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 9, 2001 U2 frontman Bono, R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe, and electronica maven Moby make unannounced appearances in New York at the second of two anti-violence benefit concerts organized by the Beastie Boys.
October 5, 2001 Reba McEntire's TV show Reba premieres on the WB network, with the singer playing a single mom to three children. The show runs for six seasons.
September 11, 2001 The Strokes' debut album, Is This It, drops on vinyl in the US. It contains the song "New York City Cops," an anthem against police brutality. The defiant track is removed from the forthcoming CD release in light of the terrorist attacks and the valiant response of the NYPD.
September 8, 2001 Jennifer Lopez's "I'm Real" remix tops the Hot 100 for the first of five non-consecutive weeks. The pop singer gets some urban street cred with the help of guest rapper Ja Rule.
September 6, 2001 Britney Spears dons a snake to debut her new single, "I'm A Slave 4 U," at the MTV Video Music Awards.More
August 7, 2001 Usher puts out his third album, 8701, the title a reference to the release date. It includes two #1 hits: "U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad."
July 19, 2001 Mariah Carey makes a surprise appearance on MTV's Total Request Live where she comes off as rather unhinged, rambling aimlessly and doing a striptease for the host, Carson Daly.More
June 29, 2001 Dream A Little Dream: The Almost-True Story of the Mamas & the Papas, a stage musical penned by former Papas member Denny Doherty, premieres in Toronto.
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
June 3, 2001 Tom Petty marries Dana York in a ceremony officiated by Little Richard. It's his second marriage, and his last - he and Dana are still married when he dies in 2017.
April 21, 2001 Peter Buck of R.E.M. gets unruly on a British Airways flight and is arrested. He is accused of drinking 15 glasses of wine, overturning a service cart and engaging in other bad behavior, but charges are eventually dropped. Buck claimed that ingesting both a sleeping pill and wine caused him to lose it.
March 7, 2001 The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) reveal their list of the top 365 "Songs Of The Century" (some of which are not songs, but albums). "Over The Rainbow" is #1, followed by "White Christmas" and "This Land Is Your Land."More
February 21, 2001 Johnny Cash gets out of the hospital, where he is treated for pneumonia, and makes it to the Grammy Awards that night, where he wins for Best Male Vocal Country Performance for "Solitary Man" - his 10th Grammy.More
February 18, 2001 James Taylor marries his longtime girlfriend Kim Smedvig at a small ceremony in Boston. It's Taylor's third wedding, and later in 2001 the couple have twin boys through a surrogate mother.
November 27, 2000 The Beatles have the #1 album in America with a collection of their 27 chart-topping hits, appropriately titled 1, proving that their appeal spans generations.More
November 13, 2000 Alejandro Sanz caps a triumphant week when he wins awards for Spanish male artist and Spanish album at the Premios Amigo. The week before Sanz won identical awards at the 47th Premios Ondas.
November 8, 2000 The Secure Digital Music Initiative announces that two of its proposed technologies did not survive being attacked as part of the "Hack SDMI" challenge. The competition invited all comers to attempt removal of copyright protection from particular files, based on a specific set of criteria.
November 6, 2000 Alejandro Sanz picks up two of the 14 music awards at the 47th Premios Ondas, presented in Barcelona. Sanz wins the album category for El Alma Al Aire, and the honor for best Spanish artist.
October 26, 2000 The tree from U2's song "One Tree Hill" is taken down. Located in Auckland, New Zealand, the tree had been attacked by activists and had to be removed.
October 22, 2000 R.E.M. returns to their hometown of Athens, Georgia, where they play three songs on the courthouse steps as part of a local festival called Land Aid, which is an effort to better the community.
October 9, 2000 On what would have been John Lennon's 60th birthday, the book Lennon Remembers, The Complete Rolling Stone Interviews is released, containing material too controversial to publish years earlier.
October 1, 2000 Australian rock band Midnight Oil play their hit "Beds Are Burning" at the closing ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Sydney. Their black outfits are emblazoned with the word "sorry," a symbolic olive branch towards the Aboriginals who were forced from their lands by a government that refuses to apologize.More
September 28, 2000 Ballet For Life, a ballet tribute to late Queen singer and AIDS casualty Freddie Mercury, premieres at London's Sadler's Wells Theatre.
September 26, 2000 98 Degrees' new album Revelation is premiered in US Wal-Mart stores via an exclusive satellite broadcast concert.
September 20, 2000 Traditional country music singer and yodeler Don Walser receives the National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Award during ceremonies at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.
July 10, 2000 A much-ballyhooed Supremes "reunion" tour, "Return To Love," which features only Diana Ross from the original group, is canceled after initial ticket sales don't match expectations.
May 12, 2000 Following the launch of Metallica's legal case against the popular online file-sharing service Napster, Chuck D of Public Enemy and Lars Ulrich of Metallica appear on The Charlie Rose Show, where they debate whether MP3 downloading is a vehicle for piracy or a return of power to the people.More
May 2, 2000 Aimee Mann releases her album Bachelor No. 2 Or, The Last Remains Of The Dodo independently after Geffen Records lets her go. It's a sluggish market for singer-songwriters; the "dodo" in the album title is a reference to how Mann thinks they're going extinct.
March 25, 2000 The Razzies aren't done with Madonna yet. After saddling her with three prizes for Worst Actress (Shanghai Surprise, Who's That Girl, Body of Evidence) and one for Worst Supporting Actress (Four Rooms) throughout her film career, the Golden Raspberry Awards names her Worst Actress of the Century. Will Smith is also a star of the evening at the 20th annual ceremony, where he wins Worst Original Song for "Wild Wild West." The movie of the same name (which he also starred in) is named Worst Picture.
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