This past year will go down in music history as the year the King of Pop died.
Michael Jackson succumbed to an accidental prescription drug overdose on June 25. And some of the journalists who called him "Wacko Jacko" during his career did a 180 and praised him for his groundbreaking success as an entertainer in the '80s and early '90s.
There were other music headlines that captivated the country this year as well.
Chris Brown's guilty plea in a domestic dispute against his now-ex girlfriend Rihanna.
Openly gay "American Idol" runner-up Adam Lambert being banned from "Good Morning America" after his steamy performance on the "American Music Awards."
Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch's Hannukah song.
The death of Yvonne Burch of the King Sisters, who passed away a couple of weeks ago.
Then there was the Aerosmith confusion. The press reported lead singer Steven Tyler was quitting, only to be told a few days later by Tyler that he was still in the band.
H1N1 was in the news, and it was feared that Sir Elton John caught it, but after entering the hospital and undergoing tests, he was diagnosed with the flu and E-coli poisoning. Consequently, dates on his tour with Billy Joel were canceled and postponed (including a stop in Salt Lake City).
Still, the music world wasn't all about controversy, quirkiness and tragedy.
Susan Boyle charmed the world with her voice and survived the press scrutiny to relish her No. 1 chart position on Billboard's Hot 100.
Metal band Lamb of God released its fifth studio album "Wrath," which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, making it the highest charting extreme-metal CD in the past 15 years — the last being Pantera's "Far Beyond Driven" in 1994.
Also Phish phans rejoiced when their phavorite band regrouped in March.
Other band reunions included Blink 182, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Faith No More, Limp Bizkit, Adema, Creed and Blur.
Taylor Swift was the "It Girl" of the year with her top-selling CD "Fearless," her sold-out "Fearless Tour," her MTV Video Music Awards acceptance speech (which was interrupted by Kanye West) and her eight Grammy Award nominations.
Speaking of Grammy nominations, Beyonce leads the pack with 10.
As for revivals, the Beatles made headlines again with the release of "The Beatles: Rock Band" video game and two full-catalog box sets. And the Trans-Siberian Orchestra finally released its much-anticipated studio CD, "Night Castle," which has been in the making for more than five years.
While Jackson's death garnered most of the headlines, other notable deaths included folk rocker Vic Chesnutt, Lynyrd Skynyrd's Billy Powell, the Stooges' Ron Asheton, Buffalo Springfield's Dewey Martin, jazz drummer Louie Bellson, Avenge Sevenfold drummer James "The Rev" Sullivan, bluesman Snooks Eaglin, singer/songwriter England Dan Seals, rapper Rod "Dolla" Burton II, blueswoman Koko Taylor, guitar pioneer Les Paul, conductor Erich Kunzel and Alan Parsons Project co-founder Eric Woolfson.
e-mail: scott@desnews.com