1951 in music

Events

• January 29 – Nilla Pizzi wins the first annual Sanremo Music Festival with "Grazie dei fiori".^[1]
• February – The first complete performance of Charles Ives's Second Symphony is given in Carnegie Hall by the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Bernstein.^[2]
• March – Alan Hovhaness conducts the world premiere of his Saint Vartan Symphony at Carnegie Hall in New York.^[3]
• April 18 – An article entitled "The Fight Against Formalism in Art and Literature, for a Progressive German Culture" appeared in the Tägliche Rundschau, official daily of the Soviet Government in Germany, promulgating the new cultural policy of the DDR.^[4]
• May 9 – May 26 – The Queen Elisabeth Competition for violin is held (for the first time under that name) in Brussels, Belgium. Leonid Kogan is awarded first prize.^[5]
• June 9 – Joseph Haydn's opera Orpheus and Eurydice given its world premiere at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.^[6]
• June 14 - Bill Haley and His Saddlemen record their version of "Rocket 88", combining the rhythm and blues arrangement of the original version (by Jackie Brentson and the Delta Cats) with country music trappings, considered by many music historians to be the first true rock and roll record.
• June 22 – July 10 – Darmstädter Internationale Ferienkurse held in Darmstadt.
• July 2 – July 14 – The seventh annual Cheltenham Music Festival is held in Cheltenham, England, with a performance of Brian Easdale's opera, The Sleeping Children, premieres of the first symphonies of Malcolm Arnold, John Gardner, and Arnold van Wyk, Franz Reizenstein's Serenade for Winds, and Maurice Jacobson's Symphonic Suite, as well as performances of works by Humphrey Searle, Robert Masters, Benjamin Frankel, and Philip Sainton.^[7]
• July 11 – Disc jockey and music promoter Alan Freed broadcasts his first Rhythm and blues radio programme from station WJW in Cleveland, Ohio. Freed uses the term rock and roll to describe R&B, in an effort to introduce the music to a broader white audience.
• July 14 – July 21 – The Haslemere Music Festival, consisting of six concerts of early music, takes place in Haslemere, England.^[8]
• July 29 – The annual Bayreuth Festival resumes for the first time since the Second World War, now under the general direction of Wieland Wagner, with an opening concert of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler, followed by productions of Der Ring des Nibelungen, Parsifal, and Die Meistersinger.^[9]
• August – The annual Salzburg Festival takes place in Salzburg, Austria, featuring four opera productions from the Vienna State Opera: Mozart's Idomeneo and Die Zauberflöte, and Verdi's Otello, all conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler, and Berg's Wozzeck, conducted by Karl Böhm, as well as seven orchestral concerts by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (two conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler and one each by Edwin Fischer, Rafael Kubelík, Eugen Jochum, Karl Böhm, and Leopold Stokowski), six choral concerts, four chamber-music concerts, three solo recitals, and a number of smaller events.^[10]
• September 5 – Opening of the month-long Berlin Festival of the Arts, with a performance in the New Schillertheater of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony by the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler. Subsequent musical events included performances of Gian Carlo Menotti's The Consul, Benjamin Britten's Let's Make an Opera, and the first German performance of Oklahoma!.^[11]
• September 11 – The Rake's Progress, an opera by Igor Stravinsky with libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, premieres in Venice, conducted by the composer.
• September 17 – September 22 – The fourth annual Swansea Festival of Music and the Arts opens in Swansea, Wales, with a controversial speech by one of Wales's leading composers, Daniel Jones. The festival was the final component in the Festival of Britain and consisted of seven programmes, featuring Welsh composer Arwel Hughes's new oratorio St. David and appearances by Victoria de los Ángeles, Zino Francescatti, André Navarra, Walter Susskind, and Jean Martinon.^[12]
• October 6 – October 7 – The Donaueschinger Musiktage features the world premieres of Ernst Krenek's Double Concerto for viola, piano, and small orchestra, Rolf Liebermann's Piano Sonata, Pierre Boulez's Polyphonie X for 18 solo instruments, Hermann Reutter's Der himmlische Vagant, lyrische Portrait des F. Villon von Klabund for alto and baritone voices and instrumental ensemble, and Marcel Mihalovici's Étude en deux parties for piano and ensemble, as well as German first performances of works by Messiaen, Guido Turchi, Harsányi, Jelinek, and Honegger, and a performance of Henze's Third Symphony.^[13]
• October 21 – Opening of a "Festival of Music and the Arts" at Wexford in Ireland, the forerunner of Wexford Festival Opera.
• October 22 – Reopening of the Royal Opera House, London, with a production of Puccini's Turandot, conducted by Sir John Barbirolli and with Gertrude Grob-Prandl in the title role.^[14]
• November 29 – December 3 – The Hamburg Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, plays four concerts in London as part of a thirteen-concert tour of England and Ireland.^[15]
• November – Dinah Shore begins her first TV series, The Dinah Shore Show, which will run for 5½ years.
• December 7 – Opening of the opera season at La Scala in Milan, three weeks earlier than the traditional date of December 26, with a double-bill consisting of Verdi's I vespri siciliani and Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress.^[16]
• Teresa Brewer leaves the London label for Coral.
• Georgia Gibbs leaves Coral to sign with Mercury, where she will experience all of her biggest hits.
• Frankie Laine is signed by Columbia Records, becoming the highest paid vocalist of his day. He immediately justifies his new contract with the double-sided megahit "Jezebel"/"Rose, Rose, I Love You."
• The Suk Trio is founded, consisting of Josef Suk, Julius Katchen and Janos Starker.

