This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2008. More specific lists of 2008 music-related events are also available for country music, heavy metal, hip hop, and music from the United Kingdom, Canada, and Ireland.
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Contents |
[edit] Events
[edit] January
- 29 January - Face to Face announced that they will reunite for select shows in the US and internationally.[1]
- Rage Against the Machine headlined the Big Day Out festivals in Australia and New Zealand, their first shows outside of the United States since reforming, and their first Australian shows in 12 years.[2]
[edit] February
- 10 February - The 50th Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, USA[3].
- 14 February - Celine Dion's Taking Chances World Tour kicks of in South Africa.
- 19 February - System of a Down guitarist, Daron Malakian, told MTV.com that the band were never likely to reform any time soon as he would be concentrating on his new band project Scars on Broadway.[4]
- 20 February–25 February - The Viña del Mar International Song Festival was held in Chile. [5]
- 23 February–3 March - The second annual Soundwave Festival was held in Australia.[6]
- 26 February - Pillar releases For the Love of the Game
- 26 February - The Spice Girls do their last performace together of their tour The Return of the Spice Girls in Toronto.
- 26 February - Erykah Badu makes a comeback in releasing her fifth album, New Amerykah Part One (4th World War), her first album in five years.
[edit] March
- 6-9 March - The 2008 Langerado Music Festival was held on the Big Cypress Indian Reservation in southern Florida.[7]
- 7 March - The Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival 2008 took place in Jakarta, Indonesia.[8]
- 7–16 March - The 2008 South by Southwest Conference and Festival was held in Austin, Texas, USA.[9]
- 11 March - Jazz musician and broadcaster Humphrey Lyttelton announced his retirement from presenting BBC Radio 2's jazz programme after forty years.[10]
- 18 March - Platinum selling Pop Group Danity Kane release their highly anticipated second album Welcome To The Dollhouse which debutes at #1 on the Billboard 200 albums making them the only girl group in history to have their first two albums debut at #1 in the USA.
- 20 March - The Eagles began a tour to promote their album, Long Road Out of Eden.[citation needed]
- 25–29 March - The Miami Winter Music Conference was held in Miami Beach Resort & Spa, Miami, Florida, USA.[11]
- 26 March - Guitarist Clint Lowery rejoined the band Sevendust, replacing Sonny Mayo.[citation needed]
- 27 March
- Rock band Def Leppard began the first leg of their world tour to promote their album Songs from the Sparkle Lounge.[citation needed]
[edit] April
- 1 April - Scott Weiland's departure from rock band Velvet Revolver became official.[12] Weiland's reunion with his former band, Stone Temple Pilots, and tensions between Weiland and the rest of Velvet Revolver, led to his departure.[13]
- 2 April - Mariah Carey's new single, "Touch My Body", from her album E=MC², is officially confirmed as her eighteenth number one single in the United States making her the artist with the second most number one hit singles behind the Beatles with 20.
- 5 April - The reunited Face to Face performed together for the first time in four-and-a-half-years at The Bamboozle Left in Irvine, California, USA.[1]
- 7 April - The newly reunited 90s rock band Stone Temple Pilots held a press conference announcing a 65-date reunion tour and played for the first time since 2002 at a small, private show in Los Angeles, California, USA.[citation needed]
- 8 April - Japanese superstar Ayumi Hamasaki celebrates the beginning of her 10th year in the music industry.
- 15 April - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa officially proclaimed April 15 as Mariah Carey Day in Los Angeles, California, USA.[14]
- 19 April - With her single, "I'm a Fire", Donna Summer became the first artist to have a song reach number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in every decade since the chart's inception in 1974.[citation needed]
- 19—20 April - The Festival Imperial 2008 was held in Autódromo La Guácima in Alajuela, Costa Rica.[citation needed]
- 25—27 April - The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was held in Indio, California, USA.
- 26 April - The MTV Australia Awards 2008 took place in Sydney, Australia.[citation needed]
- 27 April - Madonna releases her eleventh studio album "Hard Candy" which debuts at #1 atop the Billboard 200 making her the female artist with second most number-one albums behind Barbara Streisand.[citation needed] The album also reached number-one in 27 countries.
