2001 in music

January

• January 9 – Apple Inc. introduces the iTunes media player.^[2]
• January 12–21 – Rock in Rio 3 is held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Headlining acts consist of Sting, R.E.M., 'N Sync, Iron Maiden, Neil Young, Red Hot Chili Peppers and a new line-up of Guns N' Roses. Several Brazilian bands drop out of the festival in protest over the lack of time allocated to Brazilian acts.^[6]
• January 17 – Bass player Jason Newsted leaves Metallica after 14 years with the band.
• January 19–February 4 – The Big Day Out festival takes place in Australia and New Zealand, headlined by Rammstein (in all venues) and Limp Bizkit (in Auckland, the Gold Coast, and Sydney).
• January 26 – A crowd crush occurs during a set by Limp Bizkit at the Sydney Big Day Out music festival. Jessica Michalik is killed and the band subsequently leaves the country after threats to their safety.

February

• February 1
  • CFXJ (Flow 93.5), Canada's first urban music station, goes on air for the first time as a testing signal (its official debut is on March 1.) This is considered a breakthrough for Canadian hip-hop and R&B musicians.<refGreg Quill (February 8, 2001). "Radio dream gives city its first black station". The Toronto Star.</ref>^[7]
  • Jennifer Lopez becomes first female artist to have both a number one album (J.Lo) and a number one movie (The Wedding Planner) in the same week.^[8]
• February 6 – Don Felder is fired from the Eagles. Felder sues the band for wrongful termination, and is countersued by Don Henley and Glenn Frey for breach of contract. The suits are settled out of court.
• February 13 – Peter Frampton receives the Orville H. Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award.
• February 17 – Manic Street Preachers become the first western rock band to play in Cuba. Fidel Castro is in attendance.
• February 18 – James Taylor weds for the third time, marrying Caroline "Kim" Smedvig, director of public relations and marketing for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
• February 21 – The 43rd Annual Grammy Awards are presented in Los Angeles, hosted by Jon Stewart. Several artists win three awards each: Steely Dan (who win Album of the Year for Two Against Nature), U2 (who win both Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "Beautiful Day"), Dr. Dre, Eminem and Faith Hill. Shelby Lynne wins Best New Artist.
• February 28 – Courtney Love sues to get out of her contract with Vivendi Universal, on the grounds that music industry contracts are unfairly long compared to those in other industries.^[9]

March

• March 1 – Collin Raye is awarded the Artist Humanitarian Award from Country Radio Broadcasters. The award was given in recognition of Raye's work on behalf of a number of different charitable organizations including Childhelp USA, USA Weekend's Make A Difference Day and the Native American organization Hecel Oyakapi.
• March 8 – Melanie C announces she does not intend to do any more work with the Spice Girls. Although the group denies it is splitting, it would not be active again until 2007.^[10]
• March 9
  • Janet Jackson's single "All for You" becomes the first song to be added to every station in three mainstream radio formats within its first week of release.^[11] It was also the highest debut for a single not commercially available in both the United States and France.^[12]
  • Eric Singer replaces Peter Criss as the drummer for Kiss as the band continues its farewell tour in Yokohama, Japan. Singer dons the "Catman" make-up, ending the band's tradition of creating new make-up and personas for replacement members.
• March 12 - Daft Punk releases their second studio album Discovery. It reached number 23 on the US Billboard 200.
• March 13 – Janet Jackson is honored as the first ever MTV Icon. The televised tribute became the highest rated show of the night.
• March 14 – The Court of Appeals in Rome finds Michael Jackson "not guilty" of plagiarism, reversing a decision made in 1999 by a lower court. Italian songwriter Albano Carrisi had claimed that Jackson's "Will You Be There" was a copy of his song "I Cigni Di Balaka."
• March 16 – Sean "Puffy" Combs is acquitted on all charges stemming from a December 1999 nightclub shooting in Manhattan. However, an artist on his Bad Boy Records label, Shyne, is convicted of two counts of assault as well as reckless endangerment and gun possession.^[13]
• March 20 – Toadies release Hell Below/Stars Above, the band's first album in nearly seven years. The band announces irts break-up five months later.^[14]
• March 24 – John Connolly of Sevendust marries Lori Kirkley.
• March 26
  • Gorillaz release their first studio album Gorillaz. The album reached number three in the UK, and was an unexpected hit in the US, hitting number 14 and selling over seven million copies worldwide by 2007. It earned the group an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as the Most Successful Virtual Band.
  • Aerosmith release their thirteenth studio album, Just Push Play, charting at No. 2 in the US Billboard 200.
• March 28
  • Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 replaces Max Bruch's violin concerto at #1 in the Classic FM Hall of Fame.
  • Two big selling albums : Hikaru Utada's Distance and Ayumi Hamasaki's A Best are released on exactly the same date. Their debut week sales are 3,002,720 and 2,874,870, respectively, setting the world's #1 and #2 one-week album sales records.^[15]

