1994 in music
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Contents |
Significance
1994 is viewed, both critically and publicly, as one of the greatest years in the history of popular music.[citation needed] Several musical artists peaked, both commercially and artisically in 1994[citation needed] and many new artists, such as Oasis, Green Day, and Hootie and the Blowfish also broke through with extremely successful records. Many accredit the high-volume explosion of huge mainstream radio hits to the death of Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain.[citation needed] Following Cobain's death in April of 1994, mainstream music began to shift away from the sound of grunge and opened the door for several new artists. Bands exhibiting an original sound became easy to market as they were no longer competing against a giant music-media movement (which grunge had become).[citation needed] With no clear music fad, record companies were willing to promote any band they felt had potential in order to see what would be the next big musical fad to catch the publics' attention.[citation needed] This strategy worked too well as a wide variety of bands struck it big with major record releases in 1994. This so-called musical "vacuum," in which many independent artists were drawn into the mainstream continued on into 1995, which was another historically huge year for the music industry.[citation needed]
Events
January
- January - German industrial metal band Rammstein founded.
- January 29 - The Supremes' Mary Wilson is injured when her jeep hits a freeway median and flips over just outside of Los Angeles, California. Wilson's 14-year old son is killed in the accident.
February
- February 1 - Green Day's first major label studio album, Dookie, debuts.
- February 7 - Blind Melon's lead singer Shannon Hoon is forced to leave the American Music Awards ceremony for his loud and disruptive behavior. Hoon is later charged with battery, assault, resisting arrest, and destroying a police station phone.
- February 14 - The Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia marries Deborah Koons.
- February 23 - The ground breaking ceremony for the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada. Eddie Van Halen, Chris Isaak, and B.B. King attend the event.
March
- March 1 - Nirvana plays the band's final concert in Munich.
- March 3 - In Rome, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain lapses into a coma after overdosing on Rohypnol and champagne.
- March 5 - Grace Slick is arrested for pointing a shotgun at police in her Tiburon, California home.
- March 8 - Nine Inch Nails release The Downward Spiral, a groundbreaking album that stands as one of the most acclaimed from that era.
- March 18 - Courtney Love calls the police fearing that her husband, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, is suicidal. Police confiscate four guns and twenty-five boxes of ammo from Cobain's home.
- March 18 - Bassist Darryl Jones replaces Bill Wyman in The Rolling Stones.
- March 30 - Pink Floyd embarks on what would be their last world tour before their breakup. The record-breaking tour supports their Division Bell album, with the band playing to 5,500,000 people in 68 cities and grossing over £150,000,000.
- March 31 - Madonna appears on The Late Show with David Letterman, making headlines for her foul mouthed, profanity laced interview. Robin Williams later described the segment as a "battle of wits with an unarmed woman."
April
- April 8 - The body of Kurt Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana, is found. Cobain's death, which happened three days before, is legally declared a suicide.
- April 19 - The Offspring releases their critically acclaimed album Smash. Rapper Nas releases his debut album, Illmatic, which is heralded as a rebirth of East Coast hip hop.
- April 25 - Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys is sentenced to 200 hours of community service for attacking a television cameraman during funeral services for actor River Phoenix in November of 1993
- April 26 - The legendary Fillmore club reopens in San Francisco, California.
- April 26 - Grace Slick pleads guilty to pointing a shotgun at police officers on March 5.
May
- May 6 - Pearl Jam files a complaint against Ticketmaster with the U.S. Justice Department charging that the company has a monopoly on the concert ticket business.
- To help promote his new album, Alice Cooper released a three part comic book that followed the album The Last Temptation.
- May 10 - Weezer releases their debut album, the self-titled "blue" album, which goes multiplatinum.
- May 10 - Tupac Shakur begins serving a 15-day sentence in a county jail for attacking director Allen Hughes on the set of a video shoot.
June
- June 7 - Grace Slick is sentenced to 200 hours of community service and three month's worth of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings after a March 5 incident with police officers.
