Pick a Day

Music History Events: Odds And Ends

November 3, 2003 Coldplay Live 2003, a forthcoming DVD release from Coldplay, receives big screen premieres across the US.

October 29, 2003 A study by the Nielsen ratings people finds that a full third of the sales of Beatles 1 were to new fans between the ages of 19 and 24, skewing the fan base even younger than it had been previously.

October 28, 2003 David Bowie and his wife, the supermodel Iman, sign up as the new spokesmodels for Tommy Hilfiger. Bowie says: "I very much admire Tommy's ability to weave so many influences into his work. Iman and I are thrilled to be working with him."

September 17, 2003 Smashing Pumpkins frontman and Zwan leader Billy Corgan presents a multimedia poetry performance in his Chicago hometown, opening the Poetry Center of Chicago's 31st Annual Reading Series at the Art Institute of Chicago's Rubloff Auditorium.

August 22, 2003 An Elvis impersonator in Norway named Kjell Bjornestad sets a new world record by doing 26 hours of Elvis songs.

July 8, 2003 A tooth from the mouth of Elvis Presley, once the property of former girlfriend Linda Thompson, goes up for auction on eBay. Along with a lock of his hair and a gold record, it fetches over $100,000.

March 27, 2003 John Lennon's boyhood home in Liverpool is opened to the public.

January 10, 2003 British and Dutch police recover 500 Beatles master tapes missing since they were stolen from Abbey Road studios about 30 years earlier.

July 19, 2002 Movin' Out, a stage musical dedicated to the songs of Billy Joel, premieres in Chicago.

June 6, 2001 Elton John auctions off 20 vehicles in his car collection, earning $2.75 million. He says he "doesn't have time to drive them anymore."

March 4, 2001 Michael Jackson and friend Macaulay Culkin spend the night shopping at a London record store, which stays open after hours to accommodate the pair.

November 13, 2000 The Beatles sanction their first official website at thebeatles.com.

November 8, 2000 The Secure Digital Music Initiative announces that two of its proposed technologies did not survive being attacked as part of the "Hack SDMI" challenge. The competition invited all comers to attempt removal of copyright protection from particular files, based on a specific set of criteria.

October 31, 2000 Napster announces a deal with entertainment giant BMG to make its illegal file-sharing software into a paid subscription service.

October 9, 2000 Barry White gives a speech to the debate squad at Oxford University.

October 9, 2000 On what would have been John Lennon's 60th birthday, the book Lennon Remembers, The Complete Rolling Stone Interviews is released, containing material too controversial to publish years earlier.

October 9, 2000 The John Lennon museum opens in Japan on what would have been his 60th birthday. Yoko Ono allows it to operate for 10 years before terminating the agreement, as she feels Lennon's spirit should stay in motion.

June 11, 2000 Busta Rhymes rides atop his own float in the National Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York. "I'm here to thoroughly represent the entire spectrum of the urban community," Rhymes says.

November 14, 1999 EMI Music Distribution begins offering retailers a $3 rebate on each unit sold of the latest Garth Brooks album In... The Life Of Chris Gaines, in order to boost sales. In exchange for the rebate, retailers are asked to lower the price of the Capitol album - which lists for $17.98 on CD - as low as possible.

October 27, 1999 Master P's hoop dream comes to an end. The high-profile rapper, whose real name is Percy Miller, is waived by the NBA's Toronto Raptors, failing to make the pro league for the second straight season. The year before, the Charlotte Hornets waived Miller just before the regular season began.

October 21, 1999 George Martin, who produced most of the Beatles albums, lends his reputation and four decades of music business experience to a start-up Internet company catering to unsigned bands. Martin announces that he will serve as chairman of the advisory board for Garageband.com.

October 4, 1999 Jimi Hendrix's half-sister Janie announces her plans to exhume the body of her famous brother and move it to a mausoleum where curious onlookers can view it for a price. The public outcry forces her to shelve the idea.

May 1, 1999 The Lyz Art Forum in Siegen, Germany, presents an exhibition of 70 paintings by Paul McCartney, including "Bowie Spewing," which is indeed a young portrait of the singer.

February 16, 1999 Aretha Franklin responds to a story in the Detroit Free Press claiming that 30 lawsuits have been filed against her seeking payment, calling it "malicious and vicious." Franklin, who handles business affairs herself, refuses to use a manager.

February 14, 1999 The Deftones, on the final stop of their tour opening for Black Sabbath, find that their truck has been stolen from the parking lot of the Holiday Inn in Dearborn, Michigan. Taken are all of the band's backline equipment and instruments, including several of Chi Chings' Precision Fender Bass guitars, and Stephen Carpenter's custom-made guitars and racks.

January 31, 1999 Cher sings the national anthem at Super Bowl XXXIII in Miami; Stevie Wonder performs at the halftime show.

November 20, 1998 A three-day World Conference on Music and Censorship begins in Copenhagen with aims to establish a support organization for musicians, similar to writers' free speech body PEN.

November 4, 1998 Amazon.com forms the program "Advantage For Music," which allows unsigned artists and independent labels to sell music online.

September 21, 1998 Madonna enrolls her daughter, Lourdes Ciccone, at the prestigious Cheltenham Ladies College in England. Tuition at the boarding school is $22,650 a year.

August 24, 1998 53-year-old Ingrid Pedersen announces that she is the long-lost illegitimate half-sister of John Lennon, explaining that she kept her secret for so many years as a way of protecting her now-deceased adoptive parents.