Music History

It was announced that Ice-T would play a detective in the television series “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

The Jimi Hendrix estate won an international arbitration case over the domain name www.jimihendrix.com. The World Intellectual Property Organization ruled that the then-holder, Denny Hammerton, had no legitimate claim to the domain and had registered and used it in bad faith.

James Brown's head of security was arrested in connection with a fire in Augusta, Georgia, that destroyed Brown's offices.

Attorneys general from 28 U.S. states filed a class-action lawsuit against major record companies over alleged efforts to keep CD prices high and penalize retailers that sold them below the minimum price set by the labels. The case was later settled for $143 million, and millions of customers who purchased CDs between 1995 and 2000 received compensation.

English singer-songwriter Arlo Parks was born.

Madonna gave birth to her second child, son Rocco Ritchie, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills. His father was British director Guy Ritchie.

Former Spice Girls member Melanie C reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “I Turn to You”.

Nineteen-year-old Craig David released his debut album Born To Do It, which debuted at number one on the UK album chart and became the fastest-selling debut album by a British solo artist.

They played a free protest concert in Los Angeles across the street from Staples Center, where the Democratic National Convention was being held. After the concert, police used pepper spray and rubber bullets to disperse a crowd of 9,000 people after the event turned violent.

David Bowie and his wife Iman celebrated the birth of their first daughter, Alexandria Zahra Jones.

At the age of 60, the guitarist of The Tornados died. He played on their American and British hit “Telstar”. He was also an original member of Johnny Kidd & The Pirates and played on their hit “Shakin' All Over”. He also worked as a session musician and arranger.

Coldplay reached the top of the UK best-selling albums chart with their debut album, Parachutes.

Melanie C scored her second UK number one single with “I Turn to You”. The song topped the singles charts in Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden and also reached number one on the US Dance Club Songs chart.

Richard Ashcroft, Paul Weller, James, Toploader, Barenaked Ladies, Moby, Beth Orton, Joe Strummer, Feeder, Dandy Warhols and Coldplay performed at the V2000 festival in Staffordshire, England.

Bon Jovi played the final concert at the historic Wembley Stadium before its demolition.

Coldplay, Barenaked Ladies, Moby and Cypress Hill performed on the final day of the V2000 festival in Staffordshire, England.

Janet Jackson reached No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Doesn't Really Matter”. At the same time, Nelly began a five-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with “Country Grammar”.

Spiller reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart with "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)." The Italian DJ and producer based the track on a sample of Carol Williams' 1977 song "Love Is You" and added vocals by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, winning a high-profile chart battle against Victoria Beckham.

Survivor filed a lawsuit against TVT Records after the label released a soundtrack to the television show “Survivor”. Survivor guitarist Frankie Sullivan said it was unfortunate that, after 23 years of building, promoting and protecting the group's name, someone could come along and release a recording using it.

Kenny Loggins received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. The event was timed to coincide with the home video release of Disney's “Tigger: The Movie”, for which Loggins wrote and sang the song “Your Heart Will Lead You Home”.

Oscar-winning composer, arranger, producer and musician Jack Nitzsche died at the age of 63 at Queen of Angels Hospital in Hollywood from cardiac arrest caused by a recurring bronchial infection. He was known for his work with Phil Spector, The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Buffalo Springfield and The Walker Brothers; with The Rolling Stones he also worked as an arranger and keyboardist. He contributed music to the films “The Exorcist” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and co-wrote the Oscar-winning song “Up Where We Belong” with Buffy Sainte-Marie and Will Jennings for the 1982 film “An Officer and a Gentleman”.

At the Carling Weekend Reading and Leeds festival in England, performers included Oasis, Primal Scream, Foo Fighters, The Bluetones, Muse, Eminem, Beck, Stereophonics, Blink 182, Slipknot, Placebo, Pulp, Rage Against The Machine, Gomez, Limp Bizkit, Embrace and The Wannadies.

American musician and songwriter Allen Woody, former bassist of The Allman Brothers Band and co-founder of Gov't Mule, died at the age of 44 in New York City. When he was found dead in a hotel room in Queens, initial reports listed the cause of death as undetermined; a later toxicology examination linked it to an apparent heroin overdose.

