This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1994.
Events
January
February
March
- March 1 - Nirvana plays the band's final concert in Munich.
- March 3 - In Rome, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain lapses into a coma after overdosing on Rohypnol and champagne.
- March 5 - Grace Slick is arrested for pointing a shotgun at police in her Tiburon, California home.
- March 8 - Soundgarden releases Superunknown, a groundbreaking album that stands as one of the most acclaimed from that era.
- March 18 - Courtney Love calls the police fearing that her husband, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, is suicidal. Police confiscate four guns and twenty-five boxes of ammo from Cobain's home.
- March 18 - Bassist Darryl Jones replaces Bill Wyman in The Rolling Stones.
- March 30 - Pink Floyd embarks on what would be their last world tour before their breakup. The record-breaking tour supports their Division Bell album, with the band playing to 5,500,000 people in 68 cities and grossing over £150,000,000.
- March 31 - Madonna appears on The Late Show with David Letterman, making headlines for her foul mouthed, profanity laced interview. Robin Williams later described the segment as a "battle of wits with an unarmed woman."
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
Unknown Date
- Christian Olde Wolbers replaces Andrew Shives in Fear Factory.
- Jeff Burrows signed a Cymbal deal with Sabian.
- ALL parts ways with their original home Cruz Records, and signs a recording contract with Interscope (though they shortly leave that label after releasing an album in the following later).
- The Offspring frontman Dexter Holland and bassist Greg Kriesel form the label Nitro Records, which is famous for being an incubator for punk artists who have subsequently become successful, most notably AFI. The label later releases albums from classic punk bands, including The Damned and TSOL, and also reissues the first Offspring album.
- Social Distortion manager Jim Guerinot forms the label Time Bomb Recordings in joint-venture agreement with Arista. The label actually exists mostly as an imprint for current releases from Social Distortion and solo albums by Mike Ness, along with the administration of the label's back catalog.
- Brett Gurewitz leaves Bad Religion to concentrate on the fast growing Epitaph Records, leaving their singer Greg Graffin and bassist Jay Bentley the only founding members of the band still performing with the group. He was replaced by former Minor Threat/Dag Nasty guitarist Brian Baker, who turned down a touring job for R.E.M. at this time. However, Gurewitz rejoined Bad Religion in 2001 and he is still a member of the band today.
- Frank Sinatra receives the Grammy Awards Lifetime Achievement award. Sinatra's acceptance speech is cut short and other artists, upset by this action, criticize the producer's decision during the show, including Billy Joel who takes extra time to perform his song, The River of Dreams, noting that he is wasting valuable air time.
- The three surviving members of The Beatles secretly reunite to record additional music for a few of John Lennon's old unfinished demos, presented to Paul McCartney by Yoko Ono, with Jeff Lynne producing. The track, Free As A Bird, is released as a single, reaching #2 in the UK, and evolves into the exhaustive Beatles Anthology project.
- José Cura wins the Operalia – International Plácido Domingo Opera Singer Competition.
Bands formed
Bands disbanded
Bands reformed
Albums released
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Release Date Unknown
Biggest hit singles
The following songs achieved the highest chart positions in the charts of 1994.
| # |
Artist |
Title |
Year |
Country |
Chart Entries |
| 1 |
Bruce Springsteen |
Streets of Philadelphia |
1994 |
 |
Austria 1 - Apr 1994, Norway 1 - Feb 1994, Poland 1 - Feb 1994, Germany 1 - Mar 1994, Éire 1 - Mar 1994, Oscar in 1993, UK 2 - Mar 1994, Switzerland 2 - Mar 1994, Italy 3 of 1994, France 4 - Feb 1994, Holland 6 - Feb 1994, RYM 6 of 1994, Sweden 7 - Feb 1994, US BB 9 of 1994, Europe 29 of the 1990s, US BB 30 of 1994, Australia 30 of 1994, US CashBox 49 of 1994, POP 63 of 1994, AFI 68, Germany 74 of the 1990s, WXPN 837 |
| 2 |
Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart & Sting |
All For Love |
1994 |
 /  |
US BB 1 of 1994, Sweden 1 - Dec 1993, Austria 1 - Feb 1994, Switzerland 1 - Jan 1994, Norway 1 - Jan 1994, Poland 1 - Dec 1993, Germany 1 - Jan 1994, Éire 1 - Jan 1994, Australia 1 for 2 weeks Apr 1994, UK 2 - Jan 1994, Holland 3 - Jan 1994, US BB 9 of 1994, Italy 9 of 1994, Australia 10 of 1994, US CashBox 22 of 1994, POP 25 of 1994, Germany 87 of the 1990s |
| 3 |
Rednex |
Cotton Eye Joe |
1994 |
 |
UK 1 - Dec 1994, US BB 1 of 1995, Holland 1 - Aug 1994, Sweden 1 - Aug 1994, Austria 1 - Oct 1994, Switzerland 1 - Oct 1994, Norway 1 - Oct 1994, Germany 1 - Jan 1995, New Zealand 1 for 6 weeks Mar 1995, POP 1 of 1995, Germany 18 of the 1990s, US BB 25 of 1995, Australia 41 of 1995, Party 54 of 2007, Scrobulate 72 of party |
| 4 |
All-4-One |
I Swear |
1994 |
|
US BB 1 of 1994, Holland 1 - Jul 1994, Austria 1 - Aug 1994, Switzerland 1 - Jul 1994, Germany 1 - Jul 1994, New Zealand 1 for 6 weeks Jul 1994, Australia 1 for 5 weeks Nov 1994, UK 2 - Jun 1994, Norway 2 - Jul 1994, Australia 2 of 1994, US CashBox 3 of 1994, Sweden 3 - Aug 1994, US BB 7 of 1994, Poland 14 - Jul 1994, Germany 39 of the 1990s, OzNet 657 |
| 5 |
Mariah Carey |
Without You |
1994 |
|
UK 1 - Feb 1994, Holland 1 - Feb 1994, Sweden 1 - Feb 1994, Austria 1 - Apr 1994, Switzerland 1 - Apr 1994, Poland 1 - Feb 1994, Germany 1 - Mar 1994, Éire 1 - Feb 1994, New Zealand 1 for 1 weeks Apr 1994, US BB 3 of 1994, Norway 3 - Mar 1994, US CashBox 15 of 1994, Australia 15 of 1994, Germany 25 of the 1990s, POP 37 of 1994 |
Top hits
See also: Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1994
Classical music
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