July
- July - The Verbier Festival is launched.
August
- August - Innocent Criminals change to Silverchair.
- Rich Mullins and "Leave a Legacy" contest winner, 76 year old Miguel Garcia Massiate, travel to Bogotá, Colombia with Compassion International. The two men visit the Ciudad Sucre Center where Mullins presented them with over $40,000 that was raised on his summer '94 Ragamuffin Band tour.
- August 12 to August 14 - Woodstock '94
- August 23 - Luscious Jackson release their first full-length album Natural Ingredients.
- August 30 - Oasis releases their debut album Definitely Maybe, it becomes the fastest selling debut album in the United Kingdom at the time until 2006 when it was beaten by the Arctic Monkeys' debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not.
September
- September 8 - Richard A. Morse, lead male vocalist of RAM, narrowly escapes a kidnapping by armed men during the band's live performance at the Hotel Oloffson in Port-au-Prince, Haiti; the attempted kidnapping was provoked by the performance of "Fèy", a RAM single banned nationwide by the military authorities.
October
- October 4 - Dream Theater releases their third studio album Awake.
- Brett Gurewitz leaves Bad Religion to concentrate on the fast growing Epitaph Records, leaving their singer Greg Graffin and Jay Bentley the only founding members of the band still performing with the group. He was replaced by former Minor Threat/Dag Nasty guitarist Brian Baker, who turned down a touring job for R.E.M. at this time. However, Gurewitz rejoined Bad Religion in 2001 and he is still a member of the band today.
- Frank Sinatra receives the Grammy Awards Lifetime Achievement award. Sinatra's acceptance speech is cut short and other artists, upset by this action, criticize the producer's decision during the show, including Billy Joel who takes extra time to perform his song, The River of Dreams, noting that he is wasting valuable air time.
- The three surviving members of The Beatles secretly reunite to record additional music for a few of John Lennon's old unfinished demos, presented to Paul McCartney by Yoko Ono, with Jeff Lynne producing. The track, Free As A Bird, is released as a single, reaching #2 in the UK, and evolves into the exhaustive Beatles Anthology project.
- José Cura wins the Operalia – International Plácido Domingo Opera Singer Competition.
Unknown Date
- Christian Olde Wolbers replaces Andrew Shives in Fear Factory.
- Jeff Burrows signed a Cymbal deal with Sabian.
- Agoraphobic Nosebleed was formed.
Bands formed
- Agoraphobic Nosebleed
- Aqua (as Joyspeed)
- The Aquabats
- Bowling for Soup
- Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
- Coal Chamber
- Crimson Death
- Daimonion
- Dark Age
- Derek Trucks Band
- Elf Power
- Garbage
- Kill Hannah
- Limp Bizkit
- LBC Crew
- Mineral
- Placebo
- Rammstein
- Savage Garden split up from Red Edge
- Sevendust (as Crawlspace)
- Spice Girls
- Static-X
- Texas Is the Reason
Bands disbanded
- a-ha (Re-formed in 1998)
- American Music Club (Re-formed in 2004)
- Deacon Blue
- The Farm
- The God Machine
- Level 42 (Re-formed in 2001)
- New Kids On The Block (Re-formed in 2008)
- Nirvana
- Not Drowning, Waving
- Rodan
- Slowdive
- Uncle Tupelo
- The Wonder Stuff (Re-formed in 2000)
- 213 (Re-formed in 1996)
Albums released
| Contents: | Top • January • February • March • April • May • June • July • August • September • October • November • December |
|---|
January
| Day | Album | Artist | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | Dogman | King's X | - |
| 24 | Face the Music | NKOTB | - |
| 25 | Jar of Flies | Alice in Chains | EP |
| Kickin' It Up | John Michael Montgomery | - | |
| Too High to Die | Meat Puppets | - | |
| 28 | Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre | Current 93 | - |
| 31 | Cross Purposes | Black Sabbath | UK |
| Dial Hard | Gotthard | Switzerland | |
