1995 in music

See also: 1994 in music, other events of 1995, 1996 in music, 1990s in music and the list of 'years in music'

Events

• January 18 - Jerry Garcia wrecks his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California. Garcia is not injured in the accident.
• February 6 - Rapper Tupac Shakur is sentenced to 1 1/2 to 4 1/2 years in prison on a sexual assault charge.
• February 12 - Iron Butterfly bassist Philip Taylor Kramer disappeared from Highway 101 when he was trying to get back home from the Los Angeles International Airport. He tried calling his family, related people and 911 for somebody to help him, but nothing much has helped him.
• February 19 - Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee marries Bay Watch actress Pamela Anderson on a beach in Cancun. (The bride wore a white bikini.)
• February 25 - Lyle Lovett has an accident while riding his motorcycle in Mexico, breaking his collarbone. The accident prevented Lovett from attending the Grammy Awards. (He ended up winning 2 awards)
• March 1 - R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry leaves the stage during a Switzerland concert after suffering a brain aneurysm, which requires immediate surgery
• March 3 - R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry undergoes successful brain surgery, following a brain aneurysm two days earlier in Switzerland.
• March 17 - Madonna holds a premiere for her new Bedtime Stories video. The party is called the "world's biggest pajama party" due to the fact that the 1500 guests wear pj's and teddy bears.
• March 25 - In New Zealand, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder is rescued after being carried 250 feet offshore by a riptide.
• March 28 - Lyle Lovett and actress Julia Roberts announced that they were separating after 21 months of marriage
• March 31 - Selena is shot and killed by her former personal assistant and former fan club president, who had been fired for embezzlement.
• April 29 - Tupac Shakur marries Keisha Morris inside the Clinton Correctional Facility. Shakur is serving a 4½ year jail term on sexual assault charges
• May 5 - Guns n' Roses drummer Steven Adler is arraigned on a felony count of possession of heroin, in addition to two misdemeanor drug charges.
• May - The 2nd EJCF was held in Basel. Next time was in 1998.
• August - The First Tibetan Freedom Concert is organized by Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys in Los Angeles. The proceeds from the ticket event go to the Millareppa Foundation, which exposes human rights violations in Tibet by the Chinese government. Artists appearing included The Beastie Boys, Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumpkins, Red Hot Chili Peppers and A Tribe Called Quest.
• August 28 - Oingo Boingo announces that the band will break up following a series of Halloween shows in L.A. Lead singer Danny Elfman goes on to a career scoring major motion pictures, including every film directed by Tim Burton.
• September 2 - The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opens in Cleveland, Ohio.
• November 19 - Part One of The Beatles Anthology television mini-series airs on ABC. The first installment ends with the music video for "Free As A Bird", the first new Beatles recording since their break up in 1970.
• November 20 - Part Two of The Beatles Anthology television mini-series airs on ABC. (Volume One of The Beatles Anthology CD series is also released on this day.)
• November 21 - Part Three of The Beatles Anthology television mini-series airs on ABC.
• Sam Phillips makes her motion picture debut in the Bruce Willis action film, Die Hard With a Vengeance. Phillips plays one of the main terrorists in the film.
• 3 members R.E.M., Bill Berry, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe, fall ill to various illnesses while on the "Monster Tour". Berry suffered an aneurism which required immediate surgery, Stipe suffered a hiatal hernia and Mills underwent an appendectomy.
• Nada Surf's career begins
• Nada Surf recorded High/Low, which will be a blockbuster album in 1996
• Phil Collins recorded Dance Into the Light, which will be a blockbuster album in 1996
• Tool recorded Ænima, which will be a blockbuster album in 1996
• MxPx releases Teenage Politics
• The Offspring re-issues The Offspring (the 1989 album)
• System of a Down form
• The Ataris form
• Days of the New form
• Eve 6 form
• Godsmack form
• Nickelback form
• Coal Chamber form
• Kyuss disbands in October
• Winger disband
• Alanis Morissette resurrects her dying music career with the album Jagged Little Pill
• MP3 files start flourishing on the Internet

