1994 in music

Specific locations

• 1994 in British music
• 1994 in Norwegian music

  Specific genres

• 1994 in country music
• 1994 in heavy metal music
• 1994 in hip hop music
• 1994 in Latin music
• 1994 in jazz

  Events

January–February

• January 19 – Bryan Adams becomes the first major Western music star to perform in Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War.
• January 25 – Alice in Chains release their Jar of Flies album which makes its US chart début at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, becoming the first ever EP to do so.
• January 29 – The Supremes' Mary Wilson is injured when her Jeep hits a freeway median and flips over just outside Los Angeles, USA. Wilson's 14-year-old son is killed in the accident.
• February 1 – Green Day release their breakthrough album Dookie, ushering in the mid-1990s punk revival. Dookie eventually achieves diamond certification.
• February 7 – Blind Melon's lead singer Shannon Hoon is forced to leave the American Music Awards ceremony because of his loud and disruptive behavior. Hoon is later charged with battery, assault, resisting arrest, and destroying a police station phone.
• February 11 – The three surviving members of The Beatles secretly reunite to begin recording additional music for a few of John Lennon's old unfinished demos, presented to Paul McCartney by Yoko Ono, with Jeff Lynne producing. The track, "Free As A Bird", is released as a single in late 1995 as part of the exhaustive Beatles Anthology project, reaching #2 in the UK and #6 in the United States.
• February 14 – The Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia marries Deborah Koons.
• February 23 – Eddie Van Halen, Chris Isaak, and B.B. King attend the ground breaking ceremony for the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino takes place in Paradise, Nevada, USA.
• February 26 – The Sanremo Music Festival ends with victory for Aleandro Baldi in the "Big Artists" category, for the song "Passerà"

  March–April

• March 1
• *Selena becomes the first Tejano music singer to win a Grammy Award.
• *Nirvana play their final concert, in Munich.
• *Frank Sinatra receives the Grammy Legend Award. Sinatra's acceptance speech is cut short. Other artists criticize the producer's decision during the show, and Billy Joel takes extra time to perform his song, The River of Dreams, noting that he is wasting valuable air time.
• March 3 – In Rome, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain lapses into a coma after overdosing on Rohypnol and champagne.
• March 5 – Grace Slick is arrested for pointing a shotgun at police in her Tiburon, California, home.
• March 7 – The United States Supreme Court decision Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. rules that parody can qualify as fair use. The case was spurred by 2 Live Crew releasing a parody of the Roy Orbison hit "Oh, Pretty Woman" without a license from the publishing firm Acuff-Rose Music.
• March 8 – Nine Inch Nails release their second studio album The Downward Spiral. It would go on to sell over 3 million copies and be credited with helping bring industrial rock music into the mainstream.
• March 13 – Selena releases her final Spanish album Amor Prohibido. Its production had been delayed because of the launch of Selena's fashion clothing line and boutiques, and her "Selena Live!" tour in support of Live!.
• March 18
• *Courtney Love calls the police, fearing that her husband, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, is suicidal. Police confiscate four guns and twenty-five boxes of ammo from Cobain's home.
• *Bassist Darryl Jones replaces Bill Wyman in The Rolling Stones,
• March 30 – Pink Floyd embark on what would be their last world tour before their breakup. The record-breaking tour supports their Division Bell album, with the band playing to 5,500,000 people in 68 cities and grossing over £150,000,000.
• March 31 – Madonna on Late Show with David Letterman: Madonna appears on the Late Show with David Letterman, making headlines with her foul-mouthed, profanity-laced interview. Robin Williams later describes the segment as a "battle of wits with an unarmed woman."
• April 8 – The body of Kurt Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana, is found. Cobain's death, three days before, is legally declared to be suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot.
• April 11 – The Offspring release Smash, which goes on to become the best selling independent album of all time and one of the most influential albums of the 90s.
• April 25
• *Blur releases Parklife, its first album reaching #1 in UK, where it was certified "quadruple platinum".
• *Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys is sentenced to 200 hours of community service for attacking a television cameraman during funeral services for actor River Phoenix in November 1993.
• April 26 – Grace Slick pleads guilty to having pointed a shotgun at police officers on March 5.
• April 27 – The legendary Fillmore club reopens in San Francisco with a concert headlined by The Smashing Pumpkins.
• April 30 The 39th Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Dublin, Ireland, which becomes the first-ever country to win three consecutive contests. Its winners are Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan with "Rock 'N' Roll Kids", written by Brendan Graham. The interval features the first-ever public performance of Riverdance, featuring Michael Flatley and Jean Butler, which developed into the world-famous stage show.

