September 7, 2000 Rage Against The Machine bass player Tim Commerford interrupts the MTV Video Music Awards when he climbs up the backdrop on stage, baffling the crew as well as Limp Bizkit, who are accepting the Best Rock Video award for "Break Stuff." Rage was nominated in the category for "Sleep Now in the Fire."More
July 21, 2000 About 7,000 Insane Clown Posse fans, many in clown makeup like the group, descend on the Novi Expo Center in Novi, Michigan for the first Gathering Of The Juggalos. By the end of the Gathering, the place is sticky with Faygo soda and left in ruins - all to be expected at an ICP fete.More
June 8, 2000 Sinead O'Connor comes out as a lesbian during an interview with Curve magazine, saying, "I would say that I'm a lesbian. Although I haven't been very open about that and throughout most of my life I've gone out with blokes because I haven't necessarily been terribly comfortable about being a lesbian. But I actually am a lesbian." She marries a man the following year and says she's "three-quarters heterosexual, a quarter gay."
June 4, 2000 In Atlanta, Bruce Springsteen debuts "American Skin (41 Shots)," a song he wrote about the New York police killing of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed suspect. Eight days later, he performs the song at his concert in Madison Square Garden, which is protested by some members of the NYPD.More
May 30, 2000 Eminem's second major-label album, The Marshall Mathers LP, becomes the fastest-selling rap album ever when it sells 1.76 million copies in its debut week.More
May 25, 2000 Alanis Morissette files with the SEC to sell about $1 million worth of her MP3.com stock, which she accumulated in a partnership with the company. The shares were worth about 10 times as much a year earlier, not long after Morissette signed on.
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 1, 2000 Destiny's Child release their third album, Survivor, which is all about sisterhood and empowerment. It's their first release with the lineup of Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams.
March 10, 2000 Vince Gill and Amy Grant get married in Nashville in front of about 450 guests. Included in the wedding party are their children from previous marriages: Gill's daughter Jenny, 17, and Grant's children Matthew, 12, Millie, 10, and Sarah, 7.
December 14, 1999 In a much-publicized show, Paul McCartney returns to play the Cavern Club in Liverpool for the first time since 1963. Joining him are Pink Floyd's David Gilmour and Deep Purple's Ian Paice. Only about 300 watch from the club, but another 4,000 or so see it simulcast on big screens at a nearby park, and many more watch a webcast of the show, which is likely the most-watched internet event in history at this point (reporting is far from reliable).
November 26, 1999 Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes issues a challenge to her TLC bandmates, proposing that they each make solo albums, with the winner determined by sales totals.More
November 9, 1999 Fiona Apple releases her second album. The title is 90 words long, so it is usually listed as When The Pawn....More
October 31, 1999 In Biloxi, Mississippi, on the last stop of The Family Values Tour, Aaron Lewis of Staind captivates the crowd with the debut performance of "Outside," leading the way for their breakout album, Break The Cycle.More
June 29, 1999 Slipknot release their self-titled major-label debut album. Metal Hammer magazine calls it the "best debut of the last 25 years."More
June 1, 1999 Brad Paisley releases his debut album, Who Needs Pictures, which features his first pair of #1 country hits: "He Didn't Have To Be" and "We Danced."More
June 1, 1999 Blink-182 spin immaturity into gold (or should we say, Platinum) with their third album, Enema Of The State, which catapults the pop-punk trio to stardom with hit singles like "What's My Age Again?" and "All The Small Things."More
May 10, 1999 Shel Silverstein, the prolific author of beloved children's books who was also a top songwriter, dies of a massive heart attack at age 68. He wrote "A Boy Named Sue" for Johnny Cash.More
February 23, 1999 Eminem drops his first major-label album, The Slim Shady LP. He quickly becomes the most controversial rapper in the game.More
January 30, 1999 America is abuzz with Britney Spears, whose debut single "...Baby One More Time" goes to #1 as her album also reaches the top.More
January 2, 1999 "Chocolate Salty Balls (P.S. I Love You)" from the TV series South Park hits #1 in the UK.More
October 11, 1998 The first Smoke Out Festival sparks up in San Bernardino, California. Organized by Cypress Hill, about 40,000 fans converge in the celebration of music and marijuana. The festival returns every year through 2003, then returns in 2009.
October 7, 1998 Charmed debuts on the WB network with the Love Spit Love cover of "How Soon Is Now" as the theme song. Two years earlier, this same cover was used in the movie The Craft, which like Charmed, is about a coven of high school girls.
September 14, 1998 MTV debuts Total Request Live, a countdown of the Top 10 fan-requested music videos, hosted by Carson Daly. By the end of its 10-year run, the show is a cultural phenomenon.More
August 14, 1998 The "A Day in the Garden" festival (which lasts three days) kicks off in Bethel, New York, where the original Woodstock took place 29 years earlier. A mix of rock legends (Pete Townshend, Stevie Nicks) and new bands (Third Eye Blind, The Goo Goo Dolls) play the event.More
July 17, 1998 Smashing Pumpkins play a free outdoor show in downtown Minneapolis attended by about 125,000. They wanted to do an entire tour of free concerts to promote their album Adore, but couldn't cut through the red tape anywhere but Minneapolis.
May 19, 1998 Godzilla: The Album, the soundtrack to the blockbuster movie, is released. It contains both "Come With Me" (Puff Daddy's rap reworking of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir") and Rage Against The Machine's "No Shelter," a song about media manipulation that mocks the film with the line, "Godzilla, pure mothaf--n' filler to keep ya eyes off the real killer."
April 7, 1998 George Michael is arrested for disorderly conduct at a park restroom in Beverly Hills, California, after an undercover officer observes him performing a "lewd act." He comes out as gay soon after.More
February 28, 1998 Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On," from the movie Titanic, goes to #1 in the US. The film has been #1 at the box office since December 21, 1997, and the soundtrack has been #1 since January 24, 1998.More
February 25, 1998 Strange things are afoot at the Grammy Awards. A shirtless dude with "Soy Bomb" written on his chest intrudes on Bob Dylan's performance, and when Shawn Colvin wins Song Of The Year (for "Sunny Came Home"), Ol' Dirty Bastard of Wu-Tang Clan rushes the stage, commandeering the microphone and talking about how his group should have won the Best Rap Album award over Puff Daddy because "Wu-Tang is for the children."More
February 24, 1998 Elton John is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.More
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