January 28
Interscope Records pays a radio station in Portland, Oregon, USA, $5000 to play the Limp Bizkit single "Counterfeit" fifty times. The business move is widely criticized in the media as "payola", but the controversy serves to further increase publicity for the band.
"Weird Al" Yankovic gets LASIK surgery to cure his myopia. At the same time, he grows out his hair and shaves off his moustache, radically changing his signature look.
January 31 – The Presidents of the United States of America play a farewell show in their hometown of Seattle. They would reunite in 2000.
February 5
Carnatic vocalist M. S. Subbulakshmi becomes the first musician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award.
Former Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford publicly reveals his homosexuality for the first time in an interview with MTV.
February 15 – Sir Edward Elgar's unfinished third symphony, completed by Anthony Payne is performed for the first time at the Royal Festival Hall, London, UK.
February 19 - The Stray Cats reunite for a benefit show for the Carl Perkins Foundation at House of Blues in Los Angeles, USA.
February 22 – In Los Angeles, California, Stevie Wonder is honored as the 1999 MusiCares Person of the Year.
February 23 – "Frozen", the first single from Madonna's eighth studio album, Ray of Light, is released. The single is a worldwide hit, peaking at #2 on US Billboard Hot 100 and becoming her first single to enter the charts at #1 in the UK.
February 24 - Elton John is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom at Buckingham Palace, London, UK. He was mistakenly introduced as "Sir John Elton", but was renamed "Sir Elton John".
February 28 – Haitian group RAM survive an assassination attempt while performing at a carnival, after a disagreement with the newly elected mayor of Port-au-Prince.
March 3 – Madonna releases her seventh studio album Ray of Light. The album eventually sells over 16 million copies worldwide. The album received near universal acclaim upon release. Her collaborations with producer William Orbit, as well as her conversion to Kabbalah resulted in a completely new and unique lyric and musical approach for Madonna, which inevitably gains her four Grammy Awards out of a total of six nominations, as well as many other prestigious awards.
March 10 – The South Korean-made MPMan, the first mass-produced digital audio player, is launched at the CeBIT trade fair in Hanover, Germany.
March 13 – The Smashing Pumpkins file a US$1 million lawsuit against UK-based Sound And Media Ltd, alleging that the company has released a book and CD about the band without proper clearance.
March 17 – Van Halen III is released. It is the first Van Halen album to feature Gary Cherone on vocals.
March 24 - NSYNC bursts onto the music scene with the release of their debut album NSYNC
March 26 – Chuck Negron files a lawsuit against his fellow Three Dog Night band mates alleging that they broke a 1990 settlement agreement and interfered with his career.
April 3 – Dave Navarro is fired by The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
April 6 – Organizers announce that Lollapalooza will not be staged in 1998 due to the inability to sign a major headlining act. The festival would return in 2003.
April 7 – George Michael is arrested in a public restroom in Beverly Hills, California, USA for lewd conduct. He is subsequently sentenced to community service, and later describes it as a "subconsciously deliberate act".
April 14 – The first VH1 Divas Live concert is broadcast on VH1, starring Aretha Franklin, Gloria Estefan, Céline Dion, Shania Twain and Mariah Carey.
April 17-19 – The second Terrastock festival takes place in San Francisco, USA.
April 29 – Steven Tyler breaks his knee at a concert in Anchorage, Alaska, USA, delaying Aerosmith's Nine Lives Tour and necessitating camera angle adjustments for the filming of the video for "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
May 5 - South Korean boy band, Shinhwa debuted under SM Entertainment.
May 8
The third European Festival of Youth Choirs is held in Basel, Switzerland.
A British court rules in favor of The Beatles and John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, stopping the release of another Live at the Star Club recording. All copies of the recording and the original tape are awarded to the Beatles, as well as damages and legal costs.
May 9 – The 43rd Eurovision Song Contest, held in Birmingham, United Kingdom, is won by Israel's transsexual performer Dana International with the song "Diva" See: [1]
May 26 – Anggun releases her debut album, Snow on the Sahara in North America, which would go on to sell 1 million copies across Europe and America. Becoming the best-selling album by Asian artist outside Asia.
May 31 – Geri Halliwell goes into hiding as her public relations representative, Julian Torton, confirms that she has left the Spice Girls permanently.
June 1 – Scott Weiland's public problems with drugs continue when he is arrested in New York after buying heroin.
July 3 – Westlife is formally created and signed to the record label BMG.
