January •
January 14 –
Eminem remarries ex-wife Kim after five years of separation. •
January 20 –
February 5 – The
Big Day Out festival takes place in
Australia and
New Zealand, headlined by
The White Stripes,
Iggy and the Stooges and
Franz Ferdinand.
AFI withdraw due to a delay in recording their then-untitled
seventh studio album, with
Mylo and
Jean Grae also withdrawing from the lineup. •
January 31 – American
hardcore punk band
Champion announced their impending breakup, with a final show scheduled for May.
February •
February 1 •
Vienna State Opera announces that music director
Seiji Ozawa will have to cancel all of his performance commitments for 2006 due to ill-health. •
February 8 – The
48th annual Grammy Awards are handed out at the
Staples Center in Los Angeles, USA.
Madonna opens the awards for a third time.
U2 is the night's big winner, with five awards, becoming the only rock act currently to win two
Album of the Year awards with their win for
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, following their 1988 win for
The Joshua Tree. They also win
Song of the Year for "
Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own", while
Green Day's "
Boulevard of Broken Dreams" wins
Record of the Year.
John Legend wins
Best New Artist.
Mariah Carey won three of her eight nominations, her first Grammys since 1991.
Kelly Clarkson is the first
American Idol contestant ever to win a Grammy. •
February 18 –
The Rolling Stones give a free concert with about 1,3 million people in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. •
February 22 – The one billionth song is downloaded on
iTunes; the song is "
Speed of Sound" by
Coldplay. •
February 24 – Premiere of
The Scarecrow by Joseph Turrin at University of Texas at Austin Performing Arts Center. •
February 25 – The fourth annual
Total Request Live awards are held in New York City, USA.
Madonna wins the Lifetime Achievement Award and
Bono wins the Most Inspired Artist/Humanitarian Award. Other winners include
Fall Out Boy,
Chris Brown,
Mariah Carey,
Ashlee Simpson,
Kelly Clarkson,
Amanda Bynes, and
My Chemical Romance. Performers included
Ashlee Simpson and Chris Brown.
March •
March 5 •
Bon Jovi's second single, "
Who Says You Can't Go Home", from the album
Have A Nice Day goes to number one in the U.S. Hot Country Charts for two weeks. This is the first time a rock band has achieved a number one hit in the US
country charts. •
Three 6 Mafia became the first African American hip-hop group to win an
Academy Award for Best Song and also became the first hip-hop artists to ever perform at the ceremony. The group was nominated for the song "
It's Hard out Here for a Pimp" from the
Hustle & Flow film soundtrack. •
March 11 –
James Blunt, with his single "
You're Beautiful", becomes the first British artist to top the US
Billboard Hot 100 chart since
Elton John with "
Candle in the Wind 1997" almost nine years earlier.
April •
April 1–2 – The
Festival Imperial is held in the Autódromo La Guácima, in
Alajuela, Costa Rica. •
April 5 –
Eminem files for divorce from wife Kim, less than three months after they were married for the second time. •
April 11 – Rapper
Proof is shot and killed by a nightclub bouncer at 8 Mile Road in Detroit, Michigan, after allegedly shooting a third man, Keith Bender, Jr, who later dies of his injuries. •
April 15 –
Mary J. Blige's single "
Be Without You" ends its 15th week at number one on the US Billboard
R&B chart, making it the most successful R&B song in history. •
April 29–30 – The
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival takes place in
Indio, California, USA. Performers include
Madonna,
James Blunt,
Kanye West,
Depeche Mode,
Daft Punk, and
Paul Oakenfold.
