''See also:''
- January 9 - David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert (the day after his birthday) at Madison Square Garden, with guests Frank Black , The Foo Fighters , Sonic Youth , Robert Smith of The Cure , Lou Reed , and Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins , with the opening act Placebo . Proceeds from the concert went to the Save The Children fund.
- January 10 - James Brown receives a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame
- January 19 - Madonna wins Best Actress In A Motion Picture, Musical Or Comedy in Evita at the 54th annual Golden Globe Awards . Madonna later wins the American Moviegoer Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in Evita .
- January 20 - Ben And Jerry's introduce "Phish food", a new flavor of ice cream named after the rock group Phish . The ingredients are chocolate ice cream, marshmallows, caramel and fish-shaped fudge
- February 2 - Rich Mullins ' musical '' The Canticle Of The Plains '' premieres in Wichita, Kansas .
- February 10 - 52 year old Brian Connolly of Sweet dies of kidney failure in England .
- February 12 - David Bowie receives a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame
- February 13 - Michael Jackson 's first son is born.
- March - Pianist David Helfgott appears at the Boston Symphony Hall during his world tour. The '' Boston Globe '' describes his performance as "without phrasing, form, harmonic understanding, differentiation of style and often basic accuracy; worst of all, it was without emotional content."
- March 1
- --- The rock band '' Phish '' records '' Slip Stitch And Pass '' live at Markthalle , Hamburg , Germany .
- --- Northern Ireland band Ash release the single '' Barbie .''
- March 3 - U2 release the opinion-dividing '' Pop '' album. Along with the Oasis album '' Be Here Now '', it becomes a major release that fails to sell to industry expectations, particularly in the US, despite many strong initial reviews.
- March 9 - The Notorious B.I.G. is shot to death while sitting in the passenger seat of a car after a '' Soul Train Awards '' party
- March 11 - Paul McCartney is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II .
- March 17 - Whirlwind Heat play their first show.
- Alice Cooper releases his first live album in twenty years.
- April 2 - Joni Mitchell is reunited with the daughter that she gave up for adoption 32 years ago, Kilauren Gibb.
- 25 – 27 April - The first Terrastock Festival is held in Providence, Rhode Island
- May - 5ive 's musical career begin after auditions are held in London with over 3,000 hopefuls showing up to audition.
- June 16 - Radiohead 's seminal album '' OK Computer '' is released in the United Kingdom.
- July 1 - The Prodigy releases The Fat Of The Land album. Also Limp Bizkit release their debut album Three Dollar Bill Y'all .
- August 4 - Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer and dissident pop star Fela Anikulapo-Kuti dies in Lagos of HIV-related illness.
- August 7 - Garth Brooks performs to an estimated 800,000 to 1 million people during a free concert given in New York City's Central Park.
- August 21 ''Oasis''' eagerly awaited 3rd album, Be Here Now , was released. It set a record as it became the fastest selling album of all time, moving 695,761 copies in the first week.
- August 3 - The Black Crowes perform their last show with Johnny Colt and Marc Ford , ending what is considered their "classic" lineup.
- August 16 - 17 - Phish perform two day music festival, The Great Went, in Limestone, Maine at Loring Air Force Base . 500 minutes of music, 6 sets, 2 encores. There was an estimated attendance that falls anywhere between 65,000-70,000 and was the top grossing concert of the summer by pulling in over $4,000,000.
- September 6 - Elton John performs "Candle In The Wind" at the funeral of Diana, Princess Of Wales ; John Tavener 's ''Song for Athene'' is performed at the same ceremony.
- September 17 - The KLF return for 23 Minutes with their performance of " Fuck The Millennium ".
- September 19 - While on his way to a Benefit Concert in Kansas , Rich Mullins loses control of his jeep, flipping the automobile and throwing both Mullins and passenger Mitch McVicker out onto the road. A tractor-trailer approaching the scene swerves to miss McVicker, striking and killing Mullins instantly. McVicker survives, but suffered major injuries.
- September 23
- --- Björk releases her critically-acclaimed album '' Homogenic '', marking a shift in musical direction.
- --- Dream Theater releases their fourth full length album '' Falling Into Infinity ''.
- November 22 - INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence is found dead in his hotel room in Sydney, Australia . He is 37 years old.
- December 31 - "The home of Country Music", the Opryland USA Theme Park , in Nashville, Tennessee closes and is subsequently demolished.
- After more than a year absence Garth Brooks returns to the top of the charts with his album "Sevens".
- Nigel Kennedy returns to performing in public after a 5-year absence resulting from neck surgery, now calling himself simply "Kennedy".
- The reunited Fleetwood Mac release The Dan ce and begin a highly successful concert tour in the United States.
- The reunited Monkees perform 2 sold out concerts at Wembley Arena in London.
The following singles achieved the highest chart positions in 1997.
- January 5 - Burton Lane , composer and lyricist
- January 21 - Colonel Tom Parker , Elvis Presley 's manager
- January 22 - Richard Berry , songwriter (''Louie, Louie'')
- February 10 - Brian Connolly , Sweet
- March 9 - The Notorious B.I.G. , rapper
- March 24 - Kenny Moore , keyboardist for Tina Turner , Aretha Franklin , Billy Preston and others
- April 9 - Laura Nyro , songwriter
- May 29 - Jeff Buckley , American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- June 2 - Doc Cheatham , jazz trumpeter
- June 24 - Prince Nico Mbarga , Nigerian highlife musician
- August 1 - Sviatoslav Richter , pianist
- August 2 - Fela Kuti , Nigerian musician and composer
- August 10 - Conlon Nancarrow , composer
- August 16 - Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan , Qawwali singer and World Music ambassador
- September 8 - Derek Taylor , Press agent for The Beatles
- September 18 - Jimmy Witherspoon , Blues singer
- September 19 - Rich Mullins , singer
- October 12 - John Denver , American folk singer-songwriter and folk rock musician
- November 5 - Epic Soundtracks , English singer/songwriter, drummer of Swell Maps , Crime And The City Solution and These Immortal Souls
- November 22 - Michael Hutchence , singer of INXS
- December 28 - Henry Barraud , French composer
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