1991 in music

The most important event in music in 1991 is, by far, the popular breakthrough of grunge music. Nirvana's Nevermind, led by the surprise hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit", became the most popular album of the year. Followed immediately by other grunge bands like Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, grunge dominated the charts for the next few years. Its success effectively ended pop-oriented hair metal groups like Guns 'n Roses, Poison and Def Leppard, whose sales and critical viability had been declining for years.

A Tribe Called Quest's Low End Theory was 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, helped define what came to be known as alternative rap with important releases this year.

The massive success of Garth Brooks in this year sets the stage for the mid-1990s influx of pop-oriented country musicians. In addition, several soon-to-be pivotal bands form or release debuts, including future pioneers in riot grrl punk (Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Huggy Bear), jam bands (.moe, Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Spin Doctors) and stoner metal (Kyuss, Sleep, Obsessed). Massive Attack's Blue Lines, while unique at the time, invented the sound that would eventually become known as trip hop. Entombed's Clandestine and Dismember's Like an Ever Flowing Stream are early releases from the Scandinavian metal scene. U2 release their seventh album Achtung Baby, considered by many of their fans to be their best album.

Events

January 18 - Three people are crushed to death during an AC/DC concert in Salt Lake City, Utah when audience members rushed the stage.
February 27 - James Brown is granted an early parole and released from jail. Brown had been arrested after leading Police on a high speed chase through two states in 1989
March to June - Pearl Jam records Ten, which will be a blockbuster album in August
March 11 - Janet Jackson signs a $30 million contract with Virgin Records.
March 20 - Michael Jackson signs a $1 billion contract with Sony.
March 20 - Eric Clapton's 4 year old son, Conor, dies after falling 53 stories from a New York City apartment window. (The death of his son would inspire Clapton to write "Tears in Heaven.")
March 24 - The Black Crowes are dropped as the opening act of ZZ Top's tour for repeatedly insulting the tour's sponsor, Miller Beer.
March 27 - New Kids on the Block's Donnie Wahlberg is arrested in Louisville, Kentucky for allegedly setting his hotel room on fire.
March 28 - George Harrison, Phil Collins and others attend funeral services for Eric Clapton's 4 year old son, Conor, who died on March 20.
Whitney Houston sings the "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Superbowl. The recording is then released and becomes a hit single.
Britney Spears appears on Star Search
Cradle of Filth forms
Dave Matthews Band forms
Perry Farrell organizes the first Lollapalooza tour as a farewell for his just-dissolved band, Jane's Addiction
.moe forms
Bratmobile forms
Digable Planets forms
Huggy Bear forms
Stabbing Westward forms in Chicago
Nas joins Main Source
The Pharcyde signs to Delicious Vinyl, their first label
Garth Brooks crosses over to the mainstream
Jermaine Dupri discovers Kris Kross performing at a mall in Atlanta
Rancid forms in Berkeley, California
Fear Factory's carrer begins
Tool's career begins
Vertical Horizon's carrer begins

Albums Released

Derelicts of Dialect - 3rd Bass
Facelift - Alice in Chains
To Mother - Babes in Toyland
Prince of Darkness - Big Daddy Kane
Midnight Radio - Big Head Todd & the Monsters
Revolution Girl Style Now - Bikini Kill (debut, independent demo cassette)
I Need a Haircut - Biz Markie
Travelers and Thieves - Blues Traveler
Ropin' the Wind - Garth Brooks
Nothing but a Burning Light - Bruce Cockburn
Ceremony - The Cult
Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill (debut)
De La Soul Is Dead - De La Soul
I Wish My Brother George Was Here - Del Tha Funkee Homosapien
Green Mind - Dinosaur Jr.
On Every Street - Dire Straits
Like an Ever Flowing Stream - Dismember
Homebase - DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince
And Now the Legacy Begins - Dream Warriors
Clandestine - Entombed
Infrared Roses - The Grateful Dead
Step in the Arena - Gang Starr
Hooked - Great White
39/Smooth - Green Day
Use Your Illusion I - Guns N' Roses
Use Your Illusion II - Guns N' Roses
Pretty on the Inside - Hole
O.G. Original Gangster - Ice-T
Dangerous - Michael Jackson
Catfish Rising - Jethro Tull
Face the Nation - Kid 'n Play (final album)
Funke, Funke Wisdom - Kool Moe Dee
Wretch - Kyuss
Smell the Magic - L7
Future Without a Past - Leaders of the New School (debut)
Blue Lines - Massive Attack
Bullhead - Melvins
Eggnog - Melvins
Metallica - Metallica
Lean Into It - Mr. Big
Loveless - My Bloody Valentine (final album)
Sexplosion! - My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult
Nevermind - Nirvana
Niggaz4life - N.W.A.
Lunar Womb - Obsessed
No More Tears - Ozzy Osbourne
Ten - Pearl Jam
Pennywise - Pennywise
A Picture of Nectar - Phish
Lawn Boy - Phish
Trompe Le Monde - Pixies (final album before disbanding)
Swallow This Live - Poison
Pure Poverty - Poor Righteous Teachers
Apocalypse 91 the Enemy Strikes Black - Public Enemy
Luck of the Draw - Bonnie Raitt
Scamboogery - Scatterbrain
Mack Daddy - Sir Mix-A-Lot
Wayward Sons of Mother Earth - Skyclad
Volume One - Sleep (debut)
Gish - Smashing Pumpkins (final album)
Badmotorfinger - Soundgarden
Pocket Full of Kryptonite - Spin Doctors
Temple of the Dog - Temple of the Dog
Psychotic Supper - Tesla
The Real Ramona - Throwing Muses
Fear - Toad the Wet Sprocket
The Low End Theory - A Tribe Called Quest
Achtung Baby - U2
The Pod - Ween
Widespread Panic - Widespread Panic

Top Hits

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana
"Something To Talk About" - Bonnie Raitt
"Wicked Game" - Chris Isaak
"Black Or White" - Michael Jackson
"Mysterious Ways" - U2
"One" - U2
"Live For Loving You" - Gloria Estefan
"Junior's Gone Wild" - King's X
"Baby, Baby" - Amy Grant
"Every Heartbeat" - Amy Grant
"Losing My Religion" - R.E.M.
"Live And Let Die" - Guns N' Roses

Births

Deaths

March 14 - Jerome Doc Pomus, songwriter, cancer
March 21 - Leo Fender, inventor of the electric guitar
April 20 - Steve Marriot, the Small Faces
September 28 - Miles Davis, musician
November 24 - Freddie Mercury, singer

Awards

The following artists are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: LaVern Baker, The Byrds, John Lee Hooker, The Impressions, Wilson Pickett, Jimmy Reed and Ike and Tina Turner