  May–June

• May 2 – A Los Angeles jury finds Michael Bolton, along with co-writer Andy Goldmark and Sony Music Entertainment, guilty of copyright infringement over the song "Love Is a Wonderful Thing". The song is ruled to be too similar to a song of the same name by The Isley Brothers.
• May 3 – The Rolling Stones arrive by yacht to a press conference in New York City to announce the Voodoo Lounge Tour kicking off in the summer.
• May 6
• *Pearl Jam files a complaint against Ticketmaster with the U.S. Justice Department charging that the company has a monopoly on the concert ticket business.
• *To help promote his new album, Alice Cooper releases a three-part comic book that followed the album The Last Temptation.
• May 9–13 – 1994 International Rostrum of Composers
• May 10
• * Tupac Shakur begins serving a 15-day sentence in a county jail for attacking director Allen Hughes on the set of a video shoot.
• * Weezer are introduced to the world with their self-titled debut, often referred to as the Blue Album. It would go on to become one of the most influential records of the 1990s spanning hits "Undone – The Sweater Song", "Buddy Holly" and "Say It Ain't So".
• May 26 – Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley are married in the Dominican Republic.
• May 27 – The Eagles launch the Hell Freezes Over tour in Burbank, California. The reunion tour is the group's first since breaking up in 1980, but much is also made of the band becoming the first to charge over $100 per ticket for arena shows.
• June 7 – Grace Slick is sentenced to 200 hours of community service and three months' worth of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings after a March 5 incident with police officers.
• June 9 – Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes of TLC, in a domestic dispute with partner Andre Rison, sets fire to his shoes; the fire ultimately spreads to the mansion they share and destroys it.
• June 21 – George Michael loses his legal bid in a London court to be released from his contract with Sony Records.
• June 27 – Aerosmith becomes the first major band to premiere a new song on the Internet. Over 10,000 CompuServe subscribers download the free track "Head First" within its first eight days of availability.

  July–August

• July 12–16 – The Yoyo A Go Go punk and indie rock festival opens in Olympia, Washington.
• July 30
• *The Verbier Festival is launched.
• *In keeping with the country's new constitution and the promotion of its native language, Moldova adopts Limba noastră as its new national anthem, replacing the anthem of Romania which was previously in use.
• *Suede announce that guitarist Bernard Butler has left the band following fractious recording sessions for their album Dog Man Star
• August 9
• *Peter Maxwell Davies conducts the first performance of his fifth symphony at the Royal Albert Hall in London, as part of The Proms.
• *Rich Mullins and "Leave a Legacy" contest winner, 76-year-old Miguel Garcia Massiate, travel to Bogotá, Colombia, with Compassion International. The two men visit the Ciudad Sucre Center where Mullins presented them with over $40,000 that was raised on his summer '94 Ragamuffin Band tour.
• *Decca releases a recording of the 1949 première of Benjamin Britten's Spring Symphony for the first time.
• *Machine Head release their first album Burn My Eyes, which was a big success and becomes Roadrunner Records' best selling debut album.
• August 11 — A compact disc copy of Sting's album Ten Summoner's Tales, released the previous year, becomes the first item securely purchased over the internet; the CD is sold for $12.48 plus shipping and handling fees.
• August 12–14 – Woodstock '94 is held in Saugerties, New York. As with the original 1969 festival, attendance is swelled by a high number of gatecrashers, while heavy rains turn the festival grounds into a sea of mud. Nine Inch Nails, Metallica, Aerosmith, Bob Dylan, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Peter Gabriel, and Green Day are among the many performers.
• August 23 – Jeff Buckley releases his single, critically acclaimed, full-length studio album Grace.
• August 30
• *Oasis release their debut album Definitely Maybe; it becomes the fastest selling debut album in the United Kingdom until 2006 when it was beaten by the Arctic Monkeys' debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not.
• *Luis Miguel release Segundo Romance, the best-selling Latin album of the 1990s by a male artist. Four singles from the album were released; two of which reached #1 on the Top Latin Songs. It received a Grammy Award and a Billboard Latin Music Award.

