2000 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2000. This year was the peak of CD sales in the United States, with sales declining year on year since then.

## Events

### January

* January 1
	+ In New York City, United States, at precisely midnight, Prince celebrates the start of the final year before the new millennium by playing his anthemic "1999", in what he vows is the song's finale.
	+ British composer John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List.
* January 11
	+ Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for downloading 4000 pornographic images of children ends.
	+ Sharon Osbourne quits as manager of Smashing Pumpkins after only three months. In a brash press release she announces she had to resign "for medical reasons: Billy Corgan was making me sick."
	+ Singer Whitney Houston is caught with 15.2 grams of marijuana in her bag at a Hawaii airport. She boards her flight to San Francisco before police can arrive to arrest her.
* January 14 – *Rolling Stone* reveals that the two children of Melissa Etheridge and her partner, Julie Cypher, were fathered by David Crosby.
* January 18 – Spencer Goodman is executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas, for the 1991 kidnap and murder of the wife of ZZ Top manager Bill Ham in 1991. Ham is present at the execution.
* January 21–February 6 – The Big Day Out festival takes place in Australia and New Zealand, headlined by Red Hot Chili Peppers and Nine Inch Nails. Mr. Bungle are originally named in the lineup, but are "kicked off" due to an ongoing dispute with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

### February

* February 9 – *The Million Dollar Hotel*, a film co-written by U2 lead singer Bono, premieres at the 50th Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival).
* February 11 – Diana Ross divorces Arne Næss, Jr. her husband of 14 years.
* February 16 – *The Silver Tassie*, an opera by Mark-Anthony Turnage, receives its première at the London Coliseum, performed by the English National Opera.
* February 23 – At the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, Santana win a record 8 Grammys in one night, tying Michael Jackson who won 8 in 1984. Among the awards won are Album of the Year for *Supernatural* and Record of the Year and Song of the Year, both for "Smooth" featuring Matchbox Twenty frontman Rob Thomas. Christina Aguilera won Best New Artist.
* February 24 – Italian motorcycle manufacturing company Aprilia wins a lawsuit filed against the Spice Girls over a sponsorship deal that fell apart when Geri Halliwell left the group.

### March

* March 6 – Foxy Brown is injured in a car accident in Brooklyn, New York, in which her car hit a fence. Police discover that Brown was driving with a suspended driver license and order her to appear in court in April. Brown's license was suspended for failing to appear in court for a parking violation.
* March 7 – heavy metal band Disturbed release their debut studio album *The Sickness*.
* March 11 – 311 holds their first 3–11 Day concert at Tower Records in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
* March 13 – Blink-182 end their European tour early after guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge and drummer Travis Barker succumb to strep throat.
* March 21 – NSYNC rises to superstardom after the fast-paced sales of their second studio album *No Strings Attached*
* March 24 – After violating a prior probation agreement by getting drunk, Ol' Dirty Bastard is ordered to undergo a 90-day diagnostic evaluation at the California Institute For Men in Chino, California.

### April

* April 1 – Ted Nugent angers Hispanic groups in Texas after onstage remarks he makes during a concert at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, in which he says that those who did not speak English should get out of America. He is banned from the venue as a result.
* April 4 – Mick Jagger attends the opening of an arts center named after him at Dartford Grammar School in southeast England.
* April 6 – Shawn Colvin, James Taylor, Cyndi Lauper, Richard Thompson, Sweet Honey, Elton John, Cassandra Wilson, Wynonna Judd, k.d. lang, Bryan Adams, and Mary Chapin Carpenter perform in New York as part of a tribute to Joni Mitchell.
* April 12 – Metallica files a lawsuit against the peer-to-peer service Napster, as well as Yale University, University of Southern California and Indiana University for copyright infringement. Yale and Indiana are later dropped from the suit when they block access to Napster on campus computers.
* April 25 – Nu Metal band Papa Roach releases their second studio album, *Infest*

