Events[link]

January[link]

• January 7
  • After eight years of marriage, Rod Stewart and supermodel wife Rachel Hunter announce their separation.
  • Paul McCartney attends the launch of his stepdaughter Heather's first housewares collection in Georgia.
• January 11 – During the American Music Awards, Billy Joel is awarded the Special Award of Merit for his "inspired songwriting skills" and "exciting showmanship."
• January 12
  • Britney Spears releases her debut album, ...Baby One More Time, which would go on to sell 26 million copies. The album hits number one on the charts. The title track and first single released from the album, also hits number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1999.
  • Fredrik Johansson is fired from Dark Tranquillity.^[1]
• January 26 – Foxy Brown releases her second album, Chyna Doll, and becomes the first female rapper to debut an album at number 1.

February[link]

• February 14 – Elton John appears as himself in a special episode of the animated series The Simpsons
• February 15 – "Rolling Stones Day" is declared in Minnesota by Governor (and former Rolling Stones bodyguard) Jesse Ventura
• Rapper Big L is killed in Harlem.
• February 19 – Marilyn Manson files a defamation countersuit against former Spin Magazine editor Craig Marks, in response to a multi-million dollar lawsuit that Marks filed in January against the singer, the record label Nothing/Interscope, and Manson's bodyguard agency.
• February 20 – Trace Adkins performs his first concert following surgery for tendon damage and a broken ankle. Contrary to doctor's orders, Adkins does not remain seated during the performance.
• February 23 - Eminem's The Slim Shady LP is released.
• February 25 – The Artist Formerly Known as Prince files a lawsuit against nine Web sites for copyright and trademark infringement, claiming that the websites sell bootlegged recordings and offer unauthorized song downloads.

March[link]

• March 1 – Sony Music Distribution raises wholesale prices on audio compact discs by 8 US cents.
• March 2 – The House of Blues in Paradise, Nevada at the Mandalay Bay Resort. Bob Dylan performs a concert at the club and is joined by U2's lead singer Bono for an encore of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door".
• March 5 – Trauma Records files a $40 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against the members of Bush for failing to deliver a new album.
• March 6 – A 67 year old George Jones is seriously injured in a car accident while on his way home. Jones' Lexus crashed into a bridge at about 1:30 p.m. It is later revealed that alcohol was a factor in the accident.
• March 10 – Hikaru Utada releases her debut album First Love, selling 2,026,870 in its debut week. Two months later, First Love became the Japan's best-selling album of all time.
• March 15 – Marilyn Manson is injured when he slips and falls during a concert at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California. Manson's performance is cut short.
• March 21 – Irish girl band B*Witched score their fourth consecutive #1 with Blame It On The Weatherman on the UK singles chart. They become the first band to have all their first four singles enter at the top simultaneously and set a new record. It is broken a year later by Irish boy band Westlife.
• March 27 – The Bee Gees end their One Night Only tour in Sydney, Australia.

April[link]

• April 10 – A charity tribute concert for Linda McCartney is held at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Here, There and Everywhere: A Concert For Linda, features performances by Paul McCartney, Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, Elvis Costello, Sinéad O'Connor, and George Michael. Proceeds raised at the event went to animal rights causes.
• April 19 – Neil Young performs at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Due to a mistake by a Madison Square Garden staff member, the marquee read "Bob Dylan, Tonight at 8pm". Young jokingly introduced one of his guitar players as Bob Dylan during the show.
• April 20
  • Billy Joel performs at Meadowlands in New Jersey. Joel announces that this would be his last public pop music concert. Joel also announces plans on devoting his future efforts to classical music.
  • Columbine High School massacre takes place in Jefferson County, Colorado, sparking a widespread moral panic that ultimately tries to place the blame on violent media, including music perceived to be violent and/or connected to the goth culture. American rocker Marilyn Manson receives the brunt of the blame, despite evidence that neither of the shooters were fans of his, and recludes, only to address the issue in the form of his fourth studio album. The finger is also pointed at German industrial metal acts Rammstein and KMFDM, of whom the shooters were fans. This sensationalism gradually wanes in the years following, and all three music acts ironically achieve more mainstream acceptance in the U.S. than they had prior to the massacre.
• April 26 - Musician and former bandleader of The Sound, Adrian Borland, commits suicide in London.
• April 28 – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
• April 30 – Columbine High School massacre: Aerosmith visits Columbine High School shooting victim Lance Kirklin in a Colorado hospital before a concert in Denver, Colorado. Kirklin was one of 24 wounded in the April 20 shooting, 13 others were killed.

