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This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2002.

• 2002 in British music
• 2002 in Norwegian music
• 2002 in South Korean music

• 2002 in classical music
• 2002 in country music
• 2002 in heavy metal music
• 2002 in hip hop music
• 2002 in Latin music
• 2002 in jazz
• 2002 in South Korean music

• January 1 –Eric Clapton marries his 25-year-old American girlfriend in a surprise wedding ceremony at a church in the English village ofRipley, Surrey.^[1]
• January 8 –The Black Crowes announce they are taking a hiatus.^[2]
• January 14 –Adam Ant is committed to a psychiatric hospital two days after being arrested for carrying a firearm into a London pub that Ant claims was fake.^[3]
• January 18 – RapperC-Murder is arrested and charged with second-degree murder over a fatal shooting in aHarvey, Louisiana nightclub on January 12.^[4]
• January 18–February 3 – TheBig Day Out festival takes place inAustralia andNew Zealand, headlined byThe Prodigy.
• January 23 –Virgin Records buys out its contract withMariah Carey for $28 million, essentially paying her to not record any more music for the label.^[5]
• February 3 –U2 perform during the halftime show forSuper Bowl XXXVI. U2's performance becomes a tribute to the victims of theSeptember 11 terrorist attack.
• February 4 –Kiss bassistGene Simmons has a notoriously antagonistic interview withTerry Gross onNational Public Radio. Simmons continuously baits the host with sexual come-ons throughout the interview while Gross repeatedly calls Simmons "obnoxious." Simmons refuses to grant NPR permission to post the interview online, but unauthorized transcripts and audio exist.^[6][7]
• February 13 –Jennifer Lopez becomes the first singer to have aremix album,J to tha L–O! The Remixes, debut at number one, selling over 156,000 copies.^[8]
• February 15 – US singerBritney Spears takes her first starring role inCrossroads, a teendramaroad film alongsideZoe Saldana. Although the film is largely panned, it is commercially successful, grossing $61.1 million worldwide against a $12 million budget.
• February 27 – The44th Annual Grammy Awards are presented inLos Angeles, hosted byJon Stewart. Thesoundtrack for the filmO Brother, Where Art Thou? winsAlbum of the Year, whileU2's "Walk On" winsRecord of the Year.Alicia Keys winsSong of the Year (for "Fallin'") andBest New Artist.

• March 7 –Burton C. Bell leavesFear Factory after falling out withDino Cazares. Fear Factory soon disband.
• March 12 –Silverchair withdraw from theGone South festival in Australia afterDaniel Johns contractsreactive arthritis.
• March 15 – Liverpool Airport is rechristenedLiverpool John Lennon Airport in an official ceremony.
• March 24 –Takahiro Nishikawa leavesDreams Come True.^[9]
• March 25 –Celine Dion returns to the music scene after a four-year absence with the albumA New Day Has Come.
• April 17 –Pop-punk giantsBlink-182 andGreen Day co-headline the two-monthPop Disaster Tour.
• April 22 –Sugababes release their first UK Number 1 single, a cover of Adina Howard's 1995 single Freak Like Me.
• April 25 – Member of R&B groupTLC,Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes dies in car accident in Honduras
• April 27-28 – TheCoachella Valley Music and Arts Festival takes place inCalifornia. Headlined byBjörk andOasis, the lineup also featuresThe Chemical Brothers,The Prodigy,Cake,Foo Fighters,Jack Johnson,Queens of the Stone Age,The Strokes,The Vines andBelle and Sebastian. This year marks the festival's return to its original two-day format.

