50th Grammy Awards
Feb 10 50th Grammy Awards: Amy Winehouse wins 5 awards including song "Rehab"; Herbie Hancock wins Album of the Year
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Mar 10 23rd Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: Leonard Cohen; The Dave Clark Five; Madonna; John Mellencamp; The Ventures; Little Walter; Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff
Music History
Mar 11 Plácido Domingo named "The King of Singers" in BBC Music Magazine, based on voting by 16 renowned opera critics for the April 2008 issue
#1 in the Charts
Apr 3 Mariah Carey overtakes Elvis Presley's record of 17 No. 1 US hits with her 18th ‘Touch My Body’, only The Beatles have more with 20
CMT Music Awards
Apr 14 7th CMT Video Music Awards: Taylor Swift and Trace Adkins win
Home Before Dark
May 5 American/Columbia Records releases "Home Before Dark", the twenty-seventh studio album by Neil Diamond; tops charts in US, UK and NZ
Music Concert
May 8 Rock for the Rainforest benefit concert held at Carnegie Hall, NYC; performers include: Sting, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Brian Wilson, Chris Botti, Feist, Roberto Alagna, and Natalie Clein
Album Release
May 13 Jason Mraz releases his third studio album, "We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things."
Academy of Country Music Awards
May 18 43rd Academy of Country Music Awards: Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, and Carrie Underwood win
- May 24 53rd Eurovision Song Contest: Dima Bilan for Russia wins singing "Believe" in Belgrade
Music Concert
Jun 19 Ringo Starr's tenth All-Starr Band debuts in concert; members include: Billy Squier, Colin Hay, Edgar Winter, Gary Wright, Hamish Stuart, and Gregg Bissonette
Glastonbury Festival
Jun 27 Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, England opens: Kings Of Leon, Jay-Z, and The Verve headline; other performers include Leonard Cohen, Neil Diamond, The Ting-Tings, Sinéad O'Connor, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Joan Baez, Jimmy Cliff, Suzanne Vega, and Crowded House
- Jun 29 Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, England; Leonard Cohen the highlight singing "Hallelujah"
Mamma Mia!, The Movie!
Jun 30 "Mamma Mia!, The Movie!" starring Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth, premieres at Leicester Square, London
Music Concert
Jul 18 Billy Joel performs last of two concerts dubbed "The Last Play at Shea"; the final concert event before demolition of the 1964 baseball stadium in Flushing Meadows, Queens, NYC; featured guests include Roger Daltrey, Tony Bennett, Garth Brooks, and Paul McCartney
- Sep 6 Beaux Arts Trio (Menahem Pressler, piano; Daniel Hope, violin; Antonio Meneses, cello) performs final concert after 53 years, in Lucerne, Switzerland
Video Music Awards
Sep 7 25th MTV Video Music Awards: Britney Spears & Chris Brown win
Rent
Sep 7 Jonathan Larson's rock musical "Rent", loosely based on Giacomo Puccini's 1896 opera "La Bohème", starring Taye Diggs, closes at the Nederlander Theatre, NYC, after 5,123 performances, winning 4 Tony Awards, 7 Drama Desk Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Farm Aid Concert
Sep 20 Farm Aid 21 held in Mansfield, Massachusetts; performers include Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Dave Matthews, Jerry Lee Lewis, Kenny Chesney, The Pretenders, moe., Arlo Guthrie, Steve Earle, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Jakob Dylan and The Gold Mountain Rebels [1]
- Oct 7 Music, podcast, and video streaming service Spotify is launched by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon
- Nov 11 Taylor Swift releases her second studio album "Fearless" (Billboard Album of the Year, 2009; Grammy Album of the Year, 2010, American Music Awards, 2009)
- Nov 12 42nd Country Music Association Awards: Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood & Brad Paisley win
Rihanna, Brown Win
Nov 23 36th American Music Awards: Rihanna & Chris Brown win
- Nov 23 Geffen Records releases rock band Guns N" Roses sixth, and to date last, studio album, "Chinese Democracy"; 8 years in production, with costs over $13 million, it is the most expensive rock album ever made
Craig David's Greatest Hits
Nov 24 British singer-rapper-songwriter Craig David releases his first Greatest Hits album
Kendrick Lamar
Eminem
XXXTentacion
Tupac Shakur
Nicki Minaj
Coolio