  September–October

• September 6
• *José Cura wins the Operalia – International Plácido Domingo Opera Singer Competition.
• *Bad Religion release their eighth studio album Stranger than Fiction. This proved to be the last to feature founding guitarist/songwriter Brett Gurewitz for seven years, until his return. Gurewitz would be replaced by former Minor Threat / Dag Nasty / Junkyard guitarist Brian Baker, who turned down a touring job for R.E.M. at this time, and eventually becomes a permanent member of Bad Religion.
• September 8 – Richard A. Morse, lead male vocalist of RAM, narrowly escapes a kidnapping by armed men during the band's live performance at the Hotel Oloffson in Port-au-Prince, Haiti; the attempted kidnapping was provoked by the performance of "Fèy", a RAM single banned nationwide by the military authorities.
• September 15 – A 1957 audio tape of John Lennon performing with The Quarrymen on the same night he met Paul McCartney fetches £78,500 at Sotheby's, London.
• October 11 – Korn, a nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, launches its self-titled debut album, peaking at No. 72 on the Billboard 200 and launching the nu metal sound.
• October 12 – Jimmy Page and Robert Plant: No Quarter premieres on MTV. The "unplugged" concert special featuring the two former Led Zeppelin bandmates was filmed to accompany the release of the.

  November–December

• November 20 – David Crosby undergoes a seven-hour liver transplant operation in Los Angeles.
• November 30 – The Breeders guitarist Kelley Deal is arrested at her Ohio home after accepting a private-courier package containing four grams of heroin.
• December 2 – Warner Music Group acquires a 49 percent share of Seattle record label Sub Pop in a deal believed to be worth over $30 million.
• December 18 – Paul Oakenfold's legendary Goa Mix is first broadcast in the early hours of this day as a BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix.
• December 19 – Aerosmith opens the 250-seat Mama Kin Music Hall in Boston, co-owned by the group, with a performance.
• December 31 – The twenty-third annual New Year's Rockin' Eve special airs on ABC, with appearances by Melissa Etheridge, The O'Jays, Salt-n-Pepa, Hootie & the Blowfish and Jon Secada.

  Also in 1994

• Christoph von Dohnányi becomes principal guest conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra.
• Josep Pons becomes principal conductor of the City of Granada Orchestra.
• Christian Olde Wolbers replaces Andrew Shives in Fear Factory.
• ALL part ways with their original home Cruz Records, and sign a recording contract with Interscope.
• The Offspring frontman Dexter Holland and bassist Greg Kriesel form the label Nitro Records, an incubator for successful punk artists such as AFI. The label later releases albums from classic punk bands, including The Damned and T.S.O.L., and also reissues the first Offspring album.
• Social Distortion manager Jim Guerinot forms the label Time Bomb Recordings in joint-venture agreement with Arista. The label actually exists mostly as an imprint for current releases from Social Distortion and solo albums by Mike Ness, along with the administration of the label's back catalog.
• Summer – Tony Wilson attempts to revive Factory Records, in collaboration with London Records, as "Factory Too".
• Former Wolfsbane lead singer Blaze Bayley auditions and is hired by Iron Maiden.

