14 May: Bluebell Madonna Halliwell, daughter of Geri Halliwell and Sacha Gervasi.
26 May: Kingston James McGregor Rossdale, son of Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale.
12 September: Jayden James Federline, son of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline.
Timeline of Musical Events
10 January: Eric Burdon releases his album Soul of a Man and begins touring with a new band.
11-15 January: MahlerFest XIX, honoring Austrian composer Gustav Mahler, is held in Boulder, Colorado, USA.
13 January: Mylène Farmer launches her Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy tour at Paris-Bercy, France.
16 January: Transplants frontman, Rob Aston, announces that the band has disbanded shortly after their fall tour was cancelled.
24 January: It is announced that British girl band All Saints are to regroup for a tour and album later in the year.
31 January: American hardcore punk band Champion announced their impending breakup, with a final show scheduled for May.
1 February: Vienna State Opera announces that music director Seiji Ozawa will have to cancel all of his performance commitments for 2006 due to ill-health.
8 February: The 48th annual Grammy Awards are handed out at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, USA. Madonna opens the awards for a third time. U2 is the night's big winner, with five awards. Mariah Carey won three of her eight nominations, her first Grammys since 1991. Kelly Clarkson is the first American Idol contestant ever to win a Grammy.
10 February: White Lion/Black Label Society bassist James Lorenzo joins Megadeth as the replacement for James MacDonough (who was previously in Iced Earth).
18 February: The Rolling Stones give a free concert to two million people in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
22 February: The one billionth song is downloaded on iTunes; the song is "Speed of Sound" by Coldplay.
24 February: Premiere of The Scarecrow by Joseph Turrin at University of Texas at Austin Performing Arts Center.
25 February:
The fourth annual Total Request Live awards are held in New York City, USA. Madonna wins the Lifetime Achievement Award and Bono wins the Most Inspired Artist/Humanitarian Award. Other winners include Fall Out Boy, Chris Brown, Mariah Carey, Ashlee Simpson, Kelly Clarkson, Amanda Bynes, and My Chemical Romance. Performers included Ashlee Simpson and Chris Brown.
Bon Jovi's second single, "Who Says You Can't Go Home", from the album Have A Nice Day goes to number one in the U.S. Hot Country Charts for two weeks. This is the first time a rock band has achieved a number one hit in the US country charts.
5 March: Three 6 Mafia became the first African American hip-hop group to win an Academy Award for Best Song and also became the first hip-hop artists to ever perform at the ceremony. The group was nominated for the song "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from the Hustle & Flow film soundtrack.
6 March: Peccatum Disbands.
11 March: James Blunt, with his single "You're Beautiful", becomes the first British artist to top the US Billboard Hot 100 chart since Elton John with "Candle In The Wind 1997" almost nine years earlier.
21 March: My Chemical Romance release their first live album Life on the Murder Scene.
22 March: Aerosmith cancel their tour after lead singer Steven Tyler is taken ill, requiring throat surgery.
1-2 April: The Festival Imperial is held in the Autódromo La Guácima, in Alajuela, Costa Rica.
3 April: Killing Joke released their thirteenth studio album, Hosannas from the Basements of Hell. This was Killing Joke's last album not to include the original four members of the band.
4 April: Hawk Nelson released their second album, Smile, It's the End of the World.
11 April Rapper Proof is shot and killed by a nightclub bouncer at 8 Mile Road in Detroit, Michigan, after allegedly shooting a third man, Keith Bender, Jr, who later dies of his injuries.
15 April: Mary J. Blige's single "Be Without You" ends its 15th week at number one on the US Billboard R&B chart, making it the most successful R&B song in history.
20 April: Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins confirms that the band are in the studio recording their first album since 2000's Machina/The Machines of God.
21-23 April: The Terrastock 6 festival is held in Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
25 April: American rock band, the Goo Goo Dolls, celebrate twenty successful years in the music industry with the release of Let Love In.
29-30 April: The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival takes place in Indio, California, USA. Performers include Madonna, James Blunt, Kanye West, Depeche Mode, and Paul Oakenfold.
