This topic covers notable events and articles related to 2008 in music. This year was the peak of record sales in the United States, with sales declining year on year since then.
Specific locations 2008 in American music 2008 in British music 2008 in Canadian music 2008 in European music (Continental Europe) 2008 in Irish music 2008 in Japanese music 2008 in New Zealand music 2008 in Norwegian music 2008 in Scandinavian music 2008 in Swedish music 2008 in South Korean music 2008 in West African music
Specific genres 2008 in rock music 2008 in classical music 2008 in country music 2008 in electro pop music 2008 in heavy metal music 2008 in hip-hop 2008 in jazz 2008 in Latin music 2008 in opera 2008 in progressive rock
Events January January 1 – Julia Fischer makes her début as a concert pianist, performing Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie at the Alte Oper, Frankfurt. The concert was conducted by Matthias Pintscher, who replaced Sir Neville Marriner. On the same occasion she also performed the Violin Concerto no. 3 in B minor by Camille Saint-Saëns.Arno Widmann: "Julia Fischer: Virtuosissima!!!", Frankfurter Rundschau, 2 January 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2012 January 5 – The Salzburg Festival launches the "Herbert von Karajan Jubilee Year" with a concert in Salzburg's Grosses Festspielhaus.Agence France Presse, January 4, 2008. January 19–February 3 – Rage Against the Machine headline the Big Day Out festivals in Australia and New Zealand, their first shows outside the United States since reforming, and their first Australian shows in 12 years. They join co-headliners Björk, who pulled out of the Sydney festival under doctor's orders, and Arcade Fire. January 29 – Face to Face announce that they will reunite for select shows in the US and internationally. January 31 – Laura Attwood of the King Edward VI School in Morpeth wins the second Eileen Bowler Award.Anon., "Top Music Award for Morpeth Girl ", The Morpeth Herald (January 31, 2008).
February February 8 – Michael Jackson's Thriller album, the world's best-selling album of all time, is reissued as Thriller 25 to celebrate its 25th anniversary, with Jackson himself as executive producer. February 10 – The 50th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony takes place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, US.Official Grammy site Amy Winehouse wins five awards, including both Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "Rehab", along with Best New Artist. Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters wins Album of the Year. February 11 – After pleading no contest to a felony weapons charge, The Game was sentenced to 60 days in jail, 150 hours of community service, and three years of probation in connection with an incident where he was alleged to have brandished a gun at a basketball game in South Los Angeles in February 2007. February 19 – System of a Down guitarist, Daron Malakian, tells MTV.com that the band is not likely to reform as he will be concentrating on his new project Scars on Broadway. February 20–25 – Viña del Mar International Song Festival is held in Chile. February 23 – March 3 – The second annual Soundwave festival is held in Australia. February 26 – The Return of the Spice Girls tour comes to a close in Toronto.
March March 6–9 – The 2008 Langerado Music Festival is held on the Big Cypress Indian Reservation in southern Florida.Welcome to Langerado!: Langerado Music Festival March 6–9, 2008 Big Cypress, FL: Home March 7 – The Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival 2008 takes place in Indonesia. March 7–16 – The 2008 South by Southwest Conference and Festival is held in Austin, Texas, US. March 11 Jazz musician and broadcaster Humphrey Lyttelton announces his retirement from presenting BBC Radio 2's jazz programme after forty years. Rick Ross releases his second studio album, Trilla, to mixed reviews. March 25–29 – Miami Winter Music Conference. March 31 – theJazz radio station stops broadcasting.BBC News: "Two GCap digital stations closed", 11 February 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
April April 1 – Scott Weiland's departure from rock band Velvet Revolver becomes official. His reunion with his former band, Stone Temple Pilots, and tensions between him and the rest of Velvet Revolver, led to his departure. April 5 The reunited Face to Face perform together for the first time in four-and-a-half-years at The Bamboozle Left in Irvine, California, US. Leona Lewis single "Bleeding Love" reached number 1 in 35 countries and became the first song to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart by a female British solo artist in 20 years since Kim Wilde did with "You Keep Me Hangin On" back in 1987. Her single was later proclaimed as the best selling single of 2008 worldwide and Lewis was named Top New Artist by Billboard. April 12 – "Touch My Body" becomes Mariah Carey's 18th number 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, putting her into second place among artists with the most number 1 singles in the rock era, and first place as a solo artist, surpassing Elvis Presley. April 15 – Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa officially proclaims Mariah Carey Day in Los Angeles, California, US. On this day, Mariah Carey also releases E=MC², her eleventh studio album. It debuts at #1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with the highest first-week sales of her career. April 20 – Garth Brooks inducted Steven Curtis Chapman on Music City Walk of Fame. April 22 – Andrey Baranov of Russia wins First Prize in the Second Benjamin Britten International Violin Competition in London.Main International Violin Competitions ; The Second Benjamin Britten International Violin Competition, London, April 14–22, 2008 .