April–May

• April 2 – The Bee Gees release their twenty-second studio album This Is Where I Came In, the last to feature all three Gibb brothers.^[16]
• April 3 – Mariah Carey signs a blockbuster contract with Virgin Records, worth $80 million for four albums.
• April 4 – Original Zombies lead singer Colin Blunstone and keyboardist Rod Argent reunite for a two-part performance at London's Jazz Cafe, the first time the two had performed together in over 30 years.
• April 14 – Janet Jackson's "All for You" reaches number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains atop the chart for seven consecutive weeks. It becomes the longest reigning hit of the year.
• April 21 – The first Top Chinese Music Awards ceremony is held.
• April 24 – Janet Jackson releases her seventh studio album, All for You. It becomes her fifth consecutive album to open at number one, with sales exceeding 600,000 copies. It receives three Grammy Award nominations, winning for Best Dance Recording.
• April 28 – The second Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival takes place in California as a single-day event. Headlined by Jane's Addiction, the lineup also features Weezer, The Roots, Gang Starr, Iggy Pop, The Orb, The Dandy Warhols and Mos Def.
• May 1
  • Huey Lewis and the News makes a comeback with their album Plan B, their first album of new material in a decade.
  • The 4th EJCF is held in Basel. The next time was in 2004.
• May 12 – Joey Fatone of 'N Sync injures his leg in a trap door during rehearsals for the new tour.
  • The 46th Eurovision Song Contest, held at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark, is won by Tanel Padar and Dave Benton, backed by hip-hop group 2XL. They represented Estonia with the song "Everybody", marking the first victory for one of the Baltic states and one of the former Soviet republics. At 50 years old, Benton also becomes the oldest contestant, as well as the first black person, to win Eurovision.
• May 15
  • Charley Pride's A Tribute to Jim Reeves is the first compact disc to have copy protection.
  • '80s band The Go Go's release their first album in 17 years: God Bless The Go Go's
• May 22 – Mötley Crüe publishes their collective autobiography The Dirt.

June

• June 1 – Christina Aguilera scores her fourth number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 for "Lady Marmalade" a collaboration with Lil' Kim, Mýa, and Pink. The video wins the MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year.
• June 5
  • Radiohead releases their 5th studio album, Amnesiac.
  • Drowning Pool releases their 1st studio album, Sinner. After the 9/11 attacks, the single "Bodies" is put on the list of songs deemed inappropriate by Clear Channel.
• June 9 – Madonna kicks off her first concert tour in 8 years, the Drowned World Tour, in Barcelona, Spain.
• June 12
  • Blink-182 release their fourth studio album Take Off Your Pants And Jacket which would later sell 14 million copies worldwide. This was the band's second successful album.
  • Electric Light Orchestra release Zoom, their first album in 15 years.
• June 15 – Bad Religion drummer Bobby Schayer, who had been with the band since 1991, is forced to give up music after experiencing a "most unfortunate career-ending injury". This leads to his leaving Bad Religion for good; he is replaced by current drummer Brooks Wackerman. By this time, Bad Religion were dropped from Atlantic Records and had returned to their original label Epitaph, and founding guitarist Brett Gurewitz had just rejoined the band after a 7-year hiatus.
• June 16 – The Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM airs the 9th Annual of the Weenie Roast show with Blink-182, Coldplay, Crazy Town, The Cult, Disturbed, Jane's Addiction, Linkin Park, The Living End, New Found Glory, Pennywise, Papa Roach, Stabbing Westward, Staind, Stone Temple Pilots, Sum 41 and 311.
• June 24 – Jazz pianist John Hicks marries flautist Elise Wood.^[17]

July

• July 2
  • Willy Denzey makes his first appearance at Les Francofolies de La Rochelle.
  • Napster shuts down its entire network in order to comply with a court injunction ordering it to halt the trading of copyrighted files.^[18]
• July 7 – Janet Jackson begins her All for You Tour.
• July 9 – Backstreet Boys put their Black & Blue summer tour on hold to allow AJ McLean to enter a rehabilitation facility to deal with alcoholism and depression.
• July 10 – Dream Street releases their debut album, Dream Street
• July 16 – Mariah Carey releases "Loverboy"; it eventually became the best-selling song of 2001.
• July 17 – Aaliyah releases her third studio album Aaliyah.
• July 17–22 – The fourth Yoyo A Go Go punk and indie rock festival opens in Olympia, Washington.
• July 19 – Ol' Dirty Bastard is sentenced to 2 to 4 years in prison for drug possession.
• July 21 – The first annual Splendour in the Grass music festival is held in Byron Bay, New South Wales, headlined by Powderfinger.
• July 24 – NSYNC releases their third studio album, Celebrity.
• July 25 – Mariah Carey checks into a hospital for what a spokesperson terms "extreme exhaustion". Carey had exhibited several incidents of bizarre behavior during the previous week, including performing a strange striptease during an unscheduled visit to MTV's Total Request Live and posting a rambling message on her website in which she wrote, "I don't know what's going on with life".^[19]
• July 30 – The Strokes release their debut album Is This It.