1 May: 1,951 guitarists simultaneously play Jimi Hendrix's song "Hey Joe" in the town square of Wroclaw, Poland, breaking a Guinness world record.
8 May: Mor ve Otesi, a Turkish alternative rock band, release Büyük Düsler, their fifth studio album.
10 May: Roy Mayorga joins Stone Sour.
11 May: Dave Baksh announces that he left Sum 41 to pursue his career with his second band Brown Brigade.
12 May: Martin Lopez, quits Opeth.
12-17 May: Guns N' Roses play four warm-up shows at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, USA, preceding a European tour and shows across the U.S.
13 May:
The Los Angeles, California, USA radio station KROQ-FM airs the fourteenth annual Weenie Roast.
Drummer Ryan Vandeberghe announces that The Suicide Machines have broken up after 15 years of activity.
20 May: Finnish monster rock band Lordi win the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah", the first hard rock and heavy metal song to win.
23 May: Madonna begins her Confessions Tour in Los Angeles, USA. Tickets were sold out within minutes in North America, Europe, and Asia, resulting in new dates to be announced in New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and London. The tour grossed more than US$260 million – the highest grossing tour in history by a female artist.
24 May: Taylor Hicks wins the US television talent contest, American Idol, season 5. Katharine McPhee is the runner-up.
1 June: YoungbloodZ and their entourage are arrested on drugs and weapons charges in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
6 June: Ice Cube's first album in six years, Laugh Now, Cry Later, is released on his independetly owned record label Lench Mob Records. The album debuted in the top five selling 144,000 copies in the first week.
7 June: World premiere of Karlheinz Stockhausen's Freude, for two harps, in the Milan Cathedral by Esther Kooi and Marianne Smit.
8 June: Shakira's single "Hips Don't Lie" sells 266,500 downloads in its first week of availability, overtaking D4L's record of 175,000. "Hips Don't Lie" also breaks another record, gaining the greatest airplay in a single week with 9,657 plays, breaking Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" record of 9,582.
9 June:
Nelly Furtado's new album, Loose is released and debuts at #1 with 219,000 copies sold, making it her first #1 album.
Igor Cavalera leaves Sepultura because of artistic differences – the third official member and the second Cavalera to leave.
14 June: Shakira launches her Oral Fixation Tour in Zaragoza, Spain.
16-18 June: Bonnaroo Music Festival takes place in Manchester, Tennessee, USA. Performers include Radiohead, Tom Petty, Phil Lesh and Friends, Beck, and Sasha.
19 June: The "Beautiful Goal" single by Paul Oakenfold was released.
23 June: Backstreet Boys band member Kevin Richardson leaves the group to pursue other interests.
July: Luciano Pavarotti is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
1 July: Glue Gun performed their first reunion concert at Harpers in Northridge, Los Angeles, California, USA. It was the band's first performance since breaking up in 1996.
4 July: Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith perform with the Boston Pops Orchestra in an event televised nationally in the USA.
5 July: The US television talent show, American Idol, begins its tour.
7 July: Justin Timberlake released his single SexyBack. The song went on to top the Billboard Hot 100 for a total of 7 weeks.
9 July: Scooter released its live CD and DVD Excess All Areas, with recordings taken from the Who's Got The Last Laugh Now? tour.
11 July: Jean Dolabella replaces Igor Cavalera in Sepultura.
12 July: Rivers Cuomo confirms that Weezer is now on hiatus again. Commenting on the band's future he said, "I'm not certain we'll ever make a record again, unless it becomes really obvious to me that we need to do one."
17 July: Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne marries Deryck Whibley in a private ceremony.
29 July:
Stephanie McIntosh, former star of the Australian television soap opera, Neighbours, releases her debut single Mistake in Australia, where it became a top three hit.
Family Values Tour 2006, featuring Korn, Deftones and Stone Sour, begins. This was the first Family Values Tour since 2001.
30 July: The last ever weekly edition of the British television chart show, Top of the Pops, is broadcast.
31 July: Chicago rock band OK Go release their video for their single Here It Goes Again, and the video quickly becomes an internet phenomenon on YouTube.