May •
May 1 – 1,951 guitarists simultaneously play
Jimi Hendrix's song "
Hey Joe" in the town square of
Wrocław, Poland, breaking a
Guinness world record. •
May 2 –
Pearl Jam release their self-titled album
Pearl Jam, their eighth studio album. It was also their first released album after their departure from
Sony. •
May 8 –
Mor ve Otesi, a
Turkish alternative rock band, release
Büyük Düşler, their fifth studio album. •
May 9 –
Beirut release their debut album,
Gulag Orkestar. •
May 20 – Finnish monster rock band
Lordi win the
Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "
Hard Rock Hallelujah", the first
hard rock and
heavy metal song to win. •
May 21 –
Madonna begins her
Confessions Tour in Los Angeles, USA. Tickets were sold out within minutes in North America, Europe, and Asia, resulting in new dates to be announced in New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and London. The tour grossed more than US$260 million – the highest-grossing tour in history by a female artist. •
May 24 –
Taylor Hicks wins the US television talent contest,
American Idol,
season 5.
Katharine McPhee is the runner-up.
June •
June 1 –
YoungbloodZ and their entourage are arrested on drugs and weapons charges in
Atlanta, Georgia, USA. •
June 6 –
Ice Cube's first album in six years,
Laugh Now, Cry Later, is released on his independently owned record label
Lench Mob Records. The album debuted in the top five selling 144,000 copies in the first week. •
June 7 – World premiere of
Karlheinz Stockhausen's
Freude, for two harps, in the
Milan Cathedral by Esther Kooi and
Marianne Smit. •
June 8 –
Shakira's single "
Hips Don't Lie" sells 266,500
downloads in its first week of availability, overtaking
D4L's record of 175,000. "Hips Don't Lie" also breaks another record, gaining the greatest
airplay in a single week with 9,657 plays, breaking
Gwen Stefani's "
Hollaback Girl" record of 9,582. •
June 9 •
Nelly Furtado's new album,
Loose is released and debuts at No. 1 with 219,000 copies sold, making it her first number-one album. •
Igor Cavalera leaves
Sepultura because of artistic differences – the third official member and the second Cavalera to leave. •
June 9–11 – The annual
Download Festival takes place at
Donington Park in
Leicestershire, England.
Tool,
Metallica and
Guns N' Roses headlined the main stage, the Snickers stage by
The All-American Rejects,
Alter Bridge and
The Prodigy, the Gibson/Myspace stage by Ginger & The Sonic Circus,
Killing Joke and
Sick of It All, and the Snickers Bowl stage by
Gay for Johnny Depp,
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly and
Viking Skull. •
June 14 –
Shakira launches her
Oral Fixation Tour in
Zaragoza, Spain. •
June 16–18 –
Bonnaroo Music Festival takes place in
Manchester, Tennessee, USA. Performers include
Radiohead,
Tom Petty,
Phil Lesh and Friends,
Beck, and
Sasha. •
June 19 –
Taylor Swift released her first single, "
Tim McGraw", at 16 years old. •
June 23 –
Backstreet Boys band member
Kevin Richardson leaves the group to pursue other interests. However, he would return to the group permanently on April 29, 2012.
July •
July 1 –
Glue Gun performed their first reunion concert at Harpers in
Northridge, Los Angeles, California, USA. It was the band's first performance since breaking up in 1996. •
July 4 –
Steven Tyler and
Joe Perry of
Aerosmith perform with the
Boston Pops Orchestra in an event televised nationally in the USA. •
July 5 – The US television talent show,
American Idol, begins its tour. •
July 7 –
Justin Timberlake released his single
SexyBack. The song went on to top the
Billboard Hot 100 for a total of 7 weeks. •
July 9 –
Scooter releases the live CD and DVD
Excess All Areas, with recordings taken from the ''Who's Got The Last Laugh Now?'' tour. •
July 11 –
Jean Dolabella replaces
Igor Cavalera in
Sepultura. •
July 12 –
Rivers Cuomo confirms that
Weezer is now on hiatus again. Commenting on the band's future he said, "I'm not certain we'll ever make a record again, unless it becomes really obvious to me that we need to do one." •
July 17 – Canadian singer-songwriter
Avril Lavigne marries
Sum 41 frontman
Deryck Whibley in a private ceremony. •
July 22 – Mariah starts her tour for The Emancipation of Mimi [The Adventures of Mimi]. •
Taylor Swift first video, "
Tim McGraw" on
Great American Country. •
July 29 •
Stephanie McIntosh, former star of the Australian television soap opera,
Neighbours, releases her debut single, "
Mistake", in Australia, where it became a top three hit. • Family Values Tour 2006, featuring
Korn,
Deftones and
Stone Sour, begins. This was the first Family Values Tour since 2001. •
July 30 – The last ever weekly edition of the British television chart show,
Top of the Pops, is broadcast after 42 years on the air. •
July 31 – Chicago rock band
OK Go release their video for their single "
Here It Goes Again", and the video quickly becomes an
internet phenomenon on YouTube.
