1998 in music

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This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1998.

Events

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• January 28 – "Weird Al" Yankovic gets LASIK surgery to cure his myopia. At the same time, he grows out his hair and shaves off his moustache, radically changing his signature look.
• Feb – Six Feet Under Hired Steve Swanson.
• February 2 - Mark Hollis releases his only solo album, Mark Hollis, also the first time he recorded since 1991, to great critical claim.
• February 10 – Neutral Milk Hotel release their second album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, which will go on to be one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the decade.
• February 15 – Sir Edward Elgar's unfinished third symphony, completed by Anthony Payne was performed for the first time at the Royal Festival Hall, London, UK.^{[citation needed]}
• February 17 – Illegal Art and ®™ark released Deconstructing Beck which quickly spawned reactions from Beck's publisher, record label, and personal lawyer.^{[citation needed]}
• February 19
  • The Stray Cats reunited for a benefit show for the Carl Perkins Foundation at House of Blues in Los Angeles, USA.^[1]
  • Lorrie Morgan issued a statement denying a story reported in the tabloid Star magazine that claimed that the singer had an affair with US President Bill Clinton.^{[citation needed]}
• February 22 – In Los Angeles, California, Stevie Wonder was honored as the 1999 MusiCares Person of the Year.^{[citation needed]}
• February 24
  • Elton John was knighted by Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, London, UK. He was mistakenly introduced as "Sir John Elton", but was renamed "Sir Elton John".^{[citation needed]}
  • John Fogerty was awarded the 1998 Orville H. Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award.^{[citation needed]}
• February 28 – A failed assassination attempt against the band RAM during the Port-au-Prince Carnival celebration in Haiti resulted in the death of eight innocent bystanders.^{[citation needed]}
• March 13 – The Smashing Pumpkins filed a US$1 million lawsuit against UK-based Sound And Media Ltd. alleging that the company released a book and CD about the band without proper clearances.^[2]
• March 17- Van Halen III is released. It is the first Van Halen album to feature Gary Cherone on vocals.
• March 26 – Chuck Negron filed a lawsuit against his fellow Three Dog Night band mates alleging that they broke a 1990 settlement agreement and interfered with his career.^{[citation needed]}
• April 7 – George Michael was arrested in a public restroom in Beverly Hills, California, USA for lewd conduct. He was subsequently sentenced to community service.^{[citation needed]}
• 17 – April 19 – The second Terrastock festival took place in San Francisco, USA
• April 29 – Steven Tyler broke his knee at a concert in Anchorage, Alaska, USA delaying Aerosmith's Nine Lives Tour and necessitating camera angle adjustments for the filming of the video for "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".^{[citation needed]}
• May – The third European Festival of Youth Choirs was held in Basel, Switzerland.
• May 8 – A British court ruled 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 9 – The 43rd Eurovision Song Contest, held in Birmingham, United Kingdom, is won by Israel's transsexual performer Dana International with the song "Diva" See: [1]
• May 29 – Geri Halliwell went into hiding and her public relations representative, Julian Torton, confirmed that she had left the Spice Girls permanently.^[3]
• July 3 – Westlife was formally formed and signed to the record label BMG as their new artist.
• July 15 – Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer suffered burns when his Ferrari caught fire at a gas station.^{[citation needed]}
• August 18 – Korn released their third album Follow the Leader
• August 29 – The Bee Gees open their One Night Only tour in Dublin, Ireland^[4]
• October 23 – Britney Spears' debut single, ...Baby one more time releases becoming the top selling single of 1999, and going on to sell over six million units worldwide.
• December 5 – Billboard changed its policy for its Hot 100 chart to allow airplay-only singles or album cuts to be accounted in the chart.^{[citation needed]}

