January •
January 7 • After eight years of marriage, musician husband
Rod Stewart and supermodel wife
Rachel Hunter announce their separation. •
Paul McCartney attends the launch of his daughter
Heather's first housewares collection in
Georgia. •
January 11 – During the
American Music Awards,
Billy Joel is awarded the Special Award of Merit for his "inspired songwriting skills" and "exciting showmanship." •
January 12 •
Britney Spears releases her hit album
...Baby One More Time. The album is the second best-selling album of the 90s in the US and the third best-selling album of the 90s worldwide. It also enters the list of the top 20 best-selling albums of all time. •
Fredrik Johansson is fired from
Dark Tranquillity. •
January 15–
31 – After a short hiatus in 1998, the
Big Day Out festival returns to Australia and New Zealand, headlined by
Hole and
Marilyn Manson. •
January 21 –
A&M Records is shut down and merged into the
Universal Music Group umbrella label
Interscope Geffen A&M. It would be relaunched in 2007. •
January 22 – German
industrial band
KMFDM announces that it has disbanded. •
January 28 –
Kirk Franklin performs at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland for the video recording of "The Nu Nation Tour" featuring
CeCe Winans,
Trin-i-Tee 5:7 and
Crystal Lewis •
January 30 – Britney Spears' hit album and single
...Baby One More Time both hit number one on the Billboard Charts. This is her first album (and song) to achieve this. The album spent 6 weeks on number 1 and a total of 103 weeks on the Billboard 200 Charts. It's number 16 on the Billboard list "Best Female Albums of all time" and number 41 on the Billboard list "Best Albums of all time". The single "
...Baby One More Time" spent 2 consecutive weeks on number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and a total of 32 weeks on that same list.
February •
February 9 –
NSYNC release their third single from their debut album, "
(God Must Have Spent) A Little More Time on You", which peaks in the top 10 on the Pop charts. •
February 10 –
Iron Maiden announces that singer
Bruce Dickinson and guitarist
Adrian Smith have rejoined the band. •
February 14 –
Elton John appears as himself in a special episode of the animated series
The Simpsons. •
February 15 – "
Rolling Stones Day" is declared in
Minnesota by Governor (and former Rolling Stones bodyguard)
Jesse Ventura. •
February 19 –
Marilyn Manson files a defamation countersuit against former
Spin Magazine editor Craig Marks, in response to a multimillion-dollar lawsuit that Marks filed in January against the singer, the
record label Nothing/Interscope, and Manson's bodyguard agency. •
February 22 – In Los Angeles, California,
Stevie Wonder is honored as the 1999
MusiCares Person of the Year. •
February 23 –
Eminem releases his second studio album and major-label debut,
The Slim Shady LP. It debuts at number two on the
Billboard 200, selling over 200,000 copies in its first week. It remains on the
Billboard 200 for 100 weeks. •
February 24 – At the
1999 Grammy Awards,
Lauryn Hill becomes the first female artist to win five Grammys in one night. •
February 25 –
The Artist Formerly Known as Prince files a lawsuit against nine Web sites for copyright and trademark infringement, claiming that the websites sell bootlegged recordings and offer unauthorized song downloads.
March •
March 1 –
Sony Music Distribution raises wholesale prices on audio compact discs by 8 US cents. •
March 2 •
Cher's song "Believe" reaches number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making Cher the oldest female artist (at the age of 52) to perform this feat. Cher also set the record for the longest hit-making career span, with 33 years between the release of her first and last Billboard Hot 100 #1 singles (1965 and 1999). • The
House of Blues in
Paradise, Nevada at the Mandalay Bay Resort.
