January–February

• January 1 – Mo Ostin steps down as chairman and CEO of Warner Music Group.
• January 8 – Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder hosts "Self-Pollution Radio", a four-and-a-half hour radio broadcast with live performances by Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, and others. Any station with a satellite receiver could pick up and carry the program.^[1]
• January 10 – Michel Sardou begins a record-breaking run of 113 shows at the Paris Olympia.^[2]
• January 14 – Perry Farrell is arrested for cocaine possession, being under the influence and possession of a syringe at a Los Angeles hotel.^[3]
• January 18 – Jerry Garcia crashes his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California, USA, but is not injured in the accident.^[4]
• January 20–February 5 – The Big Day Out festival takes place in Australia and New Zealand, headlined by Ministry, Primal Scream, Hole, The Cult and The Offspring.^[5] Originally, Oasis were also named in the lineup, but had to cancel their performance due to co-frontman Liam Gallagher losing his voice.
• January 27 – Live from the House of Blues premieres on TBS.
• February 1 – Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers band member Richey James Edwards goes missing after leaving the London Embassy Hotel, UK at 7 am.^[6]
• February 7 – Rapper Tupac Shakur is sentenced to one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years in prison on a sexual abuse charge.^[7] He is later released on appeal.
• February 12 – Iron Butterfly bassist Philip Taylor Kramer disappears^[8] from Highway 101, USA as he tried to get back home from the Los Angeles International Airport. He tried calling his family and 911 for help, but received none. His remains are found in 1999.
• February 14 – Richey Edwards' Vauxhall Cavalier is found abandoned in a service station on the Bristol side of the Severn Bridge in the UK, with evidence that he had been living in it. Although he was near a notorious suicide spot, there is still no evidence to suggest he committed suicide.^[9]
• February 19
  • Roxette play to a crowd of 12,000 in Beijing, China, becoming the first Western band to be allowed to perform in the Workers' Indoor Arena for ten years.^[10]
  • Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee marries Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson on a beach in Cancún, Mexico.^[11]
• February 25 – Lyle Lovett suffers a broken collarbone in an accident while riding his motorcycle in Mexico. The accident prevented Lovett from attending the Grammy Awards (he ended up winning two awards).^[12]

March–April

• March 1
  • R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry leaves the stage during a concert in Switzerland after suffering a brain aneurysm. He undergoes successful brain surgery two days later in Switzerland.^[13]
  • The 37th Annual Grammy Awards are presented in Los Angeles, hosted by Paul Reiser. Bruce Springsteen won four awards, including Song of the Year for "Streets of Philadelphia", while Tony Bennett's MTV Unplugged live album wins Album of the Year and Sheryl Crow's "All I Wanna Do" wins Record of the Year. Crow also wins Best New Artist.
• March 8 – Former Helloween drummer, Ingo Schwichtenberg, commits suicide by jumping under a subway train.^[14]
• March 13 – Radiohead album The Bends and Elastica album Elastica are released.
• March 14 – With the release of Me Against the World, Tupac Shakur became the first male solo artist to have a number one album on the American Billboard 200 chart while in prison.^[15] The album remained at the top of the charts for four weeks.
• March 26 – Rapper Eric Lynn Wright, better known as Eazy-E, dies of complications from AIDS.^[16]
• March 28 – Lyle Lovett and actress Julia Roberts announce their separation after 21 months of marriage.^[17]
• March 30 – Celine Dion releases D'eux, which goes on to be the most successful French-language album of all time.^{[citation needed]}
• March 31
  • Tejano singer Selena is shot and killed by Yolanda Saldivar, her former personal assistant and former fan club president, who had recently been fired for embezzling money from the fan club. The event was called "Black Friday" by Hispanics worldwide.
  • During a performance in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA, Jimmy Page narrowly escapes being stabbed by a man who rushes the stage with a knife.^[18] The man was tackled by security guards who were injured in the brawl.
• April 17 – Ed Rosenblatt replaces David Geffen as chairman and CEO of Geffen Records.^[19]
• April 22 – Janet Jackson ends her Janet World Tour in London, England after nearly two years of touring.
• April 29 – Tupac Shakur marries Keisha Morris inside the Clinton Correctional Facility, New York, USA. Shakur was serving a four-and-a-half year jail term on sexual assault charges. They would later divorce.

May–June

• May 5 – Former Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler is arraigned on a felony count of possession of heroin, in addition to two misdemeanor drug charges.^[20]
• May 13 – The 40th Eurovision Song Contest, held at Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, is won by Irish-Norwegian band Secret Garden, representing Norway with the song "Nocturne". This is the last competition with only one host until 2013.
• May 15 – Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland is arrested outside a motel in Pasadena, California, for possession of heroin and cocaine.^[21]
• May 19 – Sam Phillips makes her motion picture debut in the Bruce Willis action film, Die Hard with a Vengeance. Phillips plays one of the main terrorists in the film.
• June 1 – Alan Wilder leaves Depeche Mode.^[22]
• June 13 – Icelandic singer Björk releases Post, her critically acclaimed second album as a solo artist. The musically diverse album contained some of her most popular work to date, including "Army of Me", "Hyperballad", "I Miss You" and a Betty Hutton cover of "It's Oh So Quiet".
• June 16 – Michael Jackson released his first double-album HIStory, which became the best-selling multiple-album of all-time, with 35 million copies (70 million copies) sold worldwide.