[edit] May
- 3 May - Girls Aloud began their Tangled Up Tour in Belfast, UK.[15]
- 3–4 May - The sixth annual The Bamboozle festival was held at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA.[citation needed]
- 10–11 May - The Give It A Name 2008 festival was held at Earls Court, London, UK.[16]
- 16 May - The Offspring began the first leg of their Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace Tour to promote their new album, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace.[citation needed]
- 17 May - The sixteenth annual KROQ Weenie Roast was held at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, California, USA.[citation needed]
- 21 May - David Cook defeated David Archuleta, therefore becoming the winner of season 7 of American Idol, with the contest decided by 97 million votes, a record for the show.
- 24 May – The 53rd Eurovision Song Contest final was held in Belgrade, Serbia. 43 countries competed in the event, including newcomers San Marino and Azerbaijan.[17] The contest was won by the Russian entry with the Ukrainians coming second and the Greeks third.
- 24–26 May - The Sasquatch! Music Festival was held over Memorial Day weekend at The Gorge Amphitheatre in central Washington, USA.[citation needed]
- 30 May–1 June
- Rock In Rio Lisboa 2008 took place in Parque da Bela Vista, Chelas, Lisbon, Portugal. The festival continued on 5–6 June.[citation needed]
- The fourth annual Mountain Jam Festival was held in Hunter Mountain, New York, USA.[citation needed]
[edit] June
- 1 June - Westlife played their 10th anniversary concert at Europe's fourth biggest stadium, Croke Park, in Dublin, Ireland.[18]
- 2 June- Disturbed released their fourth studio album Indestructible.
- 6-7 June - Foo Fighters played their biggest UK stadium shows at Wembley Stadium in London.[citation needed]
- 6-8 June - The 2008 Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival was held at Clinton State Park near Lawrence, Kansas, USA. [19]
- 10 June - Rancid began the first leg of their tour to promote their seventh studio album.[20]
- 11 June - Ira Losco released her third studio album Fortune Teller. It was produced by Ira herself and Howard Keith (Jagged House)
- 12 – 15 June - The 2008 Bonnaroo Music Festival was held in Manchester, Tennessee, USA.[21]
- 13 – 15 June
- The seventh Isle of Wight Festival took place in Seaclose Park, Newport, Isle of Wight, UK.[22]
- The sixth annual Download Festival took place in Donington Park, UK.[citation needed]
- 17 June - George Michael began the American leg of his 25 Live tour in San Diego, California, USA, his first U.S. tour for 17 years.[citation needed]
- 20 June - My Bloody Valentine played their first reunion show at the Roundhouse, London, UK. [23]
- 27 June - The Nelson Mandela 90th Birthday Tribute charity concert took place in Hyde Park in London, in support of Mandela's 46664 Aids Foundation.[citation needed]
- 27 – 29 June - Glastonbury Festival was held at Worthy Farm, Somerset, UK.[citation needed]
- 29 June
- Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, the first video game in the Guitar Hero series to be based around a single music group (Aerosmith), was released.[24]
- The Marquee at Cork Festival, was held in Ireland.[citation needed]
- Linkin Park and Jay-Z performed at Projekt Revolution at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes, UK.[citation needed]
[edit] July
- 1 July – Crüe Fest commenced in West Palm Beach, Florida
- 3 – 6 July
- The O2 Wireless Festival took place in Hyde Park, London, UK.[25]
- The Roskilde Festival took place in Denmark.[citation needed]
- The Rothbury Music Festival took place in Rothbury, Michigan, USA.[citation needed]
- 3 – 7 July - The Rock Werchter festival took place in Belgium.[citation needed]
- 3 – 13 July - The Ottawa Bluesfest took place in Ottawa, Canada.[citation needed]
- 4 – 6 July - The Heineken Open'er Festival took place in Gdynia, Poland.[citation needed]
- 10 – 13 July - The EXIT Festival 08 took place at Petrovaradin Fortress, in Novi Sad, Serbia.[citation needed]
- 14 July - Coheed and Cambria announce the first two dates for Neverender, a four night concert where they played an album a day.