Bob Dylan performs a concert at the club and is joined by
U2's lead singer
Bono for an encore of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". •
March 5 –
Trauma Records files a $40 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against the members of
Bush for failing to deliver a new album. •
March 6 – A 67-year-old
George Jones is seriously injured in a car accident while on his way home. Jones' Lexus crashed into a bridge at about 1:30 p.m. It is later revealed that alcohol was a factor in the accident. •
March 15 –
Marilyn Manson is injured when he slips and falls during a concert at the Great Western Forum in
Inglewood, California. Manson's performance is cut short. •
March 16 – The
Recording Industry Association of America introduces a new certification level, Diamond, for albums or singles selling ten million units. •
March 17 –
Namie Amuro's mother Emiko Taira is murdered. •
March 21 – Irish girl band
B*Witched score their fourth consecutive #1 with "
Blame It On The Weatherman" on the UK singles chart. They become the first band to have all their first four singles enter at the top simultaneously and set a new record. It is broken a year later by Irish boy band
Westlife. •
March 23 –
Green Day release "
Nice Guys Finish Last", the lead track as well as the fourth and final single off their 1997 album
Nimrod, and was their last single to be released in the 20th century. •
March 27 – The
Bee Gees end their
One Night Only tour in
Sydney, Australia.
April •
April 10 – A charity tribute, the
Concert for Linda McCartney is held at the
Royal Albert Hall in London.
Here, There and Everywhere: A Concert For Linda, features performances by
Paul McCartney,
Chrissie Hynde of
the Pretenders,
Elvis Costello,
Sinéad O'Connor, and
George Michael. Proceeds raised at the event went to animal rights causes. •
April 13 –
Faith Hill and
LeAnn Rimes at the
VH1 Divas. •
April 19 –
Neil Young performs at
Madison Square Garden in New York City. Due to a mistake by a Madison Square Garden staff member, the marquee read "
Bob Dylan, Tonight at 8pm". Young jokingly introduced one of his guitar players as Bob Dylan during the show. •
April 20 •
Billy Joel performs at Meadowlands in
New Jersey. Joel announces that this would be his last public pop music concert. Joel also announces plans on devoting his future efforts to classical music. • The
Columbine High School massacre takes place in
Jefferson County, Colorado, sparking a widespread moral panic that ultimately tries to place the blame on violent media, including music perceived to be violent and/or connected to the goth culture. American rocker
Marilyn Manson receives the brunt of the blame despite evidence that neither of the shooters were fans of his. Manson then withdraws, only to address the issue in the form of his
fourth studio album. The finger is also pointed at German industrial metal acts
Rammstein and
KMFDM, of whom the shooters were fans. This
sensationalism gradually wanes in the years following, and all three music acts ironically achieve more mainstream acceptance in the U.S. than they had prior to the massacre.
Christian Contemporary Music artists respond to the concept that
Atheism caused the shooting and in particular the
Cassie Bernall urban legend (about a girl who was initially believed to have been shot in the head for answering "yes" when perpetrator Eric Harris asked her if she believed in God) with songs such as "A New Hope" by
Five Iron Frenzy, about a band member's sister who had been trapped in the choir room returning to school after the shooting, and "
This Is Your Time" by
Michael W. Smith, a direct response to the Cassie Bernall story. •
April 26 – Musician and former bandleader of The Sound,
Adrian Borland, commits suicide in London. •
April 28 –
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers receive a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame. •
April 30 –
Columbine High School massacre:
Aerosmith visits Columbine High School shooting victim Lance Kirklin in a Colorado hospital before a concert in
Denver, Colorado. Kirklin was one of 24 wounded in the April 20 shooting, 13 others were killed.
May •
May 1 • "The Paintings of
Paul McCartney" exhibit opens at the Lyz Art Forum in
Siegen, Germany. The exhibit features around 70 paintings by the former
Beatle. • Musical group
Atari Teenage Riot starts a riot in Berlin with their anti-consumer and anti-government lyrics. •
May 18 • The
Backstreet Boys release their third studio album
Millennium both in the US and internationally. •
May 29 – The 44th
Eurovision Song Contest, held at the
International Convention Center in
Jerusalem, is won by
Swedish singer
Charlotte Nilsson with the song "
Take Me to Your Heaven".
