Music History

Police raided Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch after a child staying there made allegations of sexual abuse. Jackson allowed police to conduct a personal search, which was deeply humiliating for him. He was not charged, but later faced further allegations.

The soundtrack to the successful romantic comedy “Sleepless in Seattle”, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, spent one week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, knocking Cypress Hill's album “Black Sunday” from the top spot. The album contains songs by artists including Louis Armstrong, Joe Cocker, Carly Simon and Nat King Cole. “Black Sunday” by Cypress Hill was at No. 2, “janet.” by Janet Jackson at No. 3, “Zooropa” by U2 at No. 4 and “Core” by Stone Temple Pilots at No. 5. UB40 were at No. 6 with “Promises and Lies”, the “The Bodyguard” soundtrack at No. 7, Rod Stewart at No. 8 with “Unplugged...And Seated”, Aerosmith at No. 9 with “Get a Grip” and Blind Melon entered the Top 10 with their self-titled album.

Duff McKagan testified in court against his former Guns N' Roses bandmate Steve Adler. During the testimony, the so-called “spaghetti incident” was also discussed, which later became the title of another album by the band, “The Spaghetti Incident”.

Duran Duran received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Los Angeles Police Department formally announced that Michael Jackson was the subject of a criminal investigation following allegations of child sexual abuse.

The album „The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration“, honoring Bob Dylan's career, was released.

Snoop Doggy Dogg drove his passenger McKinley Lee in a Jeep Cherokee to Woodbine Park in Los Angeles, where Lee shot and killed a member of a rival gang. Both were charged with murder and Snoop Doggy Dogg was released on $1 million bail. In 1996 both were found not guilty.

Apple Records won an auction for a rare recording of The Beatles performing “Kansas City” and “Some Other Guy” at the Cavern Club in Liverpool in 1962, paying £16,000 for the acetate disc.

A two-sided acetate recording of The Beatles featuring live recordings of “Kansas City” and “Some Other Guy” from the Cavern Club in Liverpool in 1962 was sold at Christie's auction in London for $32,000 (£16,500), which at the time was a record price for a recording.

U2 performed at the National Stadium in Cardiff Arms Park in Cardiff, Wales.

This year's three-day Reading Festival in the UK began with headliners New Order, The The, The Lemonheads, Rage Against The Machine and Dinosaur Jr. On the Melody Maker stage, Blur, Radiohead, The Boo Radleys and Shampoo performed.

Rick Rubin changed the name of his record label Def American Recordings to American Recordings because he felt that the word “Def” was overused in pop culture as a synonym for “cool” and had been exhausted after being added to the Webster's dictionary. He staged a symbolic funeral ceremony at the Hollywood Forever cemetery in Los Angeles, which included a eulogy by Reverend Al Sharpton and the burial of a coffin filled with records.

Billy Joel began a three-week run at No. 1 on the US album chart with his twelfth studio album “River of Dreams”. Joel said that most of the music for the album came to him in his sleep, inspiring its title. The album eventually sold more than four million copies in the United States. The album cover was painted by his second wife, former model Christie Brinkley, and was later voted the worst album cover of the year.

Bruce Dickinson gave his final performance with Iron Maiden at Pinewood Studios in London before leaving the band for six years. The concert was filmed by the BBC and broadcast on MTV and pay-per-view in the UK; it was later released as “Raising Hell”. The show included magician Simon Drake performing elaborate staged “deaths”, including an iron maiden stunt in which Dickinson apparently died onstage.

German multinational dance group Culture Beat began a four-week run at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Mr Vain”. It was the first UK No. 1 single that was not available in a 7-inch format. “Mr Vain” became a worldwide success and reached No. 1 in at least 19 countries.

At a benefit concert at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, Rhode Island, Natalie Merchant performed her first concert after leaving the group 10,000 Maniacs.

Peter Daltry, keyboardist for the band Family, died at the age of 45.

Singer Liam Payne was born in Wolverhampton, England. He rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction. The group was formed after his appearance on the seventh series of The X Factor in 2010 and had UK No. 1 singles "What Makes You Beautiful" and "One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)". Payne died on October 17, 2024, at the age of 31 in Argentina after falling from the third floor of the CasaSur Hotel in Buenos Aires.

