1997 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
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.
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.
August 4 - Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer and dissident pop star Fela Anikulapo-Kuti dies in Lagos of HIV-related illness.
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 - 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 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 a mere 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.
Orgy's musical career begins
Lostprophets' musical career begins