Music History

Liam Gallagher rejoined the rest of Oasis in Chicago after a week of speculation about the band's future. He had left the group several days earlier.

Liam Gallagher flew to America to rejoin his Oasis bandmates on the tour for the album “(What's the Story) Morning Glory?”. The band played their first four concerts with his brother Noel as the singer after the singer watched their MTV Unplugged performance from backstage and claimed to be suffering from a throat infection.

The Cranberries released the album To the Faithful Departed.

Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam) appeared at a London music store after an 18-year absence, signing copies of his new spoken-word Islamic album The Life of the Last Prophet, released under his legal name, Yusuf Islam.

Kiss performed “Rock and Roll All Nite” at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge at the conclusion of the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards. The band was then in the middle of a highly successful reunion tour of the original lineup.

Oasis caused a stir at the MTV Awards at Radio City Hall in New York. During their performance of “Champagne Supernova,” singer Liam Gallagher spat on stage and threw beer into the audience.

Oasis reached number one in the UK with “Don't Look Back in Anger,” which was released there as a single.

At the MTV Video Music Awards, Van Halen appeared on stage for the first time in 11 years with founding singer David Lee Roth, who had recently split from the band with Sammy Hagar. They did not perform together but jointly presented Beck with the award for Best Male Video for “Where It's At.” The reunion was short-lived, and a month later the band announced Gary Cherone, formerly of Extreme, as their new singer. Roth issued a statement saying he had been an unwitting participant in the deception. Van Halen released one album with Cherone before reuniting with Roth in 2007.

Capitol Records released The Beatles Anthology video collection, containing more than ten hours of material.

Michael Jackson began his third solo world concert tour, the HIStory World Tour, with the first concert at Letná Park in Prague. The tour consisted of 82 concerts, attracted approximately 4.5 million fans and, according to the source, surpassed his previous Bad Tour with 4.4 million attendees. Total gross exceeded $163.5 million.

Rap star Tupac Shakur was shot five times in a drive-by attack after a boxing match in Las Vegas. Music manager “Suge” Knight was also wounded in the attack. Shakur died from his injuries six days later at the age of 25.

Nigerian musician and pioneer of the Afrobeat genre Fela Kuti died on August 2, 1997, at the age of 58 from complications associated with AIDS.

“Do You Know (What It Takes)” by Robyn peaked at No. 7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on August 2, 1997.

At NASA’s request, Diamond Rio hosted a celebration marking the 30th anniversary of the Kennedy Space Center.

Yungblud, born Dominic Harrison, was born in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England.

U2 performed in Oslo, where the giant lemon they were supposed to emerge from onstage failed to open.

Garth Brooks performed a free concert in New York City's Central Park. Attendance estimates in the supplied records range from more than 100,000 to one million people. Another 14.6 million viewers watched the concert live on HBO.

The Verve played their first concert in Sheffield, England, following the band’s breakup two years earlier.

Lzzy Hale and her brother Arejay performed their own song “Love Is Power” at the Schuylkill County Fair talent show in Pennsylvania under the name Halestorm.

Puff Daddy & The Family reached No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 with their debut album “No Way Out”. The album also reached No. 1 in Austria, Canada and Switzerland, and No. 8 in the UK.

Neil Peart, drummer of Rush, lost his nineteen-year-old daughter Selena in a car accident. A year later, her mother Jackie, Peart's life partner, died of cancer, leading Peart to take an extended break from the band.

Backstreet Boys released their second album Backstreet's Back in international markets. The album reached No. 1 in several countries, including Canada, Spain and Germany. In the US, some of its songs appeared on their next album, Millennium, in 1999.

Sonny West, Red West, Lamar Fike and Marty Lacker, four prominent members of Elvis's “Memphis Mafia,” recalled Elvis in a one-time online chat.

MTV aired the premiere of the concert special The Dance, which captured the reunion of the five members onstage for the first time since 1982; the special was created from two previously filmed performances at the Warner Brothers lot.

Blues guitarist Luther Allison died of cancer in Madison, Wisconsin, at the age of 57.

