1997 in music

Events

• January 10 - James Brown receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
• February 10 - 52 year old Brian Connolly of Sweet dies of kidney failure in England.
• January 20 - Ben and Jerry's introduce "Phish food", a new favlor of ice cream named after the rock group Phish. The ingredients are chocolate ice cream, marshmallows, caramel and fish-shaped fudge
• February 2 - Rich Mullins' musical The Canticle of the Plains premieres in Wichita, Kansas.
• February 13 - Michael Jackson's first son is born.
• March 9 - The Notorious B.I.G. is shot to death while sitting in the passenger seat of a car after a Soul Train Awards party
• March 11 - Paul McCartney is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
• April 2 - Joni Mitchell is reunited with the daughter that she gave up for adoption 32 years ago, Kilauren Gibb.
• September 19 - While on his way to a benefit concert in Kansas, Rich Mullins loses control of his jeep, flipping the automobile and throwing both Mullins and passenger Mitch McVicker out onto the road. A tractor trailor approaching the scene swerves to miss McVicker, striking and killing Mullins instantly. McVicker survives, but suffered major injuries.
• Orgy's musical career begins
• Dinosaur Jr. disbanded
• Gin Blossoms disbanded
• Soundgarden disbanded
• The Memorex, Maxell, and TDK company introduce Blank recordable CDs
• God Ate My Homework formed as one of the first bands to offer their music in MP3 format.

Albums released

• Nine Lives - Aerosmith
• Anywhere But Here - The Ataris
• The Gray Race - Bad Religion
• Tested - Bad Religion
• - Boston
• Coal Chamber (album) - Coal Chamber
• Around The Fur - Deftones
• Titanic - Celine Dion
• Around The Fur - Deftones
• Album Of The Year - Faith No More
• Nimrod - Green Day
• Middle Of Nowhere - Hanson
• Aftertaste - Helmet
• The First Session - Hole
• National Steel - Colin James
• Jerky Boys 4 - Jerky Boys
• Jugulator - Judas Priest
• Three Dollar Bill Y'all - Limp Bizkit
• Cryptic Writings - Megadeth
• Honky - Melvins
• Reload - Metallica
• Life In General - MxPx
• Nerf Herder (album) - Nerf Herder
• The Boatman's Call - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
• Angels Fall First - Nightwish
• Ixnay On The Hombre - The Offspring
• Billy Breathes - Phish
• Slip Stich And Pass - Phish
• Portishead (album) - Portishead
• II - Presidents of the United States of America
• Brown Album - Primus
• OK Computer - Radiohead
• Built To Last - Sick of it All
• Men In Black - Soundtrack
• Spiceworld - The Spice Girls
• Dots and Loops - Stereolab
• It Doesn't Matter Anymore - The Supernaturals
• Come On Over - Shania Twain
• Amrep Christmas - Unsane
• Pop - U2
• Fire Garden - Steve Vai
• The Mollusk - Ween

Top hits

• "The Difference" - The Wallflowers
• "Forty Six & 2" - Tool
• "A Long December" - Counting Crows
• "Magdalene" - Lenny Kravitz
• "My Heart Will Go On" - Celine Dion
• "Don't Speak" - No Doubt
• "Volcano" - Presidents of the United States of America
• "You Were Meant For Me" - Jewel
• "All By Myself" - Celine Dion
• "MmmBop" - Hanson
• "Wannabe" - The Spice Girls

Musical theater

• 1776, Broadway revival
• Annie, Broadway revival
• Candide, Broadway revival
• Life, Broadway production
• The Lion King, Broadway production
• Jekyll & Hyde, Broadway production
• Scarlet Pimpernel, Broadway production
• Titanic, Broadway production

Musical films

• Anastasia     animated feature
• Hercules     animated feature

Births

Deaths

• January 21 - Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis Presley's manager
• January 22 - Richard Berry, songwriter (Louie, Louie)
• February 10 - Brian Connolly, Sweet, kidney failure
• March 9 - The Notorious B.I.G.
• March 24 - Kenny Moore, Keyboardist for Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, Billy Preston and others
• April 9 - Laura Nyro, songwriter, ovarian cancer
• May 29 - Jeff Buckley, accidental drowning
• August 10 - Conlon Nancarrow, composer
• September - Derek Taylor, Press agent for The Beatles
• September 19 - Rich Mullins, singer, car accident
• October 12 - John Denver

Awards

• The following artists are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: The (Young) Rascals, The Bee Gees, Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills and Nash, The Jackson Five, Joni Mitchell and Parliament-Funkadelic
• Inductees of the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame include Gloria Gaither, and Billy Ray Hearn (founder of Myrrh Records

Grammy Awards

• Grammy Awards of 1997

Country Music Association Awards

Eurovision Song Contest

• Eurovision Song Contest 1997

Mercury Music Prize

• New Forms - Roni Size/Reprazent wins.

Referenced By