|language=Spanish|accessdate=2008-04-16]
* January 28 - Chris Isaak makes a guest appearance on the television show "Friends". [cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0583439/|title= "Friends" The One After the Superbowl: Part 1 (1996)|last=anonymous|date=undated|publisher=IMDb.com, Inc.|accessdate=2008-04-16]
* January 29
**La Fenice opera house in Venice, Italy, was destroyed by fire. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1250826.stm|title=Two jailed for Venice opera arson|last=anonymous|date=30 March 2001|publisher=BBC|accessdate=2008-04-16]
**Kiss reveals to the world that they have reunited with original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss with a surprise appearance on the American Music Awards. The band took to the stage in full makeup and costume for the first time since 1980. [cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/bands/g/news_feature_grammyflashback/1996/|title=Grammy Flashback 1996|last=anonymous|date=undated|publisher=MTV Networks|accessdate=2008-04-16]
**Garth Brooks refuses to accept his American Music Award for Favorite Overall Artist. [cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9506E2D61639F932A05752C0A960958260|title=CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK;Music Awards for a Mythical Middle America|last=Pareles|first=John|date=31 January 1996|publisher=The New York Times|accessdate=2008-04-16] Brooks says that Hootie and the Blowfish had done more for music that year than he did.Fact|date=April 2008

February

* February 4 - Former Milli-Vanilli band member Rob Pilatus was hospitalized when a man hit him over the head with a baseball bat in Hollywood, California, USA. Pilatus was attempting to steal the man's car. [cite web|url=http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/02-96/02-06-96/zpeople.htm#XINDEX7|title=People, places & things in the news|last=Compiled from wire reports|date=undated|publisher= South Coast Media Group|accessdate=2008-04-20]
* February 13 - Tupac Shakur released the first ever rap double album, "All Eyez on Me". The album is one of the most influential albums in hip hop history. "All Eyez on Me" achieved platinum sales in just four hours and reached #1 on the Billboard 200 charts.Fact|date=April 2008
* February 14 - The Artist Formerly Known As Prince marries backup singer Mayte Garcia.Fact|date=April 2008
* February 20 - Snoop Dogg and his bodyguard are acquitted of first degree murder. The jury deadlocks on voluntary manslaughter charges and a mistrial is declared.Fact|date=April 2008

March

* March 4 - The Beatles' second reunion song was released as part of their first reunion since the band's breakup 26 years earlier. The song is a finished version of "Real Love", a John Lennon demo from 1980.Fact|date=May 2008
* March 13 - Ramones fans rioted in Buenos Aires, Argentina after waiting all night for concert tickets only to find out that the show had been sold out.Fact|date=April 2008
* March 16 - Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men ended their 16th consecutive week at #1 in the American charts with "One Sweet Day". It is the longest consecutive week stay at #1 in the Billboard Hot 100's history.Fact|date=May 2008
* March 18 - The Sex Pistols announced that they would be reuniting for a 20th anniversary tour.Fact|date=May 2008
* March 28 - Phil Collins announced that he was leaving Genesis to focus on his solo career.Fact|date=May 2008

April

* April 3 - M.C. Hammer files for bankruptcy.
* April 4 - The Grateful Dead's Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia's widow, Deborah, scatter part of Garcia's ashes in the Ganges River in India.
* April 15 - The remaining part of Jerry Garcia's ashes are scattered near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California.
* April 16 - Madonna announces that she is four months pregnant by Carlos Leon, her then boyfriend and trainer.
* April 24 - This Train, Rick Elias, Jimmy A, Phil Keaggy, Carolyn Arends, Third Day & Ashley Cleveland perform a tribute concert for Rich Mullins at Nashville's Cafe Milano. Speakers included Reunion Records executive Terry Hemmings, record producer Reed Arvin, disc jockey Jon Rivers, and author Brennan Manning.
* April 28 - Oasis play the second of two gigs in Maine Road, home of Manchester City F.C., featured on the video "…There and Then".

