1991 was the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough. Nirvana's Nevermind, led by the surprise hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit", became the most popular U.S. album of the year. Followed immediately by other grunge bands like Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, grunge dominated the U.S. charts for the next few years. Its success effectively ended pop-oriented hair metal groups like Guns n' Roses, Poison and Def Leppard, whose sales and critical viability had been declining for years.
Queen frontman Freddie Mercury was found dead in London on November 24, 1991 due to AIDS. Rumors had been circulating that Mercury had AIDS, but the death came as a shocker to millions of fans and the music industry. The remaining members of Queen form the Mercury Phoenix Trust and the following year, a tribute concert is staged in Wembley Stadium. A sell-out crowd in attendance witnessed the three surviving members reuniting to play along with performances by the likes of David Bowie, Elton John, Guns N' Roses, Def Leppard, Metallica and George Michael.
February 27 - James Brown is granted an early parole and released from jail. Brown had been arrested after leading Police on a high speed chase through two states in 1989. Pop Will Eat Itself documented the affair with their song, "Not Now James, We're Busy".
March 16 - Seven members of country music singer Reba McEntire's band and her road manager are killed when their private plane crashes in California, near the Mexican border. McEntire travels on a separate plane.
March 20 - Eric Clapton's four-year-old son, Conor, dies after falling 53 stories from a New York City apartment window. (The death of his son would inspire Clapton to write "Tears in Heaven".)
March 24 - The Black Crowes are dropped as the opening act of ZZ Top's tour for repeatedly insulting the tour's sponsor, Miller Beer .
The original surviving members of Bill Haley and His Comets from the 1950s reunite for a European concert tour, and soon after resume regular touring and recording engagements that continue as of 2005.