• May 8 –Mariah Carey signs a new record contract withIsland Def Jam Music Group.
• May 12 –We Will Rock You, ajukebox musical based on the songs ofQueen, opens at theDominion Theatre in London, England.
• May 21 -Blink-182 guitaristTom DeLonge formspost-hardcore side-project bandBox Car Racer. Their albumBox Car Racer is released.
• May 22 – Members ofAlien Ant Farm are injured in an early morning tour bus crash in Spain that claimed the life of the driver.^[10]
• May 25 – The 47thEurovision Song Contest, held atSaku Suurhall inTallinn,Estonia, is won byLatvian singerMarie N with the song "I Wanna".
• May 26 -Eminem releasesThe Eminem Show, one of the bestselling hip-hop albums of 2002
• June 4
  • Avril Lavigne releases her debut studio album,Let Go.
  • TheProm at the Palace is held in London to commemorate theGolden Jubilee of Elizabeth II. Performers include theBBC Symphony Orchestra, theBBC Symphony Chorus,Kiri Te Kanawa,Angela Gheorghiu andRoberto Alagna.
• June 5 – U.S. soul and R&B singerR. 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.
• June 11
  • Paul McCartney marries second wifeHeather Mills in a lavish ceremony atCastle Leslie in Ireland.
  • American Idol premieres onFox.
  • Korn releases fifth-studio album,Untouchables.
  • David Bowie releases his twenty-second studio album,Heathen. The album marks a commercial comeback for Bowie in the US, becoming his highest-charting album in the country since 1984'sTonight.
• June 12 –BMG Music agrees to acquire the rest ofZomba Music Group in a deal reportedly worth $3 billion.^[11]
• June 15 – TheLos Angeles, California, USA, radio stationKROQ-FM airs the 10th AnnualWeenie Roast show withBad 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 andRob Zombie.
• June 18 –Mexican Pop-SingerPaulina Rubio, releases her sixth studio album and debut-English crossover album in the U.S., titledBorder Girl throughUniversal Records, she performed for the very first time live her hit singleDon't Say Goodbye onThe Tonight Show with Jay Leno,^[12] the album debuted at #11 on theBillboard 200 with sales of 56,000 copies becoming Rubio's highest-charting album in the U.S. It was eventuallycertified gold byRIAA, indicating sales of over 500,000 units.
• June 19 –Hikaru Utada releases the albumDeep River, which sold 2,350,170 copies in a week, debuting at number 1 on the weekly, monthly, and annualOricon album chart. This would be her third time at number 1 on the year-end rankings of that particular chart, a record for any Japanese musical act or worldwide.
• June 20 – Pop starBritney Spears, at only 20 years of age, is ranked byForbes as the world's most powerful celebrity.^[13]
• June 21-23 – The firstBonnaroo Music Festival is held in Tennessee. Performers includeWidespread Panic,Gov't Mule andNorah Jones.
• June 25 – ThePrague Philharmonic Orchestra releases an arrangement of theRomeo and Juliet 1968 film soundtrack on the Silva America label.Will Smith also comes back with the release of his third solo studio albumBorn to Reign.
• June 27 –The Who bassistJohn Entwistle is found dead in a Las Vegas hotel room on the eve of the band's new tour, aged 57.
• June 30 – TheGlastonbury Festival features headline actsColdplay,Garbage,Stereophonics,Orbital,Roger Waters,Rod Stewart, andAir.

• July 6 –Michael Jackson stages a public protest againstSony Music chairmanTommy Mottola, accusing him of taking part in a racist conspiracy within the music industry to exploit black recording artists. Sony responds with a statement calling Jackson's remarks "ludicrous, spiteful and hurtful."^[14]
• July 9 –Red Hot Chili Peppers's 8th studio albumBy The Way is released. It sold 286,000 copies in the United States during the first week, peaking at #2 onBillboard 200. It went on to sell over 2 million copies in the US, being certified double platinum by theRecording Industry Association of America.
• July 12 –Buckcherry breaks up on the heels of lead singerJosh Todd's decision to quit the group.^[15] They would reunite in 2005.
• July 20–21 – TheSplendour in the Grass music festival takes place inByron Bay,Australia, headlined byGomez andSupergrass.
• July 23 – My Chemical Romance's first album, "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love" is released to the public.
• July 28 – TheArea2 Festival, featuring headline acts Moby,David Bowie,Busta Rhymes,Ash, andBlue Man Group, begins a three-week tour in Washington, DC.
• August 17 – The Snow Mountain Music Festival opens in Lijiang, China.^[16]
• August 19 –Nickelback leaves the stage during the second song of their performance at the Ilha do Ermal festival in Portugal after being relentlessly pelted with rocks and bottles by the crowd.^[17]
• August 27 –Queens of the Stone Age release their critically acclaimed albumSongs for the Deaf, featuringDave Grohl on drums. The album earned the band their first Gold certification in the United States on January 27, 2003, selling over 500,000 copies.

