July 15, 1997 Missy Elliott releases her debut album, Supa Dupa Fly, with lead single "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)," a reworking of the Ann Peebles song "I Can't Stand The Rain." Guests on the album include Ginuwine, Busta Rhymes and Aaliyah, all artists Elliott has produced.
July 12, 1997 The French magazine Le Figaro publishes an interview with George Harrison where he blasts modern music, taking aim at U2 and the Spice Girls.More
July 8, 1997 Weezer fan club founders Mykel Allan, 31, and her sister Carli, 29, are killed along with their younger sister, Trysta, in a car accident in Colorado on the way back from one of the band's shows. The girls, who had befriended many up-and-coming Los Angeles-based bands, are honored through many tribute songs, including Weezer's "Mykel and Carli" and Jimmy Eat World's "Hear You Me."
July 5, 1997 Organized by Sarah McLachlan, the all-female Lilith Fair tour kicks off with a show in The Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington State. The lineup includes Jewel, Suzanne Vega and Paula Cole, with Emmylou Harris, Sheryl Crow and Fiona Apple joining on subsequent stops.More
June 28, 1997 Lela Howard (83) and her husband Raymond (88) drive to a festival 10 miles away in Temple, Texas, but don't return. Fastball frontman Tony Scalzo writes the song "The Way" after reading about it. Days after completing the song, the couple is found dead about 200 miles from the festival.
June 28, 1997 Thanks to the heartwarming title track written for his daughter, Bob Carlisle's Butterfly Kisses becomes the first contemporary Christian album to hit #1 on the Billboard 200.
June 24, 1997 Hours after shipping 100,000 copies of the Insane Clown Posse album The Great Milenko, the group's label, Hollywood Records (a Disney subsidiary), recalls the shipments over concerns about the "inappropriate" lyrics.More
June 17, 1997 Blink-182, a pop-punk trio from San Diego, release their major-label debut, Dude Ranch. The album boasts their first rock-radio hit, "Dammit," a breakup tune that blows out bassist Mark Hoppus' vocal chords.More
June 17, 1997 When Ozzy's voice gives out before the Ozzfest date in Columbus, Ohio, he doesn't appear but the show goes on without him. Fans, who aren't told until later that he won't be there, don't take the news well and trash the venue.More
June 16, 1997 In the UK, The Verve release "Bitter Sweet Symphony," which lives up to it's title: the song is a huge hit, but Mick Jagger and Keith Richards end up getting credits and royalties.More
June 14, 1997 Puff Daddy's "I'll Be Missing You," a tribute to The Notorious B.I.G., hits #1 in America, where it stays for 11 weeks, dominating the summer of 1997.More
May 30, 1997 Yanni becomes the first Western artist in modern times to perform at the Forbidden City in Beijing. Despite strict regulations (including a 40-decibel sound limit), the show is a success as the Chinese welcome the Greek musician.
May 29, 1997 Jeff Buckley drowns while swimming in Wolf River in Tennessee. The singer/songwriter/guitarist known for his version of "Hallelujah" is 30 years old at the time of his death.More
May 24, 1997 Hanson land a #1 hit with their debut single, "MMMbop," one of the most insidious earworms in music history.More
May 23, 1997 Country singers LeAnn Rimes and Trisha Yearwood release separate versions of the Diane Warren-penned ballad "How Do I Live" on the same day.More
May 19, 1997 Backstreet Boys release "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)," their breakthrough single in the US.
May 13, 1997 Oprah Winfrey, who has been following Tina Turner's Wildest Dreams tour for her talk show and doing giveaways along the way, joins Turner on stage at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles to perform "The Best." It's not easy for Oprah; during rehearsals, Turner tells her, "You really don't have any rhythm, do you?"
May 6, 1997 The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the first time holds its induction ceremonies in Cleveland, where the Hall is located. (Previous ceremonies were held in New York). Getting in are The Jackson 5, The Bee Gees, The Young Rascals, Joni Mitchell, Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills & Nash and Parliament-Funkadelic.
May 2, 1997 The James Bond spoof Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery hits theaters. The theme is "Soul Bossa Nova," a song by Quincy Jones from 1962 - the same year the first Bond movie appeared. Yeah baby!More
April 14, 1997 Creed release their debut album, My Own Prison, on their own label, Blue Collar Records. When a local radio station in Tallahassee puts the title track in rotation, they earn a deal with Wind-Up Records, which re-issues the album in August.
April 14, 1997 Depeche Mode release their ninth album, Ultra, in the UK. Work on the album had to be stopped in 1996 when lead singer Dave Gahan nearly died of a drug overdose; he spent a lot of time making court appointments and trying to get sober when operations resumed. The band is in no condition to tour to support the album, but it still makes #1 in the UK and sells over 500,000 copies in America.
April 11, 1997 Reprising the Beatles famous rooftop concert, Paul McCartney plays two songs from his upcoming album Flaming Pie from the top of a building he owns in London.
April 11, 1997 After a 20-year absence, Grand Funk re-forms for a tour that benefits the Bosnian-American Relief Fund, which aids victims of the genocide in Bosnia.
April 8, 1997 Singer-songwriter Laura Nyro ("Stoned Soul Picnic," "Wedding Bell Blues," "And When I Die") dies at age 49 of ovarian cancer.
April 2, 1997 After 32 years, Joni Mitchell is reunited with her first daughter, Kilauren Gibb. Joni gave the child up for adoption at the start of her career.
March 25, 1997 Sixteen days after he was shot and killed, The Notorious B.I.G.'s second album, Life After Death, is released.More
March 22, 1997 "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" by Puff Daddy goes to #1, the first of four chart-toppers in 1997 from his Bad Boy label. The others are "Hypnotize" and "Mo Money Mo Problems" by The Notorious B.I.G., and "I'll Be Missing You" by Puff, his tribute to B.I.G., who died on March 9, 1997.
March 21, 1997 The movie Selena debuts in theaters, chronicling the life of the late Tejano singer, who was murdered two years earlier by the former president of her fan club. Jennifer Lopez is lauded for her breakout performance in the title role, which inspires her to pursue a singing career of her own.
March 19, 1997 Gabrielle's ex-boyfriend (and the mother of her child), Tony Antoniou, is sentenced to life in prison for murdering his stepfather. Gabrielle was called as a witness at the trial.
March 11, 1997 Thirty years after being admitted as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), Paul McCartney is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to popular music.More
©2026 Songfacts®, LLC