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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
- 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 television channel, Channel 5.
[edit] May-June
[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.
[edit] September-October
- September 6 - Elton John performs "Candle in the Wind" at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales; John Tavener's Song for Athene is performed at the same ceremony, with soprano Lynne Dawson singing the solo part.
- September 17 - The KLF return for 23 minutes with their performance of Fuck the Millennium.
- September 19 - While on his way to a benefit concert in Kansas, USA, Rich Mullins loses control of his Jeep, flipping the automobile and throwing both Mullins and passenger Mitch McVicker out onto the road. A tractor-trailer approaching the scene swerves to miss McVicker, striking and killing Mullins instantly. McVicker survives, but suffered major injuries.
- September 23 - Björk releases Homogenic, moving towards a darker sound and away from her 'pixie' image.
- September 29
- October 13 - The "Prince Igor" single, jointly performed by The Rhapsody, Warren G and Sissel Kyrkjebø is released.
[edit] November-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
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