May/June

*The Galway Early Music Festival is launched in Ireland.
* May 8 - In Los Angeles, California, a judge rules against Tommy Lee and wife, actress Pamela Anderson Lee, in their attempt to keep Penthouse magazine from publishing still photos taken from an X-rated home movie that was stolen from their home.
* May 25 - Brad Nowell, lead singer of the band Sublime, is found dead of a heroin overdose in his San Francisco motel room.
* June 21 - The Sex Pistols start their reunion tour in Lahti, Finland.

July

*The Smashing Pumpkins drummer, Jimmy Chamberlin, is arrested for possession of a controlled substance. The other band members fire him because they said his "insidious battle with drugs and alcohol" had nearly ruined everything for the band.Fact|date=April 2008
* July 5 - Mark King solo album One Man is release
* July 9 - "Wannabe", the best-selling single by any female pop group, is released in the UK by the Spice Girls.
* July 11 - Robert Simpson's second string quintet premiered at the Cheltenham International Festival by the Maggini Quartet with Pal Banda, cellist.
* July 29 - Jason Matthew Thirsk, bassist of the band Pennywise, dies of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Fact|date=April 2008

August

* August 1 - MTV2 was launched.Fact|date=September 2008
* August 10 and August 11 - Oasis played at Knebworth, UK, for two consecutive nights in front of 250,000 people. It is considered the peak of the Britpop movement.Who|date=September 2008Fact|date=April 2008

eptember

* September 7 - Rapper Tupac Shakur is shot four times in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, while leaving the MGM Grand hotel after seeing the Mike Tyson versus Bruce Seldon boxing match, in what is apparently a drive-by shooting
* September 7 - Michael Jackson starts the HIStory World Tour
* September 12 - Controversy follows The Eagles when the band dedicates "Peaceful Easy Feeling" to Saddam Hussein at a United States Democratic Party fundraiser held in Los Angeles.Fact|date=April 2008
* September 13 - Tupac Shakur dies in hospital after his wounds from his September 7 shooting.

October

* October 6 - Country singers Faith Hill and Tim McGraw get married.
* October 14 - Madonna's first child, Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon, is born in Los Angeles, California.
* October 30 - Slash officially leaves Guns N' Roses.
* October 31 - Slipknot releases their limited edition album "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.".

November

* November 8 - After having first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, the film "Hype!", a documentary on the Seattle grunge scene, opens to general audiences
* November 24 - Crowded House plays its final concert on the steps of the Sydney Opera House in Australia, in front of an audience of almost 200,000. Proceeds from this concert support the Sydney Children's Hospital.

December

* December 7 - The Sex Pistols finish their reunion tour in Santiago, Chile.
* December 16 - Max Cavalera leaves Sepultura because of Sepultura not renewing his wife, Gloria's, contract as manager as well as being overwhelmed by the death of his step-son.Fact|date=April 2008

Date unknown

* House of Pain breaks up which leads to DJ Lethal joining Limp Bizkit.
* Sheryl Crow's self titled album is banned from Wal-Mart stores because of the lyric "Watch out sister, watch out brother/watch our children while they kill each other/with a gun they bought at Wal-Mart Discount Stores".
* The Monkees embark on their "30th Anniversary Reunion Tour".
* Singer Tori Amos is sued when a man crashes his car after being distracted by a billboard advertising her album. The billboard featured a photo of Amos breastfeeding a piglet.Fact|date=April 2008
* David Bowie's single "Telling Lies" becomes the first song offered as a free digital download by a major record label (Virgin Records).
*Roberto Alagna marries Angela Gheorghiu.
*Coal Chamber signs with Roadrunner Records and Mikey "Bug" Cox replaces John Tor.
*Alice Cooper performs at Sammy Hagar's club, Cabo Wabo, in Mexico. It was recorded and released the next year as a live album.
* The Proms in the Park event is launched in London, UK.Fact|date=April 2008

Bands formed

*Ace Troubleshooter
*Agalloch
*Alkaline Trio
*All Systems Go!
*Arch Enemy
*Belle and Sebastian
*Chamberlain
*Disturbed
*Dressy Bessy
*Engine Down
*Fountains of Wayne
*Good Charlotte
*Godsmack
*Hadag Nahash
*The Haunted
*Iceman
*Lordi
*Linkin Park
*Mudvayne
*Nightwish
*Quarashi
*Park Ave.
*Puffy AmiYumi
*Sanctus Real
*Skillet
*Slipknot
*Sum 41
*Switchfoot
*Within Temptation
*Matchbox Twenty
*Zebrahead