August •
August 1 – The 10th anniversary of television channel
MTV2's launch and the 25th anniversary of MTV's launch. •
August 2 –
Dan Swanö quits
Bloodbath. •
August 4–6 – The
Lollapalooza festival is held in Chicago, USA. •
August 15 –
Christina Aguilera releases her third studio album
Back to Basics, and debuts No. 1 on the
Billboard 200; her first studio album in four years, it becomes her second number one album since her debut, selling 346,000 copies in its first week. •
August 21 –
Anne-Sophie Mutter announces her divorce from
André Previn. •
August 25 • It is reported that
Aerosmith bassist
Tom Hamilton is undergoing treatment for
throat cancer and will sit out the first half of the band's
Route of All Evil Tour, the first time he would miss any shows in the band's history. Long time band friend David Hull filled in for Hamilton until his return. •
The Assassin Tree (score:
Stuart MacRae, libretto:
Simon Armitage) is premiered at the
Edinburgh International Festival. •
August 26 –
David Gilmour's world tour ends with a performance at the Gdańsk shipyards,
Gdańsk. The show was filmed and recorded for release of the live album set
Live in Gdańsk (2008). •
August 29 –
Jessica Simpson released her first album in three years,
A Public Affair, after her "public" divorce. •
August 31 – Rock group
Panic! at the Disco win the Video of the Year award for their hit single "
I Write Sins Not Tragedies" at the
2006 MTV Video Music Awards.
September •
September 3 –
Beyoncé Knowles releases her second consecutive No.1 solo album
B'Day, selling 541,000 copies in its first week. And spawning two UK No.1 singles. •
September 5 – The
Mercury Music Prize is held in the UK, with
Arctic Monkeys' debut album ''
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'' winning ahead of entries from acts such as
Muse and
Thom Yorke. Audioslave's third and final album,
Revelations, is released. •
September 8 –
Eddie Van Halen announces that the lineup for his next album will include his son
Wolfgang on bass and not the longtime
Van Halen bassist
Michael Anthony, whom Eddie says he is on the outs with. •
September 12 –
Justin Timberlake releases his second album
FutureSex/LoveSounds after 4 years. The album debuted No. 1 on the
Billboard 200, giving Justin his first number one album as a solo artist, selling 648,000 copies in its first week. Its first three singles were consecutive number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, making Timberlake the first male artist to have three or more consecutive number-one hits from one album since
Usher achieved it in 2004 •
September 18 – Elton John released his 29th studio album
The Captain & the Kid. •
September 19 •
Ben Kweller releases his third solo album
Ben Kweller on the
label ATO Records. •
Navin Kundra debuts with what became number one on the UK Asian Charts, Tukde, Tukde (Pieces in English). His first of six number one singles. •
September 22 –
A Tempestade, (score and libretto:
Ronaldo Miranda), based on
Shakespeare's play
The Tempest, is premiered at
Theatro São Pedro in
São Paulo, Brazil. •
September 27 –
Boy band,
Five, announce they are to reunite, minus original bandmate
Sean Conlon.
October •
October 2 – Violinist and
opera singer Logan Simpson is arrested for refusing to stop his car when a traffic light turns red. •
October 3 –
Evanescence releases their second studio album
The Open Door. The album debuted No. 1 on the
Billboard 200. •
October 7 – Liquidation of the bankrupt music store chain
Tower Records begins after its assets are purchased by Great American Group. The last store closes its doors permanently on December 22. •
October 10 –
Justin Hawkins, lead singer of the band
The Darkness announces he is leaving the band. •
October 11 – After 25 years as an artist,
"Weird Al" Yankovic finally gets his first top 10 hit, with "White & Nerdy". •
October 15 – New York City music club
CBGB closes after a lengthy rent dispute.