  Bands formed

• See :Category:Musical groups established in 1994|Musical groups established in 1994''

  Bands disbanded

• See :Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1994|Musical groups disestablished in 1994''

  Bands reformed

• Circle Jerks
• King Crimson
• Eagles

  Albums released

January–March

April–June

July–September

October–December

Release date unknown

• Acappella – Johnny Maestro & the Brooklyn Bridge
• Aria – Asia
• The Best of – Hank Marvin and The Shadows
• The Best of Chris Rea – Chris Rea
• Big Bad Voodoo Daddy – Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
• Blue Cadet-3, Do You Connect? – Modest Mouse
• Blue House – Marcia Ball
• Blue Room – Unwritten Law
• Bright Red – Laurie Anderson 25/10/1994
• The Business Trip – Hawkwind – Live
• The Church Within – The Obsessed
• Churn – Seven Mary Three
• Clocking Out Is for Suckers – Drake Tungsten
• D Generation – D Generation
• Deliverance – Corrosion of Conformity
• Dingleberry Haze – Bloodhound Gang
• Ditch Diggin – Southern Culture on the Skids
• Dreamchild – Toyah
• Flesh – David Gray
• Frigate – April Wine
• Giant Robot – Buckethead
• Give Out But Don't Give Up – Primal Scream
• Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre – Current 93
• Dial Hard – Gotthard
• Hold on It Hurts – Cornershop
• Goodbye to the Age of Steam – Big Big Train
• Green World – The Suicide Machines
• Halo in a Haystack – Converge
• Hell Paso – At the Drive-In
• Hellig Usvart – Horde
• The Icon Is Love – Barry White
• I Hope Your Heart Is Not Brittle – Portastatic
• Information Highway Revisited – New Bomb Turks
• Isolationism – Various Artists
• Let's Go Get Stoned – The Chesterfield Kings
• Life in the Streets – Prince Ital Joe & Marky Mark
• Live!! New York City October 14, 1994 – They Might Be Giants
• LL77 – Lisa Lisa
• Loose – Victoria Williams
• Love, Nancy – Nancy Wilson
• Murmurs – The Murmurs
• Nefarious – Spoon
• Old Stuff, Part Two – Anal Cunt
• Pandemonium – Killing Joke
• Pandora's Toys – Aerosmith
• Pawnshop Guitars – Gilby Clarke
• Peter Frampton – Peter Frampton
• Pigeonhed – Pigeonhed
• Potatoes for Christmas – Papa Roach
• Promises – Bo Diddley
• Quick – Far
• Rester vrai – Florent Pagny
• Rite of Passage – Mitch Ryder
• Rivermaya – Rivermaya
• San Francisco – American Music Club
• Skin – Skin
• Socialism, Sexism & Sexuality – White Town
• Soda Pop-Rip Off – Slant 6
• Sour – Ours
• Spit Burger Lottery – Jimmie's Chicken Shack
• Storyteller – Crystal Waters
• Strength in Numbers – Tyketto
• Stuck – Puddle of Mudd
• Sugar Mouth – David Kilgour
• Superstar – Len
• Swell – Psyched Up Janis
• Unboxed – Free Kitten
• When You're a Tuesday Girl – The Tuesdays
• Withdrawal Method – Die Monster Die
• The Woman's Boat – Toni Childs
• Yank Crime – Drive Like Jehu