July 5 – Teen singer Billie Piper starts her career by becoming the youngest British solo artist to debut at #1 on the UK singles charts with "Because We Want To".
August 18 – Korn's third studio album, Follow the Leader, enters Billboard 200 at number 1, with 268,000 copies sold in its first week. It goes on to be certified 5x Platinum by the RIAA and sell over 14 million copies worldwide, thus launching nu metal into the mainstream.
August 20 – Cirith Ungol Founding guitarist Jerry Fogle dies from liver failure.
August 24 – Pearl Jam's "Do the Evolution" video premieres on MTV's 120 Minutes; it is the group's first music video in six years.
August 25 – Lauryn Hill releases her breakthrough debut album The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill. The album goes on to be certified 7x Platinum by the RIAA and sell over 19 million copies worldwide.
August 29 – The Bee Gees open their One Night Only tour in Dublin, Ireland
September 14 – Total Request Live is broadcast for the first time on MTV.
September 16 – Lou Reed performs for President of the Czech Republic Václav Havel at the White House.
October 5 – MuchMoreMusic is launched in Canada.
October 6 - Kurupt's debut studio album, Kuruption!, is released by Antra Records. It peaked at #8 on the Billboard 200 on October 24, 1998.
October 8 – The Recording Industry Association of America files in court against Diamond Multimedia in an attempt to block the release of the new Rio PMP300, arguing that the MP3 digital audio player is a music piracy device. The RIAA's application is denied on October 26, clearing the way for the PMP300 to become the first commercially successful MP3 player.
October 19 - Believe, the first single of Cher's twenty-second studio album of the same name is released, becoming a super smash hit. After seven consecutive weeks atop of the UK official sigles chart, it became the best selling single in that country, also the best selling single by a female artist in UK history. In March 13 of 1999, Believe became Cher's 5th number one single in US, spending four consecutive weeks at #1 and becoming the best selling single of that year.
October 23 – Britney Spears' debut single, "...Baby One More Time", is released. It would become the top-selling single of 1999, selling over nine million units worldwide.
October 27 – The Copyright Term Extension Act is signed into law, giving the entertainment industry 20 more years of exclusive rights to all works created since 1923.
November 10 - Cher released her twenty-second studio album Believe which became the most successful of her career: it peaked at number one in seven countries, #4 in US and #7 in UK. The album has sold over 20 million copies worldwide and is certified platinum (or more) at least in sixteen countries, becoming one of the highest selling albums of all time.
November 17 - The Offspring release Americana to massive mainstream success. It goes on to be certified 5x platinum by the RIAA and sells over 11 million copies worldwide. The hit single Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) becomes one of the best charting worldwide punk songs of all time, topping charts in 9 different countries.
December 5
Young violinists Nicola Benedetti and Alina Ibragimova play Bach's double violin concerto under the baton of Yehudi Menuhin at the opening ceremony of the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at UNESCO in Paris.
Billboard changes its policy for its Hot 100 chart to allow airplay-only singles or album cuts to be accounted in the chart.
December 29 - India issues a set of postage stamps on the subject of Indian musical instruments.
The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra launches its own recording label, RLPO Live.
Singers Brandy and Monica dominate the Billboard charts with the duet, "The Boy Is Mine", holding the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 spot for 13 weeks.
Composer John Harbison was awarded a Heinz Award for the Arts and Humanities.
The Goo Goo Dolls single, "Iris", set a new Billboard Hot 100 Airplay record in the U.S. by achieving 18 weeks at number one.
Six Feet Under hire Steve Swanson.
SWV disbands.
See Musical groups established in 1998
Modern Talking
Culture Club
Bands disbanded
See Musical groups disestablished in 1998
The First 40 Years, The Very Best of – Hank Marvin and The Shadows (2 CDs)
Majesty - The Anniversary
Live at the Beeb – Nazareth
Caught in a Trap and I Can't Back Out 'Cause I Love You Too Much, Baby - Mark Eitzel
The Star and the Wiseman: The Best of Ladysmith Black Mambazo – Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Through the Trees - The Handsome Family
Sum of the Parts – Ed Summerlin
Youth Is Wasted on the Young – Caesars
The following singles achieved the highest aggregated chart positions in 1998, according to TsorT.