Albums released

• Head Over Heels - Paula Abdul
• The Bridge - Ace of Base
• Ballbreaker - AC/DC (their first album in five years)
• Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morissette (her American debut album)
• Alice in Chains - Alice in Chains (final album)
• Stomp 442 - Anthrax
• Die for the Government - Anti-Flag
• Slaughter of the Soul - At the Gates
• The Final Experiment - Ayreon
• All Ages - Bad Religion
• Stranger Than Fiction - Bad Religion
• The Beatles Anthology, volume 1 - The Beatles
• Deluxe - Better Than Ezra
• Post - Björk
• Imaginations From the Other Side - Blind Guardian
• Soup - Blind Melon (final album)
• Cheshire Cat - Blink-182
• Kiss Your Ass Goodbye - Blue Meanies
• These Days - Bon Jovi
• 1.OUTSIDE - David Bowie
• Exit Planet Dust - The Chemical Brothers
• Set Your Goals - CIV
• Ragged Ass Road - Tom Cochrane
• Symbolic - Death
• Alive in Studio A - Bruce Dickinson
• Once Upon the Cross - Deicide
• Pet Your Friends - Dishwalla
• NOLA - Down
• A Change of Seasons - Dream Theater
• Savage Poetry - Edguy
• Elastica - Elastica (debut)
• Close Your Eyes - Kurt Elling
• Cha Cha Cha - EMF (final album before disbanding)
• Sparkle & Fade - Everclear
• Flood - Everon
• Land of the Free - Gamma Ray
• Garbage - Garbage (their debut album)
• Mandylion - The Gathering
• Insomniac - Green Day
• Sickness - Gridlock
• Big Choice - Face to Face
• It Matters to Me - Faith Hill
• Demanufacture - Fear Factory
• Cracked Rear View - Hootie & the Blowfish
• Burnt Offerings - Iced Earth
• The Jester Race - In Flames
• Bad Habits - Colin James
• 2 - Jerky Boys
• Roots to Branches - Jethro Tull
• ...And the Circus Leaves Town - Kyuss (final album)
• Ask The Fish - Leftover Salmon
• Circus - Lenny Kravitz
• Five Smokin' Tracks From Lit - Lit
• Above - Mad Season
• Wolfheart - Moonspell
• Domination - Morbid Angel
• Southpaw Grammar - Morrissey
• World of Morrissey - Morrissey
• Teenage Politics - MxPx
• Brainbloodvolume - Ned's Atomic Dustbin (final album)
• Tragic Kingdom - No Doubt
• (What's the Story) Morning Glory - Oasis
• The Offspring - The Offspring (a re-issue)
• Smash - The Offspring
• Naveed - Our Lady Peace
• Ozzmosis - Ozzy Osbourne
• Draconian Times - Paradise Lost
• Vitalogy - Pearl Jam
• P-U-L-S-E - Pink Floyd (live)
• Hello - Poe (debut)
• The Presidents of the United States of America - The Presidents of the United States of America (debut)
• Different Class - Pulp
• Monster - R.E.M.
• The Bends - Radiohead
• One Hot Minute - Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Return Of (The Rentals) - The Rentals (debut)
• Dead Winter Dead - Savatage
• Subhuman Race - Skid Row
• Sleater-Kinney - Sleater-Kinney
• It's Five O' Clock Somewhere - Slash's Snakepit (debut)
• Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness - The Smashing Pumpkins (double CD set)
• Mainliner (The Wreckage of the Past) - Social Distortion (a re-issue)
• Let Your Dim Light Shine - Soul Asylum
• Rotting Piñata - Sponge
• The Ghost of Tom Joad - Bruce Springsteen
• Fourth Dimension - Stratovarius
• I Should Coco - Supergrass (debut)
• Jerky Boys: The Movie - Soundtrack
• Raoul and the Kings of Spain - Tears for Fears
• Hanky Panky - The The
• The Blue Album - 311
• Tambu - Toto
• I Am an Elastic Firecracker - Tripping Daisy
• Peel Slowly and See - The Velvet Underground
• Running on Ice - Vertical Horizon
• A Northern Soul - The Verve
• Still Not Black Enough - W.A.S.P.