  Biggest hit singles

#	Artist	Title	Year	Country	Chart entries
1	Bruce Springsteen	Streets of Philadelphia	1994		Austria 1 – Apr 1994, Norway 1 – Feb 1994, Poland 1 – Feb 1994, Germany 1 – Mar 1994, Republic of Ireland 1 – Mar 1994, Oscar in 1993, UK 2 – Mar 1994, Switzerland 2 – Mar 1994, Italy 3 of 1994, France 4 – Feb 1994, Holland 6 – Feb 1994, RYM 6 of 1994, Sweden 7 – Feb 1994, US BB 9 of 1994, Europe 29 of the 1990s, US BB 30 of 1994, Australia 30 of 1994, US CashBox 49 of 1994, POP 63 of 1994, AFI 68, Germany 74 of the 1990s, WXPN 837
2	Bryan Adams & Rod Stewart & Sting	All For Love	1994	/	US BB 1 of 1994, Sweden 1 – Dec 1993, Austria 1 – Feb 1994, Switzerland 1 – Jan 1994, Norway 1 – Jan 1994, Poland 1 – Dec 1993, Germany 1 – Jan 1994, Republic of Ireland 1 – Jan 1994, Australia 1 for 2 weeks Apr 1994, UK 2 – Jan 1994, Holland 3 – Jan 1994, US BB 9 of 1994, Italy 9 of 1994, Australia 10 of 1994, US CashBox 22 of 1994, POP 25 of 1994, Germany 87 of the 1990s
3	Rednex	Cotton-Eyed Joe	1994		UK 1 – Dec 1994, US BB 1 of 1995, Holland 1 – Aug 1994, Sweden 1 – Aug 1994, Austria 1 – Oct 1994, Switzerland 1 – Oct 1994, Norway 1 – Oct 1994, Germany 1 – Jan 1995, New Zealand 1 for 6 weeks Mar 1995, POP 1 of 1995, Germany 18 of the 1990s, US BB 25 of 1995, Australia 41 of 1995, Party 54 of 2007, Scrobulate 72 of party
4	All-4-One	I Swear	1994		US BB 1 of 1994, Holland 1 – Jul 1994, Austria 1 – Aug 1994, Switzerland 1 – Jul 1994, Germany 1 – Jul 1994, New Zealand 1 for 6 weeks Jul 1994, Australia 1 for 5 weeks Nov 1994, UK 2 – Jun 1994, Norway 2 – Jul 1994, Australia 2 of 1994, US CashBox 3 of 1994, Sweden 3 – Aug 1994, US BB 7 of 1994, Poland 14 – Jul 1994, Germany 39 of the 1990s, OzNet 657
5	Mariah Carey	Without You	1994		UK 1 – Feb 1994, Holland 1 – Feb 1994, Sweden 1 – Feb 1994, Austria 1 – Apr 1994, Switzerland 1 – Apr 1994, Poland 1 – Feb 1994, Germany 1 – Mar 1994, Republic of Ireland 1 – Feb 1994, New Zealand 1 for 1 weeks Apr 1994, US BB 3 of 1994, Norway 3 – Mar 1994, US CashBox 15 of 1994, Australia 15 of 1994, Germany 25 of the 1990s, POP 37 of 1994

Top hits

Top ten best albums of the year

1. Jeff Buckley – Grace
2. Oasis – Definitely Maybe
3. Weezer – Weezer
4. Portishead – Dummy
5. Nirvana – MTV Unplugged In New York
6. Green Day – Dookie
7. Nas – Illmatic
8. Blur – Parklife
9. Soundgarden – Superunknown
10. Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral

