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February 24, 1990 At the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, The Byrds' David Crosby, Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman reunite for a tribute concert honoring the recently deceased Roy Orbison and raising money to support the homeless, a cause Orbison was passionate about. Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, John Fogerty and Bonnie Raitt are also on the bill; the concert is later broadcast as a Showtime special.
January 20, 1990 After being revived by a Washington DJ, "The Electric Boogie" by Jamaican singer Marcia Griffiths peaks at #51 on the Billboard Hot 100, as the "Electric Slide" line dance craze sweeps the nation.More
November 26, 1989 MTV's acoustic showcase Unplugged premieres with an episode featuring Squeeze. Jules Shear hosts the first season.More
October 17, 1989 Billy Joel releases the album Storm Front, with his enduring hit "We Didn't Start The Fire."More
September 29, 1989 Bruce Springsteen drops in at Matt's Saloon in Prescott, Arizona, and jams with the local act The Mile High Band for about an hour. A few weeks later, Matt's bartender Brenda receives a $100,000 check from Springsteen to help cover her medical bills.
September 19, 1989 Janet Jackson releases her groundbreaking album Rhythm Nation 1814. It contains seven Top 5 hits and a message imploring young people to come together and stand up for education and equality.More
September 6, 1989 Just as mainstream pop is about to welcome grunge music with its murky guitars and bleak outlook on society, newcomer Lenny Kravitz challenges the negativity with a simple, funk-styled message: Let Love Rule.More
September 1, 1989 Newly sober Mötley Crüe release their fifth album, Dr. Feelgood, which goes to #1 and becomes their best seller. The debaucherous bunch draw on their exploits for subject matter: the title track is about their drug dealers; "Kickstart My Heart" tells the story of bass player Nikki Sixx' near-fatal overdose.More
August 12, 1989 The Rolling Stones play a surprise set at the 700-capacity Toad's Place in New Haven, Connecticut, 19 days before the official start of their Steel Wheels Tour.More
June 15, 1989 Nirvana's debut album, Bleach, is released, with a cover tune as its lead single.More
June 2, 1989 Rolling Stones bass player Bill Wyman, 52, marries 18-year-old Mandy Smith in a 15-minute civil ceremony held at a registry office in Suffolk, England. The only witnesses are Smith's sister and Wyman's son. A proper celebration takes place three days later.More
May 9, 1989 In an interview with The Washington Times, Public Enemy's "Minister of Information," Professor Griff, blames Jews for "the majority of wickedness that goes on across the globe."More
May 2, 1989 The Cure issue a gloomy record that's predicted to be commercial suicide, but ends up being their best seller: Disintegration. It boasts their biggest pop hits, "Lovesong" and "Lullaby."More
April 14, 1989 Cameron Crowe's teen drama Say Anything…, starring John Cusack and Ione Skye, opens in theaters. The movie is famous for an iconic scene featuring Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes."More
April 3, 1989 In Pittsburgh, it's a shakedown outside a Grateful Dead concert as police make about two dozen arrests after some fans try to get in without tickets. "I don't want those deadenders ever back again," Mayor Sophie Masloff says.
March 30, 1989 To help promote Bon Jovi's album New Jersey, MTV gives away Jon Bon Jovi's childhood home (which they bought from his parents) to contest winners Jay and Judy Frappier. "This is the place where I learned about the finer things in life," Jon said in promos for the contest. "Like rock and roll and women."
March 3, 1989 A day after the song debuts in a 2-minute Pepsi commercial, the video for Madonna's "Like A Prayer" hits MTV and causes an uproar.More
January 25, 1989 Performing in Columbus, Georgia, Bobby Brown is arrested under the city's anti-lewdness act when he brings a girl on stage and simulates sex with her. Brown finishes the show about an hour later after he is booked and pays a $652 fine.
December 22, 1988 During an interview, Phil Collins jokes about wanting to make a film version of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" with Danny DeVito and Bob Hoskins. DeVito later reads the interview and contacts Phil about actually making the movie. Hoskins also signs on (as well as Kim Basinger as Goldilocks) but the film is never made.
November 15, 1988 After hitting it huge with their 1986 debut album, Licensed to Ill, Beastie Boys leave the label and sign with Capitol Records.More
November 1, 1988 Slick Rick releases his debut album, The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick, featuring the influential rap hit "Children's Story."More
October 22, 1988 The #1 hit in America is a cover of a song from 1966: "A Groovy Kind Of Love" by Phil Collins.More
August 20, 1988 At the Monsters Of Rock festival at Castle Donington, England, two fans are killed during a set by Guns N' Roses, whose frontman Axl Rose had implored the crowd, "Don't f--kin' kill each other." With the ground wet and a record crowd of 107,000 at the festival, the surge of bodies during the set causes the two fans to be trampled or crushed to death.More
June 11, 1988 Dozens of big-name acts, including Peter Gabriel, Sting, Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder, rock the stage at the Free Nelson Mandela Concert at Wembley Stadium in London.More
June 5, 1988 Pattie Boyd, ex-wife of George Harrison, files for divorce from Eric Clapton, who wrote the song "Layla" about her.
May 5, 1988 Adele is born Adele Laurie Blue Adkins in London. Her albums are named after her age when they're released, starting with 19 in 2008. Her second album, 21, goes stratospheric, with visceral songs about her ex that make a deep connection with fans.
March 7, 1988 The drag queen Divine (Glenn Milstead) dies of a heart attack at age 42.More
February 20, 1988 Salt-N-Pepa enter the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time when their steamy hip-hop/dance single "Push It" peaks at #19. Everyone assumes the song - punctuated by the refrain "Ooh, baby, baby" - is about sex, but the rappers insist it's not. "No one ever believes us," Sandra "Pepa" Denton laments to The Guardian in 2017. "Honestly, for us, as young girls, it was about dancing."
February 5, 1988 The John Hughes film She's Having A Baby debuts in US theaters. Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern star as a young married couple whose lives are about to be upended by the birth of their first child. The soundtrack features Kate Bush's heart-wrenching ballad "This Woman's Work," written and recorded expressly for the movie.More
October 5, 1987 Bruce Springsteen releases his album Tunnel Of Love. He got married for the first time two years earlier, but there are few signs of domestic bliss in the songs. [The release date is often listed as October 9, but news clips from the time show that October 5 is correct.]More
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