January 10, 2017 Buddy Greco dies in Las Vegas, Nevada, at age 90. Greco was a jazz singer who recorded several hit songs across all genres, his most popular being a cover of "The Lady is a Tramp." He also palled around with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, and was considered one of the Rat Pack's "mascots."
December 20, 2016 On a flight from Vietnam to South Korea, Richard Marx helps subdue a mentally unhinged passenger who starts attacking flight attendants and fellow passengers. Marx and wife Daisy Fuentes had been vacationing in Hanoi all week before boarding the chaotic four-hour flight.
December 10, 2016 Bob Dylan accepts the Nobel Prize in Literature. He doesn't attend the ceremony, but sends an insightful speech that is read by the US ambassador to Sweden.More
December 7, 2016 One Direction's Louis Tomlinson loses his 43-year-old mother, Johannah Deakin, to leukemia. His songs "Just Hold On" and "Two of Us" are about her.
November 20, 2016 Ariana Grande wins Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards. Justin Bieber is also a big winner, taking home four trophies. Green Day takes a swipe at Donald Trump, who was elected president two weeks earlier, in their performance of "Bang Bang," going into a chant of "No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA."
November 17, 2016 Peter Gabriel launches the "Imprisoned For Art" campaign, an effort to free prisoners around the world who have been sent to jail for opposing their governments. More
November 12, 2016 Kate McKinnon sings "Hallelujah" in character as Hillary Clinton to open Saturday Night Live.More
November 8, 2016 Despite strident support from a passel of stars, including Katy Perry, Barbra Streisand and Bruce Springsteen, Hillary Clinton loses the US presidential election to Donald Trump, whose supporters include Ted Nugent, Loretta Lynn and Wayne Newton. Miley Cyrus, who said she would move if Trump was elected, decides to stay in the country.
October 7, 2016 The Rolling Stones play the first night of the Desert Trip festival, which also features Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Roger Waters and The Who. The six-day (split over two weekends) event rakes in $160 million, making it the highest-earning music festival ever.More
September 19, 2016 Tom Waits and wife/collaborator Kathleen Brennan, along with John Prine, receive the PEN Lyric Award Prize, given in partnership with the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
August 28, 2016 At the MTV Video Music Awards, Beyoncé wins Video of the Year for "Formation." In support of the Black Lives Matter movement, she brings four mothers of shooting victims with her onto the red carpet. By the end of the evening, Bey (along with her production designer, choreographer, director, cinematographer and editor) has eight trophies.More
August 26, 2016 Ann Wilson's husband is arrested for assault after getting physical with Nancy Wilson's 16-year-old twin sons, causing a rift between the Heart sisters, who finish their tour using separate dressing rooms and avoiding contact.
August 17, 2016 MTV's Catfish: The TV Show introduces Spencer Morrill, a Tennessee native who insists he's been in an online romance with Katy Perry for six years. He even made a ring for her out of a family heirloom. When hosts Nev and Max lure out the catfish in England and bring him face to face with the singer, he believes the real Perry sent the "imposter" as a joke.
August 4, 2016 Nationwide insurance announces a new ad campaign with Brad Paisley and Rachel Platten.More
July 21, 2016 Ivanka Trump speaks in support of her father Donald at the Republican National Convention, taking the podium as "Here Comes The Sun" plays. The estate of George Harrison, who wrote the song, Tweets: "The unauthorized use of #HereComestheSun at the #RNCinCLE is offensive & against the wishes of the George Harrison estate. If it had been "Beware Of Darkness," then we MAY have approved it! #TrumpYourself"
July 17, 2016 Kim Kardashian posts a video on her Snapchat account of a phone call between Kanye West and Taylor Swift where Kanye recites the line, "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex," from his song "Famous," and she seems OK with it. Swift responds on Instagram by posting, "Where is the video of Kanye telling me he was going to call me 'that bitch' in his song? It doesn't exist because it never happened."More
June 24, 2016 Kanye West debuts the video for "Famous," which shows him in bed with nude likenesses of his wife Kim Kardashian, Donald Trump, Bill Cosby, Rihanna, and other celebrities and associates. West appears next to a likeness of Taylor Swift, who is derisively mentioned in the lyrics, "I made that bitch famous." West calls the video "a comment on fame."
June 10, 2016 Rick Astley releases 50, his first album of original songs in 15 years, in the UK. It goes to #1 its first week.
May 20, 2016 Barenaked Ladies release the live album BNL Rocks Red Rocks, which was recorded on June 10, 2015, at the famous Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, during the band's Last Summer On Earth tour. Guests include former Men at Work frontman Colin Hay and Violent Femmes sax player Blaise Garza, who join BNL for a rendition of Hay's 1982 hit "Who Can It Be Now?"
May 20, 2016 The National release an anthology album of 59 Grateful Dead covers called Day of the Dead, with appearances by Lucinda Williams, Bruce Hornsby, Courtney Barnett and Wayne Coyne. Proceeds go to the Red Hot Organization, which helps fight AIDS.
May 14, 2016 Following the release of Beyoncé's Lemonade, all 12 tracks on the album debut on the Hot 100, breaking Taylor Swift's 2010 record for most songs on the chart at the same time by a female artist.More
May 4, 2016 After Donald Trump's campaign plays "Start Me Up" following his victory speech celebrating his path to the Republican nomination, The Rolling Stones ask him to stop, joining several other artists in decrying his use of their songs.More
April 24, 2016 Waitress, a musical about a pregnant woman trying to escape an abusive marriage by winning a pie-baking contest, opens on Broadway. The most popular number is "She Used To Be Mine," which inspires covers from several fans.More
April 21, 2016 Prince dies at age 57 after overdosing on fentanyl, a highly addictive opioid.More
April 15, 2016 J. Cole, Alicia Keys, Chance the Rapper, Ludacris, Nicki Minaj and Wale attend a White House sit down with President Obama to discuss criminal justice reform and the My Brother's Keeper Initiative.
April 8, 2016 Bruce Springsteen cancels an upcoming show in Greensboro, North Carolina, in protest of a state law limiting the rights of transgender people. "Some things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry - which is happening as I write - is one of them," he writes. Pearl Jam follows suit, bowing out of a show in Raleigh.
April 7, 2016 After 15 years of memorable performances, cringeworthy auditions, and shocking eliminations, the American Idol stage finally goes dark, but not before one more winner is crowned: Trent Harmon.More
March 19, 2016 I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It by The 1975 goes to #1 in the US, becoming the album with the longest title to hit the top spot.
March 16, 2016 First Lady Michelle Obama delivers the keynote address at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, promoting her "Let Girls Learn" initiative and launching the star-studded Diane Warren-penned anthem "This Is For My Girls."More
March 16, 2016 Frank Sinatra Jr., the only son of Frank Sinatra, dies of a heart attack at age 72 while on tour in Daytona Beach, Florida.
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