    Classical music

• Thomas Beveridge – Yizkor Requiem
• George Crumb – Quest for guitar, soprano saxophone, harp, double bass, and percussion
• Richard Danielpour – Cello Concerto
• Mario Davidovsky – Festino for guitar, viola, violoncello, contrabass
• Peter Maxwell Davies – Symphony No. 5
• David Diamond – Trio for violin, clarinet and piano
• Lorenzo Ferrero
• *Paesaggio con figura for small orchestra
• *Portrait for string quartet
• Osvaldo Golijov – The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind
• Vagn Holmboe – Symphony No. 13, M.362
• Guus Janssen – Klotz, for violin, hi-hat and small ensemble
• Karl Jenkins – Adiemus: Songs of Sanctuary
• Wojciech Kilar – Reign Over Us, Christ, for voice and piano
• Oliver Knussen – Horn Concerto
• György Kurtág – Stele
• Frederik Magle – Concerto for organ and orchestra The Infinite Second
• Thea Musgrave – Journey through a Japanese Landscape, for marimba and wind
• Tristan Murail – L'esprit des dunes
• Michael Nyman – Concerto for Trombone
• Einojuhani Rautavaara – Symphony No. 7 Angel of Light
• Steve Reich
• * City Life
• * Bagoya Marimbas
• Robert Simpson – String Quintet No. 2
• Karlheinz Stockhausen – Weltraum
• Boris Tishchenko – Symphony No. 7
• Charles Wuorinen
• * Lightenings VIII, for soprano and piano
• * Piano Quintet
• * Christes Crosse, for soprano and piano
• * Percussion Quartet
• * Guitar Variations
• * Windfall, for wind ensemble

  Opera

• Peter Maxwell Davies – The Doctor of Myddfai
• Vivian Fine – Memoirs of Uliana Rooney
• Adam Guettel – Floyd Collins
• Nicholas Lens – The Accacha Chronicles Trilogy: Flamma Flamma – The Fire Requiem
• Tobias Picker – Emmeline, libretto by JD McClatchy
• Alice Shields – Apocalypse
• Karlheinz Stockhausen – Freitag aus Licht

  Jazz

Musical theater

• Beauty and the Beast – Broadway production opened at the Palace Theatre and ran for 5461 performances
• Carousel – Broadway revival
• Damn Yankees – Broadway revival
• Grease – Broadway revival
• Show Boat – Broadway revival
• Sunset Boulevard – Broadway production opened at the Minskoff Theatre and ran for 977 performances

  Musical films

• Aag Aur Chingari
• Airheads
• Backbeat
• Fear of a Black Hat
• Gandugali, with music by Sadhu Kokila.
• Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, with music by Raamlaxman
• Sukham Sukhakaram, with music by Ravindra Jain.
• The Lion King – animated feature film with songs by Elton John and Tim Rice
• That's Entertainment! III

