January •
January 1 – In most of Europe, copyright expired on a number of classic pop and rock'n'roll songs recorded in 1954 and earlier, including
Bill Haley's "
Rock Around the Clock", and "Only You" by
The Platters. •
January 7 – Welsh
punk band
Mclusky officially announce their disbanding via their website. Weeks later, Welsh noisecore/punk band
Jarcrew disband due to their drummer becoming a
Jehovah's Witness – remnants of the two bands later went on to join forces and become
Future of the Left. •
January 13 –
Duran Duran begins their
Astronaut in
London, England. •
January 17 – Prior to missing 2 live shows,
Mike Tempesta is officially no longer part of
Powerman 5000 due to fighting with the band. •
January 20 –
Leonard Slatkin conducts the debut concert of
Philip Glass's
Symphony No. 7 "Toltec". •
January 21–
February 6 – The
Big Day Out festival takes place in
Australia and
New Zealand, headlined by
Beastie Boys,
The Chemical Brothers and
System of a Down. •
January 22 – The
Tsunami Relief concert is held at the
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales – the largest live music event in the UK since the
Live Aid concert of 1985. Performers included
Madonna,
Eric Clapton,
Jools Holland,
Manic Street Preachers,
Lulu,
Aled Jones,
Charlotte Church,
Katherine Jenkins,
Feeder,
Snow Patrol,
Liberty X. •
January 29 –
Avril Lavigne,
Chantal Kreviazuk, the
Barenaked Ladies,
Raine Maida, and
Sarah McLachlan conduct a concert in Vancouver, British Columbia, for
tsunami relief. •
January 31 •
Tiesto releases a new single from his album
Just Be entitled
Adagio for Strings. •
Jon Levasseur leaves
Cryptopsy, saying he has lost interest in Extreme Music.
February •
February 7 – The
BRIT Awards are held in London.
Scissor Sisters,
Keane,
Franz Ferdinand, and
Joss Stone are among the winners. •
February 8 –
Matchbox Twenty frontman
Rob Thomas releases
Lonely No More, his first solo hit. It peaked at #1 in Adult Contemporary. •
February 13 – The
47th Grammy Awards are held in
Staples Center,
Los Angeles,
California, hosted by
Queen Latifah. The late
Ray Charles becomes the big winner at the ceremony, winning five awards, including
Album of the Year for
Genius Loves Company and
Record of the Year for a re-recorded duet version of "
Here We Go Again" with
Norah Jones.
John Mayer's "
Daughters" wins
Song of the Year, while
Maroon 5 win
Best New Artist.
Britney Spears earned her first
Grammy in the category of
Best Dance Recording for her hit single
Toxic. •
February 15 –
Sonny Mayo replaces
Clint Lowery in
Sevendust. •
February 22 • After being silent since late 2004,
Blink-182 announce that they will be taking an indefinite hiatus, the news comes as a big shock for fans. According to guitarist
Tom DeLonge, the band will not come completely inactive. •
Brian Welch, guitarist of
Korn, leaves the band after converting to Christianity. •
February 28 –
Static-X fires
Tripp Eisen because of his arrest for sex offenses involving a minor.
March •
March 7 –
Koichi Fukuda rejoins
Static-X on guitar after 5 years away from the band. Fukuda replaces
Tripp Eisen, who was arrested twice in February over two separate charges of sexual intercourse with underage girls. •
March 26 – Australian drummer of
Crowded House,
Paul Hester, is found dead in a Melbourne Park. •
March 29 –
Mariah Carey releases her second single, "
We Belong Together", from her tenth studio album,
The Emancipation of Mimi. The song would hold the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 weeks, the highest record for the entire decade.
Will Smith releases his fourth studio album (first under Interscope Records)
Lost and Found.
April •
April 3 •
Country music legend
Kenny Rogers signs a major worldwide record deal with
Capitol Records. •
Alice in Chains original bass player
Mike Starr is arrested for "investigation of property destruction and theft". He was also sentenced to 30 days for misdemeanor drug possession in April 1994, two years after being replaced from the group during the recording of
Dirt. •
April 7 – The concert
Selena ¡VIVE! takes place at
Reliant Stadium in Houston. The memorial concert was held on the 10th anniversary of the murder by firearm of Selena, "The Queen of Tejano Music". Performers include
Thalía,
Gloria Estefan,
Paulina Rubio,
Pepe Aguilar,
Banda el Recodo,
Alejandra Guzmán and
Fey. •
April 9 –
Destiny's Child launch their World Tour
Destiny Fulfilled... and Lovin' It in
Hiroshima, Japan. •
April 12 –
Mariah Carey releases her tenth studio album,
The Emancipation of Mimi. The album went on to become the best-selling album of 2005 in the US, and the second-best seller worldwide, with global sales of 10 million copies. Its second single, "
We Belong Together", was later hailed "Song of the Decade" by
Billboard and accumulated 14 weeks at number one in the US, while its third single,
"Shake It Off", reached number two. The album begins a career revival is her biggest success of the decade.
