1998 in music

See also:

Events

• February 15 - Sir Edward Elgar's unfinished third symphony, completed by Anthony Payne is performed for the first time at the Royal Festival Hall.
• February 17 - Illegal Art and RTmark release Deconstructing Beck which quickly spawned reactions from Beck's publisher, record label, and personal lawyer.
• February 19 - The Stray Cats reunite for a benefit show for the Carl Perkins Foundation at L.A.'s House of Blues.
• February 19 - Lorrie Morgan issues a statement denying a story reported in the tabloid Star magazine that claimed that the singer had an affair with US President Bill Clinton
• February 22 - In Los Angeles, California, Stevie Wonder is honored as the 1999 MusiCares Person of the Year.
• February 24 - Elton John is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. The singer is mistakenly introduced as "Sir John Elton".
• Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee is arrested and charged with beating his wife, actress Pamela Anderson. Malibu sheriff deputies responded to reports of a disturbance and found Anderson bleeding from an injury to her hand.
• February 24 - John Fogerty is awarded the 1998 Orville H. Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award
• March 13 - The Smashing Pumpkins file a $1 million lawsuit against U.K.-based Sound And Media Ltd., alleging that the company released a book and CD about the band without proper clearances.
• March 26 - Chuck Negron files a lawsuit against his fellow Three Dog Night band mates, alleging that they broke a 1990 settlement agreement and interfered with his career.
• April 5 - Rock and Roll drummer Cozy Powell is killed in a high-speed car crash near Bristol, England. Powell was known for playing with Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Jeff Beck, Brian May and Whitesnake.
• April 7 - George Michael is arrested in a public restroom in Beverly Hills, California for lewd conduct. Michael is sentenced to community service.
• 17–19 April - The second Terrastock festival is held in San Francisco.
• May 8 - A British court rules in favor of the Beatles and John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, stopping the release of another Live at the Star Club recording. All copies of the recording and the original tape are awarded to the Beatles, as well as damages and legal costs.
• May - The 3rd EJCF in Basel was held. Next time was in 2001.
• December 5 - Billboard changes chart policy for their Hot 100 chart to allow airplay only singles or album cuts to make that chart.
• Swedish pop group, A-Teens, forms
• Teen singer Billie Piper starts her career by becoming the youngest British solo artist to debut at #1 on the UK singles charts.
• The entertainment industry frantically lobbies for, and the United States Congress passes, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, which gives the entertainment industry 20 more years of exclusive monopoly on all of its works created since 1923.
• Composer John Harbison is a winner of the Heinz Award for the Arts and Humanities.