January 8 – Lady Gaga's debut single "Just Dance" hits number one on the Billboard Hot 100 after 22 weeks – the second longest climb to number one, since the Creed single, "With Arms Wide Open", in November 2000 (27 weeks).[1]
January 29 – Madonna announces that she will extend her record-breaking Sticky & Sweet Tour during summer 2009, to visit cities that were excluded during the first run. The tour kicked off at The O2 in London on July 4. The extension took the Sticky & Sweet Tour to a total of over 80 shows, putting it among the top five tours of all time.[7]
At the Grammys, Blink-182 announced their reunion and reunion tour after a five-year hiatus.[12]
R&B singer Chris Brown is arrested after he physically assaulted his then girlfriend, Rihanna. He is charged with assault and making criminal threats, and received five years of probation.
February 12 — "Crack a Bottle", performed by Eminem, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent, sets a new record for opening week download sales in the United States, at 418,000 copies. The previous record (335,000) was set by "Live Your Life".[13]
Billboard announces that Madonna is the highest-earning entertainer of 2008, with US$242,176,466, mostly from her sold-out Sticky & Sweet Tour.[14]
February 13 – Drake releases his third official mixtape So Far Gone, which goes on to become recognized as one of the best modern mixtapes and Drake's launch into mainstream success.[citation needed]
February 18 – Flo Rida breaks his own record when his single "Right Round" is downloaded 636,000 units in the opening week. His 2008 chart-topper "Low" set the previous record for most downloaded song with 467,000 units sold in the first week of release.[15]
March 5 – Michael Jackson announces his last concert series, This Is It to be held at The O2 in London. The concerts are never held due to Jackson's death three months later.
March 11 – Tickets go on sale for Michael Jackson's This Is It series, 10 shows extended to 50 shows and impressively all 50 dated sold out in under four hours making them the fastest selling concerts ever in history.
April 1 – Lady Gaga becomes the first artist since Christina Aguilera in 1999/2000 to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with their first two chart entries ("Just Dance" and "Poker Face").
April 4 – The 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony takes place, welcoming new inductees Little Anthony & The Imperials, Bobby Womack, Run-D.M.C., and Metallica. Metallica, citing the drama surrounding Blondie, Black Sabbath, and Van Halen's inductions, includes Cliff Burton and Jason Newsted both former bassists for the band in the induction.[18] Newsted also performs with band in its first rendition as a 5-piece band featuring two bass guitarists.[19]
April 7 – Jadakiss released his first studio in five years, The Last Kiss.
April 12 – Carrie Underwood's "I Told You So", from her album Carnival Ride, becomes her tenth straight number one in the country songs chart, making her the only country artist in history to have their first 10 singles reach number one.
April 14 – Fastball released their first studio album in five years, Little White Lies.
April 27 – Creed announced their reunion, new album and tour after a five-year break. They break up for a second time in 2013, only to reunite again in July 2023.
Roughly two weeks before his This Is It series of concerts is scheduled to begin, Michael Jacksondies in his Los Angeles home of an accidental overdose of propofil and benzodiazepines, later discovered to be the result of medical malpractice by his personal physician, Conrad Murray. The American music icon's passing triggers a surge in posthumous sales making him the best selling artist of the year, with 35 million albums sold worldwide in the months following his death.[23][24]
July 13 – Lady Gaga becomes the first artist to have three songs from a debut album to reach number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 since Fergie's The Dutchess.
July 17-21 – Paul McCartney performs three sold-out concerts at Citi Field to open the stadium with opening act, The Script. This is because on August 15, 1965, The Beatles performed the first concert at Shea Stadium and McCartney joined Billy Joel on stage a year ago for the last concert there. Joel joined McCartney again on the first night.
August 8 – Meghan Lindsay and Josh Jones of Steel Magnolia won the second season of CMT's Can You Duet. Brandon Green and Jonathan Cox of JB Rocket were named runner-up.
September 8 – Phish released their first studio album in five years, Joy.
