This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1991.
Specific locations 1991 in British music 1991 in Norwegian music 1991 in Scandinavian music 1991 in South Korean music
Specific genres 1991 in country music 1991 in heavy metal music 1991 in hip-hop music 1991 in Latin music 1991 in jazz 1991 in progressive rock
Events
Summary Although the year 1991 is the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough, heavy metal was still the dominant form of rock music for the year. Therefore, Nirvana's Nevermind, led by the surprise hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit", was not the most popular U.S. album of the year. The most popular album was Metallica's self-titled "black album". Nirvana's success was eventually followed by other grunge bands like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Stone Temple Pilots, as grunge climbed the U.S. charts for the next few years. Its success eventually ended the reign of the glam metal and other hard rock groups that enjoyed massive success in the 1980s like Mötley Crüe, Poison, Warrant, Cinderella, and Ratt, whose sales were still going strong by 1991. Also during the year, the rock band Guns N' Roses's popularity flourished with the release of their albums Use Your Illusion I & Use Your Illusion II, both selling over 15 million copies total. Def Leppard's next album Adrenalize, released in March 1992, would go on to reach multi-platinum status and prove to be the last major commercial success for 1980s hair metal. A Tribe Called Quest's Low End Theory is released this year; it would go on to be considered one of the best hip-hop albums of the 1990s. A Tribe Called Quest, along with De La Soul, Dream Warriors, Gang Starr and the Poor Righteous Teachers, help define what comes to be known as alternative rap with important releases this year.
On November 24, the death of Freddie Mercury, who had confirmed to the press that he had AIDS only a day before his death, came as a shock to millions of fans and the music industry. The remaining members of Queen formed the Mercury Phoenix Trust and the following year, a tribute concert would be staged in Wembley Stadium, in front of a sell-out crowd. Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" (released as a double A-side with "These Are the Days of Our Lives") went to number one for the second time in the U.K.. It is also the only time a single has gone to number one more than once on the UK Christmas charts.
During the year, Billboard started using Nielsen SoundScan for its sales source for the music charts. Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales data for Nielsen on 1 March 1991. The 25 May issue of Billboard published Billboard 200 and Country Album charts based on SoundScan "piece count data," and the first Hot 100 chart to debut with the system was released on 30 November 1991. Previously, Billboard tracked sales by calling stores across the U.S. and asking about sales – a method that was inherently error-prone and open to outright fraud. Indeed, while transitioning from the calling to tracking methods, the airplay and sales charts (already monitored by Nielsen) and the Hot 100 (then still using the calling system) often did not match (for instance Paula Abdul's "Promise of a New Day" and Roxette's "Fading Like a Flower" reached much higher Hot 100 peaks than their actual sales and airplay would have allowed them to). Although most record company executives conceded that the new method was far more accurate than the old, the chart's volatility and its geographical balance initially caused deep concern, before the change and the market shifts it brought about were accepted across the industry. Tower Records, the country's second-largest retail chain, was originally not included in the sample because its stores are equipped with different technology to measure sales. At first, some industry executives complained that the new system – which relied on high-tech sales measurement rather than store employee estimates – was based on an inadequate sample, one that favored established and mainstream acts over newcomers.
1991 was also the year CCM, or contemporary Christian music, reached a new peak. Amy Grant, who had already crossed back and forth between CCM and Contemporary Pop in the mid-80s, achieved her first solo No. 1 hit on the pop charts with the hit single "Baby Baby", becoming the first single by a CCM artist to reach No. 1 (despite the fact the song was a pop song and was void of any Christian references). Another single, "That's What Love Is For", would also top the charts, this time in the Adult Contemporary field. Meanwhile, Grant's album Heart In Motion reaches No. 11 on the pop chart and No. 1 on the Christian chart despite its non-religious objective, and quickly becomes a best-seller. Another CCM crossover artist in 1991 is Michael W. Smith, who achieves a Top Ten pop hit with his single "Place In This World". The subsequent album, Go West Young Man, is also a hit. Jon Gibson's hit "Jesus Loves Ya" still holds the record as the longest playing hit single in Christian music history. The track spent eleven weeks at No. 1 and became the top selling CCM single of 1991. Only three artists received more airplay on Christian radio stations in that year other than Gibson; Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith and BeBe & CeCe Winans.
The massive success of Garth Brooks in this year set the stage for the mid-1990s influx of pop-oriented country musicians. Several soon-to-be pivotal bands formed or released debut recordings, including Dave Matthews Band, Live, Phish, Spin Doctors and stoner metal (Kyuss, Sleep, The Obsessed). Massive Attack's Blue Lines, pioneered the sound that would eventually become known as trip hop. Entombed's Clandestine and Dismember's Like an Ever Flowing Stream were early releases from the Scandinavian metal scene. In the US, New York death metal band Suffocation released their debut full-length Effigy of the Forgotten, often considered one of the most influential of extreme metal albums. Trance music rose to prominence in the underground dance scene of Frankfurt, Germany, pioneered by such producers as Dance 2 Trance and Resistance D. U2 released their seventh album Achtung Baby, considered by many of their fans to be their best. Metallica's self-titled album was their most commercially successful, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers broke through to the mainstream with Blood Sugar Sex Magik. R.E.M. released their massive commercial breakthrough album Out of Time.
