1991 in music: Encyclopedia - 1991 in music

1991 in music

See also: 1990 in music, other events of 1991, 1992 in music, 1990s in music and the list of 'years in music'

1991 in music - Events

1991 was the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough. Nirvana's Nevermind, led by the surprise hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit", became the most popular U.S. album of the year. Followed immediately by other grunge bands like Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, grunge dominated the U.S. charts for the next few years. Its success effectively ended pop-oriented, 1980s hair metal groups like Def Leppard, Guns 'n' Roses, Mötley Crüe, Poison and Ratt, whose sales and critical viability were beginning to decline for about two years previously and also ended Los Angeles' status as the city for rock music stardom.

A Tribe Called Quest's Low End Theory was released this year; it would go on to be considered one of the best hip hop albums of the 1990s. A Tribe Called Quest, along with De La Soul, Dream Warriors, Gang Starr and the Poor Righteous Teachers, helped define what came to be known as alternative rap with important releases this year.

Queen frontman Freddie Mercury died at home in London on November 24, 1991 due to AIDS. Rumors had been circulating that Mercury had AIDS, but the death came as a shocker to millions of fans and the music industry. The remaining members of Queen form the Mercury Phoenix Trust and the following year, a tribute concert is staged in Wembley Stadium. A sell-out crowd in attendance witnessed the three surviving members reuniting to play along with performances by the likes of David Bowie, Elton John, Guns N' Roses, Def Leppard, Metallica and George Michael.

1991 was also the year CCM, or contemporary Christian music, reached a new peak. Amy Grant, who had already crossed back and forth between CCM and pop in the mid-80s, achieved her (and CCM's) first #1 hit on the pop charts with the hit single "Baby Baby." Another single, "That's What Love Is For," would also top the charts, this time in the Adult Contemporary field. Meanwhile, Grant's album Heart In Motion reaches #10 on the pop chart and #1 on the Christian chart despite its non-religious objective, and quickly become a best-seller. Another CCM crossover artist in 1991 is Michael W. Smith, who achieves a Top Ten pop hit with his single "Place In This World." The subsequent album, Go West Young Man, is also a hit.

The massive success of Garth Brooks in this year sets the stage for the mid-1990s influx of pop-oriented country musicians. In addition, several soon-to-be pivotal bands form or release debuts, including future pioneers in riot grrl punk (Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Huggy Bear), jam bands (moe., Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Spin Doctors) and stoner metal (Kyuss, Sleep, Obsessed). Massive Attack's Blue Lines, while unique at the time, invented the sound that would eventually become known as trip hop. Entombed's Clandestine and Dismember's Like an Ever Flowing Stream are early releases from the Scandinavian metal scene. U2 release their seventh album Achtung Baby, considered by many of their fans to be their best album.

• January 18 - Three people are crushed to death during an AC/DC concert in Salt Lake City, Utah when audience members rushed the stage.
• February 27 - James Brown is granted an early parole and released from jail. Brown had been arrested after leading Police on a high speed chase through two states in 1989. Pop Will Eat Itself documented the affair with their song, "Not Now James, We're Busy".
• February 28 - Hollywood, California's The Record Plant recording studio closes its doors. Among the albums recorded at the Record Plant were The Eagles' Hotel California, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life
• March 11 - Janet Jackson signs a $30 million (US) contract with Virgin Records.
• March 16 - Seven members of country music singer Reba McEntire's band and her road manager are killed when their private plane crashes in California, near the U.S.-Mexico border. McEntire travels on a separate plane.
• March 20 - Michael Jackson signs a $1 billion contract with Sony.
• March 20 - Eric Clapton's four-year-old son, Conor, dies after falling 53 stories from a New York City apartment window. (The death of his son would inspire Clapton to write "Tears in Heaven".)
• March 24 - The Black Crowes are dropped as the opening act of ZZ Top's tour for repeatedly insulting the tour's sponsor, Miller Beer.
• March 27 - New Kids on the Block's Donnie Wahlberg is arrested in Louisville, Kentucky for allegedly setting his hotel room on fire.
• March 28 - George Harrison, Phil Collins and others attend funeral services for Eric Clapton's late son, Conor.
• April 28 - Bonnie Raitt marries actor Michael Noonan O'Keefe in New York.
• May 7 - In Macon, Georgia, a judge dismisses a wrongful death lawsuit against Ozzy Osbourne. The suit was filed by a local couple that believed their son was inspired to attempt suicide by Osbourne's music.
• July - Launch of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music.
• August 27 - Dr. Dre pleads no contest to charges that he beat up a woman at a West Hollywood nightclub. Dr. Dre is sentenced to 24 months probation.
• September 24 - Nirvana releases Nevermind, debuting at #144 on the Billboard 200.
• October 25 - Steely Dan spontaneously reunites
• Whitney Houston sings "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Superbowl. The recording is then released and becomes a hit single.
• Britney Spears appears on Star Search
• Love Battery's career begins
• Shakira's career begins
• Sublime's career begins
• Tool's career begins
• Cradle of Filth forms
• Country music legend Kenny Rogers stars his restaurant chain, "Kenny Rogers Roasters," serving up tasty chicken.
• Dave Matthews Band forms
• Perry Farrell organizes the first Lollapalooza tour as a farewell for his just-dissolved band, Jane's Addiction
• moe. forms
• Bratmobile forms
• Candlebox forms
• Cracker forms
• Digable Planets forms
• Huggy Bear forms in Brighton, England
• Local H forms
• Stabbing Westward forms in Chicago, Illinois
• Unwritten Law forms
• Nas joins Main Source
• The Pharcyde signs to Delicious Vinyl, their first label
• Jermaine Dupri discovers Kris Kross performing at a mall in Atlanta
• Rage Against the Machine forms
• Rancid forms in Berkeley, California
• Vertical Horizon forms
• Leftfield, an electronica duo forms in London, England
• Devo disbands
• Talking Heads disbands
• The original surviving members of Bill Haley and His Comets from the 1950s reunite for a European concert tour, and soon after resume regular touring and recording engagements that continue as of 2005.

