July
- July 26: A performance of Richard Wagner's The Mastersingers of Nuremberg which opened the Bayreuth festival in Germany was booed. The reaction is critical because it was the directorial début of the composer's 29-year-old great-granddaughter Katharina Wagner. Her interpretation of the work is particularly controversial because it features topless dancers, plastic phalluses and full male nudity.[1] [2] [3]
- July 18: Warner Music Group has decided after several weeks not to bid for EMI, one of its rivals, whose artists include Radiohead and Norah Jones.[4]
- July 14: Janet Jackson has ended her relationship with Virgin Records to join her boyfriend Jermaine Dupri at The Island Def Jam Music Group.
- July 10: The Aboriginal singer George Burarrwanga has died at the age of 60 from cancer. Known in life as George Rrurrambu, he was an icon of Aboriginal rock music, and was most well known as the charismatic frontman of the Warumpi Band. [5] [Obiturary]
- July 5: The English jazz and blues singer George Melly has died at the age of 80.[6]
- July 3: Soprano Beverly Sills, who brought opera to United States popular culture through frequent television appearances, has died at her home in New York. She was 78.n:Soprano Beverly Sills dies at age 78
- July 1: The Open'er Festival, a contemporary music festival held in Gdynia, Poland has finished taking place. The yearly event lasted three days, from June 29 - July 1, and featured Sonic Youth, Bloc Party, and The Beastie Boys. [7]