Events in Music History in 2021

Jan 14 Uganda elections re-elect President Museveni (in power since 1986), with main opposition presidential candidate Bobi Wine disputing the result

Feb 7 The Weeknd becomes the first Canadian solo artist to headline the Super Bowl half time show (Super Bowl LV)

Mar 2 Dolly Parton receives the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine she gave $1 million to help develop

Mar 31 Paul Simon sells his entire songwriting catalog of over 400 songs to Sony Music Publishing for an undisclosed sum

Apr 26 Kanye West's Nike Air Yeezy 1 Prototype trainers sell for a record $1.8 million in a private sale at Sotheby's

Jun 23 Britney Spears requests a judge end her court-ordered conservatorship, states "I think this conservatorship is abusive. I don't think I can live a full life"

Jul 11 Billionaire Richard Branson flies to the edge of space on his Virgin Galactic rocket plane in space tourism test

Aug 4 Rihanna named the world's wealthiest female musician worth $1.7 billion by Forbes [1]

Aug 5 Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts (80) announces he will be unable to accompany the band on its 2021 U.S. tour, based on medical advice; American Steve Jordan tapped to fill in

Aug 22 Josephine Baker will be the first black woman to be interred in the Panthéon in Paris, according to the French government

Sep 5 Stewart Copeland's opera "Electric Saint" about the life of Nikola Tesla, with libretto by Jonathan Moore, premieres at the Deutsches Nationaltheater in Weimar, Germany

Sep 13 Nicki Minaj tweets misinformation about vaccines making men impotent, forcing prominent officials including Antony Fauci and the Health Minister of Trinidad, to publicly debunk it

Sep 19 RuPaul becomes the most decorated black artist in Emmy history, winning his 11th award for "RuPaul’s Drag Race"

Sep 27 R&B artist R. Kelly is convicted on nine counts of racketeering and sex trafficking after a six-week trial in New York [1]

Oct 1 Rock singer David Lee Roth announces his retirement will follow a five-concert residency in Las Vegas in January 2022

Nov 12 Taylor Swift releases her directorial debut the short film "All Too Well" alongside her re-recorded album "Red (Taylor's Version)"

Nov 19 Adele releases her fourth studio album "30"

Nov 25 Peter Jackson's documentary series "The Beatles: Get Back" premieres on Disney+

Dec 15 Bruce Springsteen sells his music back catalogue to Sony Music Entertainment for an estimated $500 million, in possibly the biggest deal ever for a single artist [1]