July 11, 1994 The Rolling Stones release Voodoo Lounge, with the tracks "Love Is Strong" and "You Got Me Rocking."
July 6, 1994 The light-hearted drama Forrest Gump hits theaters. Aside from becoming the top-grossing film of the year in North America and winning multiple Academy Awards, the movie spawns a hit soundtrack with songs from Elvis Presley, Three Dog Night, The Doors, The Byrds, The Mamas & the Papas, Buffalo Springfield, and more.More
July 5, 1994 Hootie & the Blowfish release their debut album Cracked Rear View. It takes off at the beginning of 1995, eventually selling a staggering 21 million copies.More
June 15, 1994 The Disney film The Lion King hits theaters. A runaway hit, the movie takes in over $300 million in 1994, second only to Forrest Gump. The soundtrack goes Diamond, meaning over 10 million copies sold - a record for the soundtrack to an animated film.More
June 7, 1994 Stone Temple Pilots release their second album, Purple, which goes to #1 in America and sells over 6 million copies on the strength of the tracks "Big Empty," "Vasoline" and "Interstate Love Song."
May 21, 1994 R&B vocal group All-4-One hits #1 on the Hot 100 with "I Swear," a cover of a country song by John Michael Montgomery. The group is playing gigs at Disneyland when the song tops the chart; it stays at #1 for 11 weeks.More
April 25, 1994 A jury rules that Michael Bolton's 1991 hit "Love Is a Wonderful Thing" plagiarizes The Isley Brothers 1966 song of the same name and awards $5.4 million in damages, the largest ever in a music plagiarism case.More
April 12, 1994 Hole release their major-label debut album, Live Through This, exactly one week after the suicide of Kurt Cobain, husband of the band's frontwoman, Courtney Love.
April 8, 1994 Kurt Cobain's body is found in his Seattle home by an electrician sent to install a burglar alarm. He is believed to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound three days earlier. The Nirvana song "Come As You Are" takes on new meaning with the line, "I swear that I don't have a gun."More
November 15, 1993 Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, and Ryan Gosling join J.C. Chasez and Keri Russell in the cast of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club.More
November 2, 1993 British singer-songwriter Kate Bush releases her seventh studio album, The Red Shoes. Inspired by the 1948 ballet film of the same name, the album features a number of famous guests, including Eric Clapton, Gary Brooker of Procol Harum, Prince, and comedian Lenny Henry. It's also Bush's last release before a 12-year hiatus.More
October 25, 1993 Time magazine puts Eddie Vedder on the cover with the headline "All The Rage." Both Vedder and Kurt Cobain refused to speak with the magazine for the story, but they run it anyway in an attempt to explain why young people are listening to such angry music.More
August 21, 1993 For one week, standards outsell rap as the soundtrack to the hit romantic comedy Sleepless In Seattle knocks Cypress Hill's Black Sunday off the top of the Billboard 200. More
June 22, 1993 Liz Phair releases her debut album, Exile In Guyville. The indie rocker approached the project as a track-by-track response to The Rolling Stones' 1972 album, Exile On Main St. Her candid perspective on sex and relationships earns her favor with critics and a growing fanbase and Guyville is hailed as one of the best albums of the decade.
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May 21, 1993 Sliver, starring Sharon Stone and William Baldwin, is released in the US. The movie is panned by critics, but its prominent use of UB40's cover of the Elvis Presley original "Can't Help Falling in Love" helps give the band their second #1 hit in the States. The song was originally released as the first single from their 1993 album, Promises and Lies.
May 4, 1993 PJ Harvey, fronted by British alt rocker Polly Jean Harvey, release their second and last album as a trio, Rid Of Me. The album is later hailed as one of the defining albums of the decade, but at the time, critics are split over Steve Albini's aggressive production.More
October 21, 1992 Madonna's book Sex is released. Everything about it is shocking: the $50 price, the Mylar wrapping, the metal covers, and especially the images inside.More
October 20, 1992 Madonna releases Erotica, a concept album about the pleasures and pitfalls of sex and romance, a day before her controversial Sex book hits the market.More
September 8, 1992 Tom Waits' album Bone Machine drops a sonic avalanche of apocalyptic percussion sounds, snarls, and deathly wails - and fans love him for it.More
June 24, 1992 Billy Joel graduates! He finally gets his high school diploma from Hicksville High School in Long Island, New York. He didn't graduate with his class in 1967 because of a missed English credit.More
February 29, 1992 U2 premiere their Zoo TV tour in Lakeland, Florida, making their first US concert appearance in four years and transforming the band into "an audio-visual idea."More
January 26, 1992 Presidential candidate Bill Clinton appears on the news program 60 Minutes with his wife, Hillary, who in response to a discussion about her husband's infidelity, says, "I'm not sitting here – some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette."More
October 1, 1991 The world's most valuable golf glove - the original, crystal-studded one Michael Jackson wore - is stolen from the Motown Museum in Detroit. MC Hammer sets up a phone line and offers a $50,000 reward for the glove's return, but it's recovered by police two days later.
August 15, 1991 Nirvana play a concert at The Roxy Theater in Los Angeles, where they invite fans to attend the shoot for their first video, "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Hundreds of fans show up at the shoot, which takes place two days later; many are turned away.More
April 16, 1991 The Temple of the Dog album is released. The one-off project is a tribute to Andrew Wood, the Mother Love Bone lead singer who died in 1990. Temple of the Dog is comprised of Soundgarden members Chris Cornell and Matt Cameron, along with Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam.More
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
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
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
November 6, 1990 Madonna releases "Justify My Love," which stirs controversy when MTV bans the saucy video. The brouhaha piques interest in the song, which becomes her ninth #1 hit in the US.More
October 8, 1990 Eddie Vedder flies from his home in San Diego to Seattle, where he meets his Pearl Jam bandmates for the first time and starts a week of recording that becomes the bulk of their debut album, Ten. Vedder was chosen based on vocals he added to a three-song instrumental demo the band made.More
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