May • May–June –
Operation Ivy/
Rancid bassist
Matt Freeman is diagnosed with lung cancer. •
May 2 • Legendary
blues-rock group
Cream reunites for four shows in London's
Royal Albert Hall. •
Linkin Park issues a press release demanding to end its contract with
Warner Music Group, on the grounds that the label would fail to meet its "fiduciary responsibility to market and promote Linkin Park" due to cost-cutting efforts at the company. •
Nu metal Band
Limp Bizkit Released their EP
The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1). •
May 6 –
Audioslave becomes the first American rock group to perform a free outdoor concert in
Cuba. •
May 17 –
Kylie Minogue is diagnosed with breast cancer. Thus she has to cancel her
Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour. •
System of a Down release their fourth studio album
Mezmerize. •
May 19–21 – The 50th
Eurovision Song Contest, held at the
Palace of Sports in
Kyiv,
Ukraine, is won by Greek-Swedish singer
Helena Paparizou, representing
Greece with the song "
My Number One". It is the first contest to be broadcast in
widescreen 16:9 format. •
May 21 – The Los Angeles radio station
KROQ-FM airs the 13th Annual
Weenie Roast show with
Alkaline Trio,
Audioslave,
Bloc Party,
The Bravery,
The Dead 60s,
Foo Fighters,
Hot Hot Heat,
Interpol,
Jimmy Eat World,
The Killers,
The Mars Volta,
Mötley Crüe,
MxPx,
My Chemical Romance,
Queens of the Stone Age and
The Transplants. •
May 24 –
Audioslave releases their second studio album
Out of Exile. The album debuted No. 1 on the
Billboard 200. •
May 25 –
Carrie Underwood wins the fourth season of
American Idol.
Bo Bice is named runner-up. •
May 27 –
Gretchen Wilson guest
Miranda Lambert at the
Schottenstein Center in
Columbus, Ohio.
June •
June 4 –
Mariah Carey's "
We Belong Together" became her sixteenth chart topper on the
US Billboard Hot 100. The song then spent 14 non-consecutive weeks at number one on both the US
Billboard Hot 100 and
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It made history when it became the first song to simultaneously occupy the number one position on nine
Billboard charts (the week ending August 6, 2005): the Hot 100, Hot 100 Airplay, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs,
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay,
Pop 100 Airplay,
Top 40 Mainstream,
Rhythmic Airplay Chart,
Hot Dance Club Songs, and
Hot Ringtones. •
June 10-12 – The annual
Download Festival takes place at
Donington Park in
Leicestershire, England, the festival's first three-day event.
Feeder,
Black Sabbath and
System of a Down headline the main stage, while the Snickers stage is headlined by
Billy Idol,
In Flames and
Motörhead, the Napster stage by
Napalm Death,
Helmet and
Therapy?, and the Snickers Bowl stage by
TAT,
Reuben and
Electric Eel Shock. •
June 12 –
Pink Floyd announce that they will reunite with former bassist
Roger Waters, who left the band in 1985, on July 2 for the
Live 8 London concert. This will be the first time the band played together as a quartet since
The Wall tour in 1981, and the first public performance by Pink Floyd since 1994. •
June 13 –
Michael Jackson is found not guilty of child molestation. •
June 14 – The
Backstreet Boys came back and released their fifth studio album
Never Gone after a nearly 5-year hiatus •
June 15 –
Destiny's Child announce they will disband upon completion of their world tour. •
June 16 –
Motörhead celebrate their 30th anniversary with a concert in the
Hammersmith Apollo, which is later released on DVD. •
June 18–19 –
Green Day films their first ever live CD/DVD
Bullet in a Bible at the
National Bowl in
Milton Keynes, England. They played to over 130,000 fans in two days. •
June 21 –
Billy Corgan announces that he wants to reform his popular
alternative rock group
The Smashing Pumpkins, which disbanded on December 2, 2000. •
June 25 –
Patti Smith curates the
Meltdown festival.
