November 30, 2004 Linkin Park and Jay-Z release the collaborative EP Collision Course, which features mash-ups of the artists' songs. "Numb," from the nu-metal band's sophomore album, Meteora, is mixed with the rapper's Black Album track "Encore." The result, "Numb/Encore," wins the Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 2006 ceremony.
November 13, 2004 After several years of feuding, the rap group A Tribe Called Quest get back together for a reunion show at the Rock the Bells festival. It's also the night when their friend and fellow rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard from the Wu-Tang Clan dies. A Tribe Called Quest open their show with a tribute to ODB and perform some of Wu Tang's songs to start the set.
October 30, 2004 Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker marries Playboy model Shanna Moakler in a Nightmare Before Christmas-inspired ceremony with his bandmates serving as his groomsmen. The couple's romantic connection to the classic Tim Burton film gets a nod in the blink single "I Miss You."More
October 29, 2004 At a campaign rally in Columbus, Ohio, George W. Bush unveils his new theme song in his presidential re-election campaign: "Still The One" by Orleans. The song's co-writer, John Hall, is watching on CNN and is mortified, as he actively opposes Bush's policies. Along with his band members and the song's co-writer (his ex-wife, Johanna), Hall demands that Bush stop using the song.More
October 3, 2004 Tom Waits releases Real Gone, his fifteenth studio album. Featuring several political songs, including an "elliptical" protest against the Vietnam War titled "Day After Tomorrow," it's voted best album of 2004 by Harp Magazine.
October 3, 2004 Teenage English soul star Joss Stone becomes the youngest female solo artist to top the British albums survey as Mind Body & Soul debuts at #1. The 17-year-old's second release, and first full-length album, bows ahead of Top 10 entries by Marilyn Manson, Tom Jones and Brian Wilson. Billie Eilish sets a new mark in 2019 when she hits #1 with When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? two months younger than when Stone took the top spot.
September 28, 2004 A Beverly Hills tribute concert in honor of Ray Charles, featuring Stevie Wonder, Michael McDonald, ]Patti Austin and James Ingram, raises $15 million for Atlanta's African-American institution, Morehouse College.
September 28, 2004 An editorial titled "Something Bad Has Begun" by the former Cat Stevens, now known as Yusuf Islam, is published in the Los Angeles Times.More
September 18, 2004 Britney Spears marries her fiance, dancer Kevin Federline, at a private home in Los Angeles. The 27 guests are told it's an engagement party and are surprised to learn it's an actual ceremony, which lasts five minutes. It is Spears' second marriage in nine months; they divorce less than three years later.
September 1, 2004 Under pressure to account for download sales, the Official Charts company releases its first UK Download Chart. The boy band Westlife claims the #1 spot with a live release of their 1999 song "Flying Without Wings."More
August 15, 2004 At their Coventry Festival in the group's home state of Vermont, Phish play what they say is their last show, ending with the song "The Curtain With." The breakup proves temporary: in 2009, the band gets back together.
August 13, 2004 At the opening ceremonies of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Björk wears a dress that unfurls about 10,000 feet of fabric, which is stretched to cover the viewing area where a world map is then projected. All of this takes place while she sings "Oceania."More
July 30, 2004 While walking around London, The Isley Brothers' Ronald Isley suffers a minor stroke and is admitted to a local hospital. He recovers in a matter of just a few weeks.
July 13, 2004 Jimmy Buffett releases License To Chill, his 21st studio album. It's mostly a collection of duets with fellow country stars, including Martina McBride, Kenny Chesney, and George Strait. It's also his first album to go to #1 in the US.More
June 30, 2004 Dave Davies of The Kinks suffers a massive stroke while walking out of a BBC building in London. Completely incapacitated for a few days, he gradually recovers, re-learning how to walk and play guitar over the next few years.
June 26, 2004 Defying predictions of musical and personal implosion, Velvet Revolver, fronted by Scott Weiland and with three ex-Guns N' Roses members in the lineup, debut at #1 in America with their first album, Contraband.More
June 22, 2004 Lynyrd Skynyrd release Lynyrd Skynyrd Lyve: The Vicious Cycle Tour, their fifth live album. Featuring music from a July 11, 2003 performance at Antioch, Tennessee's Amsouth Amphitheater, it celebrates the band's thirty year anniversary.
June 10, 2004 Ray Charles dies at age 73 of liver disease.More
June 8, 2004 Velvet Revolver release their first album, Contraband. The group is made up of former Guns N' Roses members Slash, Matt Sorum and Duff McKagan, along with Scott Weiland and Dave Kushner.More
June 8, 2004 Bolstered by the hit singles "Helena" and "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)," My Chemical Romance goes mainstream with their second album, Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge.More
April 21, 2004 Future Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson gets voted off season three of American Idol, where she finishes in seventh place.More
February 28, 2004 Gigli sweeps the 24th Golden Raspberry Awards with nine nominations and six wins, including Worst Actress for star Jennifer Lopez and Worst Actor for Ben Affleck (whose award also includes his roles in Daredevil and Paycheck). Despite having a highly publicized off-screen romance, the pair also lands Worst Screen Couple.
February 28, 2004 Usher's club anthem "Yeah!," featuring Ludacris and Lil Jon, hits #1 in America. It stays at the top for 12 weeks to become the biggest hit of 2004.
February 24, 2004 Singer Lena Horne threatens to withdraw permission for a TV movie of her life after star Janet Jackson suffers her shocking "wardrobe malfunction" at Super Bowl XXXVIII. Jackson quits the project.
February 22, 2004 A few songs into a Puddle Of Mudd show in Toledo, Ohio, lead singer Wes Scantlin's bandmates exit the stage because he's too drunk to perform. He sings and rambles for another 30 minutes before heading to his dressing room, where he's arrested for disorderly conduct.
February 10, 2004 Kanye West, known for producing tracks on Jay-Z's 2001 album The Blueprint, releases his debut album, The College Dropout.More
February 8, 2004 Pink wins her first solo Grammy Award when her Try This single "Trouble" is named Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. She previously earned a trophy for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals in 2002 alongside Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim and Mýa for their rendition of "Lady Marmalade."
February 8, 2004 At the Grammy Awards, OutKast is the first hip-hop act to win Album of the Year, for Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, and Evanescence takes Best New Artist, beating out 50 Cent, who comes on stage anyway.More
February 1, 2004 Justin Timberlake punctuates the Super Bowl halftime show by tearing away part of Janet Jackson's costume, revealing her right breast to a massive audience that quickly reaches for their TiVos for a replay. Both artists blame it on a "wardrobe malfunction," but while Jackson gets blacklisted, Timberlake is welcomed back by the music industry and the NFL after a series of apologies.More
January 21, 2004 The warts-and-all Metallica documentary Some Kind of Monster makes its debut at the Sundance Film Festival.More
©2026 Songfacts®, LLC