August 27, 1995 Big Dee Irwin dies of heart failure in Las Vegas, Nevada, at age 63. Recorded a popular version of "Swinging on a Star" with Little Eva.
August 20, 1995 After a lengthy press-fueled feud culminates in simultaneous singles releases, Blur's "Country House" beats Oasis' track "Roll With It" to the #1 spot in the UK. Oasis go on to enjoy worldwide mainstream success, while Blur later veer from the Britpop sound, developing an artier, more experimental style – heavily inspired by Pavement.
August 15, 1995 Spanish pop duo Los del Rio release the single "Macarena" in the US. Inspired by a beautiful flamenco dancer, the song lights a fire in Miami beach clubs and spreads across the country, igniting the '90s hottest dance craze.More
August 9, 1995 Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead dies from a heart attack at age 53. His voice fills the airwaves as millions of Deadheads mourn.More
July 28, 1995 Guitarist Eddie Hinton dies from a heart attack in Birmingham, Alabama. He wrote the Dusty Springfield hit "Breakfast in Bed."
July 25, 1995 ESPN releases Jock Jams, Volume 1, an album of high-energy, stadium-friendly hits like "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" by C+C Music Factory and "Get Ready For This" by 2 Unlimited. It sells over 2 million copies and leads to four more compilations.More
July 19, 1995 Clueless debuts in theaters, reviving the teen movie genre and boosting the film career of Alicia Silverstone, who appeared in the music video for Aerosmith's "Cryin'." The accompanying soundtrack gives retro hits a modern makeover, with the pop-punk act The Muffs covering Kim Wilde's "Kids In America."More
July 14, 1995 At what was previously a forsaken patch of land to the north of Hartford, Connecticut, Michael Bolton plays the grand opening concert at the Meadows Music Theater. Bolton, who grew up in New Haven, is good friends with the venue's promoter Jim Koplik. 90 degree heat stifles the ceremony a bit, as soon-to-be disgraced governor John Rowland has to take off his tuxedo coat when greeting Bolton onstage.
June 17, 1995 Rod Stewart sets an attendance record at Wembley Stadium in London when 83,000 fans attend his concert. The record holds until 2009, when U2 draws 88,000 on their 360 tour.
April 25, 1995 Ginger Rogers, Academy Award-winning actress and longtime dance partner of Fred Astaire, dies at age 83 of a heart attack.
April 23, 1995 The Sunday Times of London breaks the story that a welder in Liverpool named Peter Hodgson found a reel of Beatles material in his attic. The recordings turn out to be legit, as Hodgson's father had loaned the recorder to Paul McCartney. After hearing the recordings, McCartney buys the reel and uses some of it on the Anthology collection. Songs include the Lennon/McCartney original "Hello Little Girl" and the Ray Charles cover "Hallelujah, I Love Her So."
April 3, 1995 The RealAudio Player is introduced, allowing users to stream audio over the internet for the first time. Over the next few years, many artists use it to post songs (or samples of them) on their websites.
January 12, 1995 The 10th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies are held in New York. Inductees include The Allman Brothers Band, Al Green, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Martha and the Vandellas, Neil Young, and Frank Zappa.
December 3, 1994 Adam Sandler performs "The Chanukah Song" on the Weekend Update segment of Saturday Night Live, enlightening us to the fact that Harrison Ford, Paul Newman and David Lee Roth (among many others) are, in fact, Jewish. Released as a single the following year, the song reaches #10 US and becomes a seasonal favorite.More
November 19, 1994 Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers play "You Don't Know How It Feels" and "Honeybee" on Saturday Night Live with Dave Grohl on drums, who considers joining the band full time.More
October 2, 1994 Following their Bridge School benefit performance in Mountain View, California, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers part ways with their original drummer, Stan Lynch. "Stan had lost all allegiance to us and was auditioning with other bands," Petty explains. "I had the feeling he was only staying around for the money." He is replaced by Average White Band drummer Steve Ferrone.
September 22, 1994 Friends debuts on NBC, accompanied by a catchy theme song by The Rembrandts that becomes an unexpected hit.More
September 3, 1994 R&B singer Major Lance dies of heart disease in Decatur, Georgia, at age 55. Known for the 1963 hit "Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um," written by Curtis Mayfield.
August 12, 1994 Woodstock 2 - officially "Woodstock '94" - begins in Saugerties, New York, with Sheryl Crow, Todd Rundgren and Violent Femmes performing. The festival is a success, drawing a crowd of about 350,000.More
July 6, 1994 The light-hearted drama Forrest Gump hits theaters. Aside from becoming the top-grossing film of the year in North America and winning multiple Academy Awards, the movie spawns a hit soundtrack with songs from Elvis Presley, Three Dog Night, The Doors, The Byrds, The Mamas & the Papas, Buffalo Springfield, and more.More
June 21, 1994 A judge rules against George Michael in his lawsuit against his record label, Sony, derailing his music career for two years.More
May 30, 1994 Metallica start their S--t Hits the Sheds tour, with Danzig, Suicidal Tendencies and Candlebox supporting. Alice in Chains is supposed to be one of the opening acts, but has to bow out due to Layne Staley's drug problem.
May 27, 1994 After a 14-year hiatus, the Eagles reunite for a show in Burbank, California, closing the show with "Desperado." They soon launch their "Hell Freezes Over" tour, which becomes the first tour to charge more than $100 for a substantial number of tickets.More
May 21, 1994 R&B vocal group All-4-One hits #1 on the Hot 100 with "I Swear," a cover of a country song by John Michael Montgomery. The group is playing gigs at Disneyland when the song tops the chart; it stays at #1 for 11 weeks.More
April 26, 1994 Johnny Cash releases American Recordings, the first of a series of albums produced by Rick Rubin that revitalize his career.More
April 25, 1994 A jury rules that Michael Bolton's 1991 hit "Love Is a Wonderful Thing" plagiarizes The Isley Brothers 1966 song of the same name and awards $5.4 million in damages, the largest ever in a music plagiarism case.More
April 19, 1994 Nas releases his landmark debut album Illmatic at the age of 20, helping revive the flagging New York City rap scene and birth the era of lyricism. It goes on to be widely accepted as one of the greatest rap albums of all time.More
March 22, 1994 Dan Hartman dies of a brain tumor at age 43 after being diagnosed with HIV in the late 1980s. During the 1970s, Hartman was a member of The Edgar Winter Group, and wrote and sung the band's hit "Free Ride." He also enjoyed success as a solo artist with the 1984 single "I Can Dream About You."
January 19, 1994 The Ninth Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony is held in New York City. Inductees include The Animals, The Band, Duane Eddy, The Grateful Dead, Elton John, John Lennon, Bob Marley, and Rod Stewart. Axl Rose performs "Come Together" at the ceremony with Bruce Springsteen - it is Axl's last public appearance until 1998.
January 15, 1994 Ska music bubbles under in America as Billboard publishes a cover story called "Hunt for 'Next Big Thing' Unearths Ska Underground." Bands like No Doubt, Reel Big Fish and Sublime soon break through with ska-inflected sounds.
©2026 Songfacts®, LLC