June •
June 1 •
Peer-to-peer file sharing network
Napster is launched. •
Blink-182 release their third studio album
Enema of the State, which debuted at #9 on the
Billboard 200, skyrocketing the band into mainstream success and spearheading a second wave of
pop-punk. •
June 2 – The
Backstreet Boys smash the old first-week sales record of Garth Brooks' 1.08 million, with
Millennium, which sold over 1.13 million in its first week and was the first album to sell over 500,000 copies at least 2 weeks. The album holds at No. 1 first-weeks sales record of the 1990s. •
June 13 –
S Club 7 debut at #1 on the
UK singles chart with their first single "
Bring It All Back" and become the largest vocal group to enter at the top. •
June 22 •
Christina Aguilera releases "
Genie in a Bottle", which becomes a worldwide hit, selling over seven million copies. •
Limp Bizkit's second album,
Significant Other, debuts at number one on the
Billboard 200, with 643,874 copies sold in its first week. The album launches them into mainstream success. •
June 25 -
Michael Jackson MJ & Friends Concerts in 1999, with numerous other performers as well. The purpose of the tour was to raise funds for children in Kosovo, Africa & elsewhere. Jackson gave two concerts during the tour. The first one took place in Seoul, South Korea on June 25 & the second one was in Munich, Germany
June 27. •
June 28 –
Britney Spears embarks on her first
concert tour,
...Baby One More Time Tour. The tour only reached North America and garnered a positive review, but generated some controversy due to her racy outfit and accusation of
lip syncing. •
June 29 •
Santana and
Matchbox Twenty vocalist
Rob Thomas release
"Smooth", which peaks at #1 for 12 weeks. • Razor and Tie releases the single-disc version of
Monster Ballads. It would eventually be certified platinum at the end of the year.
July •
July 1 – The new
Scottish Parliament is formally opened with a rock concert in the shadow of
Edinburgh Castle and is headlined by
Garbage, whose lead singer
Shirley Manson is at the time one of the biggest music stars from Scotland. •
July 3 –
Indie rock icon
Mark Sandman collapses on stage at the Giardini del Principe in
Palestrina,
Latium, Italy (near Rome) while performing with
Morphine. He is soon pronounced dead of a heart attack at the age of 46. Morphine immediately disbands. •
July 8 –
Adrian Erlandsson quits
The Haunted as the drummer while the band hires
Per Möller Jensen as Erlandsson's replacement. •
July 12 –
Gregg Alexander issues a press release dissolving the
New Radicals. •
July 13–18 – The third
Yoyo A Go Go punk and indie rock festival opens in
Olympia, Washington. •
July 20 –
Powerman 5000 release their second studio album
Tonight the Stars Revolt! •
July 22–25 – The highly anticipated
Woodstock 99 festival takes place in Rome, New York. Performers include the
Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Korn,
Kid Rock,
Limp Bizkit,
Rage Against the Machine,
DMX,
James Brown, and
Jamiroquai.
August •
August 14–15 –
The Artist Formerly Known as Prince holds a weekend yard sale at his
Paisley Park Studios, with part of the proceeds going to benefit underprivileged youth. •
August 24 –
Christina Aguilera releases her self titled debut album. It will become one of the best selling albums of the year and sell over 14 million copies. •
August 27–29 – The third
Terrastock festival is held in London. •
August 31 –
Megadeth release eighth studio album
Risk.
September •
September 1 – The
Irish Music Hall of Fame opens;
Van Morrison is the first inducted into the museum. •
September 9 – The
MTV Video Music Awards of 1999 take place.