  Births

• January 13 – Asta, Australian singer-songwriter
• January 23 – Vera Blue, Australian indie singer-songwriter
• January 28 – Maluma, Colombian singer and rapper
• February 1
• *Skylar Laine, American singer-songwriter
• *Harry Styles, British musician, singer-songwriter, activist,
• February 3 – Orla Gartland, Irish singer/songwriter/youtuber
• February 8 – Nikki Yanofsky, Canadian singer
• February 10 – Seulgi, Korean singer and dancer
• February 14 –
• *Paul Butcher, American actor and singer
• *Becky Hill, English singer and songwriter
• February 16 – Ava Max, American singer and songwriter
• February 17 – Angie Miller, American singer-songwriter and pianist
• February 18 – J-Hope, South Korean rapper, songwriter, dancer and record producer, member of BTS
• February 22 – Rachael Leahcar, Australian multi lingual singer-songwriter, musician, performer, and writer. runner composer
• February 23 – Little Simz, English rapper, singer and actress
• February 24 – Earl Sweatshirt, American rapper
• February 28 – Jake Bugg, English singer-songwriter and musician
• March 1 – Justin Bieber, Canadian singer
• March 10 – Bad Bunny, Puerto Rican Latin trap and reggaeton singer.
• March 12 – Christina Grimmie, American singer, songwriter, musician, multi instrumentalist, actress and YouTuber
• March 13 – Zella Day, American singer, songwriter and musician
• March 14 – Ansel Elgort, American actor, singer and DJ
• March 15 – Lynn Gunn, American musician
• March 19 – Fletcher, American actress, singer, and songwriter.
• March 28
• *Dreezy, American hip hop recording artist, rapper, musician
• *Catherine and Lizzy Ward Thomas, twin English country-pop musicians
• April 1 – Ella Eyre, English singer-songwriter
• April 4 – Risako Sugaya, Japanese singer
• April 9 – Bladee, Swedish rapper, singer, songwriter, fashion designer and member of the musical group Drain Gang.
• April 12 – Airi Suzuki, Japanese singer
• April 18 – Aminé, American rapper, singer and songwriter
• April 24 – Jordan Fisher, American singer, dancer and actor
• April 25 – Sam Fender, English actor singer-songwriter, musician and activist
• May 5 – Celeste, American-born British singer
• May 28 – Alec Benjamin, American musician
• June 4 – Olivia Somerlyn, known as LIVVIA, American pop singer-songwriter
• July 4 – Era Istrefi, Kosovar singer
• July 5 – Sơn Tùng M-TP, Vietnamese singer-songwriter
• July 7
• * Ashton Irwin, Australian drummer and singers
• * Georgia Josiena Nott, New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician
• July 10 – Angel Haze, American rapper and singer
• July 11 – Nina Nesbitt, Scottish singer-songwriter, model and musician
• July 17 – Kali Uchis, Colombian-American singer-songwriter, record producer, music video director and fashion designer
• July 31 – Lil Uzi Vert, American rapper, singer, songwriter
• August 2 – Jacob Collier, British musician, singer-songwriter, composer, music producer and multi-instramentalist
• August 8 – Lauv, American singer-songwriter and record producer
• August 17 – Phoebe Bridgers, American indie rock singer-songwriter, musician and artist
• August 16 – Áine Cahill, Irish singer-songwriter
• August 18 – Bobby Andonov, Australian singer-songwriter and actor
• August 28 – Felix Jaehn, German/Dutch DJ and record producer
• September 1 – Bianca Ryan, American singer
• September 12 – RM, South Korean rapper, songwriter and record producer, member of BTS
• September 17
• *Taylor Ware, American singer and yodeler
• *Chen Yihan, Chinese pianist and composer
• September 22 – Emily Burns, English musician and singer-songwriter
• September 23 – Zolita, American singer-songwriter, director, photographer and activist
• September 29 – Halsey, American singer-songwriter, artist and activist
• October 4 – Sarah Aarons, Australian singer, songwriter, musician
• October 15 – Lil' Kleine, Dutch musician
• November 3 – Ella Mai, English singer and songwriter
• November 8 – Lauren Alaina, American country music singer, songwriter and actress
• November 9 – MNEK, British singer-songwriter and record producer
• November 24 – Reece Mastin, winner of The X Factor, Rock-soul-blues singer/songwriter/musician
• November 26 – Emma Portner, American dancer and choreographer
• November 28 – Bonnie Anderson, Australian singer/songwriter
• December 13 – Ibeyi, twin French singer-songwriters