Record company Tony Nicole Tony Records filed a lawsuit against Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, alleging intentional interference with drummer Peter Criss's contract with the company.

More than 30,000 fans came to Memphis on the 20th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death and gathered at his grave for a ten-minute memorial ceremony.

A memorial concert was held in Memphis to mark the 20th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. Lisa Marie Presley unveiled the music video "Don't Cry Daddy", a virtual duet combining her father's original vocals with her own singing.

The seventh Lollapalooza tour concluded at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California, with Korn, Snoop Dogg and Tool among the main acts. It was the final Lollapalooza tour until 2003.

The two-day UK V97 festival took place in Chelmsford and Leeds, featuring among others Blur, The Prodigy, Beck, Kula Shaker, Dodgy, Foo Fighters, Placebo, James, Ash and Gene.

Will Smith reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with "Men in Black," the title song from the blockbuster film of the same name, beginning a four-week run at the top. The hit, which launched his solo music career, also won him a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance.

On the 20th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death, fans gathered in Memphis for a ten-minute vigil at his gravesite.

A pair of Elvis Presley's black underwear was stolen from the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum in Los Angeles. The thief reportedly reached the exhibit through the plexiglass barrier or with the aid of a tool during opening hours.

The Hank Snow Country Music Centre, dedicated to local country music legend Hank Snow, opened in Liverpool, Nova Scotia.

The Rolling Stones made a spectacular announcement of their forthcoming Bridges to Babylon tour. The band arrived at the Brooklyn Bridge in New York in a 1955 red Cadillac driven by Mick Jagger, with Keith Richards beside him and Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood in the back.

Boyz II Men released the single “4 Seasons of Loneliness” to radio stations for airplay. The single was made available to the public on September 9.

They released the reunion live album The Dance on Reprise Records, capturing their successful return in the classic lineup and their appearance on MTV Unplugged. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and sold one million copies in just eight weeks. Although it was primarily a live retrospective of well-known concert songs and fan favorites, it also contained new material by the group’s principal songwriters, including two songs by Lindsey Buckingham.

Governor of Alabama Fob James, together with the mayors of Montgomery and Georgiana, ceremonially dedicated a 50-mile section of Interstate 65 to the memory of Hank Williams. The section was renamed the “Hank Williams Memorial Lost Highway”, beginning near his childhood home in Georgiana and ending in Montgomery, where Hank Williams is buried. The ceremony took place in Montgomery, and Hank Williams Jr. spoke at the event.

BBC broadcast the documentary Oasis Right Here Right Now, in which the group discussed their troubled previous year and also introduced three new songs.

Former drummer of The Stone Roses Alan Wren was sentenced to seven days in prison after behaving disrespectfully toward a prominent Manchester judge. He appeared in court over driving without insurance and lost his temper after being questioned about his income.

Carlos Santana presented a limited-edition T-shirt featuring his own artwork at a press conference at the San Francisco Hard Rock Cafe. He signed 500 of these shirts for distribution in international and domestic markets.

Oasis released their long-awaited third studio album “Be Here Now” through Creation Records. It became an immediate commercial success, selling more than 350,000 copies on its first day and becoming one of the fastest-selling albums ever. The album reached No. 1 in sixteen countries around the world, although it later received mixed reactions and was criticized as overly long and derivative. Britpop was beginning to lose popularity. The album cover was photographed at Stocks House in Hertfordshire, the former home of Victor Lownes, head of Playboy Clubs in the UK.

Twelve-year-old Georgia Lee Moses was found dead in South Petaluma, California. Tom Waits learned of her story and was inspired by it to write the song “Georgia Lee”, the thirteenth track on the album “Mule Variations”.

Mark Wills made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry and performed his song “Jacob's Ladder”.

Tim Weisberg sued his former collaborator Dan Fogelberg over alleged breach of contract and fraud related to the recording of the album “No Resemblance Whatsoever”.

U2 played the first of two sold-out concerts at Wembley Stadium in London. During the encore, they performed a medley of several songs and six songs in full.