July–August •
July 2 –
Live 8 benefit concerts are held around the world, as part of the
Make Poverty History campaign. •
July 4 –
The Charlie Daniels Band plays (and makes a concert DVD) at Riverfront Park in
Nashville, Tennessee •
July 6 –
Lil' Kim is sentenced to a year and a day in prison for lying to a federal grand jury about her knowledge of suspects in a 2001 shooting outside a New York radio station. •
July 21 –
Gigantour runs through to September 11, a festival organised by
Megadeth frontman
Dave Mustaine with bands including
Dream Theater,
Anthrax,
Fear Factory and
Nevermore. •
July 23–24 – The annual
Splendour in the Grass music festival is held in
Byron Bay,
Australia, headlined by
Queens of the Stone Age and
Moby. •
August 9 –
Staind releases
Chapter V, which becomes their third-straight studio album to reach #1 on the US
Billboard 200 album charts. •
August 18 –
Interscope Records reports that
Eminem has entered rehab for dependency on sleep medication. The rapper had canceled the European leg of the
Anger Management 3 Tour two days earlier, citing exhaustion. A four-year hiatus would ensue until the release of the
Relapse album in 2009. •
August 24-31 – The UNESCO-sponsored Fifth Sharq Taronalari (Melodies of the East) International Music Festival is held in Samarkand. •
August 26 –
Rihanna releases her debut album
Music of the Sun, which debuts at number 10 on the US
Billboard 200. The album produced two singles that achieved international chart success, including first single "
Pon de Replay", which topped number 2 at the US
Billboard Hot 100. •
August 28 –
Death Row Records CEO
Suge Knight is shot in the leg at an
MTV Video Music Awards pre-party in Miami. No one is ever charged in the shooting. •
August 30 -
Kanye West releases his 2nd studio album "
Late Registration".
September–October •
September 2 • A statue of
Edward Elgar by Jemma Pearson is unveiled near Hereford Cathedral. •
A Concert for Hurricane Relief airs on NBC and its affiliates, the first of several benefit concerts held to raise funds for
Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast and
ReAct Now: Music & Relief air the following week.
From the Big Apple to the Big Easy, a pair of simultaneous benefit concerts at
Madison Square Garden and
Radio City Music Hall, are held on September 20. On A Concert for Hurricane Relief, rapper
Kanye West makes controversial statement, "
George Bush doesn't care about black people". •
September 9 – The band
Scooter perform at the All-State Arena in Chicago, IL, their first performance in the United States. •
September 10 – Destiny's Child breaks up after the finishing of their Destiny Fulfilled...and Lovin' it Tour. •
September 20 –
J.D. Fortune wins
Rock Star: INXS, a reality TV singing contest to become the new lead vocalist of Australian rock band
INXS. •
September 27 – American rock band
Panic! at the Disco released their debut album "
A Fever You Can't Sweat Out". Actor
Drake Bell releases his debut musical album
Telegraph. Dancehall artist
Sean Paul releases his third album titled
The Trinity. American rapper
Common releases the single
"Testify" for his 2005 album
Be. •
October 1 •
Sentenced plays their final show. •
Akcent releases their first single (and video) from their album
French Kiss with Kylie entitled Kylie. •
October 4 –
J.D. Fortune releases his first single with
INXS called
Pretty Vegas •
October 11 - The band
Simon Dawes is formed. •
October 15 – Media reported that Latin star
Luis Miguel has released his own vintage of wine, "Unico. Luis Miguel", a
Cabernet Sauvignon. •
October 21 –
Nightwish perform at the
Hartwall Areena, later to be released as the
End of an Era DVD. The following day, singer
Tarja Turunen is dismissed in an open letter. •
October 25 –
NSYNC releases their first compilation album
Greatest Hits three years after their breakup. •
October 31 –
Greatest Hits is released. It is a collection of
Blink-182's greatest singles. At the time of the release,
Blink-182 were on an indefinite hiatus but would later reunite in 2009 and release their sixth studio album
Neighborhoods in 2011.
November •
November 5, guitarist
Link Wray of the Ray Men dies at age 76 in Copenhagen, Denmark •
November 6 –
Madonna earns her 36th Top Ten single with
Warner Bros. Records-based, ABBA-sampled "
Hung Up". This ties her with
Elvis Presley for the most Top Ten singles.