  Deaths

• January 4 – R. D. Burman, music director, 54
• January 6 – Harold Sumberg, violinist, 88
• January 15 – Harry Nilsson, singer, songwriter, 52
• January 17 – Georges Cziffra, pianist, 72
• January 22 – Rhett Forrester, American singer-songwriter, 37
• January 25 – Bertha Rawlinson, New Zealand opera singer, composer and music teacher, 83
• January 30 – Rudolf Schwarz, conductor, 88
• February 5 – Tiana Lemnitz, operatic soprano, 96
• February 7 – Witold Lutosławski, composer, 81
• February 8 – Raymond Scott, composer and bandleader, 85
• February 19 – Micho Russell, Irish tin whistle player and collector of traditional music and folklore, 79
• February 22 – Papa John Creach, blues violinist, 76
• February 24
• *Jean Sablon, French singer, 87
• *Dinah Shore, singer, actress, 77
• March 6 – Yvonne Fair, African-American singer, 51
• March 13 – Danny Barker, jazz musician and composer, 85
• March 16 – Nicolas Flagello, composer, 66
• March 18 – Ephraim Lewis, soul and R&B singer, 26
• March 22 – Dan Hartman, singer, 42
• March 23 – Donald Swann, pianist, composer and entertainer, 70
• April 5
• * Rowland Greenberg, Norwegian jazz trumpeter, 73
• * Kurt Cobain, singer & guitarist, 27
• April 7 – Lee Brilleaux, British R&B singer, 41
• April 19 – Larry Davis, blues singer and guitarist, 57
• May 23 – Joe Pass, jazz guitarist, 65
• May 25 – Eric Gale, jazz guitarist, 55
• May 26 – Sonny Sharrock, jazz guitarist, 53
• May 27 – Red Rodney, bop trumpeter, 66
• May 29 – Oliver Jackson, jazz drummer, 61
• May 31
• *Uzay Heparı, Turkish composer, music producer, songwriter and actor, 24
• *Herva Nelli, operatic soprano, 85
• June 4 – Earle Warren, saxophonist, 79
• June 11 – Robert Beadell, composer, 68
• June 14 – Henry Mancini, composer, 70
• June 15 – Manos Hadjidakis, composer, 68
• June 16 – Kristen Pfaff, bass guitarist, 27
• June 25
• *Kin Vassy, songwriter, performer, co-lead singer and guitarist of The First Edition 1969–72, 50
• *DJ Train, producer
• June 29 – Kurt Eichhorn, conductor, 85
• July 2 – Marion Williams, gospel singer, 66
• July 31 – Anne Shelton, British singer, 70
• August 6 – Domenico Modugno, Italian singer and songwriter, 66
• September 2 – Roy Castle, musician and all-round entertainer, 62
• September 3 – Major Lance, R&B singer, 55
• September 6
• *Nicky Hopkins, session musician, keyboardist, 50
• *Max Kaminsky, jazz trumpeter and bandleader, 85
• September 7 – Eric Crozier, librettist, 79
• September 13 – John Stevens, jazz musician
• September 20 – Jule Styne, songwriter, 88
• September 24 – Urmas Alender, singer, 40
• September 29 – Cheb Hasni, Algerian Raj musician, 26
• October 4 – Danny Gatton, guitarist, 49
• October 19 – Martha Raye, singer and comedian, 88
• October 22
• *Jimmy Miller, record producer, 52
• *Shlomo Carlebach, Jewish songwriter
• October 26 – Wilbert Harrison, R&B singer, pianist, guitarist and harmonica player, 65
• October 27 – Robert White, Motown session guitarist, 57
• October 31
• *Lester Sill, record executive, 76
• *Erling Stordahl, Norwegian singer, 71
• November 4 – Fred "Sonic" Smith, MC5 guitarist, 46
• November 7 – Shorty Rogers, jazz trumpeter, 70
• November 11 – Elizabeth Maconchy, composer, 87
• November 18 – Cab Calloway, jazz and scat singer, 86
• November 21 – Juancho Rois, Colombian vallenato musician, accordionist, and composer, 35
• November 28 – Vic Legley, Belgian violist and composer of French birth, 79
• December 8 – Antônio Carlos Jobim, bossa nova composer and songwriter, 67
• December 10 – Garnett Silk, reggae singer, 28

  Awards

• The following artists are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: John Lennon, Elton John, Grateful Dead, The Band, Bob Marley, Duane Eddy, Rod Stewart, and The Animals
• Inductees of the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame include Tennessee Ernie Ford

  Filmfare Awards

• Kumar Sanu – Filmfare Best Male Playback Award
• Filmfare Best Music Director Awards – Rahul Dev Burman

  Grammy Awards

• Grammy Awards of 1994

  Country Music Association Awards

Eurovision Song Contest

• Eurovision Song Contest 1994

  Mercury Music Prize

• Elegant Slumming – M People wins.

  Juno Award

• Rascalz – Juno Award Best rap album

  Charts

KROQ

• KROQ Top 106.7 Countdown of 1994

  Triple J Hottest 100

• Triple J Hottest 100, 1994