List of years in music (Table)
… 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 •    1999 • 2000 • 2001 – 2002 – 2003 • 2004 • 2005 •    2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 …
Related time period or subjects
… 1999 • 2000 • 2001 – 2002 – 2003 • 2004 • 2005 … … 1970s • 1980s • 1990s – 2000s – 2010s • 2020s • 2030s … … 20th century – 21st century – 22nd century …
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See also:

• 2002 in music (UK)
• Musical groups established in 2002
• Record labels established in 2002
• 2002 (band)

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Events

In western popular music, two music genres gained major popularity: the continued trend in growth of the popularity of R&B and hiphop, and rock gradually moving out of the underground. Rock, which had for the past years been dominated by nu metal bands such as Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, and pop punk acts such as Blink-182, and Green Day, began sharing the scene with other genres such as emo, which saw increasing record sales.^{citation needed} Indie also saw a slight rise in sales, with increasing awareness in bands from the Omaha, Nebraska, USA indie scene.^{citation needed} The year also saw the rise of bands like The White Stripes, The Strokes, and The Vines. Nirvana also made a dramatic comeback, with the song "You Know You're Right" quickly becoming a brief chart topper.^{citation needed} 2002 was the year that Nickelback rose to popularity with the success of their single "How You Remind Me".^{citation needed}

Rap continued to have mainstream success in the pop world, with Eminem's The Eminem Show becoming one of the fastest selling rap albums, alongside Nelly.^{citation needed}

• January 9 - Max Lilja leaves Apocalyptica due to difficulites towards individual projects within the group.^{citation needed}
• January 18 - Rayna Foss leaves Coal Chamber due to becoming a mother and finding Christ.^{citation needed}
• February 13 - Jennifer Lopez becomes the first singer to have a remix album J to tha L-O!: The Remixes debut at number one, selling over 156,000 copies.^{citation needed}
• March 5 - Brandy releases his highly anticipated^{citation needed} third studio album, Full Moon after taking a two year hiatus from the spotlight.
• March 7 - Burton C. Bell leaves Fear Factory due to his many dislikes of Dino Cazares. Quickly after, Fear Factory dissolves.^{citation needed}
• March 12 - Silverchair withdraw from the Gone South festival in Australia because Daniel Johns contracts reactive arthritis.^{citation needed}
• March 24 - Takahiro Nishikawa leaves Dreams Come True.^[1]
• April 5 - Layne Staley of Alice in Chains dies a mysterious death.^{citation needed}
• April 23 - Wilco's critically acclaimed^{citation needed} fourth album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, is released, debuting at #13.
• April 25 - Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes of R&B group TLC is killed when her car crashes in Honduras.
• June 5 - U.S. soul and R&B singer R. Kelly, is charged with 21 counts of having sexual intercourse with a minor after a videotape allegedly showing him engaged in sexual acts with an underage girl is broadcast on the internet.^{citation needed}
• June 15 - The Los Angeles, California radio station KROQ airs the 10th Annual of the Weenie Roast show with Bad Religion, Hoobastank, Jack Johnson, Jimmy Eat World, Moby, New Found Glory, P.O.D., Papa Roach, Puddle of Mudd, The Strokes, System of a Down, Unwritten Law, The Vines, The Violent Femmes and Rob Zombie.
• June 28–30 - The Glastonbury Festival features headline acts: Coldplay, Garbage, Stereophonics, Orbital, Roger Waters, Rod Stewart, and Air.
• July 16 - Simon & Garfunkel release the album Live In New York City, 1967, a recording of their live performance at Lincoln Center on 22 January 1967.
• July 23 - My Chemical Romance release their debut album "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love."
• September 4 - Kelly Clarkson is crowned the first winner of American Idol.
• September 11 - Marie Fredriksson of Roxette finds out she has a brain tumor.
• October 2 - Christina Aguilera releases her sexually charged music video for the lead single "Dirrty" off her sophmore album Stripped, the video sparked much controversy for its explicit concept.
• October 11–13 - The fifth Terrastock festival is held in Boston, USA.
• October 24 - Mikey "Bug" Cox is fired from Coal Chamber due to disputes with other members about his drug addiction.^{citation needed}
• October 29 - Stripped, the highly anticipated second studio album from Christina Aguilera is released. Debuting at number two on the Billboard 200 album chart; selling over 330,000 copies in its first week.
• November to December - Die Trying record their self-titled debut album, which was released on June 10, 2003.
• November 19 - After five years out of the music industry and giving birth to her first baby, Shania Twain releases her third Diamond album^{citation needed} Up!.
• November 29 - The Concert For George is held at the Royal Albert Hall in London as a memorial to George Harrison on the first anniversary of his death, under the musical direction of friend Eric Clapton. Performers included Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Ravi Shankar, and Billy Preston. The event benefitted the Material World Charitable Foundation.^{citation needed}
• November 30 - Popular UK girl group Girls Aloud are formed on the reality TV show Popstars: The Rivals.
• December 2 - Peter Garrett leaves Midnight Oil.
• The Area 2 Festival features headline acts Moby, David Bowie, Busta Rhymes, Ash, and Blue Man Group.
• U2 and Paul McCartney perform during the halftime show for Super Bowl XXXVI. U2's performance becomes a tribute to the victims of the September 11 terrorist attack.^{citation needed}
• Beyoncé Knowles' solo career begins.
• Deporitaz releases Dimes, his third and final album, on MP3.com.

Bands formed

• The Academy Is...
• The Aggrolites
• Aloud
• Anberlin
• Armor For Sleep
• As Cities Burn
• Asesino
• Assembly of Dust
• Avoid One Thing
• Be Your Own Pet
• Box Car Racer
• Carbon/Silicon
• Deathride a.k.a. DevilDriver
• Double Dagger
• Fear Before the March of Flames
• From First to Last
• Gatsbys American Dream
• Girls Aloud
• House of Heroes
• The Killers
• Kipelov
• LCD Soundsystem
• Little Brazil
• Magica
• Mañana
• One True Voice
• The Rakes
• Say Hi to Your Mom
• Scary Kids Scaring Kids
• Senses Fail
• Streetlight Manifesto
• The Thermals
• Two Gallants
• Ugly Casanova
• Valley of the Giants
• Velvet Revolver
• White Shoes & The Couples Company
• xDEATHSTARx

Bands disbanded

• Alice in Chains (reform in 2005)
• 59 Times The Pain
• a1
• Backstreet Boys (hiatus)
• Bardot
• Big Wreck
• Bim Skala Bim
• Bush (unofficial)
• Cast
• Coalesce
• Deporitaz
• Devourment (reform in 2005)
• Died Pretty
• Tha Dogg Pound (reform in 2006)
• Fear Factory (reform in 2004)
• Fenix TX (reform in 2005)
• Fugazi (hiatus)
• Godflesh
• Gravity Kills
• Karma To Burn
• Life Without Buildings
• Matthew Good Band
• Megadeth (reform in 2004)
• Midnight Oil
• Mr. Big
• Nobody's Angel
• Pooka
• The Promise Ring
• Red Snapper
• Run DMC
• Salt n Pepa
• Stabbing Westward

Bands reformed

• Devourment
• D.I. (after 1995 hiatus)
• Little River Band original members reform as Birtles Shorrock Goble
• Phish (after 2000 hiatus)

Albums released

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August