"3 A.M." – Matchbox Twenty (#1 CAN)
"All Around the World" – Oasis (#1 UK)
"All 'Bout the Money" – Meja
"All I Have to Give" – Backstreet Boys (#1 SP, #2 UK, #3 CAN)
"All My Life" – K-Ci & JoJo (#1 AUS, NLD, NZ, #1 US)
"All That I Need" - Boyzone (#1 IRL, UK, TAI)
"Angels" – Robbie Williams (#2 IRL, #4 SWI, UK, #6 BE)
"Angels Crying" – E-Type (#2 FIN, SWE, NOR)
"Another One Bites The Dust" (Wyclef Jean Remix) - Queen & Wyclef Jean & Pras & Free (#5 UK, #9 NZ)
"Apparitions" – Matthew Good Band
"Are You That Somebody?" – Aaliyah featuring Timbaland (#1 NZ, #3 NLD, #6 CAN)
"Ava Adore" – The Smashing Pumpkins
"...Baby One More Time" – Britney Spears (#1 US, AUS, AUT, BE, CAN, CZ, DEN, FIN, FR, GER, IRL, IT, NLD, NZ, NOR, SWE, SWI, UK)
"Back 2 Good" – Matchbox Twenty
"Bailando" – Loona (#1 GER, SWI, #3 AUT)
"Bang Bang" - Lynda Thomas
"Big Big World" – Emilia Rydberg (#1 AUT, BE, GER, NLD, NOR, SP, SWE, SWI)
"Be Careful" – Sparkle & R. Kelly (#3 US, #4 NLD, #7 UK)
"Because We Want To" – Billie (#1 UK, #5 BE, #8 SWE)
"Believe" – Cher
"Blue Angels" - Pras & The Product G&B (#6 UK)
"Bootie Call" - All Saints (#1 UK, #5 NLD, #9 IRL)
"The Boy Is Mine" – Brandy and Monica
"Brother Louie '98" - Modern Talking
"Calcutta (Taxi Taxi Taxi)" - Dr. Bombay
"Can't Keep This Feeling In" – Cliff Richard
"Carnaval de Paris" – Dario G
"Celebrity Skin" – Hole
"C'est La Vie" – B*Witched
"Changes" – 2Pac
"Chanter pour ceux qui sont loin de chez eux" – Lââm
"Chocolate Salty Balls" – Chef
"Closing Time" – Semisonic
"Cloud Number Nine" – Bryan Adams
"Come with Me" – Puff Daddy & Jimmy Page
"Cose della vita" – Eros Ramazzotti & Tina Turner
"Crazy Little Party Girl" – Aaron Carter
"Cruel Summer" – Ace of Base
"Crush" – Jennifer Paige
"Daydreamin" – Tatyana Ali
"Deeper Underground" - Jamiroquai
"Diva" – Dana International
"DooDah!" - Cartoons
"Doo Wop (That Thing)" – Lauryn Hill
"Doctor Jones" – Aqua
"Drowned World/Substitute for Love" – Madonna
"The Dope Show" - Marilyn Manson
"Dragula" – Rob Zombie
"Ein Schwein namens Männer" – Die Ärzte
"Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" – Backstreet Boys
"Everybody Get Up" – Five
"Faith" – Limp Bizkit
"Feel It" – The Tamperer featuring Maya
"Finally Found" – Honeyz
"The First Night" – Monica
"Flagpole Sitta" – Harvey Danger
"Flugzeuge im Bauch" - Oli.P
"Fly Away" – Lenny Kravitz
"Freak Me" – Another Level
"From This Moment On" – Shania Twain
"Frozen" – Madonna
"Gettin' Jiggy wit It" – Will Smith
"Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)" – Pras & Mýa & Ol' Dirty Bastard
"Gimme Love" - Alexia
"Girlfriend" – Billie
"Given to Fly" - Pearl Jam
"Gone till November" – Wyclef Jean
"Got the Feelin'" – Five
"Got The Life" – KoЯn
"Goodbye" – Spice Girls
"God Is a DJ" – Faithless
"Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" – Green Day
"Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)" – Jay-Z
"Heartbeat / Tragedy" – Steps
"Here I Go Again" – E-Type
"High" – Lighthouse Family
"Hijo de la Luna" – Loona
"Horny '98" – Mousse T.