### May

* May 1 – A $1.8 million civil fraud lawsuit is filed against Neil Young in Los Angeles Superior Court by a former *Village Voice* writer. The lawsuit charges that Young broke an agreement to have a biography written about him when he blocked the book's publication.
* May 3 – 75-year-old tenor Carlo Bergonzi makes his final professional appearance at Carnegie Hall, in a concert performance of *Otello*. After two acts, he is replaced by an understudy.
* May 4 – Letters To Cleo play their last concert in Boston; they disband the following month.
* May 5 – Rod Stewart undergoes an hour-long throat operation at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to remove a growth on his thyroid, which turns out to be benign.
* May 6 – John Mellencamp receives an honorary Doctor of Music degree as the commencement speaker for Indiana University's Class of 2000.
* May 7 – Westlife releases their 2000 debut album with the release of their Billboard #1 hit single "Swear It Again", as the group's first and only single to have charted in the US
* May 13
	+ The 45th Eurovision Song Contest final, held in Stockholm's Globe Arena, is won by Denmark's Olsen Brothers and the song "Fly on the Wings of Love".
	+ Dickey Betts is kicked out of The Allman Brothers Band and replaced with Warren Haynes.
* May 16 – Prince announces that he has changed his name back to Prince now that his publishing contract with Warner/Chappell has expired. He had been known as an unpronounceable symbol, since 1993.
* May 24 – 50 Cent is shot nine times in Queens. After spending time in hospital he returns to recording and performing.
* May 25 – Eddie Van Halen begins treatment for prevention of tongue cancer at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.
* May 29 – Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey are named the Best Selling Male and Female artist of the millennium at the World Music Awards in Monaco.

### June

* June 8 – Sinéad O'Connor comes out as a lesbian in an interview with *Curve* magazine.
* June 17 – Aaliyah's "Try Again" reaches number one on the *Billboard* Hot 100. It becomes the first airplay song in history to reach number one following new chart rules placed in 1998 that allowed airplay singles to chart for the first time.
* June 20 – Britney Spears begins her Oops!... I Did It Again World Tour, her first world tour, visiting North America, Europe and Brazil in support her sophomore album, Oops!... I Did It Again. The tour was a commercial success and became the second highest-grossing tour by a solo artist in 2000, only behind Tina Turner's Twenty Four Seven retirement tour.
* June 23–25 – The Experience Music Project, now the EMP Museum, opens in Seattle.
* June 30 – Nine people are crushed to death during Pearl Jam's set at the Roskilde Festival, in Roskilde, Denmark.

### July–August

* July 21–22 – Oasis plays at Wembley Stadium. The first of this night is featured on the double CD and the DVD *Familiar to Millions*.
* July 26 – A U.S. district judge orders the Napster to halt the trading of copyrighted music among its users, essentially ordering it shut down. A stay on the injunction is granted two days later, allowing the site to continue operating for the time being.
* August 1 – Experimental pop band Animal Collective release their debut album Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished under the name Avey Tare & Panda Bear.
* August 8 – A coalition of 28 U.S. states file a lawsuit against the major record labels, accusing them of keeping the prices of CDs fixed at artificially high prices since 1995.
* August 11 – Madonna gives birth to her second child, son Rocco. Film director Guy Ritchie is the father.
* August 14 – Outside the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, Rage Against the Machine performs a free concert protesting the two-party system. In a chaotic scene after the performance, police forcibly disperse the crowd and several arrests are made.
* August 16 – Rapper Eminem files for divorce from wife Kim Mathers.
* August 20 – Skinny Puppy reunite for a concert at the Doomsday Festival in Dresden, Germany.
* August 22 – Nu Metal band Mudvayne Released their debut studio album L.D. 50 (album)

### September

* September 7 – Rage Against the Machine's Tim Commerford is arrested for climbing on the set at MTV's *Video Music Awards* after his band lost the award for "Best Rock Video" to Limp Bizkit. The director of Rage's "Sleep Now in the Fire" video, Michael Moore, suggests Commerford was probably "just bored" by the show. NSYNC performed their hit single "Bye Bye Bye".
* September 11- Successful British girl group Sugababes release their debut single 'Overload'.
* September 13 – The first Latin Grammy Awards are held.
* September 23 – Isaac Stern celebrates his 80th birthday together with his 40th anniversary as President of Carnegie Hall.
* September 26 – Pearl Jam releases twenty-five live albums, each taken from a different show on their European tour, as the initial part of the Pearl Jam Official Bootlegs series.