Britney Spears has the most memorable performance of the event, performing her hit single "
...Baby One More Time";
NSYNC joined her with their song "
Tearin' Up My Heart". •
September 14 – Nu-Metal Band
Dope Release their debut studio album
Felons and Revolutionaries. •
September 17 – Rapper
Eminem is sued by his mother for $10 million, claiming that public comments he made about her were slanderous and had caused emotional stress and financial harm. She eventually collects a mere $1,600 settlement in 2001. •
September 21 –
David Bowie's twenty-first studio album
Hours becomes the first complete
album by a major artist legally available to download over the Internet, preceding the physical release by two weeks. •
September 28 –
Creed releases their second studio album
Human Clay. The album debuted No. 1 on the
Billboard 200. •
September 30 –
Billboard announces that
Ministry of Sound Recordings Ltd is expanding into Australia after ending a partnership with
MDS Dancenet and establishes
Ministry of Sound Australia, known until 2005 as Ministry of Sound (UK) Pty Ltd. Ministry UK also secures a distribution deal with
EMI Music Group Australasia Pty Ltd.
October •
October 9 • "
Heartbreaker", the lead single from
Mariah Carey's seventh studio album,
Rainbow, reaches #1 on the
Billboard 100, becoming her 14th #1 single and also her 59th week atop the chart. When it stayed at #1 for a further week Carey surpassed
The Beatles for the act with the most weeks spent at number one. The song also topped charts in Canada and New Zealand. • The first
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is held in California. The inaugural line-up consists of
Beck,
The Chemical Brothers,
Tool,
Morrissey and
Rage Against the Machine. • The anti-poverty initiative
NetAid is launched with simultaneous benefit concerts in London,
New Jersey and
Geneva. •
October 19 –
98 Degrees release their first Christmas album
This Christmas. •
October 20 –
Melissa Auf der Maur leaves
Hole.
November •
November 5 • Australian independent record label
Liberation Music is formed. •
Gary Cherone leaves
Van Halen. •
November 11 –
Toploader release their debut studio album,
Onka's Big Moka. •
November 12 – 1970s rock star
Gary Glitter is jailed for four months for downloading
child pornography off the
Internet. •
November 15 –
Korn performs their entire album
Issues at the Apollo Theater in New York City, becoming the first rock band ever to perform at the Apollo. •
November 16 •
Korn's fourth studio album,
Issues, debuts at number 1 on the
Billboard 200 with 575,000 copies sold in its first week. •
November 23 –
Michael W. Smith release their ninth studio album
This Is Your Time. •
University of Oregon student Jeffrey Levy, having downloaded MP3s without permission, is the first person convicted for copyright infringement under the
NET Act of 1997. He is sentenced to two years of probation and a limit on Internet access.
December •
December 4 – The
Spice Girls start their Christmas Tour around the UK, dubbed as the
Christmas in Spiceworld Tour. •
December 14 •
BMI announces the most played songs on American radio and television in the 20th century BMI Announces Top 100 Songs of the Century (full list) •
Paul McCartney returns to
The Cavern Club to play a special concert for 300 fans. •
Boy George is injured by a 62-pound disco ball that falls from a concert venue's ceiling during a rehearsal, nearly killing him as it almost landed on his head. •
December 27 –
Puff Daddy and fellow rapper
Shyne are arrested for weapons violations and other charges after a shooting in a Manhattan nightclub that leaves three people injured. •
December 30 –
George Harrison survives a knife attack by an intruder in his
Friar Park home. •
December 31 – Many special New Year's Eve concerts are held around the world to celebrate the arrival of the year 2000. Big shows include
Barbra Streisand at The
MGM Grand Las Vegas,
The Eagles at the
Staples Center in Los Angeles,
Billy Joel at
Madison Square Garden, and
Metallica with
Kid Rock and
Ted Nugent playing for 54,000 the
Pontiac Silverdome. The biggest concert that night is by
Phish, however, playing for 75,000 people at the
Big Cypress Indian Reservation in Florida.
Unknown • Vocalist Lawrence Mackrory quits
Darkane. The band hires by Andreas Sydow as his replacement after. ==Bands formed==