large ness in areas

1991 in music - Albums released

• 2Pacalypse Now - 2Pac
• Derelicts of Dialect - 3rd Bass
• The Razor's Edge - AC/DC
• Waking Up the Neighbours - Bryan Adams
• Little Earthquakes - Tori Amos
• Attack of the Killer B's - Anthrax
• To Mother - Babes in Toyland
• '80-'85 - Bad Religion (compilation of their older albums)
• Against the Grain - Bad Religion
• True Love - Pat Benatar
• The Globe - Big Audio Dynamite II
• Prince of Darkness - Big Daddy Kane
• Midnight Radio - Big Head Todd & the Monsters
• Revolution Girl Style Now - Bikini Kill (debut, independent demo cassette)
• I Need a Haircut - Biz Markie
• Travelers and Thieves - Blues Traveler
• Leisure - Blur (debut)
• War Master - Bolt Thrower
• Ropin' the Wind - Garth Brooks
• Space I'm In - The Candyskins (debut)
• Marc Cohn - Marc Cohn (debut)
• Butchered at Birth - Cannibal Corpse
• Chagall Guevara - Chagall Guevara
• Whirlpool - Chapterhouse (debut)
• Nothing but a Burning Light - Bruce Cockburn
• Mighty Like a Rose - Elvis Costello
• Ceremony - The Cult
• Entreat - The Cure
• Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill (debut)
• Italia Mia - Dalida (compilation)
• Les Années Barlay (1956-1970) - Dalida (compilation)
• Blwch Tymer Tymor - Datblygu
• Human - Death
• De La Soul Is Dead - De La Soul
• I Wish My Brother George Was Here - Del Tha Funkee Homosapien
• Green Mind - Dinosaur Jr.
• On Every Street - Dire Straits
• Open Doors, Closed Windows - Disco Inferno
• Like an Ever Flowing Stream - Dismember
• Divinyls - Divinyls
• Homebase - DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince
• Vinyl - Dramarama
• Images and Words - Dream Theater
• And Now the Legacy Begins - Dream Warriors
• Electronic - Electronic (debut)
• Schubert Dip - EMF
• Clandestine - Entombed
• Chorus - Erasure
• Prisoners in Paradise - Europe
• Time for a Witness - The Feelies (final album)
• The Reality of My Surroundings - Fishbone
• Believing in Better - Lennie Gallant
• We Can't Dance - Genesis (first album in 5 years)
• Infrared Roses - Grateful Dead
• Step in the Arena - Gang Starr
• Heart In Motion - Amy Grant
• Hooked - Great White
• Use Your Illusion I - Guns N' Roses
• Use Your Illusion II - Guns N' Roses
• Pretty on the Inside - Hole
• I'm On Your Side - Jennifer Holliday
• O.G. Original Gangster - Ice-T
• Iced Earth - Iced Earth (debut)
  • Released in the United States for the first time.
• The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move...It's the Infectious Grooves - The Infectious Grooves
• X - INXS
• Dangerous - Michael Jackson
• Doubt - Jesus Jones
• Catfish Rising - Jethro Tull
• Face the Nation - Kid 'n Play (final album)
• The White Room - The KLF
• Funke, Funke Wisdom - Kool Moe Dee
• Wretch - Kyuss (debut)
• Smell the Magic - L7
• The La's - The La's (debut, final album)
• Future Without a Past - Leaders of the New School (debut)
• Biscuits - Living Colour (EP)
• The Yngwie Malmsteen Collection - Yngwie J. Malmsteen (his first compilation album)
• Blue Lines - Massive Attack
• International Pop Overthrow - Material Issue (debut)
• Bullhead - Melvins
• Eggnog - Melvins
• The Human Factor - Metal Church