1 August: The 10th anniversary of television channel MTV2's launch and the 25th anniversary of MTV's launch.
2 August: Dan Swanö quits Bloodbath.
4-6 August: The Lollapalooza festival is held in Chicago, USA.
13 August: Jon Nödtveidt commits suicide.
15 August: Christina Aguilera releases her third studio album Back to Basics, and debuts #1 on the Billboard 200, becoming her second number one album since her debut, selling 346,000 copies in its first week. Back to Basics is the first studio album in four years since Stripped (2002).
16 August: Ablaze My Sorrow, disbands.
22 August:
The Devil Wears Prada release their successful debut album while all the members are still in high school.
All female group Danity Kane release their debut album which debuts at #1 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart. Their first single Showstopper reaches #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.
25 August:
It is reported that Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton is undergoing treatment for throat cancer and will sit out the first half of the band's Route of All Evil Tour, the first time he would miss any shows in the band's history. Long time band friend, David Hull filled in for Hamilton until his return.
The Assassin Tree (score: Stuart MacRae, libretto: Simon Armitage) is premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival.
29 August:
Jessi Malay releases her debut single "Gimme", featuring Lil Scrappy.
Method Man released their album 4:21...The day after.
Jessica Simpson released her first album in 3 years, "A Public Affair", after her "public" divorce.
31 August: Rock group Panic! at the Disco win the Video of the Year award for their hit single I Write Sins Not Tragedies at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards.
2 September: Christina Aguilera scores her second US number one album and first UK number one album with Back to Basics, selling 346,000 copies in its first week in the US becoming the best first week sales for a female artist in 2006. The album sold 84,279 in the UK and became the best selling double album by a female artist.
3 September: Beyoncé Knowles releases her second consecutive No.1 solo album B'Day, selling 541,000 copies in its first week. And spawning two UK No.1 singles.
5 September: The Mercury Music Prize is held in the UK, with Arctic Monkeys' debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not winning ahead of entries from acts such as Muse and Thom Yorke. Audioslave's third and final album, Revelations, is released.
12 September: Justin Timberlake releases his sophomore album FutureSex/LoveSounds after 4 years. The album debuted #1 on the Billboard 200, giving Justin his first number one album as a solo artist, selling 648,000 copies in its first week. Its first three singles were consecutive number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, making Timberlake the first male artist to have three or more consecutive number-one hits from one album since Usher achieved it in 2004
18 September: Elton John released his twenty-ninth studio album The Captain & the Kid.
19 September: Ben Kweller releases his third solo album Ben Kweller on the label ATO Records.
22 September: A Tempestade, (score and libretto: Ronaldo Miranda), based on Shakespeare's play The Tempest, is premiered at Theatro São Pedro in São Paulo, Brazil.
27 September: Boy band, Five, announce they are to reunite, minus original bandmate Sean Conlon.
2 October:
The Strokes' guitarist, Albert Hammond, Jr., released his solo album Yours to Keep on Rough Trade Records.
Violinist and opera singer Logan Simpson is arrested for refusing to stop his car when a traffic light turns red.
10 October: Justin Hawkins, lead singer of the band The Darkness announces he is leaving the band.
11 October: After 25 years as an artist, "Weird Al" Yankovic finally gets his first top 10 hit, with "White & Nerdy".
15 October: New York City music club CBGB closes after a lengthy rent dispute. Patti Smith performs the final show at the club that night.
17 October: French singer Manu Chao performs in Colombia to an audience of 80,000 people.
23 October:
Launch of MTV Pakistan.
My Chemical Romance release their third studio album The Black Parade, the first on which Bob Bryar plays drums.
24 October: The Corrs release their greatest hits collection Dreams – The Ultimate Collection.
25 October: Guitarist Brian May announces on his website that Queen is returning to the studio for recording sessions. The new lineup, Queen + Paul Rodgers, features May, Paul Rodgers (the former lead vocalist of Free) and former Queen drummer Roger Taylor.
