Music History

Rock band Spin Doctors released their debut studio album, “Pocket Full of Kryptonite”. Driven by the hits “Little Miss Can't Be Wrong” and “Two Princes”, it sold more than 5 million copies. The album reached No. 1 in Australia, Canada and New Zealand and the Top 3 in the U.S. and Britain.

Nirvana thrilled the audience at the Reading Festival in England. Their performance culminated with Kurt Cobain diving headfirst into Dave Grohl's drum kit. A year later, Nirvana became the festival's headliners.

Iggy Pop, Sonic Youth, Pop Will Eat Itself, Dinosaur Jr, Chapterhouse, Nirvana, Silverfish, Babes in Toyland, James, The Fall, De La Soul, Blur, Teenage Fanclub, Flowered Up, The Fat Lady Sings, Kingmaker, Mercury Rev, Sisters of Mercy and Ned's Atomic Dustbin performed at the three-day Reading Festival in England.

Elvis Presley reached No. 57 on the U.K. album chart with the three-disc box set „Collectors Gold“.

Lenny Kravitz was at No. 2 on the U.S. singles chart with „It Ain't Over till It's Over“, behind Bryan Adams' „(Everything I Do) I Do It for You“, which was at No. 1. It was his first U.S. Top 10 hit and the highest-charting song of his career on the Billboard Hot 100.

Metallica reached No. 1 on the U.K. chart with their fifth studio album „Metallica“, also known as „The Black Album“.

Blur released their debut studio album “Leisure”.

Pearl Jam released the single “Alive”.

Spin Doctors released their debut album “Pocket Full of Kryptonite”.

Pearl Jam released their debut album “Ten” through Epic Records. The album became a cornerstone of grunge and contained the hits “Alive”, “Even Flow” and “Jeremy”. In the USA, it received a 13-times platinum RIAA certification, corresponding to 13 million copies sold, while more than 15 million copies were sold worldwide. Initially, the album was not a major success, but with the rise of grunge it reached No. 2 on the US Billboard 200 the following year.

Metallica’s album, commonly known as The Black Album, was released in the United Kingdom.

Metallica's album "Metallica", known as "The Black Album", reached No. 1 on the US Billboard chart.

Boston rock radio station WFNX gave Nirvana's album "Nevermind" its worldwide radio premiere at 7:00 p.m., playing the album in its entirety from beginning to end. DJ Kurt St. Thomas hosted the broadcast, which included the song "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

Dottie West suffered serious injuries in a car accident while travelling to a performance at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. She died five days later.

Jan Berry of Jan & Dean married Gertie Filip in Las Vegas, Nevada. The wedding took place on stage during a Jan & Dean performance.

Metallica's album "Metallica", also known as the "Black Album", began a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200. It included "Enter Sandman", "Sad But True", "The Unforgiven" and "Nothing Else Matters", and later sold more than 10 million copies in the United States alone.

Garth Brooks released the album Ropin' the Wind.

Ike Turner was released from prison after serving 18 months of a four-year sentence for drug offenses. He later told Variety that he had spent more than $11 million on cocaine during his lifetime.

During their European tour, Nirvana recorded “Dumb”, “Drain You” and “Endless Nameless” at the BBC Maida Vale studios in London for John Peel’s program.

Rush released their fourteenth studio album, Roll the Bones, through Anthem Records. The album sold more than one million copies and reached No. 3 in the US and No. 10 in the UK.

Country singer and songwriter Dottie West died at the age of 58 from injuries sustained in a car accident several days earlier while traveling to a performance at the Grand Ole Opry. She was the first woman to win a Grammy in the country category.

Don Henley performed his solo hit “The Heart of the Matter” at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Guitarist C.C. DeVille was fired from the band after disrupting their planned performance at the MTV Video Music Awards by playing “Talk Dirty to Me” instead of “Unskinny Bop.” He rejoined the band five years later.

Bryan Adams spent his sixth consecutive week at No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart with “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” from the film Robin Hood.

Nirvana released the single “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, one of the defining songs of the grunge era.

Charlotte Aitchison, known professionally as Charli XCX, was born in Cambridge, England.

The Beach Boys released their 27th studio album, “Summer in Paradise,” the band’s only studio album without any involvement from Brian Wilson.

Body Count’s self-titled album was certified Gold in the United States for sales of more than 500,000 copies.

Jeff Porcaro, a highly sought-after session drummer and member of Toto, died in Los Angeles at the age of 38.

A joint Guns N' Roses and Metallica concert at Olympic Stadium in Montreal ended in violent riots. James Hetfield suffered severe second- and third-degree burns after being struck by pyrotechnics during the opening song “Fade to Black”, forcing Metallica to end its concert. Guns N' Roses then played for approximately 55 minutes, or about nine songs, before Axl Rose ended the performance because of sound and vocal problems. An enraged crowd of approximately 53,000 fans then vandalized the stadium and surrounding area, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and dozens of people injured and arrested.

Madness reunited and played the first of two Madstock concerts at Finsbury Park in London. A total of 75,000 fans attended the two concerts, and the reunion led to the group resuming live performances.

Madonna's “This Used to Be My Playground” became her tenth U.S. No. 1 hit. It reached No. 3 in the UK and was from the film “A League Of Their Own”. The song also reached No. 1 in Canada, Italy, Mexico and Sweden.

TLC were at No. 1 on the U.S. R&B chart with “Baby-Baby-Baby”.

Def Leppard began the North American leg of their 248-date world tour, Seven Day Weekend, at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Ray Charles performed at the opening of the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, singing his famous version of “America The Beautiful.”

John Cage died in New York from complications following a stroke at the age of 79.

RCA and the RIAA presented 110 gold and platinum records to the estate of Elvis Presley.

Neil Diamond performed the first of six sold-out concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York. According to the source, he was expected to earn more than $40 million from his concert tour that year, the second-highest income in the music industry.

The member of The Platters died in his sleep in Manhattan, New York, at the age of 64 from emphysema. He sang most of the group's hits until 1961, when he was replaced by Sonny Turner. His lead vocals contributed to the success of “Only You (And You Alone)”, “The Great Pretender”, “My Prayer” and “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”. The Platters had the US and UK number-one single “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” in 1959. In 1990, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Platters.

With “End of the Road”, Boyz II Men began a thirteen-week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart and broke Elvis Presley's 36-year-old record. TLC's “Baby-Baby-Baby” simultaneously held the No. 2 position.

Exodus released their fifth studio album, Force of Habit.

Wayne Newton filed for bankruptcy, stating that he owed approximately $20 million. Much of the debt was related to his lawsuit against NBC for defamation. By 1999, he had recovered financially.

Frances Bean Cobain was born to Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain of Nirvana.

Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and Hole's Courtney Love became parents to a daughter, Frances Bean Cobain.

American pop singer, songwriter and actress Demi Lovato was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She became known, among other things, for her role as Mitchie Torres in the musical television film Camp Rock. In 2009, she had the No. 1 album in the U.S. with Here We Go Again.