2004 in music

See also:

Events

• January 1 - Vienna New Year's Concert by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Vienna, conducted by Riccardo Muti
• January 1 - Kurt Nilsen wins World Idol
• January 3 - Britney Spears marries Jason Allen Alexander, a childhood friend, in Las Vegas. The marriage was annulled two days later.
• February 17 - Brit Awards held in London. The Darkness, Dido, Busted, Justin Timberlake, and KRS-One are among the winners.
• February 17 - Billy Corgan posts a bitter message on his personal blog calling D'Arcy Wretzky a "mean spirited drug addict" and blaming James Iha for the breakup of The Smashing Pumpkins.
• March 10 - George Michael announces that Patience will be his last commercially released record, telling Jo Whiley of BBC Radio 1 "this album nearly killed me". Future releases will be available from his web site for in return for donations to his favourite charities.
• April 6 - A previously unreleased Johnny Cash album called My Mother's Hymn Book is released less than a year after his death on September 12, 2003.
• April 20 - Fear Factory returns after their 2002 breakup with the new album Archetype.
• April 26 - Deborah Voigt, sacked by Covent Garden for being too fat for an opera role, makes her recital debut to a rapturous reception at Carnegie Hall.
• May - Blender magazine's May issue includes a list of the 50 worst songs. "We Built This City," by Jefferson Starship, is rated worst.
• May 18 to May 23 - European Festival of Youth Choirs (EJCF) in Basel.
• May 25 - Jam band Phish announces that after 21 years they will breakup following the Summer 2004 Tour.
• May 25 - Skinny Puppy releases their first studio album since disbanding in 1996, called The Greater Wrong of the Right.
• May 26 - Fantasia Barrino wins the third season of American Idol, defeating Diana DeGarmo.
• June 4 - Karl Jenkins signs a 10-year recording deal with EMI.
• June - Staind start recording their fourth album, produced by David Bottrill.
• June - The Velvet Revolver's first album Contraband debuts in the top slot on the Billboard album charts, selling over 250,000 copies its first week out.
• June - The Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone is hospitalized in Los Angeles with prostate cancer and diagnosed.
• June 4 - Creed dissolved because guitarist Mark Tremonti is working in a side project Alter Bridge and their first album is One Day Remains, which is scheduled to be released on August 10th.
• June 10 - Ray Charles dies of liver disease at the age of 73.
• June 12 - The Los Angeles, California radio station KROQ airs the 12th Annual KROQ Weenie Roast show with Bad Religion, Beastie Boys, Cypress Hill, The Hives, Hoobastank, The Killers, Modest Mouse, New Found Glory, Story of the Year, The Strokes, The Velvet Revolver, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Yellowcard.
• June 22 - 14th annual Lollapalooza festival, scheduled for July 17, is cancelled. Organizers cite "poor ticket sales". (See: Lollapalooza 2004 lineup.)
• June 23 - UK DJ Tony Blackburn is suspended by radio station Classic Gold Digital for playing songs by Cliff Richard, against station policy.
• July 10 Ex- S Club star Rachel Stevens sets a world record for completing the fastest promotional circuit in just 24 hours- including a run for the charity Sport Relief.
• July 11 McFly debut at #1 on the UK album charts with Room On The 3rd Floor. They break the record set by The Beatles as the youngest group ever to debut at #1 on the album charts.
• July 20 - Van Halen releases The Best of Both Worlds, a 36-song compilation album featuring three new recordings with Sammy Hagar on vocals.
• July 31 - Dispatch performs their last live show at the DCR Hatchshell in Boston, MA.
• August 8 - Dave Matthews Band's tour bus dumps 800 lb (360 kg) of human feces from a Chicago bridge, intending to unload it in the river, but it lands on an architecture tour boat. The bus driver and the band are sued by the state of Illinois.
• August 15 - Phish performs their final concert at a two-day festival in Coventry, Vermont.
• September 14 - Megadeth is scheduled to release their new studio album The System Has Failed.
• September 21 - Green Day releases American Idiot, their 7th studio album. It goes 6x platinum and gains a cult following. It is a punk opera, much in the style of Pink Floyd's The Wall or The Who's Quadrophenia.
• September 28 - Hilary Duff releases her self-titled second album on the day she turns 17.
• September 28 - Brian Wilson completes SMiLE, 37 years after its original planned release
• October 11 - The original lineup of Duran Duran release their new album Astronaut, which was preceded by the single "(Reach Up For The) Sunrise".
• October 23 - Ashlee Simpson is accused of lip-synching after an abortive live performance on the television show Saturday Night Live.
• October 26 - Legendary DJ John Peel dies, after 40 years of massive influence upon popular music.
• December - Ned's Atomic Dustbin begins touring with 5 upcoming shows.
• December 11-12 - The Los Angeles, California radio station KROQ airs the 15th Annual of the Acoustic Christmas with Chevelle, Franz Ferdinand, Good Charlotte, Green Day, Hoobastank, Incubus, Interpol, Jimmy Eat World, Keane, The Killers, Modest Mouse, Muse, The Music, My Chemical Romance, Papa Roach, Snow Patrol, Social Distortion, Sum 41, Taking Back Sunday, The Shins, The Used and the Velvet Revolver.

New classic rock and New Wave-influenced bands such as the Killers begin to oust numetal artists like Papa Roach and Limp Bizkit.

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