1996 in music

See also: 1995 in music, other events of 1996, 1997 in music, 1990s in music and the list of 'years in music'

Contents

1 Events

2 Albums released

10.1 Grammy Awards
10.2 Country Music Association Awards
10.3 Eurovision Song Contest
10.4 Mercury Music Prize

11 Charts

11.1 KROQ
11.2 Triple J Hottest 100

Events

January 16 - Jamaican authorities open fire on Jimmy Buffett's seaplane, mistaking it for a drug trafficker's plane. U2 singer Bono was also on the plane, but neither singer was injured.
January 18 - Lisa Marie Presley files for divorce from Michael Jackson.
January 28 - Chris Isaak makes a guest appearance on the television show Friends.
January 29 - Garth Brooks refuses to accept his American Music Award for "Favorite Overall Artist". Brooks says that Hootie and the Blowfish had done more for music that year than he did.
February 4 - Former Milli-Vanilli member Rob Pilatus is hospitalized when a man hits him over the head with a baseball bat in Hollywood, California. Pilatus was attempting to steal the man's car.
February 14 - The Artist Formerly Known As Prince marries backup singer Mayte Garcia.
February 20 - Snoop Doggy Dogg and his bodyguard are acquitted of first degree murder. The jury deadlocks on voluntary manslaughter charges and a mistrial is declared.
March 4 - The Beatles' second reunion song is released, as part of their first reuinion since the band's breakup 26 years earlier. The song is simply a finished version of a John Lennon demo from 1980; a song called Real Love.
March 13 - Ramones fans riot in Buenos Aires, Argentina after waiting all night for concert tickets only to find out that the show had been sold out.
March 16 - Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men ends its 16th consecutive week at No. 1 with "One Sweet Day". It is the longest consecutive week stay at No. 1 in Billboard Hot 100 history.
March 18 - The Sex Pistols announce that they are reuniting for a 20th anniversary tour.
March 28 - Phil Collins announces that he is leaving Genesis to focus on his solo career.
April 3 - M.C. Hammer files for bankruptcy.
April 4 - The Grateful Dead's Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia's widow, Deborah, scatter part of Garcia's ashes in the Ganges River in India.
April 15 - The remaining part of Jerry Garcia's ashes are scattered near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California.
April 24 - This Train, Rick Elias, Jimmy A, Phil Keaggy, Carolyn Arends, Third Day & Ashley Cleveland perform a tribute concert for Rich Mullins at Nashville's Cafe Milano. Speakers included Reunion Records executive Terry Hemmings, record producer Reed Arvin, disc jockey Jon Rivers, & author Brennan Manning.
May - The Galway Early Music Festival is launched in Ireland.
May 8 - In Los Angeles, California, a judge rules against Tommy Lee and wife actress Pamela Anderson Lee in their attempt to keep Penthouse magazine from publishing still photos taken from an X-rated home movie which was stolen from their home.
July - The Smashing Pumpkins drummer, Jimmy Chamberlin, is arrested for possession of a controlled substance. The other band members fire him because they said his "insidious battle with drugs and alcohol" had nearly ruined everything for the band.
August 6 - The Ramones play their last ever show at Lollapalooza.
Launch of the Proms in the Park event in London.
September 7 - Rapper Tupac Shakur is shot 4 times in Las Vegas, Nevada while leaving the MGM Grand hotel, after seeing the Mike Tyson vs. Bruce Seldon boxing match, in what is apparently a drive-by shooting.
September 12 - Controversy follows The Eagles when the band dedicates "Peaceful Easy Feeling" to Saddam Hussein at a United States Democratic Party fundraiser held in Los Angeles.
September 13 - Tupac Shakur died in hospital after his wounds from the Las Vegas, Nevada MGM Grand shooting.
November 8 - After having first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, the film Hype!, a documentary on the Seattle grunge scene, opens to general audiences
Sheryl Crow's self titled album is banned from Wal-Mart stores because of the lyric "Watch out sister, watch out brother/watch our children while they kill each other/with a gun they bought at Wal-Mart Discount Stores".
The Monkees embark on their 30th Anniversary Reunion Tour
All Systems Go! forms
Chevelle forms
Dashboard Confessional forms
Linkin Park forms
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes forms
Orgy forms
Sublime disbands (due to the singer (Brad Nowell)'s death)
Coal Chamber's career begins
Jay-Z's musical career begins
Poison reunites
Singer Tori Amos is sued when a man crashes his car after being distracted by a billboard advertising her album; the billboard featured a photo of Amos breastfeeding a piglet.
David Bowie's single "Telling Lies" becomes the first song offered as a free digital download by a major record label (Virgin Records).
The Dutch goth metal band Within Temptation was formed.