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2004:
The Music Year In Review:
The
year starts off in January with a little Las Vegas news from Miss
Britney Spears - no, she didn't win the jackpot - she just married a
childhood friend at an all-night Vegas chapel, a move that she said was prompted
by the "excitement of Vegas taking her over" - and which was over, indeed, 55
hours later. In other missteps, Detroit's own Jack White was found to be
still in... er... negotiations with the Von Bondies' Jason Stollsteimer
regarding a little disagreement the two had; and Victoria "Posh Spice"
Beckham hit the charts with what she was mistakenly calling a "rap" single -
luckily, she'd moved on to shoe designing before the year was out.
Singer-songwriter Ryan Adams was more concerned with his hands as opposed
to his feet - or, more specifically, his wrist, which he broke after falling off
the stage at a British concert appearance. In February, Nick Oliveri starts the month off wrong by being kicked out of Queens of the Stone Age, while The Grammy Awards honor the likes of Outkast (who won three awards), the White Stripes, Christina Aguilera, No Doubt, Pink, Dave Matthews, Jeff Beck, Foo Fighters, Luther Vandross, and Beyonce (who won a whopping five awards); Fellow diva Janet Jackson, on the other hand, wasn't awarded, but berated for her little "wardrobe malfunction" that occurred during her performance with Justin Timberlake at the Superbowl halftime show. The new album by British import The Darkness is holding on to a spot on the college charts, and Daniel Bedingfield is named Best British Male at the Brit Awards, along with fellow awards winners Basement Jaxx (Best Dance Act), and Beyonce again, who won for Best International Female and who performed her hit "Crazy in Love." Spring begins with bad news for Westlife, who suffer the loss of Brian McFadden, who quits the band to pursue other interests. Britney hits the UK with her conceptual Onyx Hotel tour, while tickets for the upcoming Glastonbury festival sell out practically immediately. Robbie Williams, in the meantime, puts his bed up for bid on ebay, with proceeds going to charity; unfortunately, it only snags two bidders. The Pixies return to the stage in Minneapolis, where they played a 25 song set for over a thousand fans, and kick off what will become their reunion tour, while the Beastie Boys return to the airwaves, with their tune "Ch-Ch-Check It Out" becoming a mainstay on ipods everywhere, right alongside Jet's hit "Are You Gonna Be My Girl." The Glastonbury Festival finally actually takes place in June, with sets from Goldfrapp, James Brown, Orbital, Franz Ferdinand, and many, many more; the Red Hot Chili Peppers also play a hit show in Hyde Park, David Bowie gets a lollipop in the eye during one of his shows, Jessica Simpson launches her tour in Florida, and Missy Elliot is forced to cancel some oversea shows due to what's termed as "lack of available transport." Another summer, another Madonna event - this time around, she's adopted the name of Esther, in line with her Kabbalah teachings, and she also launches her "Re-Invention" tour, which ends up being one of the hit tours of the year, both financially and creatively. Sony Music and BMG merge, creating one of the biggest record companies in the world. U2, in the meantime, lose an entire CD of songs that they're working on for their upcoming new album, which they're recording with Chris Thomas and Steve Lillywhite; the French police assist in the search for the U2 tunes.
The
Happy Mondays reform for a one-off show in England, Usher launches
his own (cough cough) credit card, and The Beta Band announce plans to
split at the end of the year, and a grumpy Elton John gets a bit of
controversy going when he gets in a bit of an altercation with some paparazzi.
In other fall news, Britney Spears gets married - yes, again - this time to tank-top-wearing Kevin Federline; as of press time, that marriage is still intact. Duran Duran make a big splash with their comeback album, "Astronaut," reviving Duranies all over the country, planning out a tour for next year, and taping a concert appearance for VH1. Apple releases a U2-branded special red and black ipod, while U2 themselves release that now-recovered album to great fan and critical acclaim; they've still got it, even over 20 years in as a band. Kylie Minogue puts the tickets for her "Showgirl" tour on sale, and they sell out in less than two hours. And Elton John hits the news again, spewing out various criticisms of Madonna and Robbie Williams (perhaps Elton lost the bid on Robbie's bed?) And as the end of the year draws to a close, the much-anticipated Nirvana box set, "With the Lights Out," finally hits stores, as does Gwen Stefani's long-awaited solo set, "Love, Angel, Music, Baby"; Tom Waits plays his first gig in London in over 15 years; and an ailing Dick Clark temporarily passes the New Year's Rockin' Eve torch to Regis Philbin, who will take over Clark's hosting duties for this year while the elder statesman of rock n'roll hosting recovers.
Get
well soon, Dick - and here's to seeing you back on TV in 2005 for another great
Year In Music!
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