- 20 July
- The T4 On The Beach music festival took place in Weston-super-Mare, UK.[citation needed]
- The Oxegen music festival took place in Kildare, Ireland.[citation needed]
- The All Good Music Festival took place in Masontown, West Virginia, USA.[citation needed]
- The T in the Park music festival took place at Balado airfield, Kinross, Scotland.[citation needed]
- 23 - 26 July - The 2008 10,000 Lakes Festival was held.[26]
[edit] August
- 1 – 3 August - The Lollapalooza music festival took place in Chicago, USA.
- 10 August - Coheed And Cambria announce Chicago and London dates for Neverender
- 12 – 18 August - Sziget Festival 2008 took place in Budapest, Hungary.
- 22 - 23 August - Coke Live Music Festival takes place in Poland with artists such as Sean Paul, Timbaland and The Prodigy performing.
- 22 - 24 August - Leeds and Reading Festival took place.
- 23 August - Madonna starts her Sticky & Sweet Tour which is set to become the highest-grossing tour for both a female and solo artist.
- 24 August - Season 6 of the television talent contest, Australian Idol, began.
- 30 August - Filipino rock band, Eraserheads, held their one night only reunion concert in the Fort open field. This is their first concert since 2001. After the 20-minute break, vocalist Ely Buendia was rushed to the hospital because of chest pain due to emotional stress.
[edit] September
- 2 September - New Kids On The Block release their album The Block, their first studio album in 15 years, since Face The Music.
- 6 September - Six members of The Specials re-unite at the Bestival as a 'Surprise Act'. The group was named "Terry Hall and Friends", because Jerry Dammers, who owns the bands name, did not participate in the event.
- 7 September - The 2008 MTV Video Music Awards event took place at Paramount Studios, Hollywood.
- 10 September - The 22nd Annual ARIA Music Awards were held in Sydney, Australia recognizing Australian music in 2008. Dance-punk group The Presets won Album of the Year.
- 12 September - Metallica's Death Magnetic is released; The season 4 of the Finnish talent contest, Idols, began.
- 15 September - Queen + Paul Rodgers release their studio album The Cosmos Rocks, the first Queen album with a lead singer other than late Freddie Mercury.
- 18 September - Ben Folds Five played a sold out reunion show in Chapel Hill, NC performing the entirety of their 1999 album The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, that was filmed for DVD and web release by MySpace in benefit for Operation Smile [27]
- 18 September - Crystal Castles played their biggest headline show to date. A sold out show at Electric Ballroom in Camden, London
- 19 September - Travis Barker and Adam Goldstein (DJ AM) survived a plane crash claiming 4 lives
- 20 September - Pink scored her first solo number-one hit in her native USA, with the song "So What"
- 21 September - The Eric Burdon show in Oklahoma was cancelled due his health problems.
- 24 September - Within Temptation release Black Symphony DVD. Featuring the Metropole Orchestra and guest musicians.
- 25 September - Former Beatle Paul McCartney made a single concert in Israel at Tel Aviv park for the first time since The Beatles were banned from Israel in 1965.
- 30 September - Nightmare Revisited is released in the US. Featuring covers from Amy Lee, Korn, Shiny Toy Guns. With Amy Lee's debut solo song.
- 30 September - 'New Surrender' is released by American band 'Anberlin'. This is also the first album with new guitarist and backing vocalist Christian McAlhaney.
[edit] October
- 14 October - Sean Combs officially sets the record straight on his platinum selling girl group Danity Kane. Both Aubrey O'Day and D. Woods were kicked out of the band on the live finale leaving the remaining members- Dawn Richards, Shannon Bex and Aundrea Fimbres to ponder the groups future as a threesome.
- 16 October - Britney Spears sets a new record for the largest jump to number one on the Billboard Hot 100, rising from number 96 to number one in just one week, with her single "Womanizer". This gave Spears her first American number one song since her debut single "...Baby One More Time".[28]
- 18 October - Rihanna scores her fifth number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 (as a featured artist on T.I.'s "Live Your Life", which followed "SOS", "Umbrella", "Take a Bow", and "Disturbia"), becoming the leading solo female artist with the most number ones to have charted in this decade.[29]
- 22 October - Coheed and Cambria began the much anticipated series of concerts called Neverender.
