1997 in music
| Years in music: | 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 |
| Centuries: | 19th century · 20th century · 21st century |
| Decades: | 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s |
| Years: | 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 |
See also:
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
- January 19 - Madonna wins Best Actress In A Motion Picture, Musical Or Comedy in Evita at the 54th annual Golden Globe Awards. Madonna later wins the American Moviegoer Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in Evita.
- 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 10 - 52 year old Brian Connolly of Sweet dies of kidney failure in England.
- February 12 - David Bowie receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
- February 13 - Michael Jackson's first son is born.
- March - Pianist David Helfgott appears at the Boston Symphony Hall 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.
- Northern Ireland band Ash release the single Barbie.
- 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.
- March 17 - Whirlwind Heat play their first show.
- Alice Cooper releases his first live album in twenty years.
- April 2 - Joni Mitchell is reunited with the daughter that she gave up for adoption 32 years ago, Kilauren Gibb.
- 25–27 April - The first Terrastock festival is held in Providence, Rhode Island
- May - 5ive's musical career begin after auditions are held in London with over 3,000 hopefuls showing up to audition.
- June 16 - Radiohead's seminal album OK Computer is released in the United Kingdom.
- July 14 - The White Stripes form.
- August 4 - Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer and dissident pop star Fela Anikulapo-Kuti dies in Lagos of HIV-related illness.
- August 7 - Garth Brooks performs to an estimated 800,000 to 1 million people during a free concert given in New York City's Central Park.
- August 21 Oasis' eagerly awaited 3rd album, Be Here Now, was released. It set a record as it became the fastest selling album of all time, moving 695,761 copies in the first week.
- August 3 - The Black Crowes perform their last show with Johnny Colt and Marc Ford, ending what is considered their "classic" lineup.
- August 16-17 - Phish perform 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 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.
- 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, 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.
- November 22- INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence is found dead in his hotel room in Sydney, Australia. He is 39 years old.
- December 31 - "The home of Country Music", the Opryland USA theme park, in Nashville, Tennessee closes and is subsequently demolished.
- After more than a year absence Garth Brooks returns to the top of the charts with his album "Sevens".
- Nigel Kennedy returns to performing in public after a 5-year absence resulting from neck surgery, now calling himself simply "Kennedy".
- 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.
- The companies Memorex, Maxell, and TDK introduce Blank recordable CDs
Bands formed
- The Shins
- The White Stripes
- Coldplay
- Queens of the Stone Age
- Death Cab For Cutie
- Lostprophets
- Switchfoot
- Isis
- Umphrey's Mcgee
- Elvenking
Bands disbanded
- Acid Bath
- Atomic Swing
- The Clouds
- Cocteau Twins
- Def FX
- Dinosaur Jr.
- Failure
- Gin Blossoms
- Glue Gun
- The Monkees
- Porno for Pyros
- The Presidents of the United States of America
- Pungent Stench
- Soundgarden
- Swans
- Throwing Muses
- Ugly Kid Joe
- White Zombie
Albums released
- R U Still Down? (Remember Me) - 2Pac
- Happy? - Jann Arden
- Anywhere But Here - The Ataris
- Nine Lives - Aerosmith
- Bonfire 5 CD Box Set - AC/DC
- MTV Unplugged - Bryan Adams
- So Long, So Wrong - Alison Krauss & Union Station
- Remains - Annihilator
- Come to Daddy - Aphex Twin
- Imitação da Vida - Maria Bethânia
- Tested - Bad Religion (live)
- Whatever and Ever Amen - Ben Folds Five
- Janam Samjha Karo - Asha Bhosle and Leslie Lewis
- Not Bad - Big Ass
- Entering a New Ride - Big Audio Dynamite (released for free over the Internet)
- Telegram - Björk
- Homogenic - Björk
- Dude Ranch - blink-182
- Surf-N-Burn - The Blue Stingrays
- Straight on Till Morning - Blues Traveler
- Herzfrequenz - Blümchen