Undated

• Guitarist, Niklas Engelin quits In Flames. Then drummer, Bjorn Gelotte, abandons drums to fill in Engeln's guitar position. The band then hires Daniel Svensson for the vacant drum spot of the band.
• Mikael Oretoft Quits Katatonia.
• Between Early '98 to December – Soilwork Hires, Ola Flink & Carlos Del Olmo Holmberg then Ludvig Svartz & Jimmy Persson Quit to both be Replaced Ola Frenning & Henry Ranta.
• Music group Fields of Aplomb was formed, taking their name from the Dropkick Murphys' song, "Fields of Athenry"
• Allen West Quit Six Feet Under.
• The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra launched its own recording label, RLPO Live.^{[citation needed]}
• Teen singer Billie Piper started her career by becoming the youngest British solo artist to debut at #1^{[citation needed]} on the UK singles charts..
• Singers Brandy and Monica dominate the Billboard charts with the duet, "The Boy Is Mine", holding the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 spot for 13 weeks.
• The United States Congress passed the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act which gave the entertainment industry 20 more years of exclusive rights to all works created since 1923.^{[citation needed]}
• Composer John Harbison was awarded a Heinz Award for the Arts and Humanities.^{[citation needed]}
• The Goo Goo Dolls single, "Iris", set a new Billboard Hot 100 Airplay record in the U.S. by achieving 18 weeks at number one.^{[citation needed]}
• Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee was arrested and charged with beating his wife, actress Pamela Anderson. Malibu, California, USA sheriff deputies responded to reports of a disturbance and found Anderson bleeding from an injury to her hand.^{[citation needed]}

Bands formed

• See Musical groups established in 1998

Bands reformed

• Modern Talking
• Culture Club

Bands disbanded

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

• Archers of Loaf
• Big Audio Dynamite
• Bikini Kill
• Chrome
• Cold Cold Hearts
• Dead Can Dance
• Dodgy
• Eve's Plum
• Faith No More (reformed in 2009)
• Handsome
• Helmet (Page Hamilton resurrects the name in 2004)
• Hoodoo Gurus (reformed in 2003)
• Hunters & Collectors
• The Jesus and Mary Chain (reformed in 2007)
• Jonathan Fire*Eater
• Mineral
• A Minor Forest
• Neutral Milk Hotel
• The Posies
• The Presidents of the United States of America (reformed in 2000)
• Red Aunts
• Refused
• Shudder To Think
• Smoking Popes
• Suffocation (reformed in 2004)
• Toad The Wet Sprocket (reformed in 2006)
• A Tribe Called Quest (reformed in 2006)
• Turbonegro (reformed in 2002)
• Weddings Parties Anything

Albums released

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Release date unknown

• Crackle - The Best of Bauhaus – Bauhaus
• Youth is Wasted on the Young – Caesars
• The First 40 Years, The Very Best of – Hank Marvin and The Shadows (2 CDs)
• Live at the Beeb – Nazareth
• Greatest Hits Volume II – Nazareth
• The Trouble with Angels – Juice Newton
• The Star and the Wiseman: The Best of Ladysmith Black Mambazo – Ladysmith Black Mambazo
• Neapolis – Simple Minds
• Horkstow Grange – Steeleye Span
• Watoosh! – Pezz (Billy Talent)
• Welenga – Wes
• Digilogue (compact disc version) – :zoviet*France:

Biggest hit singles

The following singles achieved the highest aggregated chart positions in 1998, according to TsorT.^[5]

Top hits

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In alphabetical order by title.

Classical music

• Leonardo Balada – Folk Dreams (Three Pieces for Orchestra)
• Osvaldas Balakauskas – Symphony No. 4
• Louis Andriessen – Writing to Vermeer
• John Barry – The Beyondness of Things
• George Crumb – Mundus Canis (A Dog's World) for guitar and percussion
• Mario Davidovsky – String Quartet No. 5
• Ludovico Einaudi – Arie
• Lorenzo Ferrero
  • Memoria del fuego (symphonic poem)
  • A Red Wedding Dress for organ
• Jake Heggie – Sophie's Song
• Gordon McPherson – Miami
• Zbigniew Preisner – Requiem for my Friend
• Einojuhani Rautavaara – Piano Concerto No. 3 Gift of Dreams
• Juan Maria Solare – Spaghettisssimo
• Morton Subotnick – Echoes from the Silent Call of Girona

Opera

• Mark Adamo – Little Women
• Christopher Butterfield – Zurich 1916
• Phili Glass – White Raven
• Ryan Ostrander -Madame Butterfly