• Metallica - Metallica
• Mind Funk - Mind Funk (debut)
• Let's Get To It - Kylie Minogue
• Spine of God - Monster Magnet
• Lean Into It - Mr. Big
• Blessed are the Sick - Morbid Angel
• Kill Uncle - Morrissey
• 1916 - Motörhead
• Hoodoo - Alison Moyet
• Loveless - My Bloody Valentine (final album)
• Sexplosion! - My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult
• God Fodder - Ned's Atomic Dustbin (debut)
• Nevermind - Nirvana
• Niggaz4life - N.W.A. (final album)
• Ribbed - NOFX
• Lunar Womb - Obsessed
• Horrorscope - Overkill
• No More Tears - Ozzy Osbourne
• Ten - Pearl Jam
• Pennywise - Pennywise
• Into the Great Wide Open - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
• A Picture of Nectar - Phish
• Lawn Boy - Phish
• Positively Phranc - Phranc
• Trompe le Monde - Pixies (final album before disbanding)
• Swallow This Live - Poison
• Pure Poverty - Poor Righteous Teachers
• Screamadelica - Primal Scream
• Sailing the Seas of Cheese - Primus
• Diamonds and Pearls - Prince
• World Outside - The Psychedelic Furs (final album)
• Apocalypse '91...The Enemy Strikes Black - Public Enemy
• Luck of the Draw - Bonnie Raitt
• Innuendo - Queen
• Out of Time - R.E.M.
• Ratt N' Roll 8191 - Ratt
• Blood Sugar Sex Magik - The Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Roll The Bones - Rush
• Streets: A Rock Opera - Savatage
• Scamboogery - Scatterbrain
• School of Fish - School of Fish (debut)
• Uncle Anesthesia - Screaming Trees
• Seal - Seal (debut)
• Arise - Sepultura
• Magia - Shakira
• Mack Daddy - Sir Mix-A-Lot
• Real Life - Simple Minds
• Superstition - Siouxsie & the Banshees
• Slave to the Grind - Skid Row
• 1,000 Smiling Knuckles - Skin Yard
• Wayward Sons of Mother Earth - Skyclad
• Volume One - Sleep (debut)
• Spiderland - Slint
• Gish - Smashing Pumpkins (debut)
• Blow Up - The Smithereens
• Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell - Social Distortion
• Badmotorfinger - Soundgarden
• Pocket Full of Kryptonite - Spin Doctors
• Jah Won't Pay the Bills - Sublime (debut, independent demo cassette)
• Effigy of The Forgotten - Suffocation
• Mistaken Identity - Donna Summer
• Overspill - Sun Dial
• Keep It Comin' - Keith Sweat
• Girlfriend - Matthew Sweet
• Laughing Stock - Talk Talk (final album)
• Temple of the Dog - Temple of the Dog (debut, final album)
• Psychotic Supper - Tesla
• Babyteeth - Therapy? (debut)
• Miscellaneous T - They Might Be Giants
• Violent Impression - This Picture (debut)
• The Real Ramona - Throwing Muses
• Tin Machine II - Tin Machine(final album)
• Fear - Toad the Wet Sprocket
• Little Magnets Versus the Bubble of Babble - Transvision Vamp (final album)
• The Low End Theory - A Tribe Called Quest
• Boss of the Bass - Jamaaladeen Tacuma
• Achtung Baby - U2
• For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge - Van Halen
• Why Do Birds Sing? - Violent Femmes
• Honey Lingers - Voice of the Beehive
• Cherry Pie - Warrant
• The Pod - Ween
• Widespread Panic - Widespread Panic
• The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life - Frank Zappa (recorded live during the 1988 world tour)
• Mr. Bad Example - Warren Zevon

