2001

A new teen-oriented tv series, As If, is broadcast for the first time on Channel 4 tv in the UK. The female lead in the show is sarcastic goth girl Suzanne 'Sooz' Lee, played by Emily Corrie, whose multi-coloured dreadlocked hair will be much remarked on. She will prove to be the inspiration fo the 2003 UK No1 hit single, Five Colours In Her Hair by McFly.

Greatest Hits by Kenny Chesney is certified as a platinum disc by the R.I.A.A. in the USA.

The album Blues, by Jimi Hendrix, is certified as a platinum disc by the R.I.A.A. [Recording Industry Association of America] in the USA.

The soundtrack to the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? is given gold status by The R.I.A.A. in the USA. The country-flavoured album features tracks by Alison Krauss, The Soggy Bottom Boys, Emmylou Harris, John Hartford, Ralph Stanley, Harry McClintock, The Whites and Norman Blake.

While en route to a recording session for their second album, Satellite, the band P.O.D. is held up in traffic. The delay is caused by a shooting at nearby S antana High School, Santee, California, USA, where fifteen-year-old student Charles Andrew Williams has killed two and wounded thirteen. Horrified by the incident, the band will write the song Youth Of The Nation which will appear on Satellite and will be released as a single.

Former Trammps member Jerry Collins is convicted of attempted murder after having been found guilty of bashing his wife's head into a sink and also pistol-whipping her. He is sentenced to a maximum of 35 years.

Eric Clapton releases his fifteenth studio album, Reptile, in the UK.

Eric Clapton plays at Flanders Expo, Ghent, Belgium, Europe.

Biffy Clyro release a new single, 27, on Beggar's Banquet Records in the UK.

The 1967 compilation Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits is awarded a five times platinum disc.

The Stereophonics third album Just Enough Education To Perform, recorded at Real World Studios, Box, enters the album charts. It will peak at No1.

Eric Clapton releases a new single, Reptile, in the UK.

Blind jazz/r'n'b vocalist Al Hibbler dies, aged 85 at Holy Cross Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, USA. After working with Duke Ellington, he scored a No1 hit in 1955 with Unchained Melody.

XTC release Homegrown - The Wasp Star Demos, an album of demos for their album Wasp Star (Apple Venus Vol 2).

New York's prestigious Juilliard School Of Music announces the selection of eighteen instrumentalists who will form the core of its first jazz orchestra, to be known as The Juilliard Jazz Orchestra.

The album Steers And Stripes by Brooks And Dunn is awarded gold status by the R.I.A.A. in the USA.

Grown Men Don't Cry by Tim McGraw reaches No1 in the Billboard country singles chart in the USA.

Reba McEntire Day is held in New York City, USA, as the country singing star ends her five-month run on Broadway in a production of Annie Get Your Gun.

Fred Neil, composer of Everybody's Talkin' and Dolphins, dies of cancer in Summerland Keys, Florida, USA, aged 65. On the same day, Radiohead host and headline the South Park event, Oxford, UK, along with Supergrass, Sigur Ros and Beck.

Songs in A Minor, the debut album by Alicia Keys reaches No1 in the Billboard 200 Albums chart in the USA.

George Harrison, formerly of The Beatles, is in hospital in Zurich, Switzerland, being treated for a cancerous brain tumour.

Bun E. Carlos, drummer of Cheap Trick, undergoes corrective back surgery which forces him to miss some dates on the band's 25th anniversary tour.

Country Joe McDonald is advised that Babette Ory, daughter of Dixieland jazz legend Kid Ory, intends to take legal action against him. She claims that his song I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die was plagiarized from her father's composition Muskrat Ramble.

Country Joe McDonald is advised that Babette Ory, daughter of Dixieland jazz legend Kid Ory, intends to take legal action against him. She claims that his song I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die was plagiarized from her father's composition Muskrat Ramble.

A Bob Dylan Tribute Show takes place as part of the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in Hillsdale, New York State, USA. Artists performing include John Gorka, Mary Gauthier, The Paperboys, Lucy Kaplansky and Jimmy LaFave. A live album, the Nod To Bob Workshop is recorded during the event.

Country music singer Jason Aldean marries his high school sweetheart, Jessica Ussery, with whom he will have two daughters, Kendyl and Keeley.

Jim Carroll plays at The Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, California, USA.

Frank Marino And Mahogany Rush play at The House of Blues, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

The innovative video for Fatboy Slim's Weapon Of Choice, which features charismatic actor Christopher Walken dancing in a hotel, wins six awards at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Michael Jackson takes part in the first of two self-tribute concerts in Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA, which also feature The Jacksons, Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, Gladys Knight, Usher, Luther Vandross, Dionne Warwick, Al Jarreau, Liza Minelli, 'N Sync and others.

Weezer play at The United Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

The San Francisco Blues festival, a two-day event, concludes at the Great Meadow, Fort Mason, San Francisco, California, USA. Artists appearing on this day include Los Lobos, Little Milton with special guest Trudy Lynn, Robben Ford And The Ford Blues Band, The Jimmy Smith Group and Maria Muldaur.

The hit single Can't Get You Out Of My Head by Kylie Minogue is awarded a UK platinum disc by the BPI.

It is confirmed, following rumours, that Australian duo Savage Garden has split. On the same day, in London, UK, Jay Kay, leader of Jamiroquai, is charged with common assault and criminal damage, following a fight with a photographer the previous April. Finally, it is reported that Janet Jackson's forthcoming European tour has been cancelled as a direct result of the recent terrorist attacks in the United States.

When Bob Dylan turns up to play at Jackson County Fairgrounds, Central Point, Oregon, USA, he is refused entry by security guards because he does not have a backstage pass.

Former Spice Girls member Victoria Beckham sacks her manager, Nancy Phillips, accusing the manager of "over-exposing" her and thus, somehow, contributing to the poor sales of her debut solo album.

Bjork plays at The Civic Opera House, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Aerosmith play at The Allstate Arena, Rosemont, near Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Sting records an hour-long UK tv special for Top Of The Pops at the BBC Television Centre in London, UK, to an audience drawn from his fan club.

Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction spends the seventh of eight days in the Sudan, North West Africa, as part of a mission, organised by he humanitarian group Christian Solidarity International, to free Southern Sudanese slaves from their Northern masters.

Bianca Butthole, who had found acclaim as the singer and bassist for two hard rock bands, Betty Blowtorch and Butt Trumpet, dies in a car crash after accepting a lift from a drunk driver in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

It is reported that chart-topper Gordon Haskell has cancelled his upcoming gig at Swindon Arts Centre, Swindon, Wiltshire, England, UK, Europe, because he has become too famous to play such a small venue.

Television personality, magazine columnist and new wave rock-n-roll performer Lance Loud dies of liver failure as a result of hepatitis C and a co-infection with HIV, aged 50, in Los Angeles, California, USA.