"How Deep Is Your Love" – Dru Hill
"How Much Is the Fish?" – Scooter
I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" – Aerosmith
"If You Believe" – Sascha Schmitz
"If You Buy This Record (Your Life Will Be Better)" – The Tamperer featuring Maya
"If You Could Read My Mind" – Stars on 54
"I Get Lonely" – Janet Jackson
"I Love the Way You Love Me" – Boyzone
"I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You" - Tina Arena & Marc Anthony
"I Want You Back" - Melanie Brown & Missy Elliott
"I Want You Back" – NSYNC
"I Wish" - Oli.P
"I'm Your Angel" – Céline Dion & R. Kelly
"Immortality" – Celine Dion & Bee Gees
"Intergalactic" – Beastie Boys
"Insane" - Texas
"Iris" – Goo Goo Dolls
"It's like That " – Run-D.M.C. & Jason Nevins
"Jumper" – Third Eye Blind
"Just the Two of Us" – Will Smith
"Kind & Generous" – Natalie Merchant
"La Primavera" – Sash!
"Last Thing on My Mind" – Steps
"Lately" – Divine
"La Tribu de Dana" – Manau
"Life" – Des'ree
"Life Is a Flower" – Ace Of Base
"Lollipop (Candyman)" – Aqua
"Lords of the Boards" - Guano Apes
"Lullaby" – Shawn Mullins
"Make 'Em Say Uhh!" – Master P featuring Fiend, Silkk The Shocker, Mia X, Mystikal
"Miami" – Will Smith
"Millennium" – Robbie Williams
"Music Sounds Better with You" – Stardust
"My All" – Mariah Carey
"My Friend (So Long) - dc Talk
"My Heart Will Go On" – Celine Dion
"My Hero" – Foo Fighters
"Mysterious Times" – Sash!
"Narcotic" – Liquido
"Never Ever" – All Saints (released in 1997)
"Never There" – Cake
"Nice & Slow" - Usher
"No Matter What" – Boyzone
"Not About Us" – Genesis
"Once Upon a Time" – Down Low
"One for Sorrow" – Steps
"One Week" – Barenaked Ladies
"Only When I Lose Myself" - Depeche Mode
"Out of the Dark" - Falco
"Outside" – George Michael
"Psycho Circus" – KISS
"Push It" - Garbage
"Ray of Light" – Madonna
"Real World" – Matchbox Twenty
"Rescue Me (Let Your Amazement Grow)" – Bell, Book & Candle
"Remember the Time" - Nana
"Remember When" – Color Me Badd
"Renegade Master '89" - Wildchild
"Rollercoaster" – B*Witched
"The Rockafeller Skank" – Fatboy Slim
"To You I Belong" – B*Witched
"Ruff Ryders' Anthem" – DMX
"Save Tonight" – Eagle-Eye Cherry
"Say It Once" - Ultra
"Say What You Want (All Day, Every Day)" - Texas & Wu-Tang Clan
"Sex and Candy" – Marcy Playground
"Şımarık" – Tarkan
"Slide" – Goo Goo Dolls
"Someone Loves You Honey" – Lutricia McNeal
"Stand by Me" – 4 The Cause
"Still Not a Player" – Big Pun feat. Joe
"Stop" – Spice Girls
"Stranded" – Lutricia McNeal
"Sweetest Thing" – U2
"Take Me There" - Blackstreet & Mýa
"Teardrop" – Massive Attack
"Thank U" – Alanis Morissette
"The Chameleon" - King África
"The Cup of Life" – Ricky Martin
"The Power of Good-Bye" – Madonna
"The Unforgiven II - Metallica
"This Is How We Party" – S.O.A.P.
