April 26, 1994 Johnny Cash releases American Recordings, the first of a series of albums produced by Rick Rubin that revitalize his career.More
April 26, 1994 Live release their third album, Throwing Copper. It very slowly finds an audience as radio stations and MTV warm to tracks like "Lightning Crashes" and "I Alone." The album goes to #1 in America a year after its release and sells over 8 million copies.
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 19, 1994 Nas releases his landmark debut album Illmatic at the age of 20, helping revive the flagging New York City rap scene and birth the era of lyricism. It goes on to be widely accepted as one of the greatest rap albums of all time.More
April 16, 1994 Pearl Jam pay tribute to Kurt Cobain, who was found dead a week earlier, on Saturday Night Live with a performance of "Daughter" that ends with lead singer Eddie Vedder opening up his jacket to reveal a "K" on his T-shirt.
April 13, 1994 After nine years of a very public marriage, Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley announce they have separated. They divorce later in the year.
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
April 8, 1994 The Offspring release their breakthrough album Smash on the indie label Epitaph Records. Thanks to the success of the singles "Come Out and Play" and "Self Esteem," it sells over 10 million copies worldwide to become the best selling independently released and distributed album of all time.
April 5, 1994 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana kills himself with a shotgun at age 27. His body isn't discovered until three days later when an electrician enters to install an alarm.
April 3, 1994 About 300 radio stations accept Pearl Jam's offer to broadcast their concert at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta for free. It goes over so well, the band does a series of similar broadcasts over the next few years, bringing a steady stream of live music to their fans.
March 29, 1994 The Crow soundtrack is released. Featuring "Burn" by The Cure, it reaches number one on the charts.
March 26, 1994 Modern rock rules as Soundgarden's Superunknown is the #1 album in America, with Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral at #2. Those looking for something less intense can find it at #3, with the Ace of Base album The Sign.
March 22, 1994 Dan Hartman dies of a brain tumor at age 43 after being diagnosed with HIV in the late 1980s. During the 1970s, Hartman was a member of The Edgar Winter Group, and wrote and sung the band's hit "Free Ride." He also enjoyed success as a solo artist with the 1984 single "I Can Dream About You."
March 21, 1994 Bruce Springsteen wins an Oscar for the song "Streets of Philadelphia" from the Tom Hanks movie Philadelphia.
March 18, 1994 Kenner, Louisiana names a street "Lloyd Price Avenue" in honor of their native son.
March 8, 1994 Two seminal albums from the '90s are released: Soundgarden's Superunknown and Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral. They enter the albums chart at #1 and #2, respectively.More
March 7, 1994 The Supreme Court rules that parody constitutes fair use in deciding that 2 Live Crew's version of Roy Orbison's "(Oh) Pretty Woman" (where the woman is now big and hairy) is legal.More
March 4, 1994 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana spends 20 hours in a coma after overdosing on Rohypnol (a prescription sedative) and champagne.
March 1, 1994 The Bodyguard soundtrack wins the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, with "I Will Always Love You" taking Record of the Year. Frank Sinatra receives a Living Legends Award and Aretha Franklin gets a Lifetime Achievement Award. Branford Marsalis and Bruce Hornsby take Best Pop Instrumental Performance for their song "Barcelona Mona," which was penned for the Barcelona Olympics.
March 1, 1994 Ozzy Osbourne wins Best Metal Performance with Vocal for "I Don't Want to Change the World" from his album No More Tears. It's the first of his five career Grammy wins.
March 1, 1994 Justin Bieber is born in London, Ontario, Canada. Discovered on YouTube, he moves to Atlanta and is mentored by Usher. By the time he's 18 he has two #1 albums and a phalanx of female fans known as Beliebers.
February 22, 1994 Blues violinist Papa John Creach (of Jefferson Airplane/Starship) dies of congestive heart failure at age 76.
February 19, 1994 Their acoustic cover of "Because The Night" from MTV Unplugged becomes by far the biggest hit for 10,000 Maniacs when it peaks at #11 in the US. Natalie Merchant left six months earlier - the MTV performance was one of her last with the group.
February 16, 1994 Ava Max is born Amanda Koçi in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The singer revives dance-pop on the sleepy Billboard Hot 100 when she drops "Sweet But Psycho" in 2018.
February 1, 1994 Harry Styles is born in Worcestershire, England. He rises to fame in the boy band One Direction, and after their breakup in 2016, he becomes the best-selling solo artist of the bunch, with hits like "Sign of the Times," "Watermelon Sugar" and "Aperture."
February 1, 1994 Tori Amos releases her second album, Under The Pink, featuring the hit single "Cornflake Girl."More
February 1, 1994 Green Day release their major-label debut album, Dookie, bringing punk rock out of the basement with songs like "Basket Case" and "When I Come Around." At night, they play a gig at Slim's in San Francisco with The Dead Milkmen.More
January 30, 1994 Natalie Cole sings the US national anthem at Superbowl XXVIII in Atlanta, Georgia. Halftime is country, with Clint Black, The Judds and Travis Tritt among the performers.
January 28, 1994 Latin pop singer/rapper Maluma is born Juan Luis Londoño Arias in Medellin, Colombia. His breakthrough sophomore album, Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy (2015), showcases his dual personality as a pretty boy who sings romantic ballads and a dirty boy who sings reggaeton songs with seductive lyrics. "Borro Cassette," "El Perdedor," and "Sin Contrato" all reach the Top 10 on the Billboard Latin Songs chart.
January 19, 1994 The Ninth Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony is held in New York City. Inductees include The Animals, The Band, Duane Eddy, The Grateful Dead, Elton John, John Lennon, Bob Marley, and Rod Stewart. Axl Rose performs "Come Together" at the ceremony with Bruce Springsteen - it is Axl's last public appearance until 1998.
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