May May 3 – The sixth annual The Bamboozle festival opens at the Meadowlands Sports Complex, East Rutherford, New Jersey, US. May 10–11 – Garth Brooks inducted Carrie Underwood on Grand Ole Opry. The Give It A Name 2008 festival is held at Earls Court, London, UK. May 14 – The "Spirit of Change" Gospel Choir celebrates its tenth anniversary with the 20th Zündorfer Gospelnacht concert in the Catholic Parish Church of St. Mariae Geburt, in Zündorf.Roland Schriefer, "Sänger zeigen viel Gefühl: Chor feiert zehnjähriges Bestehen mit 20. Zündorfer Gospelnacht", Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (May 15, 2008); Nadine Hantke, "Eine Erfolgsgeschichte: 'Spirit of Chance' feierte bei 20. Gospelnacht Geburtstag" Kölnische Rundschau (May 15, 2008); K. M., "'Spirit of Change' feierte 10. Geburtstag", Porz Aktuell (May 28, 2008). May 21 – David Cook defeats David Archuleta to win season 7 of American Idol, in a contest decided by 97.5 million votes, a record for the show. May 24 – 43 countries compete in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest final in Belgrade, Serbia, including newcomers San Marino and Azerbaijan. The contest is won by Russia, with Believe by Dima Bilan. May 24–26 – The Sasquatch! Music Festival is held over Memorial Day weekend at The Gorge Amphitheatre in central Washington, US. May 25 – The Slovak preliminary round of the first Bluegrass competition (toward the annual Czech Festival Banjo Jamboree) is held in Hviezdoslavovo námestie, Bratislava."Koncerty 2008/05 ", Twin City Magazín (Bratislava) (April 2008).
June June 1 Westlife play their 10th anniversary concert at Europe's fourth biggest stadium, Croke Park, in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. A fire at Universal Studios in Universal City, California, destroys as many as 175,000 master tapes containing as many as half a million songs by 20th and 21st century artists, some of which had never been released or digitized. The full extent of the damage was not made public until 2019. June 6-8 – The 2008 Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival is held at Clinton State Park near Lawrence, Kansas, US. June 10 – Lil Wayne's sixth album Tha Carter III sells 1 million copies in its first week of release. June 12–15 – The 2008 Bonnaroo Music Festival is held in Manchester, Tennessee, US. June 13–15 The seventh Isle of Wight Festival takes place in Seaclose Park, Newport, Isle of Wight, UK. The annual Download Festival takes place at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England. The main stage was headlined by Kiss, The Offspring and Lostprophets, the Tuborg stage by Simple Plan, HIM and Cavalera Conspiracy, and the Gibson stage by The Dillinger Escape Plan, Testament and Jonathan Davis and the SFA. June 15 – E. Kallai from Hungary wins First Prize in the 11th Carl Fleisch International Violin Competition in Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary. June 20 – My Bloody Valentine play their first reunion show at the Roundhouse, London, UK. June 27–29 – The Eidgenössiches Jodlerfest is held in Lucerne.Petra Hofmann, "Eidgenössiches Jodlerfest vom 27. Juni 2008 – 29. Juni 2008 in Luzern " . Retrieved January 7, 2010. June 29 – Release of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, the first video game in the Guitar Hero series to be based around a single music group.
July July 3 – Opening of the O2 Wireless Festival in Hyde Park, London, UK. July 5 – Staatsminister Rainer Robra and Halberstadt Oberbürgermeister Andreas Henke preside as the notes A and C are added in the sixth sound change of the performance of John Cage's Organ²/ASLSP (As SLow aS Possible) that began on 5 September 2001 and is to conclude on 5 September 2640, in Halberstadt, Germany."Orgelmarathon: Endlich neue TöneDie Zeit (7 July 2008). July 23–26 – The 2008 10,000 Lakes Festival is held. July 24–25 – The Splendour in the Grass music festival is held in Byron Bay, Australia, headlined by Devo and Wolfmother. July 24–28 – The Fifth International Symposium of throat-singing, "Khoomei—Cultural Phenomenon of the Peoples of Central Asia" is held in Tuva.Ministry of Culture of Tuva, "Tuva Preparing to Host Throat Singing Admirers from all over the World" (July 11, 2008). Retrieved January 7, 2010.
August August 8 – Chen Qigang is director of music for the 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing. A minor scandal ensues when it is revealed that Lin Miaoke, the performer of "Ode to the Motherland", was miming to a recording by another girl, Yang Peiyi. August 12–18 – Sziget Festival 2008 takes place in Budapest, Hungary. August 13 – Jeff Singer quits Paradise Lost. August 16 - Madonna celebrates her 50th birthday. August 19 – LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band, dies from complications from an ATV accident suffered earlier in the summer. August 30 Filipino rock band Eraserheads hold their one-night-only reunion concert in the Fort open field, their first concert since 2001. After the 20-minute break, vocalist Ely Buendia is rushed to the hospital because of chest pain due to emotional stress. American Idol Season 7 runner-up David Archuleta's debut single "Crush" scores the highest debut of a song on the Billboard Hot 100 by an American Idol finalist not performed on the show. The track opened at No. 2 after selling 166,000 downloads in its first week of release.
September September 6 – Six members of The Specials re-unite at the Bestival as a 'Surprise Act'. They use the name "Terry Hall and Friends", because Jerry Dammers, who owns the band's name, did not participate. September 7 – The 2008 MTV Video Music Awards are presented at Paramount Studios, Hollywood. Britney Spears' wins Video of the Year, Best Pop Video, and Best Female Video for "Piece of Me". Christina Aguilera also made her return to music since giving birth to her first child with the debut of her single Keeps Gettin' Better. September 10 – The 22nd Annual ARIA Music Awards are held in Sydney, Australia, recognizing Australian music in 2008. Dance-punk group The Presets win Album of the Year. September 11 – Christian Älvestam leaves Scar Symmetry. September 18 Soilwork hires former member, Peter Wichers, to replace Daniel Antonsson, who is fired.