January–March 8 January – Def Leppard guitarist Steve Clark dies of respiratory failure from a lethal mixture of alcohol and prescription drugs. He was 30 years old. 15 January – An all-star rendition of the John Lennon song "Give Peace a Chance" is released, featuring Yoko Ono, Lenny Kravitz, Peter Gabriel, Alannah Myles and Tom Petty, Bonnie Raitt, billed as "The Peace Choir". The single was rushed to market in response to the imminent Gulf War. 16 January – The sixth annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony is held in New York. The event goes forward despite a tense atmosphere caused by the US President's announcement of the Gulf War the same evening. The inductees are Ike & Tina Turner, Jimmy Reed, John Lee Hooker, LaVern Baker, The Byrds, The Impressions, Wilson Pickett and Howlin' Wolf. 18 January – Three people are crushed to death during an AC/DC concert in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, when audience members rush the stage. 18–27 January – The nine-day festival Rock in Rio II is held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The headliners are a-ha, Prince, INXS, Guns N' Roses, New Kids on the Block, George Michael and Happy Mondays. 19 January – Janet Jackson with the seventh single from Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814, "Love Will Never Do (Without You)", becomes the only artist to have seven singles from the same album chart in the top five. 27 January – Whitney Houston sings "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl. The recording is then released in the United States and becomes a hit single. 31 January – DJ Magazine is launched under its new name. 5 February – Queen release their final album of Freddie Mercury's lifetime, entitled Innuendo. This album includes the singles "The Show Must Go On", "Headlong", "These Are The Days Of Our Lives" and "Innuendo". 20 February – The 33rd Annual Grammy Awards are presented in New York, hosted by Garry Shandling. Quincy Jones' Back on the Block wins Album of the Year, Phil Collins' "Another Day in Paradise" wins Record of the Year and Bette Midler's version of "From a Distance" wins Song of the Year. Mariah Carey wins Best New Artist. 27 February – James Brown is granted an early parole and released from jail, following his arrest after a high-speed car chase through two states in 1989. Pop Will Eat Itself document the affair with their song, "Not Now James, We're Busy". 28 February – Hollywood's Record Plant Studios recording studio closes down. Among the albums recorded at the Record Plant were The Eagles' Hotel California, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life. 1 March – Nielsen SoundScan begins tracking sales data for Nielsen. 11 March – Janet Jackson signs a US$30 million contract with Virgin Records, making her the highest paid female recording artist ever. 12 March – R.E.M. release their seventh studio album, Out of Time. The album would serve as the band's breakthrough, catapulting the Georgia alternative rock band from cult status to an international act. 16 March – Seven members of country music singer Reba McEntire's band and her road manager are killed when their private plane crashes in California, near the U.S.-Mexico border. McEntire travels on a separate plane. The disaster inspires the title song of her next album, For My Broken Heart. 20 March Michael Jackson signs a contract with Sony for 1 billion dollars. Eric Clapton's four-year-old son, Conor, dies after falling 49 stories from a New York City apartment window; the event later inspires Clapton to write the hit single "Tears in Heaven". 24 March – The Black Crowes are dropped as the opening act of ZZ Top's tour for repeatedly insulting the tour's sponsor, Miller Beer. 27 March – New Kids on the Block star Donnie Wahlberg is arrested in Louisville, Kentucky for allegedly setting his hotel room on fire. 28 March – George Harrison, Phil Collins and others attend funeral services for Eric Clapton's late son, Conor.
April–June 17 April – Nirvana perform "Smells Like Teen Spirit" live for the first time at the OK Hotel in Seattle, Washington. 28 April – Bonnie Raitt marries actor Michael O'Keefe in New York. 4 May – The Eurovision Song Contest 1991 is held in Rome, Italy, and Sweden's "Fångad av en stormvind" by Carola is declared the winner. 7 May – In Macon, Georgia, a judge dismisses a wrongful death lawsuit against Ozzy Osbourne. The suit was filed by a local couple that believed their son was inspired to attempt suicide by Osbourne's music. 10 May – Truth or Dare, a documentary chronicling singer Madonna's 1990 Blond Ambition Tour, is released to theatres. 24 May – Guns N' Roses kick off their 26-month world Use Your Illusion Tour in Alpine Valley in East Troy. 25 May – The Billboard 200 album chart starts incorporating electronically monitored sales data provided by Nielsen SoundScan. 28 May – The Smashing Pumpkins release their debut album Gish. 7 June – The American Broadcasting Company revives the late-night rock performance series In Concert. 21 June – The Mérida State Symphony Orchestra is founded in Venezuela. 28 June – Paul McCartney's classical composition, the Liverpool Oratorio, receives its premiere at the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral.
July–September 2 July Launch of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music. Hollywood Bowl Orchestra gives its first public performance.