Craig David reached No. 1 on the UK album chart with his debut studio album “Born to Do It”.

De La Soul released “Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump”, their first album in four years. The album debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and No. 3 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

Janet Jackson began a three-week run at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with “Doesn’t Really Matter”. The song appeared in the film “Nutty Professor II: The Klumps”, starring Janet Jackson and Eddie Murphy.

Nelly began a five-week run at No. 1 on the US album chart with his debut studio album “Country Grammar”.

Radiohead announced that their new album “Kid A” would be released exclusively online before its physical distribution.

PJ Harvey released the album "Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea", which had been shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize.

Slipknot caused chaos at the Kerrang! Awards. Band members smashed glasses, set their table on fire, knocked a monitor off the stage, and destroyed a microphone. The band won three awards, including Best Single and Best Live Band.

The Spice Girls held five places on a list of the twenty highest-earning British celebrities serving as company directors. The companies Monsta Productions, Moody Productions, Red Girl Productions, Moneyspider Productions and Geri Productions each earned £6 million.

The group's last surviving original member, Herb Reed, obtained an injunction against a group using the name The Platters that had none of the original members.

The single “Music” debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Madonna’s tenth UK single to reach the top of the chart. The song was taken from her album of the same name, and the music video also featured comedian Sacha Baron Cohen as Ali G. Madonna thereby became the first woman to have ten albums reach number one on the UK Albums Chart.

Toni Braxton received the Aretha Franklin Award for Entertainer of the Year at the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards in Santa Monica, California. Destiny’s Child, Angie Stone and Mary J. Blige each received two awards.

American bassist and songwriter David Brown died at the age of 53 from liver and kidney failure. He was best known as Santana's lead bassist from 1966 to 1971. With Santana, he performed at Woodstock and the 1969 Altamont festival and played on the band's first three studio albums. He was later inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Santana.

Smashing Pumpkins, who had announced their breakup, released Machina II: The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music in an extremely limited run of just 25 copies. The band sent them to fans and associates with instructions to copy and distribute the album online.

Tori Amos gave birth to her daughter, Natashya Hawley. The child's father was her husband, English sound engineer Mark Hawley.

MP3.com agreed to pay Universal Music $53.4 million to settle a legal dispute concerning licensing.

Timothy Commerford, bassist of Rage Against The Machine, disrupted the MTV Video Music Awards by climbing onto the stage structure while Limp Bizkit were accepting the award for Best Rock Video for “Break Stuff”. He confused the organizers and band members and delayed the program by 20 minutes. Rage Against The Machine had been nominated in the category for “Sleep Now in the Fire”. Commerford was eventually persuaded to come down, then arrested and charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

New Orleans International Airport was renamed Louis Armstrong International Airport on August 2, 2001, in honor of the New Orleans-born trumpeter, singer, and bandleader Louis Armstrong.

Ron Townson, singer with The 5th Dimension, died on August 2, 2001, at the age of 68 from kidney failure.

Whitney Houston signed a new recording contract with Arista Records worth more than $100 million — reported at the time as the largest recording deal for a female artist.

Atomic Kitten reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with their version of “Eternal Flame.”

“Bootylicious” by Destiny's Child reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It was their fourth U.S. No. 1 hit.

Dave Stewart married fashion photographer Anoushka Fisz on a private beach on the French Riviera. Guests included Elton John, Mick Jagger, Liam and Noel Gallagher, and Annie Lennox.

The News of the World reported that Mariah Carey had hired private investigator Jack Palladino to monitor her former husband, Tommy Mottola. Palladino said Carey believed that Mottola was conducting a smear campaign against her.

Composer, musician, actor and virtuoso harmonica player Larry Adler died in London at the age of 87. He was known for his collaborations with George Gershwin, Kate Bush, Sting and Ralph Vaughan Williams, as well as for his own virtuoso performances.

Usher released his third album “8701”. The album included two No. 1 hits, “U Remind Me” and “U Got It Bad”; the title referred to its release date.

David Gray reached No. 1 on the UK albums chart with White Ladder, his fourth studio album. The album also topped the chart in Ireland and became one of the best-selling albums in both countries.