1997 in music - Definition and Overview

See also: 1996 in music, other events of 1997, 1998 in music, 1990s in music and the list of 'years in music'

Events

• January 9 - David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert (the day after his birthday) at Madison Square Garden, 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.
• 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 flavor 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 12 - David Bowie receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
• 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.
• August 16-17 - Phish preform two day music festival, The Great Went, in Limestone, Maine at Loring Air Force Base. 500 minutes of music, 6 sets, 2 encores. There was an estimated attendance that falls anywhere between 65,000-70,000 and was the top grossing concert of the summer by pulling in over $4,000,000.
• September - 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.
• The reunited Fleetwood Mac release The Dance and begin a highly successful concert tour in the United States.
• The reunited Monkees perform 2 sold out concerts at Wembley Arena in London.
• Orgy's musical career begins
• Lostprophets' musical career begins
• The Shins are formed.
• 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.
• The White Stripes are formed.
• Coldplay are formed.
• March 17 - Whirlwind Heat play their first show.

Classical music

• Paul McCartney - Standing Stone

Albums released

• Transistor - 311
• Nine Lives - Aerosmith
• Flaming Pie - Paul McCartney
• Happy? - Jann Arden
• Anywhere But Here - The Ataris
• The Gray Race - Bad Religion
• Tested - Bad Religion
• Telegram - Björk
• The Dance - Fleetwood Mac
• Homogenic - Björk
• Dude Ranch - Blink-182
• Surf-N-Burn - The Blue Stingrays
• Straight on Till Morning - Blues Traveler
• - Boston
• Earthling - David Bowie
• Medazzaland - Duran Duran
• Body Language - Jonathan Cain
• The Virginian - Neko Case
• Coal Chamber - Coal Chamber
• Around The Fur - Deftones
• Titanic - Celine Dion
• Something Wild - Children of Bodom
• Around The Fur - Deftones
• Serpents of the Light - Deicide
• Accident of Birth - Bruce Dickinson
• Enthrone Darkness Triumphant - Dimmu Borgir
• Dr. Dre Presents...The Aftermath - Dr. Dre
• Kingdom of Madness - Edguy
• The Messenger - Kurt Elling
• Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk - Emperor
• Album Of The Year - Faith No More
• Somewhere Out In Space - Gamma Ray
• Nighttime Birds - The Gathering
• God Street Wine - God Street Wine
• Nimrod - Green Day
• The Synthetic Form - Gridlock
• Glory to the Brave - Hammerfall
• Middle Of Nowhere - Hanson
• Aftertaste - Helmet
• The First Session - Hole
• Days of Purgatory - Iced Earth
• Whoracle - In Flames
• National Steel - Colin James
• In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 - Jay-Z
• Jerky Boys 4 - Jerky Boys
• Jugulator - Judas Priest
• I Got Next - KRS-One
• Euphoria - Leftover Salmon
• Three Dollar Bill Y'all - Limp Bizkit
• Marcy Playground - Marcy Playground
• Surfacing - Sarah McLachlan
• Cryptic Writings - Megadeth
• Honky - Melvins
• Reload - Metallica
• Formulas Fatal to the Flesh - Morbid Angel
• Life In General - MxPx
• Nerf Herder - Nerf Herder
• The Boatman's Call - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
• Angels Fall First - Nightwish
• Back From the Dead - Obituary
• Ixnay On The Hombre - The Offspring
• Billy Breathes - Phish
• Slip Stitch and Pass - Phish
• Portishead - Portishead
• II - The Presidents of the United States of America
• Brown Album - Primus
• OK Computer - Radiohead
• Legendary Tales - Rhapsody
• Double Live - Rheostatics
• Retrospective I - Rush
• The Wake of Magellan - Savatage
• Unleash the Beast - Saxon
• Child: Music for the Christmas Season - Jane Siberry
• Built To Last - Sick of it All
• Lake of Sorrow - Sins of Thy Beloved
• Dig Me Out - Sleater-Kinney
• Men In Black - Soundtrack
• Spiceworld - The Spice Girls
• Weights and Measures - Spirit of the West
• Dots and Loops - Stereolab
• Visions - Stratovarius
• It Doesn't Matter Anymore - The Supernaturals
• Then: The Earlier Years - They Might Be Giants
• Live Between Us - The Tragically Hip
• Come on Over - Shania Twain
• Songs of a Circling Spirit - Tom Cochrane
• Amrep Christmas - Unsane
• Pop - U2
• Fire Garden - Steve Vai
• Urban Hymns - The Verve
• The Mollusk - Ween
• Bombs & Butterflies - Widespread Panic
• Enter - Within Temptation

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
• "Silver Springs" - Fleetwood Mac
• "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

See also: Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1997

Musical theater

• 1776, Broadway revival
• Annie, Broadway revival
• Candide (Leonard Bernstein), 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 5 - Burton Lane, composer and lyricist
• 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 1 - Sviatoslav Richter, pianist
• August 2 - Fela Kuti, AIDS-related heart failure
• 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.

Charts

Triple J Hottest 100

• Triple J Hottest 100, 1997