The Beatles have 34. "
Hung Up" is also Madonna's 47th Top Forty single – the most for any female artist. Her new album
Confessions On A Dance Floor hits #1 in 40 countries during the month, a new record. (The Beatles also previously held this record when
The Beatles 1 went to #1 in 36 countries in 2000.) •
November 8 – The first
Guitar Hero video game is released for the
PlayStation 2. The game becomes a major hit, would help make
rhythm games one of the most popular video game genres, and increased the sales of artists who have their songs included in the games. •
November 14 –
Country music superstars
Trisha Yearwood,
Martina McBride,
Barbara Mandrell,
Carrie Underwood and
Jo Dee Messina at the
CNN's
Larry King Live. •
November 15 • The
Sony BMG copy protection rootkit scandal breaks as
Sony BMG announces that it will recall all remaining stock of an estimated 15 million CDs containing copy protection that exposes the computers of consumers to serious security risks if played in their PC disc drives. Several class action lawsuits are filed against Sony in the ensuing public relations disaster. • All-female group
Danity Kane is formed on MTV show
Making The Band. •
November 20 –
Madonna's Warner Bros. Records-based (Festival Mushroom Records in Australia) single, "
Hung Up" takes the title as the ARIA #1 single. •
November 21 –
Kate DeAraugo takes the title of
Australian Idol 2005, ahead of
Emily Williams. •
November 22 • The 33rd annual
American Music Awards are held. Multiple winners are
Destiny's Child,
Tim McGraw,
Kelly Clarkson,
The Black Eyed Peas, and
Green Day. •
System of a Down becomes the third musical act to have two number 1 albums in the same year. The other two to do this record were
DMX &
The Beatles. •
Britney Spears releases her first
remix album,
B in the Mix: The Remixes. The album had sold 1 million copies worldwide, making it one of the
best selling remix album of all time. •
November 24 –
Carrie Underwood releases the music video for "
Jesus, Take the Wheel". •
November 29 –
Chris Brown comes onto the music scene at age 16 with the release of his debut album
Chris Brown. Making him the second youngest male R&B artist to come into the music business since
Usher in 1994. •
November 30 –
Apocalyptica change locations of the shoot of their DVD "The Life Burns Tour" from
Erfurt, Germany (Dec. 2) to
Düsseldorf, Germany (Dec. 4) due to technical reasons.
December •
December 3 –
Marilyn Manson and
Dita Von Teese hold a wedding ceremony in Ireland. •
December 6 –
Korn's seventh studio album,
See You on the Other Side, debuts at number 3 on the
Billboard 200. This is the first album without longtime guitarist
Brian "Head" Welch and is the last to feature original drummer
David Silveria. •
December 7 – The nominations for the 48th
Grammy Awards are announced. The top-nominated artists include
Mariah Carey,
John Legend, and
Kanye West, with eight nominations each. Other nominated artists include
Gwen Stefani,
Beyoncé Knowles (two of her own, plus four with
Destiny's Child),
Kelly Clarkson, and
50 Cent. •
December 10 •
Amnesty International launches its "
Make Some Noise" music initiative. • The Los Angeles radio station
KROQ-FM airs the 16th annual
Acoustic Christmas. On November 10, 2005, KROQ's official website announced that it will include
Avenged Sevenfold,
Fall Out Boy,
Korn,
Nine Inch Nails,
Rise Against,
System of a Down and
Thrice for the first night. The second night is held the following day, as also announced at KROQ's official website on November 15, 2005 and includes
The Bravery,
Coldplay,
Death Cab for Cutie,
Depeche Mode,
Hot Hot Heat,
Jack Johnson,
Nada Surf and
The White Stripes. •
December 11 –
Peter Wichers leaves
Soilwork. •
December 15 –
Madonna's Warner Bros. Records-based single, "
Hung Up" sets a new record in the download charts by staying at #1 for 7 consecutive weeks. The single first appears on Z100 New York, closely followed by 2Day FM (Sydney), Fox FM (Melbourne) and Nova 96.9 (Sydney) other stations follow including:
Mix 106.5 (Sydney),
Mix 101.1 (Melbourne),
Vega 95.3 (Sydney),
Vega 91.5 (Melbourne) and the rest of the MIX FM stations. •
December 17 –
Shayne Ward is named winner of the
second series of
The X Factor UK.
Andy Abraham is named runner-up, while
Journey South and
Brenda Edwards finish third and fourth respectively. •
December 21 –
Elton John marries
David Furnish in London. This marriage comes in the wake of new British laws affording gay unions the same legal protection enjoyed within straight marriages. •
December 31 •
Mariah Carey earns her 17th #1 single with "
Don't Forget About Us", tying with Elvis for second as the act with the most #1 singles.
The Beatles have 20. She also becomes the first act to perform live in
Times Square on the
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve television special on this day. •
Glue Gun reforms after eight years, with frontman Bob Oedy the only original member. The new line-up is Bob Oedy (vocals), Joey Rimicci (guitars), Brian Priess (bass) and Andy Alverez (drums). Rimicci and Priess were previously members of
Jughead's Revenge.
Also in 2005 •
UNESCO declares the Mongolian
Long song one of the
Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity • The popular song "
Big Chief" faced censorship for its
racially sensitive content and themes. In some point, the song would eventually play on the radio during
Mardi Gras with the lyrics removed before retiring it from circulation over a decade later. ==Bands formed==