Musical Finale
Jan 7 Musical featuring works of George and Ira Gershwin "Crazy For You" closes at Shubert Theater, NYC, after 1622 performances, winning 3 Tony Awards
- Jan 14 "Holiday" closes at Circle in Sq Theater NYC after 49 performances
- Jan 14 "Swinging On a Star" closes at Music Box Theater NYC after 97 performances
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Jan 17 11th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: David Bowie; Jefferson Airplane; Little Willie John; Gladys Knight and the Pips; Pink Floyd; The Shirelles; The Velvet Underground; Pete Seeger; and Tom Donahue
American Music Awards
Jan 29 23rd American Music Awards: Garth Brooks wins
- Jan 29 6,138th performance of "Cats" is held in London, surpassing record of Broadway's longest-running musical, "A Chorus Line"
- Jan 29 La Fenice, Venice's opera house, is destroyed by fire
Music History
Feb 6 Rapper Tupac Shakur sentenced to up to 4 1/2 years in prison for sexual assault conviction
- Feb 13 "The Score" second studio album by Fugees is released (Billboard no. 1 year end Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums 1996)
- Feb 13 Death Row/Interscope Records releases rapper Tupac Shakur his 4th studio album "All Eyez on Me"; becomes his final release during his lifetime
- Feb 13 Rock musical "Rent" by Jonathan Larson opens off-Broadway
Live by Request
Feb 14 "Live by Request" debuts on the A&E Network, based on singer Tony Bennett's idea, the set list was determined by viewer phone calls; Bennett starred in the first episode, wins an Emmy Award (Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program)
Grammy Awards
Feb 28 38th Grammy Awards: "Jagged Little Pill" by Alanis Morissette wins
- Mar 17 "Bus Stop" closes at Circle in Sq Theater NYC after 29 performances
- Mar 17 "Getting Away With Murder" opens at Broadhurst NYC for 17 performances
Anthology 2
Mar 18 Apple Records releases The Beatles "Anthology 2" (double CD/triple LP)", the second of 3-part series of rare recordings and outtakes by the Beatles; set covers the years 1965-68, as well as new collaboration "Real Love" - a John Lennon demo augmented by additional lyrics and performances by the surviving three; album tops record charts in US and UK
- Mar 20 "Love Thy Neighbor" opens at Booth Theater NYC
Music History
Mar 21 Revival of Tennessee Williams' stage drama "Night of the Iguana", starring William Petersen and Marsha Mason, opens at Criterion Theater, NYC; runs for 68 performances
- Mar 27 Stage adaptation of Rodgers & Hammerstein's musical "State Fair" opens at Music Box Theater, New York City; runs for 118 performances
- Mar 28 "Seven Guitars" opens at Walter Kerr Theater NYC
- Mar 29 10th Soul Train Music Awards: Patti Labelle, Boyz II Men win
- Mar 31 "A Midsummer Night's Dream" opens at Lunt-Fontanne NYC for 66 performances
- Mar 31 "Getting Away With Murder" closes at Broadhurst NYC after 17 performances
10 Song Demo
Apr 2 Capitol Records releases "10 Song Demo", the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash. co-produced by Cash and husband John Leventhal
Music History
Apr 4 Revival of Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee's stage drama "Inherit the Wind", starring George C. Scott and Charles Durning, opens at Royale Theater, NYC; runs for 45 performances
- Apr 11 Revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein's musical "The King & I", starring Lou Diamond Phillips and Donna Murphy, premieres at Neil Simon Theater, NYC; runs for 781 performances
Music Concert
Apr 12 Rock for the Rainforest benefit concert held at Carnegie Hall, NYC; performers include: Sting, Elton John, James Taylor, Don Henley, Diana Ross, Robin Williams, Branford Marsalis, and Kenny Kirkland
Theatrical Finale
Apr 14 Trish Vradenburg's play "Apple Doesn't Fall.." directed by Leonard Nimoy opens and closes at Lyceum Theater NYC after 1 performance
Music Premiere
Apr 18 Second successful revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical comedy "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", starring Nathan Lane, opens at St James Theater NYC for 715 performances
Academy of Country Music Awards
Apr 24 31st Academy of Country Music Awards: Brooks & Dunn, Alan Jackson, and Patty Loveless win
Music History
Apr 29 Jonathan Larson's rock musical "Rent", loosely based on Giacomo Puccini's 1896 opera "La Bohème", starring Taye Diggs and Idina Menzel, opens at the Nederlander Theatre, NYC; runs for 5,123 performances, and wins 4 Tony Awards, 7 Drama Desk Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
You're Makin' Me High
May 21 "You're Makin' Me High" single released by Toni Braxton (Grammy Award - Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, 1997)
- May 22 "Tartuffe: Born Again" opens at Circle in the Square Theater, NYC; runs for 29 performances
- May 26 Revival of William Shakespeare's comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream" closes at Lunt-Fontanne, NYC after 65 performances
- Jun 2 50th Tony Awards: "Master Class" (play) & "Rent" (musical) win
- Jun 10 30th Music City News Country Awards: Alan Jackson wins
- Jun 23 "Tartuffe: Born Again" closes at Circle in Sq NYC after 29 performances