Bands disbanded

* 2 Unlimited
* Arrested Development
* At The Gates
* Army of Lovers
* Belly
* Carcass (they reform in 2007)
* Cluster (they reform in 2007)
* Crowded House (they reform in 2007)
* Eric's Trip
* Extreme
* Heavenly
* House of Pain
* Jawbreaker
* Jodeci (hiatus, until 2006)
* The Kinks
* Lush
* Ned's Atomic Dustbin
* The Pogues
* The Ramones
* Ride
* Siouxsie & The Banshees
* The Stone Roses
* Sublime
* Take That (they reform in 2005)
* Vaya Con Dios

Bands return

*The Monkees
*New Edition
*Poison
*Kiss
*Devo
*Supertramp
*Patti Smith

Albums released

January

April

July

October

Release Date Unknown

*"Back in the Shootin' Match" - Ace Troubleshooter
*"Black Earth" - Arch Enemy
*"Take It From The Man!" - The Brian Jonestown Massacre
*"Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request" - The Brian Jonestown Massacre
*"Testing Positive" - George Clinton
*"All the Pretty Little Horses" - Current 93
*"A Man Amongst Men" - Bo Diddley
*"Love in Space" - Hawkwind
*"Inquilaab" - Junoon
*"Democracy" - Killing Joke
*"Neu! '72 Live in Dusseldorf" - Neu!
*"Curb" - Nickelback
*"Hesher" - Nickelback
*"Brown" - P.O.D.
*"La Passione" - Chris Rea
*"Telephono" - Spoon
*"Nénette et Boni" - Tindersticks
*"Garibaldi Guard!" - U.S. Bombs

Biggest hit singles

The following songs achieved the highest positions in the charts of 1996. [cite web|url=http://tsort.info/music/yr1996.htm|title=Songs from the Year 1996|last=Hawtin|first=Steve|date=2007|accessdate=2008-04-05]