Patti Smith performs the final show at the club that night. •
October 17 – French singer
Manu Chao performs in
Colombia to an audience of 80,000 people. •
October 23 • Launch of
MTV Pakistan. •
My Chemical Romance release their third studio album
The Black Parade, the first on which
Bob Bryar plays drums. •
October 24 –
Taylor Swift releases her debut self-titled album at the age of 16, which sold 39,000 in its first week. •
October 25 – Guitarist Brian May announces on his website that
Queen is returning to the studio for recording sessions. The new lineup,
Queen + Paul Rodgers, features May,
Paul Rodgers (the former lead vocalist of
Free) and former Queen drummer
Roger Taylor. •
October 26 –
Duran Duran lead guitarist
Andy Taylor once again leaves the band after a series of disagreements surrounding their latest album, which was still incomplete by the year's end. Reasons given are his disapproval of the usage of both
Timbaland and
Justin Timberlake in the creation of the band's album. The band hires an interim guitarist to supplant Taylor, with no real replacement being announced. •
October 30 •
Keane release "Nothing In My Way", the first single to be released on a
USB memory stick. •
Bring Me the Horizon release
Count Your Blessings, their debut album. •
October 31 •
The Who release
Endless Wire, their first studio album for 24 years. •
Green Day and
U2 released a cover of "
The Saints Are Coming".
November–December •
November 7 •
Nelly Furtado records a cameo appearance in the Portuguese soap opera
Floribella. •
Britney Spears files for divorce from
Kevin Federline after two years of marriage. •
November 11 •
Justin Timberlake's single "
My Love" reaches number one on the US
Billboard Hot 100. •
Kylie Minogue resumes
Showgirl – The Homecoming Tour in Sydney, Australia after a break of a year and a half resulting from undergoing treatment for breast cancer. •
November 14 –
Microsoft releases the first
Zune media player. •
November 16 • The
MTV Movie Awards Latin America 2006 are held. Performers at the event included
Evanescence,
Robbie Williams,
Panda, Nelly Furtado, and
Shakira. •
Snow Patrol become the first British band in 13 years to reach the top five of the US
Billboard Hot 100. •
November 21 – American rock band
Daughtry release their
debut album, which sells 306,000 copies in the opening week, to become the fastest selling rock album in soundscan history. •
November 24 – The
American Music Awards are broadcast. Winners include
Kelly Clarkson,
Red Hot Chili Peppers, Shakira,
Jamie Foxx,
Nickelback,
Sean Paul,
The Black Eyed Peas,
Eminem,
Faith Hill,
Rascal Flatts,
Tim McGraw and
Mary J. Blige, Nelly Furtado,
John Mayer,
Fall Out Boy and
Beyoncé performed at the event. •
November 26 –
Damien Leith wins the Australian television talent show,
Australian Idol 2006, becoming the oldest winner of any
Idol show in the world and defeating 16-year-old
Jessica Mauboy. •
November 27 –
The Offspring announce that they were back in the studio recording their first album since 2003's
Splinter. •
December 6 – December 6 is declared
Dia de Shakira (
Day of Shakira) by the mayor of Miami, USA. •
December 13 –
David Silveria leaves
Korn to manage his restaurant. •
December 16 •
Leona Lewis is named winner of the
third series of
The X Factor UK.
Ray Quinn is named runner-up, while
Ben Mills and
The MacDonald Brothers finish in third and fourth place respectively. • The inaugural edition of the Premios Principales del Año (later known as Premios 40 Principales and currently
Los 40 Music Awards) takes place in
Madrid.
El Canto del Loco win three awards in the national categories;
Shakira wins two in the international categories.
Undated •
Bilal's second album,
Love for Sale, is
leaked and shelved by his record label. •
Rohan Kriwaczek's
An Incomplete History of the Art of Funerary Violin, a non-existent musical genre, is published. ==Bands formed==