- 22 October - Guns N' Roses release their first single in 9 years. The title track from their Chinese Democracy album is released as the first single for the album.
- 28 October - Celine Dion release a Greatest Hits compilation My Love: Essential Collection in a single disc My Love: Ultimate Essential Collection in two-disc edition.
[edit] November
- 2 November - AC/DC become the first band to have their own version of the video game Rock Band, following the release of "AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack"
- In Australia, Lady GaGa becomes the only artist to achieve two number-one singles in 2008 with "Just Dance" and "Poker Face".
- 18 November - Nickelback release the much-anticipated Dark Horse to follow up 2005's seven-times platinum album, All the Right Reasons.
- 23 November - Guns N' Roses release their first album containing original material in 17 years, Chinese Democracy.
- 24 November - Linkin Park released their second live album Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes. [30]
[edit] December
- December 2 - Britney Spears releases Circus, her highly anticipated sixth studio album on her birthday. Circus sold over 505,000 copies in its first week, becoming Spears' fifth number one album, only behind Barbra Streisand (8), Madonna (7) and Mariah Carey (6) and Janet Jackson (6). Spears also becomes the only artist in music history to have four albums (which is the most number of albums) to have a first-week sales of at least 500,000 units, with the albums Oops!...I Did It Again, Britney, In The Zone and Circus.
- December - Beyoncé made Billboard history along with rapper T.I. by both having two singles simultaneously in the top 4 spots on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; with Beyoncé having "If I Were a Boy" at #3 and "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" at #2, and T.I. with "Whatever You Like" at #4 and "Live Your Life (ft. Rihanna)" at #1.
- 9 December - Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon said that Blur would reunite for a concert at Hyde Park on 3 July 2009. However, after tickets for the concert sold out within two minutes of release, Blur announced another date on 2 July 2009.[31][32] The band also promised that they would announce more shows in the future.[33]
- 13 December - Joel Feldman and Shayna Cohen rewrite the American classic "Baby, It's Cold Outside", making it more suitable for the 21st century.
- 13 December - Coheed and Cambria announce the preorder for the Neverender box set, almost as anticipated as the concerts.
- 13 December - Beyoncé scores her fifth number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", which followed "Crazy in Love", "Baby Boy", "Check on It", and "Irreplaceable", tying with Rihanna as the leading solo female artist with the most number ones to have charted in this decade.[34]
- 20 December - Britney Spears scores her first top ten debut on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Circus" selling 212,000 copies only with download sales. Also, with "Womanizer" sitting at #10, she had two songs in the top ten.
- 21 December - Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" becomes the first song to simultaneously reach the first and second positions of the UK Singles Chart since 1957 with Alexandra Burke's and Jeff Buckley's covers.
- 22 December - Live Nation announced Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour is the highest-grossing tour for solo artist with US$280 million in ticket sales and a staggering 2,350,282 fans attended the 58 shows during the 3 leg tour across Europe and the Americas. [35]
[edit] Bands formed
[edit] Bands reformed
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[edit] Returning performers
- AC/DC (first album since 2000)
- Ashanti (Last studio album released in 2004)
- David Byrne & Brian Eno (first album since 1981)
- Vanessa Amorosi (debut international album and first Australian Album since 1999)
- Anastacia (Last studio album released in 2004)
- Brandy (Last studio album released in 2004)
- Boyzone (first studio album released in 1999)
- The Cure (first studio album since 2004)
- Jason Donovan (Last studio album released in 1992)
- Dido (Last studio album released in 2003)
- Eminem (first album since 2004)
- Guns N' Roses (first album of original material since 1991)
- Metallica (first album since 2003)
- New Kids on the Block (first album since 1994)
- Queen (First studio album since 1995, and first with Paul Rodgers on lead vocals.)
- The Offspring (first album since 2003)
- The Specials (as "Terry Hall and Friends")
- Toadies (first album since 2001)
- The Verve (first album since 1997)
[edit] Bands disbanded
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[edit] Bands on hiatus
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This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2008) |
- ¡Forward, Russia! (indefinite hiatus)[59]
- Big & Rich (until 2009, due to a neck injury suffered by Big Kenny)[60]
- Evanescence - Consisting of Amy Lee, Tim McCord, Terry Balsamo.