| Hold on It Hurts | Cornershop | - |
February
| Day | Album | Artist | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dookie | Green Day | - |
| 2 | Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain | Pavement | - |
| 7 | Motorcade of Generosity | Cake | - |
| Troublegum | Therapy? | - | |
| 8 | Paid Vacation | Richard Marx | - |
| 9 | Dreamspace | Stratovarius | - |
| 17 | Cheshire Cat | Blink-182 | - |
| 21 | In the Nightside Eclipse | Emperor | - |
| 24 | Hex | Bark Psychosis | - |
March
April
May
June
| Day | Album | Artist | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Balls to Picasso | Bruce Dickinson | Europe; released in US on 7/26 |
| 4 | Oh My Love | Zard | - |
| 7 | Purple | Stone Temple Pilots | - |
| Walk On | Boston | - | |
| 14 | Suicidal for Life | Suicidal Tendencies | - |
| Turn It Upside Down | Spin Doctors | - | |
| Zingalamaduni | Arrested Development | - | |
| 15 | Deflowered | Pansy Division | - |
| 17 | Temple Stone | Ghost | Live |
| 20 | Bee Thousand | Guided by Voices | - |
| Genius and Brutality...Taste and Power | Brainbombs | - | |
| 21 | Creepin on ah Come Up | Bone Thugs-n-Harmony | EP |
| Let's Go | Rancid | - | |
| 27 | One Foot In The Grave | Beck | - |
| Keb' Mo' | Keb' Mo' | Debut | |
| 28 | Same as It Ever Was | House of Pain | - |
| Welcome to Sky Valley | Kyuss | - | |
| Tiger Bay | Saint Etienne | - | |
| Get Up on It | Keith Sweat | - |
July
August
September
October
November
| Day | Album | Artist | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amorica | The Black Crowes | - |
| Big Ones | Aerosmith | Greatest Hits | |
| Four Chords & Several Years Ago | Huey Lewis & The News | Covers of popular songs from the 50s & 60s | |
| Letters Never Sent | Carly Simon | - | |
| Merry Christmas | Mariah Carey | Christmas songs | |
| MTV Unplugged in New York | Nirvana | Live | |
| The Good, the Bad & the Argyle | The Bouncing Souls | - | |
| Wildflowers | Tom Petty | - | |
| Youthanasia | Megadeth | - | |
| 8 | Athos | Stephan Micus | - |
| Hell Freezes Over | Eagles | Live/Studio | |
| Higher Power | Big Audio | - | |
| Lost in the Former West | The Fatima Mansions | - | |
| Still Climbing | Cinderella | - | |
| The Main Ingredient | Pete Rock & CL Smooth | - | |
| 14 | Parachute | Guster | - |
| 15 | CrazySexyCool | TLC | - |
| Duets II | Frank Sinatra | - | |
| Tical | Method Man | - | |
| 22 | Box of Fire | Aerosmith | Box Set |
| Behind Bars | Slick Rick | - | |
| The Black Album | Prince | Recorded 1986-'87 | |
| 29 | My Life | Mary J. Blige | - |
December
| Day | Album | Artist | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Sixteen Stone | Bush | - |
| Vitalogy | Pearl Jam | - | |
| 13 | The Hits | Garth Brooks | Greatest Hits |
Unknown Release Date
- Aerial Service Area - Atom Heart (with Victor Sol and Niko Heyduck)
- Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
- Big Weather - Jeff Greinke
- Change Giver - Shed Seven
- Chansons des mers froides - Hector Zazou
- Churn - Seven Mary Three
- Deep in the Shadows - Tav Falco's Panther Burns
- Dots - Atom Heart
- Dupatta Tera Sat Rang Da - Surjit Bindrakhia
- Everyone's Got One - Echobelly
- Frigate - April Wine
- Happy on the Inside - Certain Distant Suns
- I Hope Your Heart is Not Brittle - Portastatic
- Isolationism - various artists
- Jimmy Eat World - Jimmy Eat World
- Live!! New York City 10/14/94 - They Might Be Giants
- Old Stuff, Part Two - Anal Cunt
- Orange - Atom Heart
- Orthodox Celts - Orthodox Celts
- O Sorriso do Gato de Alice - Gal Costa
- Pandemonium - Killing Joke
- Promises - Bo Diddley
- Rappin & Tappin - Derek Bailey
- Recordando A "Los Panchos" - Vicente Fernández
- Rubberneck - Toadies
- Rivermaya - Rivermaya
- Screaming Dolorous - Nitocris
- Softcore - Atom Heart
- Soul Fixin' Man - Luther Allison
- Stuck - Puddle of Mudd
- Sweet Revenge - Ryuichi Sakamoto
- that dog. - that dog.
