October 4, 1996 That Thing You Do!, a musical film starring its writer/director Tom Hanks, who plays the manager of fictional '60s band The Wonders, is released to US cinemas. The title track to the film was written by Adam Schlesinger, bass player for Fountains of Wayne.More
September 29, 1996 In Randall's Island, New York, Pearl Jam play their longest show ever: 32 songs over two hours, 48 minutes. During "Porch," Eddie Vedder duct tapes himself and leaps into the mosh pit.
September 24, 1996 "That Thing You Do," the title track to That Thing You Do!, a musical film directed by and starring Tom Hanks, is released. The track is written by Adam Schlesinger, bass player for Fountains of Wayne, and performed by fictional band The Wonders. The song goes on to peak at #41 in America and is nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes. It loses out on both occasions to Madonna's "You Must Love Me," from Evita.
September 21, 1996 Hank Williams III, 23, makes his debut at the Grand Ole Opry, following the legacy of his father, Hank Williams Jr., and grandfather,Hank Williams, in performing there. His set includes "Lovesick Blues," which Hank Sr. played at his Opry debut in 1949.
September 17, 1996 Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise release their debut album, Blackwater Surprise, featuring the song "Once Upon a Time."
September 17, 1996 Three years after bursting into the musical consciousness with their debut Undertow, Tool release their second album, Ænima. It opens at #2 in the US and eventually sells over 3 million copies.
September 10, 1996 Neil Peart employs some jazz-influenced traditional drum grips on Rush's 16th studio album, Test for Echo. It's the last album the band releases before the death of Peart's daughter, followed ten months later by the passing of his wife, leads the band to take a six-year recording hiatus.
September 9, 1996 Bluegrass singer/songwriter Bill Monroe dies at age 84 in Springfield, Tennessee, several months after suffering a stroke.
September 4, 1996 At the MTV Video Music Awards, Van Halen, who recently parted ways with lead singer Sammy Hagar, appear on stage with their founding frontman David Lee Roth for the first time in 11 years to present an award. The reunion is short lived - a month later they announce Gary Cherone (formerly of Extreme) as their new lead singer. Roth releases a statement saying, "I was an unwitting participant in this deception." Van Halen release one album with Cherone before reuniting with Roth in 2007.
August 28, 1996 Isaac Hayes officially protests the use of Sam and Dave's classic "Soul Man" (which he wrote) by the Bob Dole US Presidential campaign (which had renamed it "I'm A Dole Man").
August 23, 1996 The movie She's The One, with a soundtrack by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, opens in theaters. Jennifer Aniston and Edward Burns, who star in the film, appear in the video for "Walls."
August 12, 1996 With ska booming in America, Time magazine runs an article titled "It's a Ska World After All." Sublime, No Doubt and 311 all have albums on the chart.
August 12, 1996 In Buffalo, New York, Radiohead start a run of 13 shows opening for Alanis Morissette. They use their time to road test songs like "No Surprises" and "Paranoid Android," which appear on their next album, OK Computer.
August 7, 1996 A federal appeals court overturns the ruling that original Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers members Jimmy Merchant and Herman Santiago co-wrote the group's biggest hit, 1955's "Why Do Fools Fall In Love?," ruling that copyright claims must be filed within three years of the song's publication.
August 6, 1996 At a show in Hollywood, the Ramones play their final concert.More
August 5, 1996 Soul singer Wilson Pickett checks into a court-ordered rehab for cocaine addiction.
August 1, 1996 Bill Buchanan, known for a songwriting partnership with Dickie Goodman that produced the 1956 hit "The Flying Saucer," dies of cancer at age 81.
July 30, 1996 Sublime's self-titled album is released. It's their major-label debut, and also their last, as lead singer Brad Nowell died of a heroin overdose two months earlier. The album goes on to sell over 5 million copies.More
July 27, 1996 "Wannabe" hits #1 in the UK, making the Spice Girls the first all-female group to top the chart with their debut single.
July 23, 1996 Fiona Apple, 18, releases her debut album, Tidal, featuring "Shadowboxer" and "Criminal." It sells over 3 million copies in America.More
July 22, 1996 The Smokin' Grooves tour, the first major hip-hop traveling festival, kicks off a 33-date trek with a show in Sacramento, California. Artists include A Tribe Called Quest, Fugees, Cypress Hill and Busta Rhymes.
July 17, 1996 The song "Key To My Heart" by the R&B trio Choice appears in the movie Kazaam, starring Shaquille O'Neal as a 5,000-year-old genie. Choice quickly disbands but their stand-out singer, Alecia Moore, goes on to greatness as Pink.
July 16, 1996 The Sultan of Brunei, the world's richest man, marks his 50th birthday with a Michael Jackson concert on the Borneo Island. Jackson earns about $15 million for the performance, which is free to the 60,000 in attendance.
July 13, 1996 At Riverfront Park in Nashville, Chet Atkins, Steve Earle and the Goo Goo Dolls join about 1000 other guitarists to jam on "Heartbreak Hotel" for nearly 80 minutes. They come up short in their bid to break the record for largest jam session, set in 1994 when 1,320 guitarists played "Takin' Care Of Business" in Vancouver.
July 11, 1996 The night before a show at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Smashing Pumpkins touring keyboard player Jonathan Melvoin dies at age 34 after shooting heroin with drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, who is fired from the band a few days later (he returns to the fold in 1999). The Sarah McLachlan song "Angel" is inspired by Melvoin's death.
July 11, 1996 Alessia Cara is born Alessia Caracciolo in Ontario, Canada. After building a following posting cover songs on YouTube, she releases her first single, "Here," in 2015 and wins the Best New Artist Grammy three years later.
July 9, 1996 Thirteen-year-old LeAnn Rimes releases her debut album, Blue, and wows critics with the hits "Blue" and "One Way Ticket (Because I Can)."More
July 8, 1996 Spice Girls release their debut single, "Wannabe," in the UK. It shoots to #1, setting Spice-mania in motion. The single is released in the US in January 1997, and climbs to the top spot there as well.
July 5, 1996 Dolly the Sheep, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, is born. She is named after Dolly Parton because the scientist thought the country star was the person most synonymous with mammary glands.
June 27, 1996 The sixth edition of Lollapalooza launches at Longview Lake in Kansas City, Missouri. Defying tradition as a showcase for underground acts, the headliner is Metallica, with Soundgarden also on the bill. Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell bows out, and the tour lasts one more year before going on a 6-year hiatus.
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