January 12, 2002 Saturday Night Live skewers the uproar over the rumor that 'N Sync will be appearing in the latest installment of the Star Wars franchise, Attack of the Clones. The skit features an over-the-top cameo by the boy band, including Jimmy Fallon as Justin Timberlake, singing their hit "Bye Bye Bye" and a Star Wars-themed ballad about being a "Jedi knight in these Jedi days."
December 9, 2001 Perhaps hoping for a Nigel Tufnel Spinal Tap moment, Slash shows up at The Joint in Las Vegas, where his old band Guns N' Roses is playing. He is denied entry, as band management doesn't want to upset Axl Rose.
November 29, 2001 George Harrison succumbs to lung cancer at age 58. His final hours are spent with his wife, son, and musician Ravi Shankar at his side.More
November 20, 2001 Creed release their third album, Weathered. The lead single, "My Sacrifice," finds frontman Scott Stapp reconnecting with his better self, but he continues to battle mental health issues and depression, and the band breaks up in 2004. They return in 2009 to make one last album, Full Circle.
October 30, 2001 Tim Booth announces that James' forthcoming UK tour is to be his last with the band. With 11 albums and 20 Top-40 UK singles under its belt with Booth at the helm, the Manchester-based group's remaining members plan to continue making music together following the singer's departure.
October 12, 2001 Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland quits the band. A post on the group's website states, "Limp Bizkit and Wes Borland have amicably decided to part ways. Both Limp Bizkit and Borland will continue to pursue their respective musical careers." He returns in 2009.
October 10, 2001 Embracing the Internet at a time when broadband is rare, U2 webcasts a concert from their Elevation tour in South Bend, Indiana, for free on U2.com.
October 10, 2001 Under pressure to change their name because of letter attacks using anthrax germs, the metal band Anthrax issues a press release explaining they will not. "In light of current events, we are changing the name of the band to something more friendly, 'Basket Full Of Puppies,'" they state. "Actually, just the fact that we are making jokes about our name sucks."More
October 3, 2001 Rock band Powderfinger dominates the 15th annual Australian Record Industry Association awards with six victories at Sydney's Capitol Theatre.
September 29, 2001 Lorrie Morgan marries her fifth husband, fellow country singer Sammy Kershaw. They divorce in 2007.
September 11, 2001 As Gerard Way watches in horror from the Manhattan ferry as the World Trade Center's Twin Towers collapse, he realizes life is too short to not follow his dream. Shortly after, he starts his own band: My Chemical Romance.
September 7, 2001 The movie Rock Star, starring Mark Wahlberg as the lead singer of a tribute band who ends up joining his favorite group, hits theaters. A number of musicians have roles in the film, including Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind and Brian Vander Ark of The Verve Pipe, whose song "Colorful" Wahlberg lip-synchs at the end of the film.
September 4, 2001 System Of A Down release Toxicity, a classic of the Armenian folk-metal genre that sells over 3 million copies.More
September 3, 2001 When thousands more fans than expected show up for a free System Of A Down concert in a Los Angeles parking lot, authorities won't let the band take the stage and a riot ensues; their equipment is trashed and six are arrested. The show was to celebrate the release of their album Toxicity the following day.
August 28, 2001 Weezer release "Island In The Sun," the second single from Weezer (aka The Green Album). It's a very tranquil song for the band, a stark contrast from the first single, "Hash Pipe." It becomes the most-licensed song in their catalog, showing up in The Simpsons, The Sopranos, and Trolls Band Together.
August 12, 2001 Shania Twain and her husband/producer Mutt Lange welcome a baby boy, Eja (pronounced "Asia").
July 30, 2001 The Strokes revive garage rock with the release of their debut album, Is This It. It drops in Australia first before making its way to England and America.More
June 25, 2001 New York City rock band The Strokes' release their debut single, "Hard To Explain." It peaks at #16 in the UK.
June 12, 2001 After launching their mainstream career with Enema Of The State, pop-punk hitmakers blink-182 return with a masturbatory pun: Take Off Your Pants And Jacket. The band's resentment over being expected to write catchy radio singles ironically results in two catchy hits, leading to the album's milestone chart debut.More
May 15, 2001 Weezer release their third album, which like their first, is called Weezer - it becomes known as "The Green Album" and their debut is called "The Blue Album." The Green Album comes five years after their previous album, Pinkerton, and is a lot brighter, getting the band back on the radio with songs like "Hash Pipe" and "Island In The Sun." It's not the last self-titled Weezer album - the Red, White, Teal and Black albums all follow.
May 15, 2001 God Bless the Go-Go's, the Go-Go's fourth album, is released. It is the band's first studio album in 17 years.
April 23, 2001 Metallica start recording their album St. Anger, which turns into some kind of monster: Frontman James Hetfield ends up in rehab during the sessions, and the band only complete it with the help of a psychologist who talks them through their issues in group therapy.
April 19, 2001 In a battle of the bark, Baha Men beat out Lil' Bow Wow at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, taking Fave Song with "Who Let The Dogs Out."More
April 15, 2001 Joey Ramone of the Ramones dies of lymphoma at age 49.More
April 12, 2001 Gladys Knight marries her fourth husband, longtime friend William McDowell.
March 30, 2001 The Detroit Free Press breaks the news that Jack and Meg White of The White Stripes are not siblings as they claim, but former husband and wife. Court records show they were married in 1996 and divorced in 2000. Rolling Stone and the New York Times are among the publications previously reporting them as brother and sister, a believable claim because they look alike.
March 27, 2001 Bruce Springsteen releases Live In New York City, the accompanying album to an HBO concert film that follows the Boss and his E Street Band on a ten-show tour, ending at New York City's Madison Square Garden.
March 26, 2001 Gorillaz release their debut self-titled album, which becomes a surprise chart success in the US. Although the band's vocalist, Damon Albarn, is well known in Europe through his band Blur, he is virtually unknown in the States, leading to low expectations for the release. The album eventually sells over a million copies in America and peaks at #14.
March 18, 2001 Four teenage girls are crushed to death in a shopping mall in Indonesia, when hundreds of fans panic while trying to catch a glimpse of British boy band a1. The four band members cancel the rest of their tour in Asia.
March 17, 2001 Seven Pearl Jam bootleg albums from their North American tour debut in the Billboard 200 albums chart, breaking the record for most appearances on the chart in a single week that the band established the previous year, when five bootlegs from their European tour landed on the chart.More
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