Biggest hit singles
The following songs achieved the highest chart positions in the charts of 1994.
| # | Artist | Title | Year | Country | Chart Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bruce Springsteen | Streets of Philadelphia | 1994 | Image:Flag of the United States.svg | Austria 1 - Apr 1994, Norway 1 - Feb 1994, Poland 1 - Feb 1994, Germany 1 - Mar 1994, Éire 1 - Mar 1994, Oscar in 1993, UK 2 - Mar 1994, Switzerland 2 - Mar 1994, Italy 3 of 1994, France 4 - Feb 1994, Holland 6 - Feb 1994, RYM 6 of 1994, Sweden 7 - Feb 1994, US BB 9 of 1994, Europe 29 of the 1990s, US BB 30 of 1994, Australia 30 of 1994, US CashBox 49 of 1994, POP 63 of 1994, AFI 68, Germany 74 of the 1990s, WXPN 837 |
| 2 | Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart & Sting | All For Love | 1994 | Image:Flag of Canada.svg / Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg | US BB 1 of 1994, Sweden 1 - Dec 1993, Austria 1 - Feb 1994, Switzerland 1 - Jan 1994, Norway 1 - Jan 1994, Poland 1 - Dec 1993, Germany 1 - Jan 1994, Éire 1 - Jan 1994, Australia 1 for 2 weeks Apr 1994, UK 2 - Jan 1994, Holland 3 - Jan 1994, US BB 9 of 1994, Italy 9 of 1994, Australia 10 of 1994, US CashBox 22 of 1994, POP 25 of 1994, Germany 87 of the 1990s |
| 3 | Rednex | Cotton Eye Joe | 1994 | Image:Flag of Sweden.svg | UK 1 - Dec 1994, US BB 1 of 1995, Holland 1 - Aug 1994, Sweden 1 - Aug 1994, Austria 1 - Oct 1994, Switzerland 1 - Oct 1994, Norway 1 - Oct 1994, Germany 1 - Jan 1995, New Zealand 1 for 6 weeks Mar 1995, POP 1 of 1995, Germany 18 of the 1990s, US BB 25 of 1995, Australia 41 of 1995, Party 54 of 2007, Scrobulate 72 of party |
| 4 | All-4-One | I Swear | 1994 | Image:Flag of the United States.svg | US BB 1 of 1994, Holland 1 - Jul 1994, Austria 1 - Aug 1994, Switzerland 1 - Jul 1994, Germany 1 - Jul 1994, New Zealand 1 for 6 weeks Jul 1994, Australia 1 for 5 weeks Nov 1994, UK 2 - Jun 1994, Norway 2 - Jul 1994, Australia 2 of 1994, US CashBox 3 of 1994, Sweden 3 - Aug 1994, US BB 7 of 1994, Poland 14 - Jul 1994, Germany 39 of the 1990s, OzNet 657 |
| 5 | Mariah Carey | Without You | 1994 | Image:Flag of the United States.svg | UK 1 - Feb 1994, Holland 1 - Feb 1994, Sweden 1 - Feb 1994, Austria 1 - Apr 1994, Switzerland 1 - Apr 1994, Poland 1 - Feb 1994, Germany 1 - Mar 1994, Éire 1 - Feb 1994, New Zealand 1 for 1 weeks Apr 1994, US BB 3 of 1994, Norway 3 - Mar 1994, US CashBox 15 of 1994, Australia 15 of 1994, Germany 25 of the 1990s, POP 37 of 1994 |
