There have been some memorable moments in music from January to June of this year.  The brightest star of 2011 continued her reign into 2012. A rap pioneer and his group were treated like royalty in Cleveland. Another hip hop king held court at one of New York’s most reputable concert halls. The leader of the free world wowed the audience at the Apollo, and a fallen soldier was resurrected at Coachella. 

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Best Moments

Adele Owns The Grammys

6 award wins and 1 breathtaking performance helped cement the British songtress as the new queen of retro-soul.

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Beastie Boys Lauded At Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony

Ad-Rock shared an emotional letter from cancer-striken MCA before Travie McCoy, Kid Rock, and The Roots paid tribute to the original party boys of rap.

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Jay-Z Takes Over Carnegie Hall

HOV became the first rap act to headline a solo concert at the prestigious venue. Who ever thought that hip hop would take it this far?

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President Obama Covers Al Green

The POTUS proved he has some serious pipes. The clip became one of the biggest viral videos of the year and helped the sales of “Let’s Stay Together” skyrocket on iTunes.

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Tupac’s Back

A hologram of the late hip hop legend gave the most talked about performance of the year. Welcome to the future.

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Previous: Best Music of 2012 (So Far) Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, & Part 4

Agree? Disagree? Share your favorite music moments of the first half of 2012 in the comment section.