- Fear Factory
- Foo Fighters
- The Format
- From Autumn to Ashes
- Glue Gun
- Hell Is for Heroes
- Incubus (on break from touring and recording)[61]
- Monkey Swallows the Universe (indefinite hiatus)
- June (indefinite hiatus)
- Kaddisfly (On Hiatus after bassist Kile Brewer Left. Remaining members now called Waters & Bodies)
- Phantom Planet
- Red Hot Chili Peppers (2 year hiatus)[62]
- Reuben
- Rilo Kiley (due to the success of lead singer Jenny Lewis' solo career)
- Social Distortion (due to their lead singer undertaking a solo tour)
- The Dresden Dolls (indefinite break)
- The Starting Line (indefinite break)[63]
- Velvet Revolver (whilst looking for a new lead singer)
- Westlife (a one year break)
- Wolfmother (whilst looking for new musicians)
- Yellowcard (indefinitely)
[edit] Albums
Associated Press Top 10 Albums:[64]
- New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) — Erykah Badu
- Shine — Estelle
- Some People Have Real Problems — Sia
- 808s & Heartbreak — Kanye West
- Fearless — Jazmine Sullivan
- The Carter III — Lil Wayne
- Fearless — Taylor Swift
- The Point Of It All — Anthony Hamilton
- Evil Urges — My Morning Jacket
- E=MC2 — Mariah Carey
[edit] Hit records
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The examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page. |
[edit] United States
- See also: Hot 100 number-one hits of 2008 (USA)
Billboard Hot 100 #1 Hits:
- "Low" - Flo Rida featuring T-Pain (10 weeks)
- "Love in This Club" - Usher featuring Young Jeezy (3 weeks)
- "Bleeding Love" - Leona Lewis (4 weeks)
- "Touch My Body" - Mariah Carey (2 weeks)
- "Lollipop" - Lil Wayne featuring Static Major (5 weeks)
- "Take a Bow" - Rihanna (1 week)
- "Viva la Vida" - Coldplay (1 week)
- "I Kissed a Girl" - Katy Perry (7 weeks)
- "Disturbia" - Rihanna (2 weeks)
- "Whatever You Like" - T.I. (7 weeks)
- "So What" - P!nk (1 week)
- "Live Your Life" - T.I. featuring Rihanna (6 weeks)
- "Womanizer" - Britney Spears (1 week)
- "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" - Beyoncé (2 weeks in 2008/2 weeks in 2009)
Singles which have ranked within Top 20 within the Billboard Hot 100 Hits
[edit] United Kingdom
UK Official Top 75 #1 Hits
- "When You Believe" - Leon Jackson (1 week in 2007/2 weeks in 2008)
- "Now You're Gone" - Basshunter (5 weeks)
- "Mercy" - Duffy (5 weeks)
- "American Boy" - Estelle featuring Kanye West (4 weeks)
- "4 Minutes" - Madonna featuring Justin Timberlake and Timbaland (4 weeks)
- "That's Not My Name" - The Ting Tings (1 week)
- "Take a Bow" - Rihanna (2 weeks)
- "Singin' in the Rain" - Mint Royale (2 weeks)
- "Viva la Vida" - Coldplay (1 week)
- "Closer" - Ne-Yo (1 week)
- "Dance wiv Me" - Dizzee Rascal featuring Calvin Harris and Chrome (4 weeks)
- "All Summer Long" - Kid Rock (1 week)
- "I Kissed a Girl" - Katy Perry (5 weeks)
- "Sex on Fire" - Kings of Leon (3 weeks)
- "So What" - P!nk (3 weeks)
- "The Promise" - Girls Aloud (1 week)
- "Hero" - The X Factor Finalists 2008 (3 weeks)
- "If I Were a Boy" - Beyoncé (1 week)
- "Greatest Day" - Take That (1 week)
- "Run" - Leona Lewis (2 weeks)
- "Hallelujah" - Alexandra Burke (2 weeks)
[edit] Deaths
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