October 20, 1998 98 Degrees release their breakout album, 98 Degrees and Rising, featuring the hit singles "Because Of You" and "The Hardest Thing," as well as "True To Your Heart," a duet with Stevie Wonder from the Disney movie Mulan.
October 10, 1998 The deadly force of Hurricane Georges not only knocks out telephone, water, and electricity services in Puerto Rico, it also bumps the Hot Latin Tracks chart from Billboard Magazine. For the first time in its 10-year history, the chart is not published because of damage to Broadcast Data Systems monitors caused by the storm, which hit the island late in September.
October 6, 1998 Loud Records and members of Loud/RCA rap group the Wu-Tang Clan are sued by a woman claiming battery, false imprisonment, and defamation, among other allegations. Bridget Gray, an actress and dancer, seeks compensatory and punitive damages for an August 1997 incident in which she alleges that members of the Wu-Tang Clan made derogatory comments and held her against her will while she was hired to appear in a video for the group.
October 5, 1998 Without comment, the Supreme Court refuses to throw out a suit charging that composer Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber copied from another songwriter for the "Phantom Song" from his Phantom of the Opera. The case stems from a 1990 suit filed by U.S. liturgical composer Ray Repp that claims Webber's song copies Repp's 1978 composition "Till You."
October 5, 1998 HBO is the home of the world premiere of Janet Jackson's new music video "Every Time." The premiere takes place just before the 8 p.m. showing of William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet and serves as a prelude to HBO's premiere of the live concert special from Madison Square Garden, Janet: The Velvet Rope.
October 2, 1998 Singing cowboy Gene Autry dies of lymphoma at 91.More
September 30, 1998 On The Drew Carey Show episode "In Ramada Da Vida," Slash, Lisa Loeb, Dusty Hill of ZZ Top, Dave Mustaine, Jonny Lang, Joey Ramone, Joe Walsh and Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen audition for Drew's band, which has a gig at the Ramada Inn. Walsh gets the job.
September 24, 1998 The film SLC Punk! premieres. Set in the unlikely location of Salt Lake City, Utah, the film documents the '80s punk movement in the western US through the eyes of a fan. The film becomes a favorite in punk culture for being one of the accurate, if stylized, portrayals of the genre. The soundtrack includes songs by the Ramones, Blondie, The Velvet Underground, Dead Kennedys, and Generation X.
September 23, 1998 The first ever Lilith Fair concert outside North America takes place at London's Royal Albert Hall. Before the sold-out show, Lilith founder Sarah McLahlan tells a press conference that plans are underway to bring the Fair to Europe as a touring package the following year.
September 22, 1998 "Iris" hitmakers The Goo Goo Dolls release their smash album Dizzy Up The Girl, a 4-million seller that includes the ubiquitous City Of Angels ballad as well as the Top 20 singles "Slide," "Black Balloon" and "Broadway."More
September 22, 1998 The first Family Values Tour, created by Korn and featuring Limp Bizkit, Ice Cube and Rammstein, launches with a show in Rochester, New York.
September 21, 1998 The Fireman, Paul McCartney's trance music duo with producer Martin Glover, release their second album, Rushes. Says Glover: "Linda [Paul's wife] was very ill, and by the time we'd finished it she was dying, and for me it became very much a requiem for her."
September 18, 1998 On the Grand Ole Opry, Jett Williams pays tribute to her late father, Hank Williams, who would have been 75 the day before. Daughter salutes father by performing "Your Cheatin' Heart," a song released after his death on New Year's Eve, 1952. "He never sang the song on the Opry. He never sang it live," Williams tells the audience.
September 15, 1998 Coolio is arrested in Lawndale, California, and cited for driving on the wrong side of the road with an expired license. He is also charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possession of marijuana. His trouble with the law doesn't hurt his TV career, as he makes frequent appearances on shows like Fear Factor and Hollywood Squares.
September 15, 1998 Brandy and Monica, who have been lighting up the chatrooms on AOL, perform their duet "The Boy Is Mine" at the MTV Video Music Awards amid rumors that the young divas have serious beef. Clearing things up, their managers issue a statement saying: "The fact is that Brandy and Monica did interviews together, had their picture taken together, had adjoining dressing rooms, sat together at the show, and held hands and prayed together prior to going on stage to perform."
September 15, 1998 Marilyn Manson release their third album, Mechanical Animals. Target, Walmart and some other retailers refuse to stock it because of the cover, which depicts the group's frontman in naked female form.More
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
September 12, 1998 Lauryn Hill's solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill debuts at #1 in the US. It sells over 10 million copies and wins pretty much every award it's eligible for, including the Grammy for Album Of The Year, but it's the only solo album Hill ever puts out.
September 2, 1998 Sandra Denton (aka Pepa of Salt-N-Pepa) gives birth to a daughter named Egypt. The father is Naughty by Nature rapper Treach.
August 25, 1998 Fugees member Lauryn Hill releases her solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. It becomes the first hip-hop album to win the Grammy for Album of the Year.More
August 24, 1998 Bob Geldof of The Boomtown Rats and Live Aid fame begins hosting a show on the London radio station XFM. In his first broadcast, he announces (incorrectly) that Ian Dury has died.More
August 24, 1998 Composer/conductor Gene Page dies after a long illness in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, at age 58. Page did arrangements for The Supremes, Whitney Houston and Barbra Streisand and many others. He also scored the 1972 Blaxploitation flick Blacula.
August 21, 1998 Terence Trent D'Arby, not heard from since his 1995 album Vibrator, posts on his website: "I am a holographic representation in the third dimension of what was requested by your souls that one of your favourite artists be. I sent a portion of my soul to embody as an artist called Terence Trent D'Arby to favour that request." He later explains that he is using a new name: Sananda Maitreya, which came to him in a dream.
August 18, 1998 After getting dropped by Jive and releasing two independent albums, Kid Rock issues Devil Without A Cause, his first album with Lava Records. It sells 11 million copies, making the rumpled rap-rocker a huge star.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
August 2, 1998 The Beatles are named "Favourite Recording Artist Of All Time" in a poll conducted by the UK music magazine Mojo, beating out Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Queen, and Elton John in that order.
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.
June 30, 1998 System Of A Down release their frantic self-titled debut album. The singles "Sugar" and "Spiders" earn airplay on rock radio and MTV, and as the band builds a following through touring, it goes on to sell over a million copies in America.
June 29, 1998 George Harrison announces that he is undergoing chemotherapy for throat cancer, with assurances that, "I'm not going to die on you folks just yet." He succumbs to the disease three years later.
June 23, 1998 The soundtrack to the blockbuster disaster movie Armageddon is released, anchored by the Aerosmith power balled "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing." It also contains the first Journey song since Steve Perry's departure: "Remember Me," with their new lead singer, Steve Augeri. The soundtrack goes to #1 and sells over 4 million copies in America.
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