August

• August 3 – Whitney Houston signs the largest contract in music history with Arista Records, a six-album deal worth over $100 million.^[20]
• August 6 – Death Row Records founder Suge Knight is released from prison after serving five years of a nine-year sentence for a parole violation.
• August 7 – Aaron Carter comes back with his third studio album (second under Jive Records) Oh Aaron.
• August 13 – Two weeks before its official release, Spider One of Powerman 5000 pulls Anyone for Doomsday? off the market because it sounds too much like their previous release Tonight the Stars Revolt!. Later he releases the album on their website. Two months later, Al 3 & Dorian 27 leave the band.
• August 15 – Wilco signs a buy-out deal with Reprise Records after the label rejects the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album and the band refuses to make any changes. Wilco leaves with the rights to the album in their possession.^[21]
• August 22 - Longtime guitarist Roland Grapow and drummer Uli Kusch are fired from German power metal band Helloween.
• August 25 – A Cessna 402 carrying 9 people, including R&B singer Aaliyah, crashes in the Bahamas, killing all aboard.

September

• September 4 – The second studio album from American band System of a Down, Toxicity, is released worldwide. After the 9/11 attacks, the single "Chop Suey!" is put on the list of songs deemed inappropriate by Clear Channel.
• September 5 – A performance of John Cage's As Slow as Possible on a specially-built organ in Sankt-Burchardi-Church in Halberstadt, Germany, scheduled to last until the year 2640 begins with an 18-month pause.
• September 6 – At the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, Britney Spears performs her new single I'm a Slave 4 U in a very revealing outfit and featuring a number of exotic animals including a white and live albino Burmese python on her shoulder, leading to a great deal of criticism from animal rights organisation PETA. Nevertheless, MTV named the performance as the most memorable moment in VMA history.
• September 7-10 – The Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special tribute concerts are held at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
• September 10 – Blink-182 start shooting a video for "Stay Together for the Kids", featuring the band playing in a derelict house. When they try to finish the video the following day, the 9–11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City occur, and the band abandon the attempt and decide to shoot a different video for the song.
• September 11 –
  • Bob Dylan's Love and Theft album is released on this day.
  • Jay-Z's The Blueprint releases on this day, a week earlier than initially planned in order to combat bootlegging.
  • Indie rock band The Microphones' The Glow Pt. 2 album is released on this day.
  • The September 11 attacks result in the cancellation or postponement of many musical events, due to the halting of many commercial flights and the somber mood of communities around the world:
    • MTV and VH1 suspend regular programming to carry a newsfeed from CBS, and the 2001 Latin Grammy Awards broadcast is canceled.
    • Sting, who had planned to stream a performance in Italy on the Internet, reduces the Webcast to one song, "Fragile".
    • Enya's "Only Time" becomes backdrop for CNN.^[22]
    • The MuchMusic Video Awards scheduled for September 23 are also canceled.^[23]
    • Gerard Way witnesses the attacks and is inspired to start a band, which later becomes My Chemical Romance.
  • Mariah Carey releases her infamous soundtrack Glitter accompanied by the unsuccessful movie. The soundtrack's lead single, "Loverboy", reaches no. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
• September 14 – Clear Channel Communications issues a controversial memorandum to its radio stations containing a list of 165 songs considered "lyrically questionable" in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. The list includes "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", all songs by Rage Against the Machine and John Lennon's "Imagine".
• September 21 – America: A Tribute to Heroes airs uninterrupted on all major networks. The solemn concert, only 10 days after the September 11 attacks, included performances by Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Celine Dion, Neil Young, Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Dave Matthews, Faith Hill, Mariah Carey, and others.
• September 25 – XM Satellite Radio is launched.
• September 29
  • The First International Accordion Festival begins at La Villita in San Antonio, Texas, celebrating the multicultural traditions of the accordion with artists performing German, Colombian, Irish, Argentinian tango, Cajun-zydeco, Dominican merengue and conjunto-Tejano music.^[24]
  • Jennifer Lopez weds back-up dancer Cris Judd. The marriage would end in June 2002.