May[link]

• May 1
  • "The Paintings of Paul McCartney" exhibit opens at the Lyz Art Forum in Siegen, Germany. The exhibit features around 70 paintings created by the former Beatle.
  • Musical group Atari Teenage Riot starts a riot in Berlin with their anti-consumer and anti-government lyrics. The riot was stopped with concert goers pleading for peace from the Swat crew ruthlessly beating down pedestrians. This band is under the label Digital Hardcore Recordings.
• May 18 – The American music group, the Backstreet Boys release their multi-platinum 3rd studio album Millennium, that spawned four Top 40 Billboard singles, and would go on to be the best-selling album of 1999. The album up to today has sold over 40 million copies and is in the 100 best-selling albums of all time.

June[link]

• June 1
  • Pop punk band Blink-182 release their third studio album, Enema of the State, which would later sell 15 million copies worldwide.
  • The American actress Jennifer Lopez releases her debut album On the 6; the first single "If You Had My Love" reaches number one in U.S., Canada, and Australia.
• June 2 – Backstreet Boys smashes the old first-week sales record of Garth Brooks' 1.08 million, with (Millennium) which sold over 1.13 million in its first week and was the first album to sell over 500,000 copies at least 2 weeks. The album holds at No. 1 first-weeks sales record of the 1990s.
• June 8 – Red Hot Chili Peppers release Californication, the first album with John Frusciante in 8 years; the album goes on to sell 13 million copies worldwide.
• June 13 S Club 7 debut at #1 on the UK singles chart with their first single "Bring It All Back" and become the largest vocal group to enter at the top.
• June 15 Santana releases his best selling album Supernatural with the number one hits "Smooth" and "Maria Maria".

July[link]

• July 1 – The new Scottish Parliament is formally opened with a rock concert in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle and is headlined by Garbage, of which, lead singer Shirley Manson, is at the time one of the biggest music stars from Scotland.
• July 3 – Indie rock icon Mark Sandman collapses on stage at the Giardini del Principe in Palestrina, Latium, Italy (near Rome) while performing with Morphine. He is soon pronounced dead of a heart attack at the age of 46. Morphine immediately disbands.
• July 8 - Adrian Erlandsson quits The Haunted as the drummer while the band hires Per Möller Jensen as Erlandsson's replacement.
• July 12 – Gregg Alexander issues a press release dissolving the New Radicals.
• July 23–25 – The highly anticipated Woodstock 99 festival takes place in Rome, New York.

August[link]

• August 24 – Christina Aguilera releases her self titled debut album. The album and first single, "Genie in a Bottle", both went to number one on the charts.
• August 27–29 – The third Terrastock festival is held in London.

September[link]

• September 21 – Trent Reznor releases the fourth Nine Inch Nails album, The Fragile after a five-year hiatus to great critical acclaim.
• September 30 - Billboard announces that Ministry of Sound Recordings Ltd is expanding into Australia after ending a partnership with MDS Dancenet and establishes Ministry of Sound Australia, known until 2005 as Ministry of Sound (UK) Pty Ltd. Ministry UK also secures a distribution deal with EMI Music Group Australasia Pty Ltd.^[2]

October[link]

• October 9 - "Heartbreaker", the lead single from Mariah Carey's ninth studio album, Rainbow, reaches #1 on the Billboard 100, becoming her 14th #1 single and also her 59th week atop the chart. When it stayed at #1 for a further week Carey surpassed The Beatles for the act with the most weeks spent at number one. The song also topped charts in Canada and New Zealand.
• October 19 – Eurythmics releases first album in 10 years, Peace.

November[link]

• November
  • 1970s rock star Gary Glitter is jailed for four months for downloading pornographic images of children on the Internet.
  • Australian independent record label Liberation Music is formed
• November 15 – Korn performs their entire album Issues at the Apollo Theater in New York city becoming the first rock band ever to perform at the Apollo.
• November 16 – Dr. Dre releases his second album, 2001; Korn releases their fourth studio album Issues.
• November 23 – Jessica Simpson releases her debut album, Sweet Kisses which would go on to sell 4 million copies. The first single, "I Wanna Love You Forever", both went to number three on the charts.

December[link]

• December 4 – The Spice Girls starts their Christmas Tour around UK dubbed as Christmas in Spiceworld Tour.
• December 14 – BMI announces the most played songs on American radio and television in the 20th century [1] (full list)

Bands formed[link]

• See Musical groups established in 1999

Bands reformed[link]

• The Animals

Bands disbanded[link]

• See Musical groups disestablished in 1999

Albums released[link]

January[link]

February[link]

March[link]

April[link]

May[link]