11 February:CHRISTOFER DREW INGLE bka CHRISTOFER DREW = American musician best known as the front man and guitarist of indie rock band Never Shout Never
4 March:DIANDRA NEWLIN = American actress, singer, and model
8 March:DEVON WERKHEISER = American actor and musician
11 March:QIAN LIN = Chinese singer
28 March:AMY BRUCKNER = American actress and singer
3 April:HAYLEY KIYOKO ALCROFT pka HAYLEY KIYOKO = American actress, singer and dancer
8 April:ANDREA ROSS = American singer and actress
10 April:AMANDA MICHALKA = American singer and actress
15 April:DAIKI ARIOKA = Japanese singer, member of Hey! Say! JUMP
18 April:JOEY GAYDOS = American actor and guitarist
28 April:ALEISHA ALLEN = American actress and singer
17 May:DANIEL CURTIS LEE = American actor and rapper
19 May:JORDAN PRUITT = American singer
23 May:LENA MEYER-LANDRUT = German singer
24 May:ERIKA UMEDA = Japanese singer
27 May:CHANNII = Dutch singer-songwriter
29 May:KRISTEN ALDERSON = American actress and singer
16 June:JOE McELDERRY = British singer
9 July:MITCHEL MUSSO = American actor and musician
10 July:MARIA CHACÓN = Mexican actress and singer
29 July:MIKI ISHIKAWA = American actress and singer
30 July:DIANA VICKERS = British singer
21 August:TESS GAERTHÉ = Dutch singer and actress
4 October:NICOLAI KIELSTRUP = Danish singer
15 October:GABRIELLA CILMI = Australian singer-songwriter
17 October:BRENDA ASNICAR = Argentine actress and singer
31 October:JORDAN-CLAIRE GREEN = American actress and musician
22 November:SAKI SHIMIZU = Japanese singer
7 December:DORI SAKURADA = Japanese actor and singer
13 December:JAY GREENBERG = American composer
19 December:DECLAN GALBRAITH = British singer
Timeline of Musical Events in 1991
18 January: Three people are crushed to death during an AC/DC concert in Salt Lake City, Utah when audience members rush the stage.
27 January: Whitney Houston sings "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl. The recording is then released and becomes a hit single.
27 February: James Brown is granted an early parole and released from jail, following his arrest after a high-speed car chase through two states in 1989. Pop Will Eat Itself documented the affair with their song, "Not Now James, We're Busy".
28 February: Hollywood, California's Record Plant Studios 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
11 March: Janet Jackson signs a $30 million (US) contract with Virgin Records, making her the highest paid female recording artist ever.
16 March: 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.
20 March:
Michael Jackson signs a contract with Sony which could generate 1 billion dollars for the company.
Eric Clapton's four-year-old son, Conor, dies after falling 53 stories from a New York City apartment window, which would inspire Clapton to write the hit single "Tears in Heaven").
24 March: The Black Crowes are dropped as the opening act of ZZ Top's tour for repeatedly insulting the tour's sponsor, Miller Beer.
27 March: New Kids on the Block star Donnie Wahlberg is arrested in Louisville, Kentucky for allegedly setting his hotel room on fire.
28 March: George Harrison, Phil Collins and others attend funeral services for Eric Clapton's late son, Conor.
28 April: Bonnie Raitt marries actor Michael O'Keefe in New York.
4 May: The Eurovision Song Contest 1991 is held in Rome, Italy and, after a highly controversial voting segment, Sweden's Fangad av en stormvind by Carola is declared the winner.
7 May: 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.
10 May: Truth or Dare, a documentary chronicling singer Madonna's 1990 Blond Ambition Tour, is released to theatres.
24 May: Guns N' Roses kicked off their 26 months world tour Use Your Illusion Tour in Alpine Valley in East Troy.
25 May: The Billboard 200 album chart starts incorporating electronically monitored sales data provided by Nielsen SoundScan, thus beginning what chart aficionados tag as the "SoundScan era".
7 June: ABC revives the late-night rock performance series In Concert.
21 June: The Mérida State Symphony Orchestra is founded in Venezuela.
28 June: Paul McCartney's classical composition, the Liverpool Oratorio, receives its première at the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral.
July:
Launch of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music.
During the Use Your Illusion Tour, Axl Rose assaults a member of the audience watching the show on camera, after security fails to respond to the singer's orders to confiscate the camera. After the attack, Rose angrily stomps off stage saying, "Thanks to the lame-ass security, I'm goin' home!"
13 July: Pianist Keith Jarrett records his Vienna Concert at the Vienna Staatsoper.
13 August: Metallica releases their most successful album, "Metallica" (also called "The Black Album"). This album is somewhat of a departure from the thrash metal sound they helped pioneer. It is one of the best selling albums of all time
15 August: Paul Simon's Concert in the Park, August 15, 1991, takes place in Central Park.
27 August:
Pearl Jam releases their debut album, "Ten". While initially slow to sell, it became #2 on the Billboard charts within a year and has since become certified thirteen times Platinum in the United States.
