2025 Music History: Key Events, Band Formations & Album Releases
Acts Formed
January 15th
Hip-hop producer Madlib's home studio and considerable record collection are lost in Los Angeles wildfires.
January 24th
The Ditto Music Report states that between 82% - 84% of independent UK artists are priced out of touring.
January 30th
Marianne Faifthfull dies at 78.
February 2nd - Grammy Awards
Album of the Year: Beyoncé - Cowboy Carter
Song of the Year: Kendrick Lamar - 'Not Like Us'
February 7th
A Stradivarius violin sells for £11.3 million at auction.
March 13th
Former En Vogie singer Dawn Robinson, who scored three platinum albums in the '90s, is revealed to have been living in her car for several years.
March 17th
Little Simz sues the producer Inflo for an unpaid debt of £1 million.
April 23rd
David Thomas, vocalist of Pere Ubu, dies at 71 from complications related to kidney disease.
May 2nd
Jenny Hval releases Iris Silver Mist
May 4th
Police arrest two men for planning to bomb a free Lady Gaga concert in Rio de Janeiro.
May 22nd
Taylor Swift buys the masters of her first six albums in a deal worth between $300 and $360 million.
June 9th
Pioneering soul icon Sly Stone dies at 82 from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
June 11th
Brian Wilson, of The Beach Boys, dies at 82.
June 24th
A portrait of the Gallagher brothers sells at auction for £1.9 million.
June 28th
Bob Vylan are accused of anti-semitism after leading chants of 'death to the IDF' at Glastonbury. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer labels the incident 'appalling hate speech.'
July 11th
Clipse release Let God Sort Em Out
July 22nd
Ozzy Osbourne dies at 76 of a heart attack.
August 15th
The Velvet Sundown, a band with 1.4 million monthly listeners on Spotify, is revelead to be a hoax. The so-called band is AI generated and its members do not really exist.
August 20th
Brent Hinds, of Mastodon, dies at 51 due to a traffic collision in Atlanta.
August 22nd
Deftones release private music
September 5th
Supertramp vocalist Rick Davies dies at 81 from blood cancer complications.
September 19th
Kneecap are banned from entering Canada for 'glorifying terrorist organisations.'
September 26th
Geese release Getting Killed
September 27th
Pop star Lola Young collapses on stage in New York. She later reveals her cocaine addiction and a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder.
October 3rd
P Diddy is sentenced to 50 months in prison for transportation to engage in prostitution. He is acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering.
October 14th
D'Angelo dies at 51 of pancreatic cancer.
October 16th
Kiss guitarist Ace Freely dies at 74 of complications from a head injury.
October 16th - Mercury Prize
Best British Album: Sam Fender - People Watching
October 18th
Sam Rivers, of Limp Bizkit, dies at 48 from alcohol-related liver disease.
October 31st
Win Butler and his Arcade Fire bandmate Régine Chassagne announce their separation after 22 years of marriage.
November 19th
Spotify announce the acquisition of WhoSampled.com., a website that tracks sampling in music.
November 20th
Mani, of The Stone Roses, dies at 63 from emphysema complications.
November 20th
Pras, former member of the Fugees, is jailed for 14 years for international conspiracy and illegal foreign influence charges. He received $100 million from Malaysian billionaire Jho Low and conspired to deceive the Federal Election Commission and multiple US banks by providing false information.
November 24th
Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff dies at 81.
November 25th
Warner Music Group sign a deal with the AI music platform Suno that allows artists to share their likeness for a fee.
December 24th
The Cure guitarist Perry Bamonte dies at 65 after a short illness.
December 29th
Forbes announce that Beyoncé is a billionaire.
December
Countries such as Ireland, Spain, Slovenia, Holland, and Iceland officially withdraw from Eurovision because of Israel's inclusion in the competition.
December
An online campaign to associate Taylor Swift with right wing ideology is exposed by the AI-generated platform Gudea.
2025
Spotify remove over 75 million low quality 'AI slop' tracks.
