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- Former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley released his solo album "Trouble Walkin'".
- Bob Dylan performed before more than 4,000 cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, in Eisenhower Hall. Many future army officers stood up and sang along to his anti-war song "Blowin' in the Wind".
- The single "Praying for Time" reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Canadian chart. It was George Michael's sixth solo US number-one hit and his last solo single to reach the top of the US chart.
- M.C. Hammer's album Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em remained at number one on the US album chart for a fifteenth week.
- Thanks to the popularity of the film Ghost, “Unchained Melody” by The Righteous Brothers reached number one on the Adult Contemporary chart, 25 years after it had originally become a hit.
- Linda McCartney published the book Linda McCartney's Sixties: Portrait of an Era, featuring a selection of her photographs of rock musicians. It includes images of The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Who, and Grateful Dead, as well as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, Ray Charles, and Otis Redding.
- The US Supreme Court declined to reinstate lawsuits against Ozzy Osbourne alleging that his music had allegedly encouraged two teenagers to die by suicide.
- Patty Smyth and Don Henley, drummer for the Eagles, received a gold record for their duet "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough". The single from Patty Smyth's second solo album spent six weeks at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 and reached number 22 on the UK chart.
- Prince released an album featuring a graphic symbol on its cover that later became his name.
- Tupac Shakur was released from prison after eight months, having served a sentence in connection with a case involving the sexual assault of a woman in a New York hotel room.
- Billy Joel presented his new classical compositions on National Public Radio's "Performance Today".
- Matchbox 20 began their first tour as a headlining act in Las Vegas. Lila Haydn & Her Band performed as the opening act. The group changed its name to Matchbox Twenty in early 2000.
- Elvis Presley's album Memories – The '68 Comeback Special was released.
- The Crossroads Centre, funded by Eric Clapton, opened in Antigua. It provided treatment for people with drug and alcohol addictions and pledged not to turn away anyone who needed help.
- British radio DJ Johnny Walker was convicted of possessing cocaine and fined £2,000. According to the source, the tabloid The News of the World had encouraged him to take the drug in a London hotel and filmed him doing so. BBC Radio 2 suspended him after the incident but later rehired him.
- The online music service Myplay.com was launched, entering a highly competitive online music market.
- Eddie Vedder, Ani DiFranco, Ben Harper, and Patti Smith took part in a rally at Madison Square Garden in support of presidential candidate Ralph Nader. George W. Bush ultimately won the US presidential election; according to the source, Nader received some votes that might otherwise have gone to Democratic candidate Al Gore.
- The British newspaper The Mirror reported that Toni Braxton had withdrawn from the MOBO Awards after one of her breast implants ruptured. A spokesperson for her record label, Arista, declined to comment on the singer’s personal life.
- Merle Haggard cancelled his remaining US concerts through November 3 because of chest tightness and on his doctor's advice. He had previously experienced problems with coronary artery disease.
- The Spanish sister group Las Ketchup reached number one on the UK chart and charts in several other countries, including Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, and Mexico, with "The Ketchup Song". In the United States, the song peaked at number 54.
- Muse took legal action against Céline Dion after she announced that she would name her upcoming Las Vegas show "Muse". Singer Matt Bellamy explained that the band did not want people to think they were Céline Dion's backing band.
- Will Young reached number one on the UK album chart with his debut album From Now On. He rose to fame by winning the first series of Pop Idol, and his debut single “Anything Is Possible” became the fastest-selling debut single in the UK.
- Tickets for Duran Duran's reunion concert at London's Kentish Town Forum sold out in four minutes.
- The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) accused Ronald Isley, singer with The Isley Brothers, of tax evasion over unreported royalties and concert income from 1997 to 2002. In 2005, he was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison and was later ordered to pay $3.1 million in back taxes.
- The album Magic reached number one on the UK chart. It was Bruce Springsteen's seventh album to top the UK chart.
- Country group Rascal Flatts’ album Still Feels Good reached number one on the US Billboard 200.
- Beyoncé released the double A-side single "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" / "If I Were a Boy", five months after marrying Jay-Z. Both songs became worldwide hits. "Single Ladies" spent four weeks at number one on the US chart and won three Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year.
- Ringo Starr posted a video message on his website announcing that he would no longer accept fan mail or sign items sent to him. He explained that he did not have the time and disliked seeing signed items subsequently sold online for thousands of dollars. Later, he signed memorabilia only for charitable purposes.
- American singer and actor Al Martino died at the age of 82. He had eleven songs reach the US Billboard Top 40. His best-known hits included "I Love You Because", "Spanish Eyes", and "I Love You More and More Every Day". He played Johnny Fontane in the film The Godfather. His song "Here in My Heart" became the first single to top the UK singles chart published by New Musical Express in November 1952.
- General Norman Johnson, singer with the soul group Chairmen of the Board, died of lung cancer at the age of 69. In 1970, the group had four songs in the US Top 40, including "Give Me Just a Little More Time", which reached number three. Johnson was also a successful songwriter: he won a Grammy for "Patches", recorded by Clarence Carter, and wrote songs including "Want Ads" for Honey Cone and "Bring the Boys Home" for Freda Payne.
- The city of Clear Lake, Iowa, named streets Ritchie Valens Drive and J. P. Richardson Avenue. They joined the existing Buddy Holly Place, commemorating the three musicians who died in a plane crash after a concert in Clear Lake on February 3, 1959.
- The website The Smoking Gun published Janet Jackson's performance contract, which stipulated that a comedian appearing at the same event could not mention the singer or any member of the Jackson family in their act.
- Maroon 5's single "Moves Like Jagger", featuring Christina Aguilera, entered the UK Top 10. The lyrics refer to Mick Jagger's dance moves, and the video features archival footage of his signature dancing. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group.
- Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees was admitted to a hospital in Oxfordshire, England, because of recurring abdominal pain that had previously interrupted his South American tour. It later emerged that his health problems were related to colon and liver cancer, from which he died in May 2012.
- B. B. Cunningham Jr., a member of Jerry Lee Lewis's backing band since 1997 and a former member of Ronnie and the Daytonas, was found shot dead at the Cherry Crest apartment complex in Memphis.
- An oil painting by German artist Gerhard Richter, owned by Eric Clapton, sold at auction for £21 million ($34 million), then an auction record for a work by a living artist. Clapton planned to donate the proceeds to the Crossroads Centre in Antigua, the rehabilitation facility he founded.
- Guitarist Steve Morse revealed in the GuitCast podcast that Deep Purple had completed several recording and songwriting sessions while preparing a new album. The material later developed into the album inFinite, released on April 7, 2017.
- Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, becoming the first songwriter to receive the honor. The Swedish Academy recognized him for creating new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.
- The album Following My Intuition debuted at number one on the UK chart. It was Craig David's first chart-topping album since his 2000 debut, Born to Do It.
- Jon Sudano posted a YouTube video in which he sang the lyrics of Smash Mouth's "All Star" over the musical accompaniment of John Lennon's "Imagine". The video went viral and attracted millions of views. He subsequently made similar videos pairing other well-known songs, including "Y.M.C.A.", "Under the Bridge", and "Wonderwall".