Top hits

• "You Oughta Know" - Alanis Morissette
• "Geek Stink Breath" - Green Day
• "Rock And Roll Is Dead" - Lenny Kravitz
• "I'll Be There For You" - Rembrandts
• "One Of Us" - Joan Osborne
• "Carnival" - Natalie Merchant
• "Only Wanna Be With You" - Hootie & the Blowfish
• "Hook" - Blues Traveler
• "Wonderwall" - Oasis
• "Roll To Me" - Del Amitri
• "Breakfast At Tiffany's" - Deep Blue Something
• "Misery" - Soul Asylum
• "Run-Around" - Blues Traveler
• "Buddy Holly" - Weezer
• "You Gotta Be" - Des'ree
• "Take A Bow" - Madonna
• "Fantasy" - Mariah Carey
• "When I Come Around" - Green Day
• "Don't Take It Personal" - Monica
• "Missing" - Everything But The Girl
• "As I Lay Me Down" - Sophie B. Hawkins
• "Today" - The Smashing Pumpkins
• "Closer" - Nine Inch Nails
• "Good" - Better Than Ezra
• "You Are Not Alone" - Michael Jackson
• "You'll See" - Madonna
• "Baby" - Brandy
• "Hand In My Pocket" - Alanis Morissette
• "Alright" - Supergrass

See also: Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1995

Classical music

• Harrison Birtwistle - Panic (premiered at Last Night of the Proms)
• Elliott Carter - String Quartet No.5
• Mario Davidovsky - Concertino for violin and chamber orchestra
• Mario Davidovsky - Flashbacks for flute (piccolo and alto flute), clarinet (bass clarinet), violin violoncello, piano and percussion
• Ludovico Einaudi - Chatrang Overture
• Stanislaw Skrowaczewski - Passacaglia Immaginaria
• Malcolm Williamson - A Year of Birds

Opera

• Stewart Wallace - Harvey Milk

Musical theater

• Hello Dolly     Broadway revival
• How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying     Broadway revival
• Victor/Victoria     Broadway production

Musical films

• Arabian Knight     animated feature
• Pocahontas     animated feature

Births

• August 5 - Devo, son of Maynard James Keenan from Tool

Deaths

• January 31 - George Abbott, US librettist and director
• February 18 - Bob Stinson, The Replacements, complications caused by drug and alcohol abuse
• February 23 - Melvin Franklin, The Temptations, brain seizure
• March 9 - Ingo Schwichtenberg, Helloween, suicide
• March 26 - Eazy-E (31), AIDS
• March 31 - Selena, singer
• April 4 - Priscilla Lane, US singer and actress, lung cancer
• April 14 - Burl Ives, singer, actor
• April 25 - Ginger Rogers, US actress, dancer and singer
• June 12 - Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, pianist
• August 9 - Jerry Garcia, The Grateful Dead
• August 19 - Pierre Schaeffer, composer and pioneer of Musique concrète
• August 23 - Dwayne Goettel, Skinny Puppy, drug overdose
• August 26 - Ronnie White (57),the Miracles, cowriter of the Temptations hit "My Girl" (with Smokey Robinson), leukemia.
• August 30 - Sterling Morrison (53), The Velvet Underground guitarist, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
• October 19 - Don Cherry, jazz trumpeter
• October 21 - Maxene Andrews, singer, member of The Andrews Sisters
• October 21 - Shannon Hoon, member of group Blind Melon
• October 26 - Gorni Kramer, Italian bandleader and songwriter
• November 21 - Peter Grant, manager of The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, myocardial infarction
• December 25 - Dean Martin, singer,actor
• December 25 - Nicolas Slonimsky, conductor and composer

Awards

• The following artists are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: The Allman Brothers Band, Al Green, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Martha and the Vandellas, Neil Young and Frank Zappa
• Inductees of the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame include Charles Wesley (writer of "Hark The Herald Angels Sing")

Grammy Awards

• Grammy Awards of 1995

Country Music Association Awards

Eurovision Song Contest

• Eurovision Song Contest 1995

Mercury Music Prize

• Dummy - Portishead wins.

Charts

Triple J Hottest 100

• Triple J Hottest 100, 1995