1996 in music
See also:
1995 in music,
other events of 1996,
1997 in music, 1990s in music and the list of 'years in music'
Events
- January 16 - Jamaican authorities open fire on Jimmy Buffett's seaplane, mistaking it for a drug trafficker's plane. U2 singer Bono was also on the plane, but neither singer was injured.
- January 18 - Lisa Marie Presley files for divorce from Michael Jackson.
- January 28 - Chris Isaak makes a guest appearance on the television show Friends.
- January 29 - Garth Brooks refuses to accept his American Music Award for "Favorite Overall Artist". Brooks says that Hootie and the Blowfish had done more for music that year than he did.
- February 4 - Former Milli-Vanilli member Rob Pilatus is hospitalized when a man hits him over the head with a baseball bat in Hollywood, California. Pilatus was attempting to steal the man's car.
- February 14 - The Artist Formerly Known As Prince marries backup singer Mayte Garcia.
- February 20 - Snoop Doggy Dogg and his bodyguard are acquitted of first degree murder. The jury deadlocks on voluntary manslaughter charges and a mistrial is declared.
- March 13 - Ramones fans riot in Buenos Aires, Argentina after waiting all night for concert tickets only to find out that the show had been sold out.
- March 16 - Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men ends its 16th consecutive week at No. 1 with "One Sweet Day". It is the longest consecutive week stay at No. 1 in Billboard Hot 100 history.
- March 18 - The Sex Pistols announce that they are reuniting for a 20th anniversary tour.
- March 28 - Phil Collins announces that he is leaving Genesis to focus on his solo career.
- 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 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, & author Brennan Manning.
- 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 which was stolen from their home.
- June - The Offspring records Ixnay On The Hombre, which will be a blockbuster album on February 4, 1997.
- July - The Smashing Pumpkins drummer, Jimmy Chaimberland, is arrested for possession of a controlled substance. The remaining members of the Smashing Pumpkins fire Chaimberland because they said his "insidious battle with drugs and alcohol" had nearly ruined everything for the band.
- September 7 - Gangster singing rapper Tupac Shakur was shot 4 times and was wounded at Las Vegas, Nevada after seeing the Mike Tyson vs. Bruce Seldon fight at the MGM Grand as they were leaving the hotel, obviously suggested that event was caused by the drive-by shooting. Tupac was taken into hospital.
- 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.
- September 13 - Tupac Shakur died in hospital after his wounds with the Las Vegas, Nevada MGM Grand shooting.
- 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
- 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".
- Dashboard Confessional forms
- Linkin Park forms
- Me First and the Gimme Gimmes forms
- Orgy forms
- Coal Chamber's career begins
- Jay-Z's musical career begins
- Poison reunites
- 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.
- Amos's single "Caught a Lite Sneeze" becomes the first song offered as a free digital download by a major record label.
Albums released
Top hits
See also: Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1996
Births
Deaths
- February 17 - Evelyn Laye, 95, English actress and singer
- February 20 - Toru Takemitsu, composer
- March 4 - Minnie Pearl (84)
- March 15 - Olga Rudge (101), violinist
- March 22 - Don Murray, The Turtles
- April 18 - Bernard Edwards, Chic, pneumonia
- May 25 - Brad Nowell, lead singer and guitarist for Sublime
- June 15 - Ella Fitzgerald, jazz singer
- July 17 - Marcel Dadi 45, French country and western guitarist died in crash of TWA flight 800
- July 29 - Jason Thirsk, bass member of Pennywise
- August 13 - David Tudor, pianist and composer
- August 14 - Sergiu Celibidache, orchestral conductor
- September 13 - Tupac Shakur, rapper, poet, actor
- November 30 - Tiny Tim, musician
- December 29 - Mireille, French singer
Awards