### October

* October 1 – Midnight Oil perform their single Beds are Burning at the closing of the 2000 Summer Olympics dressed in outfits clearly displaying the word "Sorry" in reference to Australian Prime Minister John Howard's refusal to apologise to the Stolen Generation.
* October 2 – Radiohead release their fourth studio album, *Kid A*. While highly anticipated in the leadup to its release, the album is met with polarized responses from fans and critics as a result of its shift from the densely-layered alternative rock of its 1997 predecessor in favor of electronica-tinged post-rock. However, its reputation would grow more unanimously positive over the years, eventually being regarded by music analysts as one of the greatest albums of all time.
* October 3 – Green Day release their sixth album *Warning*. Despite positive reviews from critics, it would end up a commercial disappointment compared to their previous efforts.
* October 5
	+ The Beatles release a hardcover book version of *The Beatles Anthology*, containing newly published photos and interviews with band members. The book went straight to the top of the *New York Times Bestseller List*.
	+ EMI and Warner Music Group withdraw their application to the European Commission for a proposed $20 billion merger due to regulators' concerns. The merger would have concentrated 80% of the European music business into the hands of just four major labels.
* October 18 – Zack de la Rocha leaves Rage Against the Machine saying that the band's decision making process has completely failed.
* October 24 – Linkin Park release their debut album *Hybrid Theory*. It has reached diamond certification by the RIAA, with 11 million units as of 2017, making it the best-selling rock album of the 21st century.
* October 31 – Napster and BMG Music announce a partnership that would change the website into a subscription-based service offering legal downloads.

### November–December

* November 5 – The fourth Terrastock festival is held in Seattle.
* November 18 – A new musical adaptation of Georg Büchner's *Woyzeck* by Robert Wilson and Tom Waits opens in Copenhagen.
* December 2
	+ Tripp Eisen formerly of Dope replaces Koichi Fukuda in Static-X.
	+ The Smashing Pumpkins played what was to be their final concert at the Metro Club in Chicago. The band would reunite in 2005.
* December 22
	+ Madonna marries film director Guy Ritchie, at Skibo Castle in Dornoch, Sutherland, Scotland with Gwyneth Paltrow, Stella McCartney, Sting, George Clooney, Jon Bon Jovi, Celine Dion, Bryan Adams, Rupert Everett and others in attendance.
	+ The Coen brothers film, *O Brother, Where Art Thou?* is released, scored by a T-Bone Burnett-produced soundtrack that revives the popularity of traditional American folk music and bluegrass.
* December 31 – Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes marries actress Kate Hudson.

1. ↑ U.S. Sales Database.
2. ↑ Evans, Rob (January 11, 2000). Billy Corgan Slammed As Smashing Pumpkins Manager Quits. Soundspike.
3. ↑ Template:Cite news
4. ↑ Rosen, Craig (July 20, 2000). Ted Nugent Still In Hot Water Over Houston Pro-English Statements. Yahoo! Music.
5. ↑ "MUSIC REVIEW; Bergonzi Sings Just 2 Acts of 'Otello' ", *New York Times*, May 5, 2000. Accessed 31 July 2014
6. ↑ Hubert, Jordan (November 1, 2011). Bringing It All Back Home: The Ultimate Decision of Re-Branding. Sterling PR.
7. ↑ Edward Van Halen Fighting Cancer. Van Halen News Desk (May 26, 2000).
8. ↑ Sinead O'Connor Comes Out in an Interview with Curve, the U.S. Lesbian Magazine. NY Rock (June 8, 2000).
9. ↑ Court grants stay of Napster injunction (July 28, 2000).
10. ↑ Sirota, Brent (August 1, 2000). Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished.
11. ↑ Borland, John (August 8, 2000). States target record labels with price-fixing suit.
12. ↑ Template:Cite news
13. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
14. ↑ Template:Cite news
15. ↑ Napster, BMG in music pact. CNN (October 31, 2000).