Top hits
- "21st Century (Digital Boy)" - Bad Religion
- "90's Girl" - BlackGirl
- "100% Pure Love" - Crystal Waters
- "About a Girl (Unplugged)" - Nirvana
- "A Girl Like You" - Edwyn Collins
- "All Apologies - Nirvana
- "All For Love" - Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart & Sting
- "All I Wanna Do" - Sheryl Crow
- "All That She Wants" - Ace of Base
- "Always" - Bon Jovi
- "Always" - Erasure
- "Amazing" - Aerosmith
- "Another Night" - M.C. Sar & the Real McCoy
- "Any Time, Any Place" - Janet Jackson
- "Asshole" - Denis Leary
- "Basket Case" - Green Day
- "Backwater" - Meat Puppets
- "Big Empty" - Stone Temple Pilots
- "Better Man" - Pearl Jam
- "Big Yellow Taxi" - Amy Grant
- "Black Hole Sun" - Soundgarden
- "Born To Roll" - Masta Ace
- "Come Out And Play" - The Offspring
- "Coming Back" - P.O.D.
- "Corduroy" - Pearl Jam
- "Closer" - Nine Inch Nails
- "Crazy" - Aerosmith
- "Cut Your Hair" - Pavement
- "Deuces Are Wild" - Aerosmith
- "Don't Turn Around" - Ace of Base
- "Everyday" - Phil Collins
- "Found Out About You" - Gin Blossoms
- "Gin & Juice" - Snoop Doggy Dogg
- "House Of Love" - Amy Grant
- "I Alone" - Live
- "I'll Make Love to You" - Boys 2 Men
- "I Like to Move It" - Reel 2 Real
- "I Stay Away" - Alice in Chains
- "I Swear" - All 4 One
- "Infected" - Bad Religion
- "It Ain't Hard to Tell" - Nas
- "It's Alright" - East 17
- "It's Me" - Alice Cooper
- "I Wanna Be Down" - Brandy
- "Je danse le Mia" - IAM
- "(Lay Your Head On My) Pillow" - Tony! Toni! Tone!
- "Let The Dream Come True" - DJ Bobo
- "Longview" - Green Day
- "Loser" - Beck
- "Lost In America" - Alice Cooper
- "Love is Strong" - Rolling Stones
- "Lucky One" - Amy Grant
- "Mary Jane's Last Dance" - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
- "Mr. Jones" - Counting Crows
- "Never Lie" - Immature
- "No Rain" - Blind Melon
- "Rape Me - Nirvana
- "Sabotage" - Beastie Boys
- "Say You'll Be Mine" - Amy Grant
- "Secret" - Madonna
- "Seether" - Veruca Salt
- "Sensualité" - Axelle Red
- "Seven Seconds" - Neneh Cherry & Youssou N'dour
- "She" - Green Day
- "She Don't Use Jelly" - The Flaming Lips
- "Slow Wine" - Tony! Toni! Tone!