July–August

• July 3 – The members of TLC file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, declaring debts of over $3.5 million.
• July 9 – The Grateful Dead performs its final show with Jerry Garcia at Soldier Field in Chicago. He dies one month later of a heart attack at the age of 53.
• July 14 – George Michael and Sony Music complete their acrimonious split. In 1994 Michael lost a lawsuit seeking to be released from his Sony contract, but he vowed to never sing for the company again. Michael will now record for the new label DreamWorks Records.^[23]
• July 17 – Robbie Williams announces he is leaving Take That.^[24]
• July 18 – Selena becomes the first Hispanic singer to have an album debut and peak at number-one on the US Billboard 200 chart. She also becomes the first and only female singer to place five albums simultaneously on the Billboard 200 chart.
• August 9
  • Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead passes away of a heart attack at age 53. In cities all over the United States, deadheads spontaneously gather to mourn his death and celebrate his life.^[25]
  • Kiss performs on MTV Unplugged. The band's current lineup is joined by original members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, setting the stage for the band's reunion tour the following year.
• August 12 – The Offspring's Dexter Holland marries hairstylist Kristine Luna, who co-wrote the band's song "Session" from Ignition.^[26]
• August 22 – Rancid release their third studio album ...And Out Come the Wolves. Along with Green Day's Dookie and The Offspring's Smash (both released a year before), this album helped revive mainstream popular interest in punk rock in the mid-1990s, and becomes one of the best-selling independent records of all time. ...And Out Come the Wolves eventually goes platinum.
• August 23 – Dwayne Goettel of Skinny Puppy dies of a heroin overdose at his parents' home in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
• August 28
  • Oingo Boingo announce that they will break up following a series of Halloween shows in Los Angeles, California, USA.^{[citation needed]} Lead singer Danny Elfman has established a career scoring motion pictures.
  • The official end of Sarah Records is marked with a farewell party featuring live sets by many of the label's acts. It was the last live appearance by The Orchids before they split up.^{[citation needed]}
• August 29 – Al Jourgensen and Mike Scaccia of Ministry are arrested for heroin possession in two separate incidents in Texas.^[27]

September–October

• September 1 – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opens in Cleveland, Ohio, USA.^[28]
• September 5 – The Luminiş Villa, George Enescu Memorial House, becomes an official memorial to the composer.
• September 5 – The Backstreet Boys release their debut single "We've Got It Goin' On".
• September 8 – For Squirrels vocalist Jack Vigliatura, bassist Bill White and manager Tim Bender are all killed in a van accident near Savannah, Georgia.^[27]
• September 15 – Alternative-country magazine No Depression publishes its first issue, with Son Volt on the cover.
• September 27 – Time Warner agrees to sell back its 50 percent share of Interscope Records. The media giant had come under intense fire for the explicit lyrics of rap artists on the label.^[29]
• October 2
  • The first International Guitar Festival is held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.^[30]
  • Oasis release their second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?. The album spawns several number one singles around the world and eventually becomes the third best-selling album in the UK of all time.
• October 10
  • Mariah Carey performs at Madison Square Garden to promote her album Daydream.
  • Green Day release their fourth album Insomniac. While it didn't sell as well as their previous album Dookie, it still sold 4 million copies.
• October 11 – Tupac Shakur is released from Clinton Correctional Facility, New York, USA, on US$1.4 million bail which was posted by Suge Knight. In return, Tupac signed a three-album deal with Knight's Death Row Records.
• October 21 – Blind Melon singer Shannon Hoon is found dead of a cocaine overdose at the age of 28.
• October 23 – Def Leppard enters the Guinness Book of World Records by performing three shows in three continents in the same day, playing Tangier, Morocco, London, England and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.^[31]
• October 24 – The Smashing Pumpkins release their album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.
• October 30 – Oasis release their single "Wonderwall."

November–December

• November 6
  • Cher releases her first album in four years, It's A Man's World, her first original recording for Warner Music Group. The album would get its U.S. debut in June 1996.
  • Queen releases their final studio album that includes contributions from all original members following Freddie Mercury's death four years earlier. It goes on to be a huge success, selling 20 million copies worldwide.
• November 21
  • dc Talk release their 4th studio album Jesus Freak. It was a departure from their previous hip hop albums taking on a rap rock sound. It achieved the biggest 1st week sales for a Christian album selling more than 80,000 copies in its first week and entering the Billboard Top 200 at #16. It is known as one of the most important Christian albums of all time.
  • The Offspring re-release their debut album (which originally appeared in 1989), on CD for the first time. This proves to be the band's final release on Epitaph Records; they leave Epitaph and sign with Columbia Records the next year.
  • Enrique Iglesias releases his debut album, in Spanish. It tops the Latin album charts and would go on to win a Grammy and produce five No. 1 singles on Billboard's Hot Latin Tracks chart.^{[citation needed]}
• December 4 – The Beatles release "Free As A Bird" as their first new single in over 20 years.
• December 21 – Madonna is subpoenaed to testify on January 3, 1996, against her stalker, Robert Hoskins, at the Criminal Courts Building in Los Angeles, California, USA. Hoskins was shot by a security guard outside her estate in Los Angeles in May 1995 for trespassing on her property and threatening to marry or kill her.
• December 31 – The twenty-fourth annual New Year's Rockin' Eve special airs on ABC, with appearances by Brandy, Goo Goo Dolls, Kool & The Gang, Martin Page, and The Rembrandts.

Also in 1995

• In Flames hires Björn Gelotte & Anders Fridén.
• Three members of R.E.M., Bill Berry, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe, fall ill while on the band's "Monster Tour". Berry suffers an aneurysm which required immediate surgery, Stipe suffers a hiatal hernia and Mills undergoes an appendectomy.
• Paul D'Amour leaves Tool.
• John Denver – The Wildlife Concert (US single: "For You")
• Kid 'n Play disbands.

January–March

April–June

July–September

October–December

Release date unknown

Other Chart hit singles

Other Notable singles