September 13 – The MTV Video Music Awards took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. During Taylor Swift's acceptance speech for Best Female Video, Kanye West interrupts on her stage her saying, that Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time. He was referring to Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)". West was removed from the show.[26]
October 6 — KISS released their first studio album in 11 years, Sonic Boom.[29]
October 15 – Britney Spears's "3" enters the Billboard Hot 100 at number one, her third number one on Billboard Hot 100 and the first non-American Idol related single to enter the chart at number one since 1999.[30]
October 27 – Creed released their first studio album in eight years, Full Circle.
October 28 – Michael Jackson's This Is It, featuring behind the scenes footage in the days before his death, is released. It enters the chart at No. 1, and becomes the best selling documentary of all time, raising over $250 million.
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^Gallo, Phil (January 18, 2009). "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration". Variety. RBI. Retrieved February 8, 2009.
^Lamb, Nicola (January 20, 2009). "Masses pour into Washington to witness history in the making". The New Zealand Herald.
^"At Last! The Obamas Dance Into History". ABC News. January 19, 2010. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
^Pietrioluongo, Silvio (January 28, 2009). "Kelly Clarkson Breaks Record For Hot 100 Jump". Billboard. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
^Soergel, Matt. "Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboard player Billy Powell dead at 56 Archived December 2, 2017, at the Wayback Machine", The Florida Times-Union, January 28, 2009. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
^Waddell, Ray (January 29, 2009). "Madonna Resuming Her Sticky & Sweet Tour This Summer". Billboard. Retrieved January 29, 2009.
^Itzkoff, Dave (February 2, 2009). "Super Bowl Performances Used Recorded Tracks". The New York Times (ArtsBeat blog).
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^Caramanica, Jon (February 1, 2009). "The Boss Takes Over Halftime, With a Few Edits but Little Imagination". The New York Times.
^ abLeahey, Andrew. "The Fray – The Fray > Overview". AllMusic. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
^Kaufman, Gil (February 8, 2009). "Blink-182 Confirm Reunion on Grammy Stage". MTV News. Archived from the original on February 10, 2009. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
^"Eminem's 'Bottle' Breaks Digital Record". Billboard. December 5, 2008. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
^"Madonna Tops 2009 Music Money Makers List". Billboard. December 12, 2008. Retrieved February 12, 2009.
^"Flo Rida Topples Single-Week Download Mark". Billboard. September 14, 2009. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
^"Singer Page leaves Barenaked band". BBC News. February 26, 2009. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
^"Britney Spears Makes Concert Return". Billboard. September 14, 2009. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
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^"Videos – Shows – Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame". Fuse.tv. Archived from the original on March 18, 2009. Retrieved February 1, 2010.
^ abPaul, Aubin (March 30, 2009). "Rancid announce 'Let The Dominoes Fall' for June". Punknews.org. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
^ ab"Black Eyed Peas Album Nears 'The E.N.D.'". Billboard.com. October 9, 2008. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
^"Michael Jackson Music News & Info". Billboard. June 21, 2010. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
^"Taylor Swift Edges Susan Boyle For 2009's Top-Selling Album". Billboard. January 6, 2010. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
^"Vocalist Jim Lindberg leaves Pennywise". Punknews.org. August 21, 2009. Retrieved February 1, 2010.
^Respers, Lisa (September 14, 2009). "Anger over West's disruption at MTV awards". CNN. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
^ ab"Black Gives Way to Blue". All Music. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
^"Austin City Limits Music Festival : October 8–10, 2010 : Austin, TX : Zilker Park". Aclfestival.com. Retrieved February 1, 2010.
^ abGraff, Gary. "Kiss Makes Sonic Boom Set a Wal-Mart Exclusive". billboard.com. August 17, 2009.
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^Thornton, Stephanie (March 1, 2009). "Oh No, Not Stereo – 003 – CD Review". Racket Magazine. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
^Masters, Marc (January 19, 2019). "Antony and the Johnsons: The Crying Light". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
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^"Allison Iraheta's "Just like You" Goes for Pre-Order". Content.usatoday.com. May 16, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
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