- "Stay (I Missed You) - Lisa Loeb
- "The Sign" - Ace of Base
- "Spoonman" - Soundgarden
- "Take a Bow" - Madonna
- "The Man Who Sold the World" - Nirvana
- "The Red Strokes" - Garth Brooks
- "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" - Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
- "Trouble" - Shampoo
- "Until I Fall Away" - Gin Blossoms
- "Waterfalls" - TLC
- "Welcome to Paradise" - Green Day
- "When I Come Around" - Green Day
- "Without You" - Mariah Carey
- "You Want This" - Janet Jackson
See also: Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1994
Classical music
- Thomas Beveridge - Yizkor Requiem
- George Crumb - Quest for guitar, soprano saxophone, harp, double bass, and percussion (two players)
- Richard Danielpour - Cello Concerto
- Mario Davidovsky - Festino for guitar, viola, violoncello, contrabass
- Karl Jenkins - Adiemus: Songs of Sanctuary
- Oliver Knussen - Horn Concerto
- György Kurtág - Stele
- Tristan Murail - L'esprit des dunes
- Michael Nyman - Concerto for Trombone
- Einojuhani Rautavaara - Symphony No. 7 Angel of Light
- Boris Tishchenko - Symphony No. 7
- Mariah Carey - Without You
Opera
- Giovanni Bertolani (orchestrated by Francesco Germini) - Matilde
- Vivian Fine - Memoirs of Uliana Rooney
- Adam Guettel - Floyd Collins
- Nicholas Lens - The Accacha Chronicles Trilogy: Flamma Flamma - The Fire Requiem
Musical theater
- Beauty and the Beast - Broadway production
- Carousel (Rodgers & Hammerstein) - Broadway revival
- Damn Yankees (Richard Adler and Jerry Ross) - Broadway revival
- Grease - Broadway revival
- Show Boat (Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II) - Broadway revival
- Sunset Boulevard (Andrew Lloyd Webber) - Broadway production
Musical films
- The Lion King - animated feature film with songs by Elton John and Tim Rice
- That's Entertainment! III
Births
- Coco Hayley Gordon Moore
- Airi Suzuki, Japanese singer
- April 4 - Risako Sugaya, Japanese singer
- April 28 - Jake Rickman, American Guitar Player for the Alters
- September - Taylor Ware, American singer
- September 1 - Bianca Ryan, American singer
- September 7 - Izzy Kraus, Lead Guitarist
Deaths
- January 6 - Harold Sumberg, violinist
- January 15 - Harry Nilsson, singer, songwriter
- January 17 - Georges Cziffra, pianist
- February 7 - Witold Lutosławski, composer
- February 24 - Dinah Shore
- March 16 - Nicolas Flagello, composer
- March 22 - Dan Hartman
- March 23 - Donald Swann, pianist and entertainer
- ca. April 5 - Kurt Cobain
- June 14 - Henry Mancini
- June 15 - Manos Hadjidakis, composer
- June 16 - Kristen Pfaff, bass guitarist
- June 25 - DJ Train, producer
- June 29 - Kurt Eichhorn, conductor
- July 31 - Anne Shelton, British singer
- September 2 - Roy Castle, musician and all-round entertainer
- September 13 - John Stevens, jazz musician
- September 20 - Jule Styne
- September 29 - Cheb Hasni
- October 19 - Martha Raye
- October 22 - Shlomo Carlebach, Jewish songwriter
- November 4 - Fred "Sonic" Smith, MC5 guitarist
- November 7 - Shorty Rogers, jazz trumpeter
- November 11 - Elizabeth Maconchy, composer
Awards
- The following artists are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Ruth Brown, Cream, Creedance Clearwater Revival, The Doors, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Etta James, Van Morrison, and Sly and the Family Stone
- Inductees of the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame include Tennessee Ernie Ford
Filmfare Awards
- Kumar Sanu - Filmfare Best Male Playback Award
- Filmfare Best Music Director Awards - Rahul Dev Burman
Grammy Awards
Country Music Association Awards
Eurovision Song Contest
Mercury Music Prize
- Elegant Slumming - M People wins.
Juno Award
- Rascalz - Juno Award Best rap album
Charts
KROQ
Triple J Hottest 100
See also
- 1994 in music (UK)
- Musical groups established in 1994
- Record labels established in 1994cs:1994 v hudbě
fr:1994 en musique ja:1994年の音楽 ka:1994 წელი მუსიკაში pl:1994 w muzyce pt:1994 na música ru:1994 год в музыке sv:Musikåret 1994 uk:1994 у музиці
