October 8, 1991 Soundgarden's second album for A&M Records, Badmotorfinger, is released. Its arrival neatly coincides with the uprising of grunge (Nirvana's Nevermind was released two weeks earlier, and Pearl Jam's Ten was issued on August 27) and serves as the group's commercial breakthrough.More
October 8, 1991 The U2 song "Exit" is played at the trial of Robert Bardo, who claims the song compelled him to kill the actress Rebecca Schaeffer.More
September 28, 1991 Thanks to a proliferation of "New Country" radio stations and more accurate reporting, country music goes mainstream as Garth Brooks' Ropin' the Wind becomes the first country album to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart.More
September 24, 1991 The Red Hot Chili Peppers release Blood Sugar Sex Magik in the US. Containing the hits "Under the Bridge" and "Give It Away," the album sells over 10 million copies worldwide and makes the group bona-fide headliners.More
August 27, 1991 Pearl Jam release their debut album, Ten, which launches them to stardom and puts them in the forefront of the Seattle grunge movement.More
August 23, 1991 A month before their Nevermind album is released, Nirvana wow the crowd at the Reading Festival in England with a set capped by a Kurt Cobain headlong dive into Dave Grohl's drum kit. The next year, Nirvana headline the festival.
August 17, 1991 Nirvana shoot their video for "Smells Like Teen Spirit." It is set to look like a deranged pep rally at "Anarchy High School," and features fans recruited at a concert two days earlier. The video is a huge hit on MTV and helps propel Nirvana into the mainstream.More
August 14, 1991 The Commitments opens in limited release in the US. The film features all four Corrs in small parts, including the youngest, Andrea, in a speaking role as Sharon Rabbitte. While auditioning for the film, The Corrs connect with future manager John Hughes who helps the group hone their sound and eventually sign a deal with Atlantic Records for their debut album, Forgiven, Not Forgotten.
August 3, 1991 Pearl Jam play the club RKCNDY in Seattle. The show is filmed and used to create their first video - for the song "Alive." The audio from the show is used in the video, as the band hates the idea of lip-syncing.More
July 18, 1991 The very first Lollapalooza music festival is held in select locations throughout North America. Bands and artists include Jane's Addiction, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Nine Inch Nails, Living Colour, Ice-T, Butthole Surfers, Rollins Band, Violent Femmes and Fishbone.More
July 2, 1991 In his first acting role, Ice Cube stars alongside Cuba Gooding Jr. in the acclaimed drama Boyz N the Hood. Writer/director John Singleton wrote the role of troubled gangster Darrin "Doughboy" Baker specifically for the ex-N.W.A rapper.More
June 22, 1991 N.W.A.'s second and final studio album, Niggaz4life (also known as Efil4zaggin), hits #1 in the US, becoming just the fourth rap album to top the chart. The previous rap chart-toppers are Licensed to Ill by Beastie Boys in 1987, Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em by MC Hammer in 1990, and To the Extreme by Vanilla Ice later that year.
June 10, 1991 In his first public appearance since being released from prison in February, James Brown stars in the pay-per-view concert special James Brown: Living in America. For $19.95, viewers can see Brown perform at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles along with MC Hammer, Bell Biv DeVoe, C+C Music Factory, Kool Moe Dee and En Vogue.
June 7, 1991 Spike Lee's film Jungle Fever debuts in theaters. It boasts a soundtrack written and produced by Stevie Wonder and features Queen Latifah's acting debut. The rapper plays a waitress who snubs the interracial couple played by Wesley Snipes and Annabella Sciorra.
May 25, 1991 Billboard implements SoundScan technology on their Albums chart, replacing the decades-old system that relied on record stores to report sales figures. With SoundScan, the sales are tracked electronically, providing much more accurate data.More
May 24, 1991 After a limited release in major cities (starting with Los Angeles), Madonna's groundbreaking, highly revealing concert documentary Truth or Dare opens in theaters.More
May 18, 1991 Bananarama release Pop Life, their first album without bandmate Siobhan Fahey, who left the group in 1988 amid tensions over their pop-oriented image. It's also their last release as a trio. Jacquie O'Sullivan replaces Fahey on the album, but leaves later that year due to the press constantly comparing her with the former 'Nana.
May 3, 1991 Andy Williams marries his second wife, Debbie Haas, in New York City.
May 1, 1991 For the first time, MTV Unplugged features rap acts, with De La Soul, MC Lyte, A Tribe Called Quest and LL Cool J performing. LL steals the show with a shirtless rendition of "Mama Said Knock You Out."More
April 28, 1991 Bonnie Raitt marries her first husband, actor Michael O'Keefe. Her father, the singer John Raitt, wears a kilt as a nod to their Celtic heritage and sings a song called "My Heart's Darlin'." The couple divorce in 1999.
April 2, 1991 Lenny Kravitz releases his sophomore album, Mama Said, with the hit "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over," a plea for reconciliation to his soon-to-be ex-wife, actress Lisa Bonet. More
April 1, 1991 School of Fish release their eponymous debut album, featuring their lone hit "3 Strange Days."
March 21, 1991 Leo Fender, founder of Fender Musical Instruments, dies at age 81 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.
February 20, 1991 Alison Krauss wins her first Grammy Award when I've Got That Old Feeling takes Best Bluegrass Recording. By 2016, Krauss wins 26 more statuettes, surpassing Aretha Franklin as the most-awarded female artist in Grammy history and tying for second place with Quincy Jones as the most-awarded living recipient.
February 20, 1991 Public Enemy and Sinead O'Connor are nominated for Grammy Awards, but skip the ceremony: PE has beef because the rap award isn't televised; Sinead says they "respect mostly material gain." She wins anyway, taking the trophy for Best Alternative Music Performance for her album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got.More
January 26, 1991 At the second Rock in Rio festival, Norwegian pop trio a-ha draw a crowd of 198,000, breaking the world record for paid attendance at a rock concert - and is snubbed by the press.More
January 23, 1991 The Albuquerque, New Mexico, radio station KLSK FM plays the Led Zeppelin song "Stairway To Heaven" over and over for 24 hours to inaugurate a format change to classic rock. It plays more than 200 times, eliciting hundreds of angry calls and letters. Police show up with guns drawn after a listener reports that the DJ had apparently suffered a heart attack, later because of suspicion that - this being eight days into the Gulf War - the radio station had been taken hostage by terrorists dispatched by Zeppelin freak Saddam Hussein. Weirdest of all, lots of listeners don't move the dial: "Turns out a lot of people listened to see when we would finally stop playing it."
January 15, 1991 On the United Nations deadline for Iraq to remove troops from Kuwait, a new version of "Give Peace A Chance" is released, with contributions from Iggy Pop, Tom Petty, LL Cool J and dozens of others.More
December 4, 1990 The Simpsons extend their pop culture dominance into music with the album The Simpsons Sing The Blues. Led by the Michael Jackson-assisted single "Do The Bartman," it sells over 2 million copies in America.More
December 3, 1990 Madonna appears on the news program Nightline, where she debuts her video for "Justify My Love," which MTV has refused to play. As the lascivious clip plays, Madonna provides commentary, answering questions from host Forrest Sawyer.More
©2026 Songfacts®, LLC