28 October: Beatrice Millie McCartney, daughter of Paul McCartney and Heather Mills. The McCartneys fooled the press into publishing misleading details about the birth.
Timeline of Musical Events
January: following an investigation by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives, police raids in England and the Netherlands recover nearly 500 original Beatles studio tapes, recorded during the Let It Be sessions. Five people are arrested. The tapes have been used for bootleg releases for years.
13 January: The Who guitarist, Pete Townshend, is cautioned by police and placed on the sex offenders register for five years after he admitted using his credit card to view images on a child porn website.
15 January: 2003 CDNOW Readers' Poll for all albums and new talent of 2002.
3 February: Legendary record producer Phil Spector is arrested for investigation of homicide after the body of actress Lana Clarkson is found at his home in Alhambra, California. Police responded to the 911 phone call from one of Spector's neighbors and discovered Clarkson's body who was suffering from a gun shot wound. Clarkson pronounced dead at the scene.
8 February: Avril Lavigne scores her third #1 single "I'm with You", and make her the second artist in history of having three consecutive #1 songs of a debut album at the Billboard Mainstream Top 40.
20 February: The Station nightclub fire: Fire engulfs a Rhode Island nightclub during a fireworks display which was part of the performance by rock band Great White. The fire quickly spreads across the ceiling, filling the building with thick, black smoke, killing 100 people and injuring 160 others as audience members rush for the exits. Many people were missing for some time, including Great White guitarist Ty Longley, who was later confirmed to be dead.
23 February: New York City is the site of The 45th Annual Grammy Awards, featuring Nickelback, No Doubt, Foo Fighters, Beyoncé, and other performers.
27 February: Othar Turner, one of the last remaining and most well-known African-American fife-and-drum musicians, dies at the age of 93 in Gravel Springs, Mississippi. Fife-and-drum bands were a significant influence of early blues.
3 March: Avril Lavigne kicks off her first headlining tour the "Try To Shut Me Up Tour".
10 March: Johnny Cash is admitted to Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee to undergo treatment for pneumonia.
24 March:
Meteora by Linkin Park debuts at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart.
Ex-Neighbours star, Delta Goodrem releases debut album Innocent Eyes which became a monster smash hit of 2003 and included the releases of the new singles Born to Try & Lost Without You.
1 April: Dozens of fans walk out during a Pearl Jam concert when lead singer Eddie Vedder made anti-war comments and insulting remarks about U.S. President George W. Bush. Other audience members booed and shouted at Vedder telling him to "shut up." Vedder attempted to calm the crowd by adding "just to clarify... we support the troops."
8 April: Godsmack releases their third studio album Faceless.
21 April: S Club announce live on stage at London's Docklands Arena that they've decided to split up after five years together. Their final single, "Say Goodbye", enters the chart at #2 a month after the announcement. Rachel Stevens from the group launched her successful solo career shortly afterwards with the song Sweet Dreams My LA Ex.
12 May: Keane releases their third single, Everybody's Changing by the label Fierce Panda
24 May:
Turkish singer Sertab Erener wins the Eurovision Song Contest, held in Riga, Latvia, with the song "Everyway That I Can". It is the last time that the contest is a one-night event.
After a 40-year wait, Russian fans of The Beatles finally get to see former Beatle Paul McCartney perform on their soil, on the Red Square in Moscow.
June:
Alexander Kuoppala quit Children of Bodom.
David Del Tredici's Wondrous the Merge for string quartet and narrator, based on a homoerotic poem by James Broughton, makes its controversial debut at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival.
4 June: Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera kicked off their summer Justified & Stripped tour.
14 June:
The Los Angeles, California radio station KROQ-FM airs the 11th Annual of the Weenie Roast show with AFI, The Ataris, Blur, Chevelle, Deftones, Finch, Foo Fighters, Godsmack, Good Charlotte, Hot Hot Heat, Interpol, Jane's Addiction, Less Than Jake, Liam Lynch, Staind, Sum 41, Thrice, The Transplants, The Used, The White Stripes, and Pete Yorn.
Alice Cooper begins production of his 26th album. It is a departure from the heavy metal sound of previous albums and is more influenced by his albums of the '70s.