Comedic songwriter Allan Sherman died at the age of 68.

At the premiere of The Late Show with David Letterman on CBS, Billy Joel became the first musical guest. The show was broadcast from the newly renovated Ed Sullivan Theater in New York. Joel performed with Paul Shaffer and the newly named CBS Orchestra, playing “No Man's Land”.

He was born in Edmonton, London. He is a British rapper and DJ known as Tion Wayne.

The video for “Jeremy” won four awards at the MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year. The group subsequently stopped making music videos until 1998.

They won the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist for the video “Plush”.

Motown Records was sold to the Dutch record and entertainment company PolyGram for $325 million. This was more than five times the $61 million received by founder Berry Gordy when he sold the company in 1988.

Paula Abdul hosted the AIDS-awareness television special In a New Light '93.

UB40 spent their seventh week at number one with their cover of Elvis Presley's classic “Can't Help Falling in Love.”

Dave Navarro joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The musical The Will Rogers Follies closed after 983 performances.

Don Henley, Jimmy Buffett, Elton John, Sting and Aerosmith performed at a benefit concert in Boston supporting Walden Woods.

Counting Crows released the album August and Everything After.

Italian singer and actor Domenico Modugno, whose recording “Volare” topped the North American charts in 1958, died of a heart attack near his home on the island of Lampedusa, south of Sicily, at the age of 66. During his career, he also appeared in 44 films.

Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories began a three-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Stay (I Missed You).” The song also reached No. 1 in Canada, No. 6 in the UK and appeared in the film “Reality Bites.” It gained prominence after actor Ethan Hawke asked her for a song for the film.

Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richey Edwards entered a private clinic for treatment for nervous exhaustion.

Oasis released “Live Forever” as the third single from their debut album Definitely Maybe. Released on Creation Records on August 8, 1994, it became the band's first UK Top 10 single, reaching No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart.

The Notorious B.I.G. released his debut single "Juicy". The song reached No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Hot Rap Singles chart.

During an Oasis concert at The Riverside in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, a man jumped onto the stage and punched Noel Gallagher in the face. Noel refused to continue performing, and after he left, a crowd of more than 300 people attacked the band’s bus; the musicians were not on board.

Lynyrd Skynyrd released their eighth album, “Endangered Species”, which featured acoustic reworkings of many of the band’s best-known songs. The album reached No. 115 on the Billboard 200.

American rapper King Von was born.

The Eagles performed at the Great Woods Performing Arts Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts.

Woodstock '94 began in Saugerties, New York. The festival began exactly 25 years after the original Woodstock Music and Art Fair.

Woodstock '94 began in Saugerties, New York, with performances by Sheryl Crow, Todd Rundgren and Violent Femmes. The festival was a success, drawing a crowd of about 350,000.

Members of Oasis and The Verve were arrested in Sweden following an incident in which they allegedly damaged a hotel bar and broke into a church, taking communion wine.

They performed on the second day of Woodstock '94, playing the forthcoming single “Zombie” and a cover of “(They Long to Be) Close to You” by Carpenters. Joe Cocker, a veteran of the original 1969 Woodstock, performed “With A Little Help From My Friends” again.

Woodstock '94 began in Saugerties, New York, as a continuation of the legendary 1969 festival held to mark its 25th anniversary. More than 350,000 fans attended, and heavy rain and mud earned the festival the nickname “Mudstock”. Some original 1969 Woodstock performers also appeared, including The Band, Santana, Joe Cocker, Country Joe McDonald, John Sebastian, and Crosby, Stills & Nash.

After turning down an invitation to the original festival in 1969, he performed on the final day of Woodstock '94. On the main North Stage, he sang “It Ain't Me Babe”, “It's All Over Now, Baby Blue”, “Masters Of War”, “Just Like A Woman” and “Highway 61 Revisited”. Meanwhile, on the South Stage, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong threw handfuls of mud at fans, triggering a massive mud fight. Bassist Mike Dirnt lost his front teeth in the chaos after being struck by a security guard.

The real-life mountain man from Tennessee who inspired Claude King's 1964 country hit “Wolverton Mountain” died at the age of 101, still living on his mountain. He left behind 15 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren.

The English multi-instrumentalist of the indie pop group Blossoms was born.