Events in Music History in 2018

Jan 23 American singer-songwriter Neil Diamond abruptly retires from touring after being diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease

Jan 28 60th Grammy Awards: Bruno Mars wins Best Song "That's What I Like," and Best Album "24K Magic"

Feb 5 American singer-songwriter Paul Simon announces his farewell tour - a retirement from touring, but not necessarily from live performance

Feb 27 Barbra Streisand reveals she has cloned her dog twice

Mar 30 Country singer songwriter Kacey Musgraves releases her fourth album "Golden Hour" (Grammy Album of the Year 2019)

Apr 9 Fleetwood Mac announce new members Neil Finn and Mike Campbell after firing long-standing member Lindsey Buckingham

Apr 14 33rd Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: Nina Simone; Sister Rosetta Tharpe; Bon Jovi; The Cars; Dire Straits; and Moody Blues

Apr 14 Beyoncé is the first black woman to headline the Coachella Music Festival, her performance on this day the most-watched performance ever on YouTube

Apr 16 Kendrick Lamar is the first rapper and non-classical or jazz musician to win the Pulitzer Prize for music with his album "Damn"

Apr 24 Ed Sheeran's "÷" is the best-selling album of 2017, selling 6.1 million copies, according to IFPI

Apr 27 Swedish band ABBA announce they have recorded new songs for the first time since 1982

May 2 Kanye West widely criticized for saying "slavery is a choice" in TMZ interview

May 5 Childish Gambino [Donald Glover] releases the music video to new single "This is America" to wide acclaim

May 10 R. Kelly's songs removed from Spotify playlists after sexual abuse allegations

May 16 Painting "Past Times" by Kerry James Marshall is bought by Sean Combs for $21.1 million, most paid for a living African American artist

Jun 2 Ringo Starr's thirteenth All-Starr Band debuts in concert; members include: Steve Lukather, Gregg Rolie, Colin Hay, Graham Gouldman, Gregg Bissonette, and Warren Ham

Jun 14 21st FIFA World Cup opens at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia with British singer Robbie Williams and Russian soprano Aida Garifullina performing

Jun 29 Drake releases his fifth studio album "Scorpion", a double album with 25 tracks

Jul 2 Singers Cheryl and Liam Payne announce they are splitting up after two years

Jul 18 Cliff Richard wins privacy case against the BBC, for reporting he was being investigated over historic child sexual assaults

Jul 24 Singer Demi Lovato is hospitalized after a drug overdose in Los Angeles

Jul 26 Sir Paul McCartney performs a "secret" gig at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, where the Beatles began

Aug 7 Jason Mraz partners with Fathom Events for the release of "Jason Mraz - Have It All The Movie"

Aug 10 Doja Cat self-releases her novelty single "Mooo!" on YouTube, goes on to become a viral internet meme [1]

Aug 13 Ugandan politician and pop singer Bobi Wine arrested by the Ugandan army at a campaign rally in Arua and later allegedly tortured

Aug 27 Former Spice Girl Mel B announces she is entering rehab for alcohol and sex addiction following her acrimonious divorce

Aug 28 Aretha Franklin lies in state at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit in a 24 carat coffin

Sep 7 Eminem breaks 36-year UK chart record for consecutive No. 1 albums, jointly held by Abba and Led Zeppelin, with "Kamikaze"

Sep 13 Al Green releases his first new recording in almost over ten years, 'Before the Next Teardrop Falls'

Oct 26 Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor announces she has converted to Islam

Oct 31 BLACKPINK become the first K-pop girl group to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 with multiple hits

Nov 2 Blue Note Records releases "She Remembers Everything", the fourteenth studio album by singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash, produced by Tucker Martine and Cash's husband John Leventhal