22 June: Nick Oshiro replaces Ken Jay after 30 Auditions in Static-X.
25 June: Beyoncé releases her No.1 debut solo album "Dangerously In Love", which earned her 5 grammys in a single night. It also spawned two No.1 singles in the US and has sold 11 million copies to date.
27-29 June: Glastonbury Festival, U.K., headline acts included David Gray, R.E.M., Primal Scream, Morcheeba, The Flaming Lips, Radiohead, Super Furry Animals, Lamb, Macy Gray, Feeder, Manic Street Preachers, Moby, and Doves. The weather is mostly dry and the festival deemed a success from both a security and entertainment viewpoint by Michael Eavis.
July: A-Teens and many others perform at the Stockholm Pride
2 July: Delta Goodrem is diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease.
30 July: The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, The Guess Who, and others headline a benefit concert in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to prove that the city is safe from SARS. With 450 000 spectators, it is the largest concert in Canadian history.
19 August: Jessica Simpson releases her third studio album In This Skin. The album would later go triple platinum in the U.S. and would produce the hit single "With You".
28 August: Madonna sparks media controversy by kissing popstars Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. The situation even ignited a quick war of words between Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera over the kiss.
September: Cryptopsy, Fires Martin Lacroix.
22 September: Max Cavalera & Gloria Cavalera fire Marcello D. Rapp causing Roy Mayorga & Mike Doling to protest against this and leave the band Soulfly. This causes a whole new Lineup Change.
23 September Limp Bizkit release Results May Vary their first album in 3 years and their 4th album overall.
4 October: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's The Rising Tour concludes after 120 shows over 14 months, with record-setting sales in U.S. stadiums during the summer and early autumn.
5 October: Marco Aro, Quits, The Haunted
16 October: Simon & Garfunkel begin their "Old Friends" U.S. reunion tour, twenty years after their 1983 world tour.
20 October: Britney Spears releases the first single, Me Against The Music Ft. Madonna, off the upcoming album In the Zone, marketed as a comeback single in the US which went on to be an international success reaching top three in several countries.
21 October:
Delta Goodrem wins 7 ARIA Awards and defeats Amiel's "Lovesong" for and a Gold ARIA for Single of the Year, Born to Try. ARIAs host Rove McManus announced that John Farnham will raise the very loud speakers to 1985/1986's "You're the Voice" after being inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
Singer/Songwriter Elliott Smith commits suicide at the age of 34
30 October: Steve O'Rourke, the manager for Pink Floyd passes away from a Stroke at age 63. In tribute, the legal incarnation of the band reunited to perform at his funeral.
November: Cryptopsy rehires Lord Worm.
3 November: Avril Lavigne releases My World (DVD).
5 November: Evanescence's lead guitarist and founding member Ben Moody leaves the band on their first world tour.
7 November: Steve Kmak, aka "Fuzz," is fired from Disturbed because Kmak was having personality clashes with others in the band.
11 November: Dream Theater releases their seventh studio album titled Train of Thought, widely regarded as their heaviest album to date.
14 November: Although Byron Stroud had been with Fear Factory for a month beforehand, it wasn't until this date that he became an official member.
18 November:
Britney Spears releases In the Zone. She breaks her own record from being the first female artist to have 3 albums in #1 to being the first female artist to have 4 albums in #1 consecutively.
Blink-182 releases their seventh and final album, which is self-titled.
Michael Jackson releases the compilation album Number Ones.
19 November: Guy Sebastian becomes the winner on Australian Idol. He received a contract with BMG Australia and began recording a studio album, Just As I Am.
21 November: Korn releases their sixth studio album, Take a Look in the Mirror. It is the last album that features the original lineup of Korn.
22 November: The band Five Iron Frenzy plays its last show at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver.
30 November: Michael Jackson is arrested on charges of child molestation.
6 December P-Funk founder George Clinton is arrested and charged with drug possession in Tallahassee, Florida.
13/14 December: The Los Angeles, California radio station KROQ-FM airs the 14th Annual of the Acoustic Christmas show with AFI, Blink-182, Brand New, Chevelle, The Distillers, Jane's Addiction, Jet, KoЯn, Linkin Park, The Offspring, P.O.D., Pennywise, Puddle of Mudd, Rancid, Staind, 311, Thrice and Trapt.
30/31 December: The New Year's Eve Falls Festival in Australia, traditionally held in Lorne, Victoria, holds events in both Lorne and Marion Bay, Tasmania at the same time. The same artists perform at both events, alternating between the two venues each night.