1991 in music - Top hits

• "Alive" - Pearl Jam
• "American Music" - The Violent Femmes
• "Baby Baby" - Amy Grant
• "Bohemian Rhapsody/These Are The Days Of Our Lives" - Queen
• "Bring The Noise" - Public Enemy and Anthrax
• "Can't Stop This Thing We Started" - Bryan Adams
• "Chorus" - Erasure
• "Close My Eyes" - Marillion
• "Do You Remember" - Phil Collins
• "Do Anything" - Natural Selection
• "Don't Cry" - Guns N' Roses
• "Emotions" - Mariah Carey
• "Enter Sandman" - Metallica
• "Every Heartbeat" - Amy Grant
• "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)" - Bryan Adams
• "Fall At Your Feet" - Crowded House
• "Get Here" - Oleta Adams
• "Get The Funk Out" - Extreme
• "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" - C&C Music Factory
• "Good For Me" - Amy Grant
• "Good Times" - INXS and Jimmy Barnes
• "Holding On" - Beverly Craven
• "I Can't Make You Love Me" - Bonnie Raitt
• "It's In His Kiss (The Shoop Shoop Song)" - Cher
• "Live And Let Die" - Guns N' Roses
• "Live For Loving You" - Gloria Estefan
• "Losing My Religion" - R.E.M.
• "Love To Hate You" - Erasure
• "More Than Words" - Extreme
• "Mysterious Ways" - U2
• "One" - U2
• "Poundcake" - Van Halen
• "Right Here, Right Now" - Jesus Jones
• "Rock The Casbah" - The Clash
• "Sexuality" - Billy Bragg
• "Shameless" - Garth Brooks
• "Shiny Happy People" - R.E.M.
• "Sit Down" - James
• "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana
• "Something To Talk About" - Bonnie Raitt
• "Temptation" - Corina
• "That's What Love Is For" - Amy Grant
• "The Radio Song" - R.E.M.
• "There Will Never Be Another Tonight" - Bryan Adams
• "There's No Other Way" - Blur
• "Top Of The World" - Van Halen
• "Train In Vain(Stand By Me)" - The Clash
• "Twist And Shout" - Deacon Blue
• "Walking In Memphis" - Marc Cohn
• "When Someting's Wrong With My Baby" - John Farnham + Jimmy Barnes
• "Who Said I Would" - Phil Collins
• "When A Man Loves A Woman" - Michael Bolton
• "Wicked Game" - Chris Isaak
• "Violent Blue"- Chagall Guevara
• "You Could Be Mine" - Guns N' Roses

See also: Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1991

1991 in music - Classical music

• John Corigliano - Symphony no. 1
• George Crumb - Easter Dawning for carillon
• Mario Davidovsky - Simple Dances for flute, two percussion, piano, and '''''''[[[[cello]]]]'''''''
• Ulrich Leyendecker - Symphony No. 3
• Witold Lutosławski - Chantefleurs et Chantefables
• Joan Tower -

1991 in music - Violin Concerto

1991 in music - Opera

• Daniel Catan - Rappaccini’s Daughter
• John Adams - The Death of Klinghoffer
• John Corigliano - The Ghosts of Versailles
• Daron Hagen - Shining Brow
• Meredith Monk - Atlas

1991 in music - Musical theater

• Miss Saigon (Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil) - Broadway production opened at the Broadway Theatre on April 11 and ran for 4097 performances
• Secret Garden     Broadway production opened at the St. James Theatre on April 25 and ran for 706 performances
• Song of Singapore     off-Broadway production opened at the Irving Place Theatre on May 7 and ran for 459 performances
• Will Rogers Follies     Broadway production opened at the Palace Theatre on May 1 and ran for 983 performances

1991 in music - Musical films

• Beauty and the Beast      animated feature
• For the Boys

1991 in music - Births

• December 13 - Jay Greenberg, child prodigy composer

1991 in music - Deaths

• January 8 - Steve Clark, guitarist of Def Leppard
• February 6 - Danny Thomas, singer and actor
• March 2 - Serge Gainsbourg, singer and songwriter
• March 14 - Jerome Doc Pomus (65), songwriter, cancer
• March 14 - Howard Ashman, lyricist
• March 21 - Leo Fender, inventor of the electric guitar
• April 20 - Steve Marriott, the Small Faces
• April 21 - Willi Boskovsky, conductor
• April 23 - Johnny Thunders, rock guitarist and singer
• May 8 - Jean Langlais, composer
• May 19 - Odia Coates, singer
• May 23 - Wilhelm Kempff, pianist and composer
• May 27 - Leopold Nowak, musicologist
• June 6 - Stan Getz, US saxophonist
• June 9 - Claudio Arrau, pianist
• June 14 - Joy Finzi, founder of the Finzi Trust
• September 4 - Charlie Barnet, US bandleader
• September 8 - Alex North, composer
• September 17 - Zino Francescatti, violinist
• September 28 - Miles Davis, musician
• September 28 - Eugène Bozza, composer
• October 6 - Igor Talkov, Russian singer/songwriter
• October 17 - Tennessee Ernie Ford
• October 31 - Joseph Papp, Broadway producer
• November 2 - Mort Shuman, songwriter
• November 15 - Jacques Morali, disco composer
• November 24 - Freddie Mercury, singer
• November 24 - Eric Carr, drummer

1991 in music - Awards

• The following artists are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: LaVern Baker, The Byrds, John Lee Hooker, The Impressions, Wilson Pickett, Jimmy Reed and Ike and Tina Turner
• Grammy Awards of 1991
• Eurovision Song Contest 1991

1991 in music - Charts

1991 in music - KROQ

• KROQ Top 106.7 Countdown of 1991

Categories: 1991 in music | Years in music

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "1991 in music", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki