This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1997.
[edit] Events
[edit] January
- January 9 - David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert (the day after his birthday) at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA with guests Frank Black, The Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Robert Smith of The Cure, Lou Reed, and Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins, with the opening act Placebo. Proceeds from the concert went to the Save the Children fund.[1]
- January 10 - James Brown receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, USA.[2]
- January 19 - Madonna wins Best Actress In A Motion Picture, Musical Or Comedy, for her part in Evita, at the 54th annual Golden Globe Awards in the USA.[3]
- January 28 - The Virginia Senate votes to retire Carry Me Back to Old Virginny as the official state song, and begins looking for a replacement.
[edit] February
- Pianist David Helfgott performs at the Boston Symphony Hall, in Boston, USA, during his world tour. The Boston Globe describes his performance as "without phrasing, form, harmonic understanding, differentiation of style and often basic accuracy; worst of all, it was without emotional content."
- March 1 - The rock band Phish records Slip Stitch and Pass live at Markthalle, Hamburg, Germany.
- March 3 - U2 release the opinion-dividing Pop album. Along with the Oasis album Be Here Now, it becomes a major release that fails to sell to industry expectations, particularly in the US, despite many strong initial reviews.
- March 9 - The Notorious B.I.G. is shot dead while sitting in the passenger seat of a car after a Soul Train Awards party in the USA.
- March 9 - The Spice Girls become the first act in the history of the UK Top 40 singles charts to have four consecutive number one hits with Mama/Who Do You Think You Are. Profits from the single go to Comic Relief and provide the biggest individual contribution of 1997.
- March 11 - Paul McCartney is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
- March 17 - Whirlwind Heat play their first show.
- March 19 - March 20 - The reunited Monkees perform two sold out concerts at Wembley Arena in London, UK.
- March 30 - The Spice Girls launch Britain's new Channel 5.
- 5ive's musical career begins after auditions are held in London, UK to find potential band members, with over 3,000 hopefuls showing up to audition.
- The Spice Girls attend the Cannes Film Festival to announce their plans to hit the big screen with Spiceworld: The Movie. A photo call on top of the Hotel Martinez entrance brings the area to a standstill.
- May 11 - The Spice Girls perform their first British live gig for the Prince's Trust 21st anniversary concert at the Manchester Opera House They break royal protocol by kissing Prince Charles on the cheeks and even pinching his bottom.
- May 15 - The Spice Girls' album Spice reaches number one on the US charts, making them the first British act to top the charts with a debut album.
- June 16 - Radiohead release OK Computer to huge critical acclaim. Now recognized as a classic album.*
[edit] August
- August 3 - The Black Crowes perform their last show with Johnny Colt and Marc Ford.
- August 4 - Nigerian afrobeat pioneer and dissident pop star Fela Anikulapo-Kuti dies in Lagos, Nigeria, of HIV-related illness.
- August 7 - Garth Brooks performs to an estimated 800,000 to one million people during a free concert given in Central Park, New York City.
- August 16 - August 17 - Phish perform at the two day music festival, The Great Went, at Loring Air Force Base in Limestone, Maine, USA. They play 500 minutes of music, six sets and two encores. There was an estimated attendance of between 65,000-70,000 and it was the top grossing concert of the season making over $4,000,000 in box office receipts.
- August 19 - The reunited Fleetwood Mac release The Dance and begin a concert tour in the United States.
- August 21 - Oasis' third album, Be Here Now, is released. It becomes the fastest selling music album of all time, moving 695,761 copies in the first week in the UK.
- August 25 - Radiohead's second single from OK Computer, Karma Police released, although does not get released in the US until June 1998.
[edit] September
[edit] October
[edit] November
- November 3 - The Spice Girls release their second album Spiceworld. It is their second number one album, and makes the group the first British band since The Beatles to have two albums in the US chart at the same time. Spice and Spiceworld have amassed enough sales for one out of every two people in Britain to own a Spice Girls album.
- November 4 - Shania Twain releases her breakthrough album Come on Over which sells 39 million copies worldwide and was to become the biggest selling album in country music history and the biggest selling by a female music artist.
- November 6 - The Spice Girls make the decision to take over the running of the group and drop Simon Fuller as their main song.
Sometime in November- Children Of Bodom release their first album, Something Wild, and make a video for the song, Deadnight Warrior.
[edit] December
[edit] Undated
[edit] Bands formed
[edit] Bands disbanded
[edit] Bands reformed
[edit] Albums released
[edit] January
[edit] February
[edit] August
[edit] September
[edit] October
| Day |
Album |
Artist |
Notes |
| 1 |
Shadows in the Banquet Hall |
Carbon Leaf |
- |
| 6 |
Come to Daddy |
Aphex Twin |
EP |
| 7 |
More Best of Leonard Cohen |
Leonard Cohen |
Greatest Hits |
| So Much for the Afterglow |
Everclear |
- |
| Underdogs |
Matthew Good Band |
- |
| South Saturn Delta |
Jimi Hendrix |
Compilation |
| The Velvet Rope |
Janet Jackson |
- |
| Jerky Boys 4 |
Jerky Boys |
- |
| Milk and Blood |
Jim Martin |
- |
| Willis |
The Pietasters |
- |
| Death to the Pixies |
Pixies |
Compilation |
| 60 Cycle Hum |
Pulley |
- |
| Good Feeling |
Travis |
US |
| 8 |
National Steel |
Colin James |
- |
| 10 |
blackmail |
blackmail |
- |
| The Fantastic Plastic Machine |
Fantastic Plastic Machine |
- |
| 12 |
20,000 Watt R.S.L. |
Midnight Oil |
Greatest Hits |
| 13 |
Jurassic 5 EP |
Jurassic 5 |
EP |
| Pleased to Meet You |
Sleeper |
- |
| Quarashi |
Quarashi |
- |
| 14 |
Medazzaland |
Duran Duran |
- |
| Nimrod |
Green Day |
- |
| A Jagged Era |
Jagged Edge |
- |
| Phenomenon |
LL Cool J |
- |
| Unleash the Beast |
Saxon |
- |
| Soundbombing |
Various Artists |
Compilation |
| 20 |
Exile |
Gary Numan |
UK |
| 21 |
Phoenix Rising |
Artension |
- |
| Extreme Honey |
Elvis Costello |
Compilation |
| Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ, and Nature Present The Firm: The Album |
The Firm (Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ, and Nature) |
- |
| Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album |
Lil Jon & the Eastside Boyz |
- |
| Young Team |
Mogwai |
- |
| Joya |
Will Oldham |
- |
| The Remixes |
Shakira |
Remix |
| 27 |
Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon |
John Lennon |
UK, Compilation |
| Echo Dek |
Primal Scream |
Remix |
| Legendary Tales |
Rhapsody |
- |
| 28 |
The Fury of the Aquabats! |
The Aquabats |
- |
| Talk on Corners |
The Corrs |
- |
| Galore |
The Cure |
Compilation |
| Around the Fur |
Deftones |
- |
| Zaireeka |
The Flaming Lips |
- |
| My Body, the Hand Grenade |
Hole |
Compilation |
| Get It How U Live! |
Hot Boys |
- |
| Forever and Counting |
Hot Water Music |
- |
| Jugulator |
Judas Priest |
- |
| Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions |
Kiss |
- |
| Harlem World |
Mase |
- |
| Slip Stitch and Pass |
Phish |
- |