"This Kiss" – Faith Hill
"Together Again" – Janet Jackson
"Too Close" – Next
"Too Much" – Spice Girls
"Too Much Heaven" - Nana
"Top of the World" – Brandy
"Torn" – Natalie Imbruglia
"Touch It" – Monifah
"Truly Madly Deeply" – Savage Garden
"Turn Back Time" – Aqua
"Turn It Up (remix)/Fire It Up" – Busta Rhymes
"Turn the Page" – Metallica
"Under the Bridge" / Lady Marmalade" - All Saints
"Uninvited" – Alanis Morissette
"Up and Down" – Vengaboys
"Viva Forever" – Spice Girls
"Vivo per lei (je vis pour elle)" – Hélène Ségara and Andrea Bocelli
"The Way" – Fastball
"Unforgivable Sinner" - Lene Marlin
"Until the Time Is Through" – Five
"Wanna Get Up" - 2 Unlimited
"Weird" – Hanson
"Westside" - TQ
"We Like To Party" – Vengaboys
"What Can I Do?" - The Corrs
"What Can I Do?" (Remix) - The Corrs & Tin Tin Out
"What's Your Sign?" - Des'ree
"When the Lights Go Out" – Five
"When You Believe" – Mariah Carey & Whitney Houston
"When You're Gone" – Bryan Adams & Melanie Chisholm
"Whiskey in the Jar" – Metallica
"Witch Doctor" - Cartoons (#2 UK, #9 BE)
"Would You...?" – Touch and Go (#2 IT, #3 UK, #4 NZ, SWI)
"You're My Heart, You're My Soul '98" – Modern Talking (#2 AUT, GER, #3 FR, #4 SWI)
"You're Still the One" – Shania Twain
"Zora Sourit" – Celine Dion
Leonardo Balada – Folk Dreams (Three Pieces for Orchestra)
Osvaldas Balakauskas – Symphony No. 4
Louis Andriessen – Writing to Vermeer
John Barry – The Beyondness of Things
George Crumb – Mundus Canis (A Dog's World) for guitar and percussion
Mario Davidovsky – String Quartet No. 5
Ludovico Einaudi – Arie
Lorenzo Ferrero – A Red Wedding Dress, for organ
Beat Furrer
still für Ensemble
spur für Klavier und Streichquartett
Philip Glass – Days and Nights in Rocinha, for orchestra
Georg Friedrich Haas
Concerto for violin and orchestra
String Quartet No.2
Jake Heggie – Sophie's Song
Frederik Magle – Cantata to Saint Cecilia
Gordon McPherson – Miami
Hans Otte – Stundenbuch for piano
Zbigniew Preisner – Requiem for my Friend
Einojuhani Rautavaara – Piano Concerto No. 3 Gift of Dreams
Vache Sharafyan – The sun, the wine and the wind of time, for doodouk, violin, violoncello and piano
Juan Maria Solare – Spaghettisssimo
Morton Subotnick – Echoes from the Silent Call of Girona
Mark Adamo – Little Women
Christopher Butterfield – Zurich 1916
Philip Glass – White Raven
Heinz Holliger – Schneewittchen
Constantine Koukias – The Divine Kiss
Ryan Ostrander – Madame Butterfly
March 5 – The Boy from Oz, Sydney production opened.
Cabaret (Kander and Ebb) – Broadway revival
Footloose – Broadway production opened at the Richard Rodgers Theatre and ran for 709 performances
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Stephen Trask) – off Broadway production
High Society – Broadway production opened at the St James Theatre and ran for 144 performances
Ragtime – Broadway production at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts and ran for 834 performances
The Sound of Music (Rodgers & Hammerstein) – Broadway revival
Blues Brothers 2000
Meeting People Is Easy
Mulan
The Prince of Egypt
Velvet Goldmine
Why Do Fools Fall in Love
February 8 - Šarlote Lēnmane, Latvian singer-songwriter
August 11 – Nadia Azzi, pianist
August 25 – China Anne McClain, singer
January 2 – Nick Venet, record producer, 61 (Burkitt's Lymphoma)
January 4 – Mae Questel, singer and actress, the voice of Betty Boop, Olive Oyl, Little Audrey & Little Lulu, 89
January 5 – Sonny Bono, singer and songwriter, 63
January 7 – Owen Bradley, record producer, 82
January 8 – Sir Michael Tippett, composer, 93
January 11 – Klaus Tennstedt, conductor, 71
January 15 – Junior Wells, harmonica player, 64
January 17 – Junior Kimbrough, blues guitarist and singer, 67
January 19 – Carl Perkins, singer 65, complications following a series of strokes
January 22 – Anselmo Sacasas, jazz pianist and bandleader, 85
January 24 – Justin Tubb, country music singer and songwriter, 62
January 26
Orlando DiGirolamo, jazz accordionist, pianist, composer, and teacher, 73
Shinichi Suzuki, violinist and inventor of the international Suzuki method of music education, 99
February 3 – Fat Pat, American rapper (shot)
February 5
Tim Kelly, guitarist (Slaughter), 35 (car accident)
Nick Webb, jazz guitarist, 43 or 44 (pancreatic cancer)
February 6
Carl Wilson, The Beach Boys, 51 (lung cancer)