- Blur - Blur
- La-On (ละอ่อน) - Bodyslam
- Art of War - Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
- Boston: Greatest Hits - Boston
- The Bouncing Souls - The Bouncing Souls
- Earthling - David Bowie
- Twenty-Eight Teeth - Buck-O-Nine
- When Disaster Strikes - Busta Rhymes
- Feelings - David Byrne
- Body Language - Jonathan Cain
- Uptown Saturday Night (album) - Camp Lo
- Butterfly - Mariah Carey
- The Virginian - Neko Case
- Ar Jani Na - Chandrabindu
- Sevens - Garth Brooks
- Dig Your Own Hole - Chemical Brothers
- Something Wild - Children of Bodom
- Enthrone Darkness Triumphant - Dimmu Borgir
- 1am to 5am - Annabelle Chvostek
- Coal Chamber - Coal Chamber
- Funcrusher Plus - Company Flow
- A Fistful Of Alice - Alice Cooper
- My Own Prison - Creed
- Galore - The Cure
- Homework - Daft Punk
- Les Années Orlando (1970-1997) - Dalida (compilation)
- Olympia 1959 - Dalida (inédit)
- L'An 2005 - Dalida (remix album)
- Honey I'm Homely - Dance Hall Crashers
- Welcome to the Freak Show - dc Talk
- Around the Fur - Deftones
- Serpents of the Light - Deicide
- Ultra - Depeche Mode
- Accident of Birth - Bruce Dickinson
- Paradise Now - Die Krupps
- Titanic - Céline Dion (soundtrack)
- Dr. Dre Presents...The Aftermath - Dr. Dre
- Medazzaland - Duran Duran
- Time Out Of Mind - Bob Dylan
- Evergreen - Echo & The Bunnymen
- Kingdom of Madness - Edguy
- The Messenger - Kurt Elling
- Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk - Emperor
- Cowboy - Erasure
- So Much for the Afterglow - Everclear
- Everlasting - Every Little Thing
- Album of the Year - Faith No More
- The Fantastic Plastic Machine - Fantastic Plastic Machine
- Remanufacture - Fear Factory
- Polythene - Feeder
- The Dance - Fleetwood Mac
- The Colour and the Shape - Foo Fighters
- Somewhere Out In Space - Gamma Ray
- Nighttime Birds - The Gathering
- The Ultimate Gary Glitter (Greatest Hits) - Gary Glitter
- God Street Wine - God Street Wine
- American Lesion - Greg Graffin
- Behind The Eyes - Amy Grant
- Takes A Little Time - Amy Grant
- Play - Great Big Sea
- nimrod. - Green Day
- Members ov Sonic Cults - Grey Park
- The Synthetic Form - Gridlock
- Mag Earwhig! - Guided by Voices
- Carnival of Chaos - GWAR
- Glory to the Brave - Hammerfall
- Middle of Nowhere - Hanson
- Aftertaste - Helmet
- The First Session - Hole
- Days of Purgatory - Iced Earth
- Whoracle - In Flames
- Elegantly Wasted - INXS
- The Great Milenko - Insane Clown Posse
- National Steel - Colin James
- The Velvet Rope - Janet Jackson
- In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 - Jay-Z
- Oxygene 7-13 - Jean-Michel Jarre
- Jerky Boys 4 - Jerky Boys
- Rapture - album by Bradley Joseph
- Jugulator - Judas Priest
- Zistwar revoltan - Kaya
- Picnic - Robert Earl Keen
- I Got Next - KRS-One
- Lie to Me - Jonny Lang
- Euphoria - Leftover Salmon
- Three Dollar Bill Y'all - Limp Bizkit
- Secret Samadhi - Live
- 84-87 - Pyotr Mamonov
- Marcy Playground - Marcy Playground
- This Strange Engine - Marillion
- Flaming Pie - Paul McCartney
- Surfacing - Sarah McLachlan
- Cryptic Writings - Megadeth
- Honky - Melvins
- Reload - Metallica
- Let's Face It - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
- Young Team - Mogwai
- ¿Dónde Jugarán Las Niñas? - Molotov
- Formulas Fatal to the Flesh - Morbid Angel
- Generation Swine - Mötley Crüe
- Life In General - MxPx
- Halim - Natacha Atlas
- Nerf Herder - Nerf Herder
- The Boatman's Call - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
- Angels Fall First - Nightwish
- So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes - NOFX
- Be Here Now - Oasis
- Back From the Dead - Obituary
- Ixnay On The Hombre - The Offspring
- Welcome - Outhouse (debut)
- Entropia - Pain of Salvation
- Full Circle - Pennywise
- Billy Breathes - Phish
- Slip Stitch and Pass - Phish
- Willis - The Pietasters
- Portishead - Portishead
- Brown Album - Primus
- The Fat Of The Land - Prodigy
- Quad (№ 1) - Quad (a Gary Ramon solo project)
- Quarashi - Quarashi
- OK Computer - Radiohead
- Skin - The Rainmakers (final release)
- Puritan Vodou - RAM
- Sehnsucht - Rammstein
- Glow - Reef
- Unit - Regurgitator
- Remember Shakti - Remember Shakti
- Legendary Tales - Rhapsody
- Rheostatics - Rheostatics
- Dead Men Don't Smoke Marijuana - S. E. Rogie
- Retrospective I - Rush
- The Wake of Magellan - Savatage
