It's been another busy year in the music world. Songs have topped charts, albums have flown off shelves and musicians have kept up the grand old tradition of rock and roll by marrying, divorcing and getting arrested.
Let us take you through a whirlwind tour of 2006.
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Rap legends Wu-Tang Clan announced they were reuniting for a US tour - nine years after their last jaunt.
British girl group All Saints also confirmed they were to reunite after a four year hiatus.
Californian rock group Grandaddy split after 14 years of making music. There was better news for piano man Billy Joel, who entered the record books after selling out 11 consecutive nights at New York City's Madison Square Garden.
A number of stars landed in trouble with the law: English R B singer Ms Dynamite was arrested and charged with assaulting a female police officer outside a London nightclub.
Hip hopper Beanie Sigel was sentenced to two years probation after being convicted of assaulting a man outside a Philadelphia, Pennyslvania restaurant in 2003. Rapper Cassidy was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault charges in the same city.
Troubled English rocker Pete Doherty pleaded guilty to possession of heroin and cocaine in a London court. The Babyshambles frontman went on to be arrested three times this month.
English glam rocker Gary Glitter was formally charged with committing obscene acts against two young girls in Vietnam.
He was found guilty by a Vung Tau court in March and sentenced to three years imprisonment.
There was better news for French rock legend Johnny Hallyday who breathed a sigh of relief after a Nice judge threw out a rape case against him.
There was also cause for celebration for pop punk Pink, who married motocross driver Carey Hart on 6 January at the Four Seasons resort on the Papagayo peninsula in Costa Rica.
Rapper Eminem also remarried his ex-wife Kimberly Scott in Rochester Hills, Michigan - four years after their bitter divorce. Little did they know they would split again in April after just 82 days of marriage.
It was a traumatic month for rocker Pete Townshend who admitted he is losing his hearing, and soul legend Isaac Hayes, who was admitted to a Memphis, Tennessee hospital after being diagnosed with exhaustion.
In January we lost forever Grammy-winning singer Lou Rawls who died after a battle with lung and brain cancer at the age of 72; soul singer Wilson Pickett who died in a Virginia hospital after suffering a heart attack at the age of 64; and House Of Freaks guitarist Bryan Harvey who was found murdered, along with his wife Kathyrn and their two children.
Sheryl Crow was glad to put February behind her after being struck by double tragedy. Not only did the singer call off her five month engagement to cycling champion Lance Armstrong, she was also diagnosed with early stage breast cancer and had to cancel her US tour.
Other stars forced into hospital included Madonna , who had a hernia operation, and raunchy rapper Foxy Brown, who needed emergency surgery for sudden hearing loss.
Guitar great Les Paul has a better experience under medical care - while recovering from pneumonia he learned from his hospital bed that he had won two Grammy awards. U2 were the big winners at the ceremony in Los Angeles, picking up five top prizes.
Mariah Carey, John Legend and Kanye West picked up three each.
Across the Atlantic it was Sheffield newcomers Kaiser Chiefs who were dominating prizegivings. The rockers snatched British Group, British Rock Act and British Live Act at the Brit Awards.
However, the event was remembered for Coldplay frontman Chris Martin's ambiguous onstage comment, "You won't see us at one of these for many, many years. We mean it." Publicists for the band swiftly issued a statement denying speculation they were planning to split.
The same couldn't be said for Billy Joel and his drummer Liberty DeVitto who parted ways after thirty years performing together. But the Smashing Pumpkins reunited after a six year hiatus, as did surviving Bee Gees members Barry and Robin Gibb in concert in Miami, Florida.
Valentine's Day proved bittersweet for Bon Jovi rocker Richie Sambora after wife-of-11 years Heather Locklear filed for divorce.
Luckily he had new love Denise Richards to comfort him. Lisa Marie Presley was less reluctant to give up on love - she married for the fourth time, to music producer Michael Lockwood, in Kyoto, Japan.
February saw Britney Spears being branded a bad mum in the first of a string of parenting faux pas.
She was investigated after being filmed driving with her baby son Sean Preston on her lap, unrestrained.
Other stars shamed on video this month were Kid Rock and former Creed frontman Scott Stapp who both featured in a leaked sex tape. Troubled R B star R Kelly also fell victim when his brother released a DVD claiming the singer has had sex with minors, beats his wife, molested his nieces and has had physical relations with men.
Other legal wrangles featured George Michael, arrested on suspicion of possessing drugs after he was found slumped in his car in central London. He admitted he was in possession of cannabis.
Scott Stapp's bad month continued when he was arrested at Los Angeles airport for public intoxication - while trying to leave on his honeymoon.
Meanwhile, The Beatles' producer George Martin demanded recognition for co-writing classic hit Yesterday; and Busta Rhymes infuriated police by refusing to cooperate in an investigation into the fatal shooting of his bodyguard Israel Ramirez.
February deaths included producer J Dilla, who passed away aged just 32 from the immune disease lupus. Similarly tragic was English soul singer Lynden David Hall's demise aged 31, after a two year battle with cancer.
March began with a high profile split as guitarist Wes Borland announced nu-metal group Limp Bizkit had disbanded, despite frontman Fred Durst claiming they were still together. Other shock break-ups came later in the month as both rap mogul Russell Simmons and enduring rocker Phil Collins left their wives.
Meanwhile Michael Jackson had domestic troubles of a different kind when he was ordered to shut down his Neverland Valley Ranch in California after failing to pay his employees or renew their insurance policies.
There were further legal troubles for Busta Rhymes who was sued for assault by one of his fans who claimed the rapper and his bodyguard attacked him when he asked for an autograph. Better news for Corey 'C-Murder' Miller though, who was released from jail and put under house arrest after the Louisiana Supreme Court overturned his murder conviction. In other court battles, Rod Stewart was ordered to pay $2.
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