Top hits on record

*"1979"- The Smashing Pumpkins
*"6th Avenue Heartache" - The Wallflowers
*"Aeroplane" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
*"Ahead By A Century" - The Tragically Hip
*"All Mixed Up" - 311
*"Always Be My Baby" - Mariah Carey
*"Bad Hair Day" - "Weird Al" Yankovic
*"Because You Loved Me" - Celine Dion
*"Big Me" - Foo Fighters
*"Breathe Babylon" - P.O.D.
*"Bullet With Butterfly Wings" - The Smashing Pumpkins
*"Bulls on Parade" - Rage Against the Machine
*"California Love" - Tupac Shakur / Dr. Dre
*"Can't Get You Off My Mind" - Lenny Kravitz
*"Change the World" - Eric Clapton, written by Wayne Kirkpatrick, Gordon Kennedy and Tommy Sims, won a Grammy award for song of the year in 1997
*"Charmless Man" - Blur
*"Children" - Robert Miles
*"C'Mon N' Ride It (The Train)" - Quad City DJ's
*"Crash Into Me" - Dave Matthews Band
*"Darla dirladada" - Dalida (remix)
*"Don't Cry for Me Argentina" - Madonna
*"Don't Look Back in Anger" - Oasis
*"Down (311 song)" - 311
*"Drain You" live - Nirvana
*"E-Bow the Letter" – R.E.M. featuring Patti Smith
*"Free as a Bird" - The Beatles
*"Give Me One Reason" - Tracy Chapman
*"Guilty" - Gravity Kills
*"Hand in My Pocket" - Alanis Morissette
*"Head over Feet" - Alanis Morissette
*"Hero of the Day" - Metallica
*"How Can You Live With Yourself" - The Tubes
*"How Do U Want It" - 2Pac
*"I Want To Come Over" - Melissa Etheridge
*"If It Makes You Happy" - Sheryl Crow
*"If You Could Only See" - Tonic
*"I'll Never Break Your Heart" - Backstreet Boys
*"I'll Stick Around" - Foo Fighters
*"Interstate Love Song" - Stone Temple Pilots
*"Ironic" - Alanis Morissette
*"Is It a Crime" - Sade
*"Jealousy" - Natalie Merchant
*"Killing Me Softly With His Song" - The Fugees
*"King Nothing" - Metallica
*"La Mamma" - Dalida (inédit)
*"Là-bas dans le noir" - Dalida (remix)
*"Long Way Down (song)" - Goo Goo Dolls
*"Love Don't Live Here Anymore" - Madonna
*"Macarena" - Los Del Rio
*"Mama Said" - Metallica
*"Motel California" - Ugly Kid Joe
*"My Boo" - Ghost Town DJ's
*"Naked Eye" - Luscious Jackson
*"Naked" - Goo Goo Dolls
*"No Diggity" - Blackstreet featuring Dr. Dre
*"Novocaine for the Soul" - Eels
*"One Headlight" - The Wallflowers
*"One Sweet Day - Mariah Carey" and Boyz II Men
*"Pepper" - Butthole Surfers
*"People of the Sun" - Rage Against the Machine
*"Pretty Noose" - Soundgarden
*"Professional Widow (Star Trunk Funkin' Mix)" - Tori Amos
*"Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)" - Backstreet Boys
*"Ready or Not" - Fugees
*"Return of the Mack" - Mark Morrison
*"So Much To Say" - Dave Matthews Band
*"Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand" - Primitive Radio Gods
*"Steelo - 702"
*"Stupid Girl" - Garbage
*"Tahitian Moon" - Porno for Pyros
*"Tha Crossroads" - Bone Thugs-N-Harmony won a grammy for best rap song in 1997, topped #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for 8 weeks, and tied The Beatles' 32 year-old record for fastest-rising single.Fact|date=August 2008
*"The Beautiful People" - Marilyn Manson
*"The Earth,The Sun,The Rain" - Color Me Badd
*"Tic, Tic Tac" - Carrapicho
*"Tonight, Tonight" - The Smashing Pumpkins
*"Un-Break My Heart" - Toni Braxton
*"Until It Sleeps" - Metallica
*"Vapors" - Snoop Doggy Dogg
*"Virtual Insanity" - Jamiroquai
*"Wash Away" - Vertical Horizon
*"When You're Gone" - The Cranberries
*"What I Got" - Sublime
*"Where It's At" - Beck
*"Who Will Save Your Soul" - Jewel
*"Wonder" - Natalie Merchant
*"You Learn" - Alanis Morissette
*"You Must Love Me" - Madonna
*"You Oughta Know" - Alanis Morissette
*"You Were Meant For Me" - Jewel, held longest chart run for single. 1996-1998
*"Zero" - The Smashing Pumpkins

"See also: Hot 100 number-one hits of 1996 (United States)"

Most critically acclaimed songs of 1996

This list is taken from acclaimedmusic.net. [cite web|url=http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/Current/1996s.htm|title=The Top Songs from 1996 |last=Franzon|first=Henrik|publisher=Henrik Franzon|accessdate=2008-04-05]

*1. "Firestarter", The Prodigy
*2. "Where It's At", Beck
*3. "No Diggity", Blackstreet featuring Dr. Dre
*4. "Setting Sun", The Chemical Brothers
*5. "A Design for Life", Manic Street Preachers
*6. "Woo-Hah!! (Got You All in Check)", Busta Rhymes
*7. "California Love", 2Pac featuring Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman
*8. "Ready or Not", Fugees
*9. "Devil's Haircut", Beck
*10. "Killing Me Softly", Fugees

Classical music

*Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen - "Trumpet Concerto No. 2"
*Michael Berkeley - "Viola Concerto" (revised)
*Elliott Carter - "Clarinet Concerto"
*Mario Davidovsky - "Quartetto No. 2" for oboe, violin, viola, violoncello
*Peter Maxwell Davies - "Strathclyde Concerto No 10: Concerto for Orchestra"
*Joël-François Durand - "Les raisons des forces mouvantes" for organ
*Alexander Goehr - "Viola Concerto"
*Sofia Gubaidulina - "Viola Concerto"
*Hans Werner Henze - "Labyrinth" (revision of 1951 work)
*Wilhelm Kaiser-Lindemann - "Homage a Nelson Mandela"
*John Pickard - "Third Symphony"
*Wolfgang Rihm - "Deus Passus" (oratorio)
*Juan Maria Solare - "Diez Estudios Escénicos"