Also in 2003
Skinny Puppy reunites.
Lemon Demon releases Clown Circus, his first album, and Live from the Haunted Candle Shop, his second album, on MP3.com.
Ken Jay leaves Static-X because of musical/political differences.
Green Day's Cigarettes and Valentines was stolen from Reprise Records.
Classical Music
LEONARDO BALADA
Ebony Fantasies (Cantata for Choir and Orchestra)
GEORGE CRUMB
A Journey Beyond Time for soprano, percussion quartet and piano
Otherworldly Resonances for two pianos
River of Life for soprano, percussion quartet and piano
MARIO DAVIDOVSKY
Duo Capriccioso for piano and violin
PETER MAXWELL DAVIES
Naxos Quartet No. 2
Naxos Quartet No. 3
PÉTER EÖTVÖS
Erdenklavier-Himmelklavier, for piano
Jet Stream, concerto for trumpet and orchestra
ELISENDA FÁBREGAS
Voces de mi tierra for flute, cello and piano
ROLF GEHLHAAR
Cybersong for tenor and wearable electronics
PHILIP GLASS
Dreaming Awake for piano
Taoist Sacred Dance for piano and flute
Music from The Sound of a Voice for flute, pipa, violin, cello and percussion
ANDREW GLOVER
The Death of Angels: A Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
FRIEDRICH GOLDMANN
Herzstück, mini-drama for soprano, flute and guitar
Klangszenen III for orchestra
HAFLIDI HALLGRÍMSSON
Cello Concerto
MAURICIO KAGEL
Andere Gesänge, intermezzi for soprano and orchestra
Auftakte, achthändig for two pianos and two percussionists
GYÖRGY LIGETI
Hamburg Concerto for solo horn and chamber orchestra with four obbligato natural horns (1998–99, 2003)
FREDERIK MAGLE
Phoenix for mixed choir and organ or piano four-hands
MESÍAS MAIGUASHCA
K.O. Tagebücher, for two cellos, two percussionists and electronics
HENRI POUSSEUR
Arioso monodie for female voice
Javanitas for violin and trombone
Litanie du miel des nuits hivernales for viola and piano
Rossignolade for female voice and clarinet
Voix et vues planéétaires, multimedia
ALEXANDER RASKATOV
The Last Freedom
KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN
Amour, for saxophone
Klavierstück XIX
Mixtur 2003, for five instrumental groups, four sinewave-generator players, four sound mixers with four ring modulators and sound director
Vibra-Elufa, for vibraphone
STEVEN STUCKY
Jeu de timbres
Second Concerto for Orchestra
Opera
DEBORAH DRATTELL
Nicholas and Alexandra
PHILIP GLASS
The Sound of a Voice
OSVALDO GOLIJOV
Ainadamar
MICHAEL NYMAN
Man and Boy: Dada
KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI
Ubu Rex
RACHEL PORTMAN
The Little Prince
KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN
Sonntag aus Licht (composition completed and, with it, the entire Licht cycle of seven operas)
Musical Theatre
AVENUE Q
Broadway production ran for 2534 performances (ranked 23rd on the list of all-time Broadway shows)
BOUNCE
Chicago and Washington D. C. productions
THE BOY FROM OZ
Broadway production opened at the Imperial Theatre and ran for 365 performances
CAROLINE OR CHANGE
(book and lyrics by Tony Kushner and score by Jeanine Tesori)
off-Broadway production
FAME ON 42nd STREET
Broadway production opened at the Little Shubert Theatre on November 11 and ran for 264 performances
THE FULL MONTY
Melbourne production
JERRY SPRINGER - THE OPERA
London production
JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT
London revival
NEVER GONNA DANCE
Broadway production opened at the Broadhurst Theatre on December 4 and ran for 84 performances
SHOWTUNE
(a Jerry Herman musical revue)
off-Broadway production
TABOO
Broadway production opened November 13 and ran for 103 performances
THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE
London production
TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT
London production
WICKED
Broadway production opened at the George Gershwin Theatre on October 30 and is continuing its run, with over 5300 performances to date
Please address any comments concerning this page to The Music Maestro
Mark Chard BSc
Page created: 1st January 2003
Last edited: 6th June 2017