Musical theater

• March 5 – The Boy from Oz, Sydney production opened.
• Cabaret (Kander and Ebb) – Broadway revival
• Footloose – Broadway production
• Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Stephen Trask) – off Broadway production
• High Society -Broadway production
• Ragtime – Broadway production
• The Sound of Music (Rodgers & Hammerstein) – Broadway revival

Deaths

• January 4 – Mae Questel, singer and actress, the voice of Betty Boop, Olive Oyl, Little Audrey & Little Lulu, 89
• January 5 – Sonny Bono, singer and songwriter, 63
• January 8 – Michael Tippett, composer, 93
• January 11 – Klaus Tennstedt, conductor, 71
• January 15 – Junior Wells, harmonica player, 64
• January 19 – Carl Perkins, 65, complications following a series of strokes,
• February 3 – Fat Pat, American rapper, shot
• February 6:
  • Carl Wilson, The Beach Boys, 51, lung cancer
  • Falco, rock star, 40, car accident
• February 17 – Bob Merrill, songwriter, suicide
• February 19 – Grandpa Jones, star of Hee Haw, comedian and musician, 84
• February 25 – Rockin' Sidney, soul musician, 59
• February 28 – Todd Duncan, first Porgy in Porgy and Bess, 95
• March 8 – Roger Christian, The Christians
• March 12 – Judge Dread, ska and reggae performer, 52, (died on stage)^{[citation needed]}
• April 1 – Rozz Williams, founder of Christian Death, suicide (hanging)^{[citation needed]}
• April 2 – Rob Pilatus, member of Milli Vanilli
• April 5 – Cozy Powell, drummer for Rainbow and Black Sabbath, 50, car accident
• April 6 – Tammy Wynette, country singer, 55
• April 7 – Wendy O. Williams, The Plasmatics, 48, suicide^{[citation needed]}
• April 9 – Tom Cora, cellist and composer, 44
• April 11 – Lillian Briggs, US singer and trombonist, lung cancer
• April 15 – Rose Maddox
• April 17 – Linda McCartney, Wings, 56, breast cancer
• May 2 – Hideto "Hide" Matsumoto, Japanese rock artist, 33, hanging (apparently accidental)
• May 7 – Eddie Rabbitt, country singer, 56, lung cancer
• May 9 – Alice Faye, actress and singer, 83
• May 14 – Frank Sinatra, singer and actor, 82, heart attack
• June 10 – Steve Sanders, the Oak Ridge Boys, 45, suicide
• June 25 – Lounès Matoub, assassinated^{[citation needed]}
• July 6 – Roy Rogers, actor, singer, 86
• July 21 – O'Landa Draper, O'Landa Draper and the Associates (gospel choir), 34, renal failure
• July 23 – André Gertler, violinist
• August 3 – Alfred Schnittke, composer
• August 24 – Gene Page, arranger, producer and conductor, 58
• August 29 – Charlie Feathers, country blues musician
• September 26 – Betty Carter, jazz singer, 69
• September 2 – Gene Autry, actor and country singer, 91
• October 14 – Frankie Yankovic, America's "Polka King," 83
• October 25 – Warren Wiebe, "Soulful Rain Man", vocalist and session artist, 45, suicide
• November 20 – Roland Alphonso, saxophonist, 67
• November 27 – Barbara Acklin, singer
• December 11 – Lynn Strait, Snot, 30
• December 21 – Karl Denver

Awards

• The following artists are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, The Mamas & the Papas, Lloyd Price, Santana and Gene Vincent
• Inductees of the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame include Andrae Crouch, The Imperials, The Jordanaires and The LeFevres

Grammy Awards

Main article 40th Grammy Awards

Japan Record Awards

Main article 40th Japan Record Awards

Eurovision Song Contest

Main article Eurovision Song Contest 1998

Mercury Music Prize

• Bring It On – Gomez wins.

MTV Video Music Awards

Main article 1998 MTV Video Music Awards

Charts

Triple J Hottest 100

Main article Triple J Hottest 100, 1998

See also

• 1998 in music (UK)
• Musical groups established in 1998
• Record labels established in 1998

References