Opera

*Peter Maxwell Davies - "The Doctor of Myddfai"
*Daron Hagen - "Vera of Las Vegas"

Musical theater

*"Chicago" (Kander and Ebb) - Broadway revival
*"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" (Stephen Sondheim) - Broadway revival
*"I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" - off Broadway production
*"The King and I" (Rodgers and Hammerstein) - Broadway revival
*"Once Upon a Mattress" - Broadway revival
*"Rent" (Jonathan Larson) - Broadway production (originally off Broadway}
*"State Fair" - Broadway production

Musical films

*"Everyone Says I Love You"
*"Evita"
*"The Hunchback of Notre Dame"
*"James and the Giant Peach"

Deaths

*January 20 - Gerry Mulligan, saxophonist, 68
*January 21 - Edem Ephraim, London Boys, 37
*January 21 - Dennis Fuller, London Boys, 37
*January 25 - Jonathan Larson, composer
*February 7 - Boris Tchaikovsky, composer
*February 17 - Evelyn Laye, English actress and singer, 95
*February 20 - Toru Takemitsu, composer
*February 26 - Mieczysław Weinberg, composer
*March 4 - Minnie Pearl, 84
*March 15 - Olga Rudge, violinist, 101
*March 22 - Don Murray, The Turtles
*April 18 - Bernard Edwards, Chic, pneumonia
*May 8 - Celedonio Romero, leader of the Romeros guitar quartet
*May 10 - Ethel Smith, organist, 85
*May 17 - Kevin Gilbert, studio engineer, songwriter with Toy Matinee, Tuesday Night Music Club
*May 25 - Brad Nowell, lead singer and guitarist for Sublime
*June 14 - Mathew Fletcher, drummer with Heavenly
*June 15 - Ella Fitzgerald, jazz singer
*June 20 - Jim Ellison, singer and guitarist for Material Issue, 32
*July 12 - Jonathan Melvoin, touring keyboardist for The Smashing Pumpkins, 34
*July 16 - John Panozzo, drummer for Styx and brother of Chuck Panozzo, 48
*July 17 - Chas Chandler, The Animals
*July 17 - Marcel Dadi, French country and western guitarist, died in the crash of TWA flight 800, 45
*July 22 - Rob Collins, Original keyboardist of The Charlatans, 31
*July 29 - Jason Thirsk, Pennywise bassist
*August 13 - David Tudor, pianist and composer
*August 14 - Sergiu Celibidache, Romanian conductor, 84
*August 23 - Jurriaan Andriessen, Dutch composer, 71
*September 1 - Vagn Holmboe, Danish composer, 83
*September 13 - Tupac Shakur, rapper, poet, actor, 25
*October 2 - Joonas Kokkonen, Finnish composer, 75
*October 11 - Renato Russo, lead singer and composer for Legião Urbana, 36
*October 17 - Berthold Goldschmidt, German composer, 93
*October 17 - Chris Acland, Lush drummer, 30
*November 2 - Eva Marie Cassidy, American vocalist, 30
*November 30 - Tiny Tim, musician
*December 10 - Faron Young, 64
*December 29 - Mireille, French singer

Awards

*Eurovision Song Contest "Main article:" Eurovision Song Contest 1996
*Grammy Awards "Main article:" Grammy Awards of 1996
*MTV Video Music Awards "Main article:" 1996 MTV Video Music Awards
*Mercury Music Prize The Mercury Music Prize was awarded to "Different Class", the album by Pulp.
*Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The following artists were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: David Bowie, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Jefferson Airplane, Little Willie John, Pink Floyd, The Shirelles and The Velvet Underground.

Charts

*Triple J Hottest 100 "Main article:" Triple J Hottest 100, 1996

ee also

* 1996 in music (UK)
*
*

References