- Unleash the Beast - Saxon
- The Fawn - The Sea and Cake
- The Remixes - Shakira
- Child: Music for the Christmas Season - Jane Siberry
- Built To Last - Sick of it All
- Freak Show - Silverchair
- Film Noir - Carly Simon
- Lake of Sorrow - The Sins of Thy Beloved
- Somewhere More Familiar - Sister Hazel
- Dig Me Out - Sleater-Kinney
- Fush Yu Mang -Smash Mouth
- Either/Or - Elliott Smith
- Big Willie Style - Will Smith
- Becoming X - Sneaker Pimps
- Men In Black - Soundtrack
- The Lost Highway - Soundtrack
- Spiceworld - The Spice Girls
- Weights and Measures - Spirit of the West
- Dots and Loops - Stereolab
- City - Strapping Young Lad
- Visions - Stratovarius
- Indoor Living - Superchunk
- In It for the Money - Supergrass
- Blue Sky On Mars - Matthew Sweet
- The Legend of Chin - Switchfoot
- The Divine Wings of Tragedy - Symphony X
- Ölürüm Sana - Tarkan, Featuring His Hit Simarik (In English, Kiss, Kiss)
- It Doesn't Matter Anymore - The Supernaturals
- Then: The Earlier Years - They Might Be Giants
- Transistor - 311
- Third Eye Blind - Third Eye Blind
- Live Between Us - The Tragically Hip
- Good Feeling - Travis
- Come on Over - Shania Twain
- Songs of a Circling Spirit - Tom Cochrane
- Amrep Christmas - Unsane
- Never Mind the Opened Minds - US Bombs
- War Birth - US Bombs
- Pop - U2
- Fire Garden - Steve Vai
- Eight Arms to Hold You - Veruca Salt
- Urban Hymns - The Verve
- The Mollusk - Ween
- Bombs & Butterflies - Widespread Panic
- Enter - Within Temptation
- WU Tang Forever - Wu Tang Clan
- Tribute - Yanni
- Crossing The Rubicon - Armageddon
Top hits
- "You Were Meant For Me" - Jewel- this single spent two years on top of charts 1996-1997
- "I'll Be Missing You" - Puff Daddy and Faith Evans
- "Dammit" - Blink-182
- "Foolish Games" - Jewel
- "Semi-Charmed Life" - Third Eye Blind
- "Honey" - Mariah Carey
- "Eye" - Smashing Pumpkins
- "Everlong" - Foo Fighters
- "The Perfect Drug" - Nine Inch Nails
- "Bittersweet Symphony" - The Verve
- "The Difference" - The Wallflowers
- "Forty Six & 2" - Tool
- "A Long December" - Counting Crows
- "Magdalene" - Lenny Kravitz
- "My Heart Will Go On" - Céline Dion
- "Don't Speak" - No Doubt
- "Da Funk" - Daft Punk
- "6 Underground" - Sneaker Pimps
- "Lakini's Juice" - Live
- "La Tumba" - Dalida (Remix)
- "Gigi In Paradisco" - Dalida (Remix)
- "Salma Ya Salama (Sueno Flamenco)" - Dalida (Remix)
- "Silver Springs" - Fleetwood Mac
- "Freak" - Silverchair
- "Wannabe" - Spice Girls
- "Karma Police" - Radiohead
- "Volcano" - The Presidents of the United States of America
- "All By Myself" - Céline Dion
- "Longneck Bottle" - Garth Brooks
- "MMMBop" - Hanson
- "Say You'll Be There" - Spice Girls
- "All I Want" - The Offspring
- "Back to You" - Bryan Adams
- "The Impression That I Get" - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
- "Tubthumping" - Chumbawumba
- "Pink" - Aerosmith
- "Tha Crossroads" - Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
- "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See" - Busta Rhymes
- "D'You Know What I Mean" - Oasis
See also: Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1997
Classical music
- Leonardo Balada - Concierto Magico for Guitar and Orchestra
- Silvie Bodorova - Terezin Ghetto Requiem
- Peter Maxwell Davies - Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
Opera
- Robert Ashley - Balseros
- Mark Blitzstein - Regina
- Michael Daugherty - Jackie O
- Daron Hagen - Vera of Las Vegas
- Peter Lieberson - Ashoka's Dream
- 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
- Anastasia animated feature
- Cats Don't Dance 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
- June 2 - Doc Cheatham, jazz trumpeter
- June 24 - Prince Nico Mbarga
- August 1 - Sviatoslav Richter, pianist
- August 2 - Fela Kuti, AIDS-related heart failure
- August 10 - Conlon Nancarrow, composer
- August 16 - Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, qawwali singer and world music ambassador
- September 8- Derek Taylor, Press agent for The Beatles
- September 18 - Jimmy Witherspoon, blues singer (b. 1920)
- September 19 - Rich Mullins, singer, car accident
- October 12 - John Denver
- November 22 - Michael Hutchence, singer (INXS), suicide
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
Country Music Association Awards
- New Forms - Roni Size/Reprazent wins.