Pick a Day

Music History Events: Releases

June 1, 1999 Ja Rule releases his debut album, Venni Vetti Vecci, featuring the hit single "Holla Holla."More

May 19, 1999 Moby releases Play, a downtempo collection of electronic tunes built on samples of field recordings and old blues numbers. Thanks to music licensing, the songs reach lots of ears and the album becomes a global hit.More

April 27, 1999 Songs From Dawson's Creek is released after the teen drama airs its first season on The WB. The soundtrack peaks at #7 on the US albums chart.More

April 13, 1999 Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers release their 10th album Echo. The album, which includes the singles "Free Girl Now," "Room at the Top" and "Swingin'," is co-produced by Petty, guitarist Mike Campbell and Rick Rubin.

April 12, 1999 Backstreet Boys release "I Want It That Way."

February 23, 1999 The Roots release their critical and commercial breakthrough album, Things Fall Apart. Featuring "You Got Me," it loses the Best Rap Album Grammy to Eminem's The Slim Shady LP.

November 24, 1998 The Metallica compilation of cover tunes, Garage, Inc., is released.

November 17, 1998 The Offspring release their fourth studio album, Americana, with the hit "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)."

October 31, 1998 D'Angelo releases "Devil's Pie," the lead single from his second album, Voodoo. Fans are very excited, but the album doesn't appear until 2000.

October 27, 1998 Lauryn Hill releases her first single as a solo artist, "Doo Wop (That Thing)."

October 20, 1998 98 Degrees release their breakout album, 98 Degrees and Rising, featuring the hit singles "Because Of You" and "The Hardest Thing," as well as "True To Your Heart," a duet with Stevie Wonder from the Disney movie Mulan.

September 22, 1998 "Iris" hitmakers The Goo Goo Dolls release their smash album Dizzy Up The Girl, a 4-million seller that includes the ubiquitous City Of Angels ballad as well as the Top 20 singles "Slide," "Black Balloon" and "Broadway."More

September 21, 1998 The Fireman, Paul McCartney's trance music duo with producer Martin Glover, release their second album, Rushes. Says Glover: "Linda [Paul's wife] was very ill, and by the time we'd finished it she was dying, and for me it became very much a requiem for her."

June 30, 1998 System Of A Down release their frantic self-titled debut album. The singles "Sugar" and "Spiders" earn airplay on rock radio and MTV, and as the band builds a following through touring, it goes on to sell over a million copies in America.

June 2, 1998 50 Cent makes his major-label debut, dropping a verse on the Onyx song "React." Over the next few years, he gets shot nine times, appears on the 8 Mile soundtrack, and releases his Dr. Dre-produced hit single, "In Da Club."

June 2, 1998 Lynyrd Skynyrd release their fourth live album, Lyve from Steel Town.

May 19, 1998 After signing with DreamWorks Records thanks to the demo tape his dad, Loudon Wainwright III, passed on to the label, Rufus Wainwright releases his self-titled debut album. A standout track is "Baby," which showcases his opera influence.

May 19, 1998 DMX releases his debut album, It's Dark And Hell Is Hot, featuring "Ruff Ryders' Anthem," produced by the up-and-coming Swizz Beatz. It debuts at #1 in America.

May 12, 1998 Lenny Kravitz releases his fifth studio album, aptly titled 5. The album features his first Grammy Award-winning hit, "Fly Away."

May 5, 1998 Bad Religion release their 10th full-length studio album, No Substance.

May 5, 1998 Tori Amos releases her fourth solo album, From The Choirgirl Hotel. The lead single, "Spark," is inspired by the first of three miscarriages the singer suffers before welcoming daughter Natashya in 2000. The album debuts at #5 in the US.

April 21, 1998 Faith Hill releases her third album, Faith, which delivers her first pop hit, "This Kiss."

April 14, 1998 Clutch's third full-length album, The Elephant Riders, is issued, spawning such classics as the title track, "The Soapmakers," "The Yeti," and "The Dragonfly."

February 24, 1998 Columbia Records releases Train's self-titled debut album, which the band issued independently in 1996 after the label passed on it. It includes their first hit, "Meet Virginia."

February 17, 1998 After a failed run on Elektra Records, Destiny's Child release their self-titled debut album on Columbia. The first single, "No, No, No," is a hit and introduces their crisp, punctuated vocal style.

January 20, 1998 With the release of their debut single, "I Want You Back," *NSYNC emerges as a rival to Backstreet Boys, who are taking America by storm.

November 18, 1997 Metallica release ReLoad, their seventh studio album.

November 14, 1997 Five weeks before the movie Titanic is released, Celine Dion issues her album Let's Talk About Love, featuring the theme song, "My Heart Will Go On." As the movie commandeers the popular culture, Dion's album rides in its wake, going on to sell over 30 million copies worldwide.More

November 4, 1997 The first-ever Soundgarden "best of" compilation is released, A-Sides.

October 28, 1997 The Flaming Lips release their eighth album, Zaireeka, a four-CD collection designed to play on four separate audio systems at once. Frontman Wayne Coyne notes, "It was and is 'surround sound' for the extreme fanatic."