Independence Day
Jun 25 "Independence Day", directed by Roland Emmerich, and starring Will Smith, Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum premieres in Westwood, California
- Jun 30 "Buried Child" closes at Brook Atkinson Theater NYC after 77 performances
- Jun 30 "Moon Over Buffalo" closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC after 308 performances
- Jun 30 "State Fair" closes at Music Box Theater NYC after 118 performances
Music History
Jul 1 Placido Domingo becomes artistic director of Washington Opera
Wannabe
Jul 8 British girls group the Spice Girls release their debut single "Wannabe" in the UK
Blue
Jul 9 "Blue" debut album by LeAnn Rimes is released (Billboard Album of the Year, 1997)
- Jul 14 Revival of Frank Loesser's musical "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" closes at Richard Rodgers Theater, NYC, after 548 performances
Music History
Jul 14 Revival of Herb Gardner's stage comedy-drama "A Thousand Clowns" starring Judd Hirsch, opens at Criterion Theater, NYC, runs for 32 performances
- Aug 8 American jazz artist Mel Tormé (70), suffers a stroke, ending his 65-year singing career
- Aug 11 Revival of Herb Gardner's stage comedy-drama "A Thousand Clowns" starring Judd Hirsch, closes at Criterion Theater, NYC, after 32 performances
- Sep 4 13th MTV Video Music Awards: Alanis Morrissette and The Smashing Pumpkins win
- Sep 5 Revival of Tennessee Williams' stage drama "Summer and Smoke", starring Harry Hamlin and Mary McDonnell, opens at Criterion Theater, NYC; runs for 53 performances
- Sep 7 Rap artist Tupac Shakur shot multiple times in a drive by shooting in Las Vegas, dies 6 days later
Theatrical Finale
Sep 8 August Wilson's drama "Seven Guitars" closes at Walter Kerr Theater, NYC, after 188 performances
- Sep 19 "Skylight" opens at Royale Theater NYC
The First Wives Club
Sep 20 Paramount Pictures releases cult revenge comedy "The First Wives Club" starring Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton, and directed by Hugh Wilson
- Sep 29 "Delicate Balance" closes at Plymouth Theater NYC
- Sep 29 Alanis Morissette ends her 1st US tour in Houston Texas
- Oct 2 30th Country Music Association Award: Brooks & Dunn win
- Oct 10 "Sex & Longing" opens at Cort Theater NYC
Farm Aid Concert
Oct 12 Farm Aid IX held in Columbia, South Carolina; performers include Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Hootie and the Blowfish, The Beach Boys, Son Volt, Robert Earl Keen, Martina McBride, Jewel, and John Conlee [1]
- Oct 13 "Big" closes at Shubert Theater NYC after 193 performances
- Oct 17 "Taking Sides" opens at Atkinson Theater NYC
- Oct 20 Revival of Tennessee Williams' stage drama "Summer and Smoke", starring Harry Hamlin and Mary McDonnell, closes at Criterion Theater, NYC, after 53 performances
- Oct 28 Apple Records releases The Beatles "Anthology 3" (double CD/triple LP)", the last of 3-part series of rare recordings and outtakes by the Beatles; set covers the years 1968-70; album tops Billboard charts in US and peaks at no. 4 in UK
- Oct 31 American jam band Phish performs The Talking Heads' "Remain In Light" as a musical costume during a show at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia
- Nov 2 Revival of Eugene O'Neill's' drama "Hughie", directed by Al Pacino, and starring Pacino and Paul Benedict, closes at Circle in the Square Theater, NYC, after 56 performances
- Nov 3 "It's a Slippery Slope" opens at Vivian Beaumont Theater NYC
Spice
Nov 4 British girls group the Spice Girls release their debut album "Spice", goes on to sell 23 million copies
Election of Interest
Nov 5 Voters in California re-elect entertainer Sonny Bono to US Congress
Music History
Nov 14 Revival of John Kander and Fred Ebb's musical "Chicago" opens at Richard Rodgers Theater, NYC
- Nov 15 "Into the Whirlwind" opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC for 2 performances
- Nov 16 "Into the Whirlwind" closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC for 2 performances
- Nov 17 "Present Laughter" opens at Walter Kerr Theater NYC
- Nov 19 "God Said, Ha!" opens at Lyceum Theater NYC for 22 performances
- Nov 19 "Sex & Longing" closes at Cort Theater NYC
- Nov 21 "Rehearsal" opens at Criterion Theater NYC
- Nov 24 Elliot Goldenthal' musical "Juan Darién - A Carnival Mass" opens at Vivian Beaumont Theater, NYC; runs for 49 performances
- Dec 4 7th Billboard Music Awards: Alanis Morissette wins
- Dec 5 "Dreams & Nightmares" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC
- Dec 8 "God Said, Ha!" closes at Lyceum Theater NYC after 22 performances
- Dec 17 "In My Bed" single released by Dru Hill (Billboard Song of the Year 1997)
Music Premiere
Dec 19 Revival of Mary Rodgers and Marshall Barer's musical comedy "Once Upon a Mattress", starring Sarah Jessica Parker, opens at Broadhurst Theatre, NYC; runs for 188 performances
- Dec 29 "Dreams & Nightmares" closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC
- Dec 29 "Skylight" closes at Royale Theater NYC after
- Dec 29 "Taking Sides" closes at Atkinson Theater NYC
Kendrick Lamar
Eminem
XXXTentacion
Tupac Shakur
Nicki Minaj
Coolio