October

• October 2 – Machine Head release their fourth studio album Supercharger.
• October 6
  • Burton C. Bell gets into a fight with his bandmate Dino Cazares about a manager they fired. The event triggers the demise of Fear Factory.
  • Pop Idol premieres on ITV.
• October 9 – The first CD in the Kidz Bop series, consisting of Top 40 hits sung by children, is released.
• October 10 – Heavy metal band Anthrax issues a press release in response to the 2001 anthrax attacks jokingly stating that they will be changing the name of the group to "Basket Full of Puppies". It concludes, "we don't want to change the name of the band, not because it would be a pain in the ass, but because we hope that no further negative events will happen and it won't be necessary. We hope and pray that this problem goes away quietly and we all grow old and fat together."^[25] The band has reported increased traffic to their website due to Internet users going to anthrax.com looking for information about the disease.^[26]
• October 12 – Wes Borland leaves Limp Bizkit.
• October 16 – Michael Jackson releases special editions of his albums Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad and Dangerous, to celebrate his thirtieth anniversary as a solo musician.
• October 20
  • The Concert for New York City airs on VH1, with performances by Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi, The Who, Billy Joel and others.
  • Volunteers For America benefit concert is held in Atlanta, MC was Drew Carey with performances by Edgar Winter Group, Mark Farner, Jack Blades, John Waite, The Knack, Eddie Money, Peter Frampton, Survivor, Kansas, Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Bad Company, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and others.
• October 21
  • United We Stand: What More Can I Give benefit concert is held at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., with performances by Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, Mariah Carey, James Brown, Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync, and others.
  • Volunteers For America benefit concert is held at Smirnoff Music Centre in Dallas, Texas, MC was Drew Carey with performances by Edgar Winter Group, Mark Farner, Jack Blades, John Waite, The Knack, Eddie Money, Peter Frampton, Survivor, Kansas, Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Bad Company, and others.
• October 23
  • The Backstreet Boys release their first compilation album The Hits: Chapter One.
  • The first iPod is released by Apple Inc.^[3]
  • Incubus releases their third full-length major label album entitled Morning View. It debuted on the Billboard Top 200 at the #2 spot (266,000 copies were sold in its first week). This was the highest ever placement for Incubus. At the same time, "Wish You Were Here" was at #2 on the Modern Rock Charts, and "Drive" sat at #48 on the Hot 100 chart.
• October 25 – Quarashi performs a live concert with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra (the band Botnleðja also performed) in the Háskólabíó in Reykjavík, Iceland, which is notable for being the first time that a rap act performed a live concert with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Quarashi perform seven songs from their upcoming album, Jinx.
• October 30 – Michael Jackson releases Invincible, his first studio album since 1995 and his tenth studio album overall. While the album debuts at number one, its success is limited due to a feud between Jackson and Sony Music Entertainment over the rights to his back-catalog, culminating in Jackson accusing the company of racial discrimination. The album would end up being Jackson's last, with later musical efforts being offset by a second series of child molestation allegations in 2003, a trial over said allegations in 2005, and his death on the eve of a comeback tour in June 2009.
• October 31 – Britney Spears releases her third studio album Britney.

November–December

• November 1
  • The governing body of the UK Singles Chart, Chart Information Network Ltd. (CIN), changes its name to The Official UK Charts Company.
  • Britney Spears starts her Dream Within a Dream Tour, in support her self-titled third studio album. The tour was accompanied by many extravagant special effect including a water screen that pumped two tons of water into the stage during the encore. The tour was commercial success, all the venues on the 2001 leg are largely sold out and grossed $43.7 million from 68 show.
• November 5 – In the UK, BMG becomes the first major label to release a compact disc with copy protection, Natalie Imbruglia's White Lilies Island. Within two weeks BMG announces they will re-issue the disc without the copy protection, due to complaints from consumers who were unable to play the CDs in their personal computers.^[27]
• November 6
  • Britney Spears' third album, Britney debuts at #1, making her the first female artist to have her first three albums enter the US charts at #1.
  • Nu-Metal Band Dope release their second studio album Life.
  • The soundtrack album of the Nickelodeon movie Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius is released.
• November 29 – Former The Beatles member George Harrison dies from lung cancer at the age of 58.
• December 1 – Mike Turner quits Our Lady Peace.
• December 4 – Gospel music singer Yolanda Adams releases her eighth studio album Believe.
• December 12 – Surviving Nirvana members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl sue Courtney Love in an effort to oust her from the board controlling the management of the band's affairs, calling her "irrational, mercurial, self-centered, unmanageable, inconsistent and unpredictable". The legal battle over the band's legacy has blocked the release of a planned Nirvana box set containing the unreleased track "You Know You're Right".^[28]

Also in 2001

• Area One music festival brings together a variety of acts including Moby, Incubus, Outkast, New Order, Nelly Furtado, The Roots, Rinocerose, Paul Oakenfold, and Carl Cox.
• The Republic of France awards Jean-Yves Thibaudet the honour of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
• Deporitaz releases Microwave this CD, his second album, on MP3.com.
• Sean Beasley joins Dying Fetus.

January–March

April–June

July–September

October–December