The following is a list of notable music events and releases that occurred in 2010 in the United States.
Events January 1 – Frontman Chris Cornell announces the reunion of Soundgarden. Drummer Travis Barker announces that the Transplants would reunite for a new album and tour. 7 – Lady Gaga becomes the first artist in the survey's 17-year history to send her first five singles to number one on the Billboard Pop Songs chart with her single "Bad Romance". 11 – System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian makes a Twitter post, which read: "Are u guys ready for System???", leading to speculation of a reunion. However, weeks later, frontman Serj Tankian stated that System of a Down's hiatus is not over yet while adding: "We always have offers to play, from festivals and stuff, but we have not decided to do anything as of yet". 13 – R&B and soul legend Teddy Pendergrass dies at age 59. Jay Reatard is found dead in his sleep at the age of 29, with the cause of death being cocaine intoxication. 18 – The surviving members of Sublime settle their lawsuit over use of the band's name. The new version of Sublime (featuring Rome Ramirez, Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh) performed together as Sublime with Rome (up until their dissolution in 2024). 22 – Hope for Haiti Now telethon. Featuring performances from Wyclef Jean, Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Shakira, Sting, Alicia Keys, Dave Matthews, Neil Young, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Emeline Michel, Keith Urban, Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow, Coldplay, Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z, and Rihanna. 27 – Hope for Haiti Now becomes the first digital-only album to top Billboard 200 albums chart and the largest pre-order album on iTunes until broken in 2012 by Madonna's album MDNA. The album sold 171,000 copies in two days of release and since then became available on Amazon.com and Rhapsody. 29 – The Red Hot Chili Peppers make their live comeback with new guitarist, Josh Klinghoffer, paying tribute to Neil Young at MusiCares. 31 – The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards were held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Beyoncé breaks a record, winning 6 Grammys in one night, including Song of The Year for "Single Ladies (Put A Ring on It)". Taylor Swift wins 4 Grammys, including Album of The Year for Fearless. At just 20 years old Swift became the youngest ever winner of Album of the Year.
February 4 – Justice Jacobson ruled Larrikin's copyright had been infringed because the Men at Work song "Down Under" reproduced "a substantial part of "Kookaburra"". 12 – The remake of the 1985 song "We Are The World" for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake debuts during the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics. 14 – Doug Fieger, frontman of The Knack, dies of cancer at the age of 57. 16 – Zoli Téglás (of Ignite) officially becomes the new singer of Pennywise, replacing Jim Lindberg who left last August. 18 – The charity single "We Are the World 25 for Haiti" debuted at No. 2 on Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with 267,000 digital downloads and debuted at No. 1 on Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart.
March March 15 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions, Waldorf Astoria Hotel, NYC. Lady Gaga becomes the first artist in the survey's 17-year history to send her first six singles to number-one (let alone six consecutive singles) on Billboard Pop Songs chart when her single "Telephone" jumped to number one. 17–21 – South By South West Festival takes place in Austin, Texas. 18 – Rihanna's "Rude Boy" reaches No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her sixth no. 1 tying her fifth among females to reach no. 1 in the US, and making her the female with the most no. 1 singles since 2000. 20 – Jughead's Revenge perform their first reunion show at the Scotland Yard Pub in Canoga Park, California.
April 1 – Canadian teen pop/R&B singer Justin Bieber debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 after the release of his latter debut studio album My World 2.0. At sixteen years old, it makes him the youngest solo male act to top the chart since 1963 when Stevie Wonder did with The 12 Year Old Genius, and the first artist to occupy two top five spots on the chart since Nelly in 2004. With the album, Bieber also became the second youngest artist overall to achieve the number one, only being beaten out by a fifteen-year-old Miley Cyrus in 2008 with Breakout. 14 – Type O Negative singer and bassist Peter Steele dies of heart failure at age 48. 18 – The 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards took place in Las Vegas. Carrie Underwood became the first female in history to win Entertainer of the Year twice, as well as consecutively. 19 – Gangstarr emcee Guru suffered a heart attack, went into a coma, and died at age 48. 20 – Sublime with Rome, the new version of the defunct ska punk band with the same name, began their first world tour together, with possible new material to follow.
May 4 – Bone Thugs-n-Harmony released their reunion album with all original five members entitled Uni5: The World's Enemy. – Deftones released their first studio album in nearly four years, Diamond Eyes. It is their first album without original bassist Chi Cheng following his November 2008 car crash which eventually led to his death in April 2013. 11 – Social Distortion sign a deal with Epitaph Records, who would release the band's first album since 2004's Sex, Love and Rock 'n' Roll in the fall. The album's release would later be delayed to January 2011. 22-23 – Rock on the Range in Columbus, Ohio, sets its festival attendance record with over 60,000 attendees over the two-day event. 24 – Slipknot bassist Paul Gray dies in an Iowa hotel room from an accidental overdose 26 – Lee DeWyze is crowned winner of the ninth season of American Idol while Crystal Bowersox is named runner-up.