• September 3 –Napster is shut down for good after a judge denies a bid fromBertelsmann to purchase its assets.
• September 4 –Kelly Clarkson becomes the first winner of the television talent contest,American Idol.
• September 11 –Marie Fredriksson ofRoxette collapses at home, leading to the discovery of abrain tumor.^[18]
• September 20 –Courtney Love announces that her legal dispute with the surviving members ofNirvana has been resolved, paving the way for the unreleased track "You Know You're Right" to be included on an upcoming compilation.^[19]
• September 28 – A stretch ofTennessee State Route 19 is officially named forTina Turner, who was born and raised in nearbyNutbush, Tennessee.
• October 2
  • Robbie Williams signs a new six-album deal withEMI for £80 million, the most lucrative contract ever signed by a UK musician.^[20]
  • Christina Aguilera releases her controversialmusic video for the song, "Dirrty", the lead single from her second albumStripped.
• October 13 – The fifthTerrastock festival is held inBoston, USA.
• October 29 –Christina Aguilera releases her controversial second studio albumStripped, which enters theBillboard 200 at number 2, selling 330,000 copies in its first week.Stripped is the first studio album in three years sinceChristina Aguilera (1999).
• October 30
  • Jam Master Jay is shot dead at a studio in Queens.Run-D.M.C. disbands.
  • Warren Zevon, who has recently been diagnosed with cancer, is the sole guest for the entire hour ofLate Show with David Letterman. It would be his final public performance.

• November 7 –Guns N' Roses fans in Vancouver riot after a concert, which was to kick off the band's first tour in nine years, is canceled due toAxl Rose's flight getting delayed.^[21]
• November 10 –Mick Jagger,Keith Richards,Elvis Costello,Lenny Kravitz,Tom Petty andBrian Setzer guest-star onan episode ofThe Simpsons set at aRock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp.
• November 12 – rap rock bandCrazy Town release their second studio albumDarkhorse.
• November 19 –Michael Jackson dangles his nine-month-old son, "Blanket", over the balcony of his Berlin hotel room in an apparent attempt to connect with the fans below. He releases a statement later that day calling the incident a "terrible mistake".^[22]
• November 26 –Will Smith releases his first compilation album (last under Columbia Records)Greatest Hits.
• November 29 –Concert For George is held at theRoyal Albert Hall in London, as a memorial toGeorge Harrison on the first anniversary of his death, under the musical direction of friendEric Clapton. Performers included survivingBeatles membersPaul McCartney,Ringo Starr, Clapton,Jeff Lynne,Ravi Shankar, andBilly Preston. The event benefitted the Material World Charitable Foundation.
• November 30 – British girl groupGirls Aloud is formed on the reality television showPopstars: The Rivals.
• December 2 –Peter Garrett leavesMidnight Oil.
• December 3 –Mariah Carey releases her ninth studio albumCharmbracelet.
• December 6 – Another riot over a canceled Guns N' Roses concert breaks out, this time in Philadelphia, after Axl Rose is a no-show. The band cancels the remaining dates of the tour without explanation.^[23]
• December 22 –Joe Strummer lead singer, guitarist and founder of Punk Rock bandThe Clash dies of a congenital heart defect at the age of 50.
• December 29 – ACreed concert in Chicago angers fans in attendance when lead singerScott Stapp forgets many lyrics, takes a lengthy leave of absence in the middle of the show and lies down on the stage for part of the performance. The band's manager issues a written apology that includes the statement "we hope that you can take some solace in the fact that you definitely experienced the most unique of all Creed shows and may have become part of the unusual world of rock 'n' roll history!"^[24]
• December 31 –Phish end their two-year hiatus with a New Year's Eve concert atMadison Square Garden in New York City.

• Fergie joinsThe Black Eyed Peas during their recording of theElephunk album.
• Salt-n-Pepa disbands.

• SeeMusical groups established in 2002

• SeeCategory:Musical groups disestablished in 2002

• D.I. (after1995 hiatus)
• Fear Factory
• Little River Band original members reform asBirtles Shorrock Goble
• KMFDM
• Phish (after2000 hiatus)
• Stabbing Westward
• Suffocation