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.
17 September: Rock band Guns N' Roses release their first full length follow up to their debut album Appetite for Destruction in the form of the double album Use Your Illusion I & Use Your Illusion II. Both go on to sell a combined excess of 1.3 million on their first week of sale in the USA alone.
24 September: Seattle-based band Nirvana releases their second album Nevermind, that in the beginning of 1992 replaces Michael Jackson's album Dangerous at number one on the Billboard charts. Nevermind would then make the Grunge movement explode and become one of the most famous rock albums of all time. It is considered the emblem of the Generation X. Blood Sugar Sex Magik, the Red Hot Chili Peppers Album, was also released on this date.
25 October: Steely Dan spontaneously reunites.
7 November: Bryan Adams 16 week long stay at the top of the U.K. Singles Chart is finally ended by U2 single The Fly. Nevertheless, a new record is set for the longest consecutive stay at the top of the U.K. Singles Chart.
24 November: Lead singer of Queen, Freddie Mercury, reveals he has AIDS; he dies the following day.
26 November: Pop music icon Micheal Jackson releases his worldwide hit album Dangerous the album went on to sale over 7 million copies in the U.S. and more than 32 million worldwide becoming the second best seller of Jackson's career (following Thriller) and one of the biggest albums of all-time.
30 November: Following on the steps of the Billboard 200, the Billboard Hot 100 also begins a new era by incorporating and merging electronically measured sales and airplay data from SoundScan and BDS respectively.
December:
A Carnegie Hall Christmas Concert, featuring Kathleen Battle and Frederica von Stade, a jazz band led by Wynton Marsalis, and orchestra & chorus conducted by Andre Previn, is recorded for television.
At the 1991 Rock in Rio concert, George Michael meets Anselmo Feleppa, who later inspires Michael's hit "Jesus to a Child".
Also in 1991:
Aerosmith signs a new deal with Sony Music worth an estimated $30 million.
The Rolling Stones sign a new contract with Virgin Records.
Amon Amarth hires Johan Hegg.
Britney Spears appears on Star Search
Country music legend Kenny Rogers starts his restaurant chain, "Kenny Rogers Roasters," serving up tasty chicken.
Perry Farrell organizes the first Lollapalooza tour as a farewell for his just-dissolved band, Jane's Addiction
Nas joins Main Source
The Pharcyde signs to Delicious Vinyl, their first label
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.
Genesis release their last studio album with Phil Collins, We Can't Dance.
Tupac Shakur's solo career begins with his first album, 2Pacalypse Now, however it does not do well. Six-year-old Qa'id Walker is shot dead by a stray bullet during a confrontation between Tupac's entourage and a rival group.
Published Popular Music in 1991
"Dreamland" = lyrics by ALAN BERGMAN & MARILYN BERGMAN; music by DAVE GRUSIN
"Look Around" = lyrics by BETTY COMDEN & ADOLPH GREEN; music by CY COLEMAN from the musical 'The Will Rogers Follies'
Classical Music completed in 1991
JOHN CORIGLIANO
Symphony no. 1
GEORGE CRUMB
Easter Dawning for carillon
MARIO DAVIDOVSKY
Simple Dances for flute, two percussion, piano, and cello
JOËL-FRANÇOIS DURAND
un feu distinct for flute, clarinet, piano, violin and cello
LORENZO FERRERO
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
KAREL GOEYVAERTS
Opbouw (Construction), for orchestra
De Zang van Aquarius, version for symphony orchestra
ULRICH LEYENDECKER
Symphony No. 3
WITOLD LUTOSLAWSKI
Chantefleurs et Chantefables
KAIJA SAARIAHO
...à la Fumée
JOAN TOWER
Concerto for Orchestra
Operas completed in 1991
JOHN ADAMS
The Death of Klinghoffer
HARRISON BIRTWISTLE
Gawain
first performance at the Royal Opera House, London.
DANIEL CATÁN
Rappaccini's Daughter
JOHN CORIGLIANO
The Ghosts of Versailles
DARON HAGEN
Shining Brow
MEREDITH MONK
Atlas
Musical Theatre in 1991
MISS SAIGON
(Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil)
Broadway production opened at the Broadway Theatre on 11 April and ran for 4097 performances
THE SECRET GARDEN
Broadway production opened at the St. James Theatre on 25 April and ran for 706 performances
SONG OF SINGAPORE
off-Broadway production opened at the Irving Place Theatre on 7 May and ran for 459 performances
WILL ROGERS FOLLIES
Broadway production opened at the Palace Theatre on 1 May and ran for 983 performances
Please address any comments concerning this page to The Music Maestro
Mark Chard BSc, PLY
Page created: 18th July 2011
Last edited: 12th December 2023