June 4 – Christina Aguilera released her fourth studio album Bionic, and debuts No. 3 on the Billboard 200, charting within the top ten, the album became Aguilera's fifth straight top ten album, selling 110,000 copies in its first week. Bionic is the first studio album in four years since Back to Basics (2006). 15 – Devo releases Something for Everybody, their first album in 20 years. 21 – Rap superstar Eminem releases his seventh album Recovery in the U.S. which spent seven weeks at number one on billboard's top 200 and was the top selling album of 2010. 29 – Drake is sued by Playboy Enterprises over the use of the 1974 song "Fallin' In Love" by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds in Drake's 2009 hit "Best I Ever Had." Playboy, which owns the rights to "Fallin' In Love," claims Drake used the song's sample without permission and is seeking to claim any profits made from the Drake single."Drake Being Sued By Playboy" from All Access (June 29, 2010)
July 6 – Enrique Iglesias released his first bilingual album Euphoria with contained equal amount of original English and Spanish tracks with two different singles successfully released to English and Latin formats simultaneously. 7 – Due to poor sales and possibly a decline in ratings and interest in this season's installment, the accompanying "American Idols LIVE! Tour 2010" cancels eight of its 38 shows."'American Idol' tour cuts eight shows" New York Post July 7, 2010 Former Beatle Ringo Starr and his eleventh All-Starr Band perform at Radio City Music Hall for his seventieth birthday. During the closing song, "With a Little Help from My Friends" into "Give Peace a Chance", there were the following special guests: Steven Van Zandt, Nils Lofgren, Billy Squier, Men at Work's Colin Hay, Dr. John, Ray Davies, Zak Starkey (his son and The Who drummer), and Yoko Ono. His grandsons came out and gave him a birthday cake Ludwig drum set. Just when he thought the show was over, Paul McCartney came out and performed the Beatles classic, "Birthday". 13 – Korn's ninth studio album, Korn III: Remember Who You Are, debuts at number 2 on the Billboard 200 with 63,000 copies sold in its first week. Former fill-in drummer Ray Luzier is appointed as a permanent member of the band, confirming David Silveria's departure in 2006.
August 4 – Taylor Swift's lead single, "Mine" leaks and later Big Machine Record releases it on iTunes, becoming No. 1 after only 5 hours. It set a record for the fastest climbing song to number one.
September 12 – Lady Gaga sweeps the Video Music Awards, winning 8 awards, 7 for her "Bad Romance" video, and Best Collaboration for her song "Telephone" with Beyoncé. Gaga also gave an acceptance speech for Video of the Year in a dress made entirely of meat, she also announced the title of her third album, Born This Way which was released in May 2011. Lady Gaga was nominated for 13 VMA awards, the most in the show's history, and another 5 nominations for her contribution to Beyoncé's "Video Phone". Also, Justin Bieber won the award for Best New Artist, making him the youngest person to ever win a VMA.
October 5 – Chiodos released Illuminaudio, their only studio album to feature Brandon Bolmer (Yesterdays Rising) on lead vocals.
November 10 – The 44th Annual CMA Awards took place at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. 11 – The 11th Annual Latin Grammy Awards took place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. 21 – At the 2010 American Music Awards, Justin Bieber won all four of his nominations, including the award for Artist of The Year, becoming the youngest person in the show's 37-year history to win the award at 16.
December 9 – Jim Morrison, the former lead singer of The Doors, is granted a posthumous pardon, 39 years after his death. The pardon relates to a six-month prison sentence for indecent exposure handed to Morrison in 1969, following a performance in Miami earlier that year. Morrison had appealed his sentence, and died in 1971 without the matter being legally resolved. 18 – Josh and Zac Farro announce their exit from the band Paramore.
Bands formed
Bad Books Black Cards The Black Pacific Broadside Cali Swag District Car Seat Headrest Chastity Belt Cults The Damned Things Deafheaven Death Grips D.R.U.G.S. Flatbush Zombies Florida Georgia Line Friends Gayngs Giovannie and the Hired Guns Guards How to Destroy Angels Joywave JR JR The Julie Ruin Karmin Lord Huron Low Cut Connie Milo Greene MKTO The Mowgli's Niki and the Dove Parquet Courts Porches Real Friends State Champs Steve Taylor & The Perfect Foil Tedeschi Trucks Band Teen Tennis This Wild Life A Thousand Horses Times of Grace Turnstile Vacationer Whirr Widowspeak Wild Flag WZRD
Bands reformed
Adema Alabama Allister Autopsy Bone Thugs-n-Harmony Cap'n Jazz (touring only) The Cars The Dismemberment Plan (touring only) Dixie Chicks (touring only) The Dresden Dolls Fuel Guided by Voices (touring only) Hole Jughead's Revenge (touring only) Kumbia Kings Murderdolls Pavement (touring only) Piebald (touring only) The Receiving End of Sirens Revis Scars on Broadway Something Corporate Soundgarden Supercute! Swans System of a Down (touring in 2011) TLC Transplants Ugly Kid Joe Vatican Commandos Vendetta Red Yellowcard
Bands on hiatus Breaking Benjamin Fall Out Boy (hiatus reconfirmed by band members in February after rumors of permanent breakup) Fear Before From First to Last Japanese Motors The Killers Poison the Well Pussycat Dolls Saving Jane Slipknot Static-X Straylight Run Them Crooked Vultures
Bands disbanded
1997 As Tall as Lions Big Star Brooks & Dunn Casiotone for the Painfully Alone Copeland Crime in Stereo Crossbreed Dio Dirty Little Rabbits Elefant Envy on the Coast The Exies Eyedea & Abilities The Fall of Troy Far Finch Gwen Stacy Heaven & Hell Isis The Jesus Lizard KSM Little Brother Low vs Diamond Lydia Magna-Fi Meese Metro Station Mudvayne My Favorite Highway The Number Twelve Looks Like You Pavement Pretty Balanced Psyclon Nine Remy Zero Revolting Cocks