Falco, rock star, 40 (car accident)
February 10 – Alex Kramer, Canadian songwriter, 94
February 13 – Thomas Chapin, composer and saxophonist, 40 (leukemia)
February 17 – Bob Merrill, songwriter, 76 (suicide)
February 19 – Grandpa Jones, star of Hee Haw, comedian and musician, 84
February 25 – Rockin' Sidney, soul musician, 59
February 28 – Todd Duncan, first Porgy in Porgy and Bess, 95
March 8 – Roger Christian, The Christians
March 13 – Judge Dread, ska and reggae performer, 52 (heart attack on stage)
March 29 – Nada Tončić, operatic soprano, 88
March 31 – Joel Ryce-Menuhin, pianist, 64
April 1 – Rozz Williams, founder of Christian Death, suicide (hanging)
April 2 – Rob Pilatus, member of Milli Vanilli, 32
April 4 – Pierre Lantier, pianist and composer, 87
April 5 – Cozy Powell, drummer for Rainbow and Black Sabbath, 50 (car accident)
April 6 – Tammy Wynette, country singer, 55
April 7 – Wendy O. Williams, The Plasmatics, 48 (suicide)
April 9 – Tom Cora, cellist and composer, 44
April 11 – Lillian Briggs, US singer and trombonist, 65 (lung cancer)
April 15 – Rose Maddox, country singer, 72
April 17 – Linda McCartney, rock photographer, keyboard player (Wings) and entrepreneur, wife of Paul McCartney, 56 (breast cancer)
May 2 – Hideto "Hide" Matsumoto, Japanese rock artist, 33, (hanging, apparently accidental)
May 5 – Tommy McCook, Jamaican saxophonist, 71
May 7 – Eddie Rabbitt, country singer, 56, lung cancer
May 9 – Alice Faye, actress and singer, 83
May 10
Lester Butler, blues harmonica player and singer, 38 (drug overdose)
Clara Rockmore, thereminist and violinist, 87
May 14 – Frank Sinatra, singer and actor, 82 (heart attack)
May 19 – Dorothy Donegan, jazz pianist, 76
May 20 – Robert Normann, Norwegian jazz guitarist, 81
May 22 – Royce Kendall, country musician, 62
June 2 – Ricky Hyslop, violinist, conductor, composer, and arranger, 83
June 8 – Harry Lookofsky, jazz violinist, 84
June 10 – Steve Sanders, the Oak Ridge Boys, 45, suicide
June 25 – Lounès Matoub, assassinated
July 6 – Roy Rogers, actor and singer, 86
July 14 – Herman David Koppel, pianist and composer, 89
July 21 – O'Landa Draper, O'Landa Draper and the Associates (gospel choir), 34 (renal failure)
July 23 – André Gertler, violinist, 90
July 28 – Olga De Blanck Martín, pianist, guitarist and composer, 62
August 3 – Alfred Schnittke, composer, 63
August 11 – Benny Waters, jazz saxophonist and clarinetist, 96
August 19
Ilva Ligabue, operatic soprano, 66
Sylvia Stahlman, operatic soprano, 69
August 22 – Sergio Fiorentino, pianist, 70
August 24 – Gene Page, arranger, producer and conductor, 58
August 25 – Lamar Crowson, pianist, 72
August 29 – Charlie Feathers, country blues musician, 66
September 14 – Johnny Adams, blues, jazz and gospel singer, 66
September 18 – Charlie Foxx, R & B and soul musician, 58 (leukemia)
September 26 – Betty Carter, jazz singer, 69
September 30 – Pavel Štěpán, pianist, 73
October 1 - Pauline Julien, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress, 60
October 2 – Gene Autry, actor and country singer, 91
October 5 – Jacques Abram, pianist, 83
October 7 – Arnold Jacobs, American tuba player and educator, 83
October 14 – Frankie Yankovic, America's "Polka King," 83
October 17 – Antonio Agri, violinist, conductor and composer, 66
October 25 – Warren Wiebe, "Soulful Rain Man", vocalist and session artist, 45 (suicide)
November 8
Consuelo Villalon Aleman, pianist, 91
Lonnie Pitchford, blues musician, 43 (AIDS)
November 12 – Kenny Kirkland, jazz keyboardist, 43 (congestive heart failure)
November 20 – Roland Alphonso, saxophonist, 67
November 27 – Barbara Acklin, soul singer, 55
December 4 – Egil Johansen, jazz drummer, 64
December 11 – Lynn Strait, (Snot), 30 (car accident)
December 21
Avril Coleridge-Taylor, pianist, conductor and composer, 95
Karl Denver, Scottish singer, 67
December 25 – Bryan MacLean, singer, guitarist and songwriter (Love), 52 (heart attack)
December 30 – Johnny Moore, R & B singer, 64
The following artists are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, The Mamas & the Papas, Lloyd Price, Santana and Gene Vincent
Inductees of the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame include Andrae Crouch, The Imperials, The Jordanaires and The LeFevres
Bring It On – Gomez wins.
Main article 1998 MTV Video Music Awards