26 October: Duran Duran lead guitarist Andy Taylor once again leaves the band after a series of disagreements surrounding their latest album, which was still incomplete by the year's end. Reasons given are his disapproval of the usage of both Timbaland and Justin Timberlake in the creation of the band's album. The band hires an interim guitarist to supplant Taylor, with no real replacement being announced.
30 October: Keane release "Nothing In My Way", the first single to be released on a USB memory stick.
31 October:
The Who release Endless Wire, their first studio album for 24 years.
Green Day and U2 released a cover of The Saints are Coming.
November: Nelly Furtado records a cameo appearance in the Portuguese soap opera Floribella
11 November:
Justin Timberlake's single "My Love" reaches number one on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Kylie Minogue resumes Showgirl - The Homecoming Tour in Sydney, Australia after a break of a year and a half resulting from undergoing treatment for breast cancer.
16 November:
The MTV Movie Awards Latin America 2006 are held. Performers at the event included Evanescence, Robbie Williams, Panda, Nelly Furtado, and Shakira.
Snow Patrol become the first British band in 13 years to reach the top five of the US Billboard Hot 100.
24 November: The American Music Awards are broadcast. Winners include Kelly Clarkson, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Shakira, Jamie Foxx, Nickelback, Sean Paul, The Black Eyed Peas, Eminem, Faith Hill, Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw and Mary J. Blige, Nelly Furtado, John Mayer, Fall Out Boy and Beyoncé performed at the event.
26 November: Damien Leith wins the Australian television talent show, Australian Idol 2006, becoming the oldest winner of any Idol show in the world. and defeating 16-year-old Jessica Mauboy.
27 November: The Offspring announced that they were back in the studio recording their first album since 2003's Splinter.
6 December
Beyoncé achieves her fourth number one single in the U.S. with "Irreplaceable", which went on to become the best selling single of 2007.
December 6 is declared Dia de Shakira (Day of Shakira) by the mayor of Miami, USA.
13 December: David Silveria leaves Korn to manage his restaurant.
Also in 2006:
Soilwork, Hires, Daniel Antonsson.
Classical Music
ALLA PAVLOVA
Symphony No. 5
STEVE REICH
Daniel Variations
LORENZO FERRERO
DEsCH, for oboe, bassoon, piano and orchestra
Mozart a Recanati, for one actress, one voice, string trio, clarinet and piano
La conquista, suite for choir and orchestra
Haring at the Exhibition, ambient piece
BEHZAD RANJBARAN
Persian Trilogy
KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN
Natürliche Dauern (Natural Durations), for piano
Harmonien (Harmonies), three versions: for solo bass clarinet, for solo flute, for solo trumpet
Schönheit (Beauty), for flute, trumpet, and bass clarinet
Türin, for Tür (door), rin, and speaker (versions in German and English), with electronics
Opera
JORGE ANTUNES
Olga
TAN DUN
The First Emperor
STEPHEN HARTKE
The Greater Good, or the Passion of Boule de Suif
STUART MacRAE
The Assassin Tree (with libretto by SIMON ARMITAGE)
ERNST MAHLE
O Garatuja
RONALDO MIRANDA
A Tempestade
ROBERT XAVIER RODRIGUEZ
La Curandera
NED ROREM
Our Town
KAIJA SAARIAHO
Adriana Mater
SOMTOW SUCHARITKUL
Ayodhya
Musical Theatre in 2006
EDIT:UNDO
premiered at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts on August 7 as the first full length by-students for-students musical about high school.
GREY GARDENS
Broadway production opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre on November 2 and ran for 308 performances
MARY POPPINS
Broadway production opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on November 16
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
officially became the longest Broadway running musical ever on January 9, at 7486 performances surpassing the previous record holder, Cats, also written by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
SPRING AWAKENING
Broadway production opened at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on December 10
TARZAN
Broadway production opened at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on May 10
THE WEDDING SINGER
Broadway production opened at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on April 27 and ran for 284 performances
Please address any comments concerning this page to The Music Maestro
Mark Chard BSc
Page created: 17th December 2006
Last edited: 20th June 2017
