November 20, 2016 Ariana Grande wins Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards. Justin Bieber is also a big winner, taking home four trophies. Green Day takes a swipe at Donald Trump, who was elected president two weeks earlier, in their performance of "Bang Bang," going into a chant of "No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA."
November 19, 2016 At the Sacramento stop on his Saint Pablo Tour, Kanye West does three songs, delivers a 17-minute monologue, and leaves the stage.More
November 18, 2016 Bruno Mars releases his third album, 24K Magic, a party record that picks up where his Mark Ronson collaboration "Uptown Funk" left off. Packed with hits like "That's What I Like" and "Finesse," it wins the Grammy for Album Of The Year.
November 17, 2016 Peter Gabriel launches the "Imprisoned For Art" campaign, an effort to free prisoners around the world who have been sent to jail for opposing their governments. More
November 15, 2016 Less than a year after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer, country singer Holly Dunn, age 59, dies at a hospice facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
November 12, 2016 Kate McKinnon sings "Hallelujah" in character as Hillary Clinton to open Saturday Night Live.More
November 8, 2016 Despite strident support from a passel of stars, including Katy Perry, Barbra Streisand and Bruce Springsteen, Hillary Clinton loses the US presidential election to Donald Trump, whose supporters include Ted Nugent, Loretta Lynn and Wayne Newton. Miley Cyrus, who said she would move if Trump was elected, decides to stay in the country.
November 2, 2016 Beyoncé goes country, performing her song "Daddy Lessons" with the Dixie Chicks at the CMA Awards. Eight years later, she becomes the first Black woman to top the Country chart when "Texas Hold 'Em" goes to #1.
October 30, 2016 With the Cubs in the World Series for the first time since 1945 (they haven't won since 1908), longtime fan Eddie Vedder leads the crowd in "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" during the seventh-inning stretch.More
October 23, 2016 Dead Or Alive lead singer Pete Burns dies of a heart attack at age 57. Known for the 1985 hit "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)," Burns estimated that he had 300 plastic surgeries in his lifetime.
October 21, 2016 Leonard Cohen releases his last album, You Want It Darker. Cohen was in poor health while the album was being made, and never went to the recording studio, relying on his son Adam to handle the sessions and integrate his tracks. Cohen dies a few weeks later age age 82.
October 13, 2016 Bob Dylan is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "For having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition." Previous winners in this category include William Golding, John Steinbeck and William Faulkner. He's the first American to win since Toni Morrison in 1993.
October 13, 2016 Jon Sudano posts a video on YouTube where he sings the lyrics to Smash Mouth's "All Star" over the music to John Lennon's "Imagine." It takes off, and he racks up millions of views with similar videos where he sings "All Star" over other famous songs, including "Y.M.C.A.," "Under the Bridge" and "Wonderwall."More
October 7, 2016 The Rolling Stones play the first night of the Desert Trip festival, which also features Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Roger Waters and The Who. The six-day (split over two weekends) event rakes in $160 million, making it the highest-earning music festival ever.More
October 6, 2016 Prince's Paisley Park compound opens to the public.More
October 3, 2016 Nickelodeon premieres the animated series Kuu Kuu Harajuku, produced by Gwen Stefani, about a group of girls who make music and fight evil. Stefani introduced her "Harajuku Girls," inspired by the neighborhood in Tokyo, on her solo debut, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. and has integrated her love of the culture in her clothing and perfume lines.
September 30, 2016 Mary J. Blige debuts her Apple Music talk show, The 411, and welcomes Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton as her first guest. Halfway through the intimate conversation, Blige bursts into a rendition of Bruce Springsteen's protest anthem "American Skin (41 Shots)" in a bid to address the rash of police brutality against African Americans. The attempt falls flat with viewers, who heckle the singer on social media.More
September 21, 2016 The day before dropping his single "Starboy," The Weeknd releases a photo showing his new haircut.More
September 12, 2016 13-year-old Tate McRae becomes the first Canadian to compete in the finals of So You Think You Can Dance. She comes in third but goes on to find fame, first with a series of dance videos on YouTube and later as a pop star, with hits like "You Broke Me First" and "Greedy."
August 28, 2016 At the MTV Video Music Awards, Beyoncé wins Video of the Year for "Formation." In support of the Black Lives Matter movement, she brings four mothers of shooting victims with her onto the red carpet. By the end of the evening, Bey (along with her production designer, choreographer, director, cinematographer and editor) has eight trophies.More
August 25, 2016 Kanye West begins his Saint Pablo Tour with a concert in Indianapolis. During the show, West performs on a floating stage that hovers about 15 feet over the audience.More
August 20, 2016 The Tragically Hip play their final concert, calling it quits at a show in lead singer Gord Downie's hometown of Kingston, Ontario. Downie was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in December 2015.More
August 17, 2016 MTV's Catfish: The TV Show introduces Spencer Morrill, a Tennessee native who insists he's been in an online romance with Katy Perry for six years. He even made a ring for her out of a family heirloom. When hosts Nev and Max lure out the catfish in England and bring him face to face with the singer, he believes the real Perry sent the "imposter" as a joke.
August 14, 2016 Nearing the end of a summer concert season where fans have been tailgating with improvised toilets, police in Mansfield, Massachusetts, warn they will not be tolerated at the upcoming Jimmy Buffett concert.More
August 11, 2016 For the second year, President Obama releases two summer playlists on Spotify. It's his last year in office, which might be why "So Very Hard To Go" is on the list.More
August 5, 2016 There are spectacular fireworks, awe-inspiring acrobats, and sensational dancers at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Rio, but supermodel Gisele Bundchen gets the biggest reaction when she takes a long walk across the stage to "The Girl From Ipanema," performed by the composer's grandson, Daniel Jobim.
August 4, 2016 Nationwide insurance announces a new ad campaign with Brad Paisley and Rachel Platten.More
August 3, 2016 Days after performing at Portland's Moda Center, Modest Mouse singer Isaac Brock causes a 5-vehicle accident when he falls asleep at the wheel and crashes into a pickup truck. No serious injuries are reported.
July 29, 2016 Nearly six months after all four members of the British group Viola Beach were killed in a car accident, their self-titled debut album is released. It debuts at #1 in the UK.
July 28, 2016 Marianne Ihlen, the subject of Leonard Cohen's song "So Long, Marianne," dies at 81. Before her death, Cohen sent her a letter that read, in part, "Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine." Cohen joins her in death on November 7.
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