Albums released

• Ballin' the Jack – Georgia Gibbs
• Beloved Hymns – Bing Crosby
• Bing and the Dixieland Bands – Bing Crosby
• Bing Sing Victor Herbert – Bing Crosby
• Blue Period – Miles Davis
• Country Style – Bing Crosby
• Dig – Miles Davis
• Down Memory Lane – Bing Crosby
• Folksong Favorites – Patti Page
• Go West, Young Man – Bing Crosby
• Historically Speaking – Gerry Mulligan
• Hoop-De-Doo – The Ames Brothers
• I'll See You in My Dreams – Doris Day
• In the Evening by the Moonlight – The Ames Brothers
• Let's Polka – Frank Yankovic Orchestra (Pontiac Records PLP-520)
• Lullaby of Broadway – Doris Day
• Music, Maestro Please – Frankie Laine
• On Moonlight Bay – Doris Day
• One for My Baby – Frankie Laine
• Popo – Art Pepper and Shorty Rogers
• Porgy and Bess – Various Artists
• Precious Memories - Bill Kenny
• Sentimental Me – The Ames Brothers
• Sweet Leilani – The Ames Brothers
• Teresa Brewer – Teresa Brewer
• Two Tickets to Broadway – Dinah Shore
• Way Back Home – Bing Crosby
• Wonderful Words – The Mills Brothers

US No 1 hit singles

These singles reached the top of US Billboard magazine's charts in 1951.

Biggest hit singles

The following songs achieved the highest chart positions in the limited set of charts available for 1951.

#	Artist	Title	Year	Country	Chart Entries
1	Johnnie Ray	Cry	1951		US 1940s 1 – Dec 1951, US 1 for 11 weeks Dec 1951, US BB 2 of 1951, DDD 4 of 1951, RYM 5 of 1951, POP 6 of 1952, Italy 68 of 1955, Acclaimed 1084
2	Nat King Cole	Unforgettable	1951		US BB 1 of 1952, POP 1 of 1952, RYM 4 of 1951, US 1940s 14 – Nov 1951, DDD 25 of 1951, Europe 63 of the 1950s, Scrobulate 78 of vocal, WXPN 500
3	Les Paul & Mary Ford	How High the Moon	1951		US 1940s 1 – Mar 1951, US 1 for 9 weeks Apr 1951, DDD 10 of 1951, US BB 12 of 1951, POP 12 of 1951, RYM 19 of 1951, RIAA 317, Acclaimed 514
4	Nat King Cole	Too Young	1951		US 1940s 1 – Apr 1951, US 1 for 5 weeks Jun 1951, POP 1 of 1951, DDD 5 of 1951, RYM 10 of 1951
5	Mario Lanza	Be My Love	1951		US 1940s 1 – Dec 1950, US 1 for 1 weeks Mar 1951, US BB 9 of 1951, POP 9 of 1951, Europe 79 of the 1950s, RYM 137 of 1951

Top hits on record

• "Aba Daba Honeymoon" – Debbie Reynolds & Carleton Carpenter
• "Because" – Mario Lanza
• "Because Of You" – Tony Bennett
• "Belle, Belle, My Liberty Belle" – Guy Mitchell
• "Blue Tango" – Leroy Anderson & his Orchestra
• "Charmaine" – Mantovani & his Orchestra
• "Cold, Cold Heart" – Tony Bennett
• "Come On-A My House" – Rosemary Clooney
• "Cry" – Johnnie Ray & The Four Lads
• "Detour" – Patti Page
• "Down The Trail Of Achin' Hearts" – Patti Page
• "Down Yonder" recorded by:
  • Del Wood
  • Champ Butler
• "Flamenco" – Frankie Laine
• "Gambella (The Gamblin' Lady)" – Frankie Laine & Jo Stafford
• "The Gang That Sang Heart Of My Heart" – Frankie Laine
• "Get Happy" – Frankie Laine
• "Get Out Those Old Records" – Guy Lombardo (The Lombardo Trio vocals)
• "The Girl In The Wood" – Frankie Laine
• "Give Me Time" – Johnnie Ray
• "Gone Fishin'" – Bing Crosby & Louis Armstrong
• "Got Him Off My Hands" – Georgia Gibbs
• "Hello, Young Lovers" recorded by:
  • Perry Como
  • Guy Lombardo (Kenny Martin vocals)
• "Hey, Good Lookin'" – Frankie Laine & Jo Stafford
• "The Hot Canary" – Florian Zabach
• "How High The Moon" – Les Paul and Mary Ford
• "I Tawt I Taw A Puddy Tat" – Mel Blanc
• "If" – Perry Como
• "It Is No Secret" – Bill Kenny & The Song Spinners
• "It's All In the Game" – Tommy Edwards
• "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" – Perry Como & The Fontane Sisters
• "Jealousy (Jalousie)" – Frankie Laine
• "Jezebel" – Frankie Laine
• "The Little White Cloud That Cried" – Johnnie Ray & The Four Lads
• "The Loveliest Night Of The Year" – Mario Lanza
• "Lullaby of Broadway" – Doris Day
• "Mister And Mississippi" – Patti Page
• "Mockin' Bird Hill" – Patti Page
• "My Heart Cries For You" recorded by:
  • Vic Damone
  • Guy Mitchell
  • Dinah Shore
• "My Truly, Truly Fair" – Guy Mitchell
• "On Top Of Old Smoky" – The Weavers with Terry Gilkyson
• "Once Upon A Nickel" – Georgia Gibbs
• "One For My Baby" – Frankie Laine
• "Paths Of Paradise" – Johnnie Ray
• "Pretty-Eyed Baby" – Jo Stafford & Frankie Laine
• "Red Sails In The Sunset" – Nat King Cole
• "Rose, Rose, I Love You" – Frankie Laine
• "Shanghai" – Doris Day
• "Sin" – Eddy Howard & his Orchestra
• "Sound Off (The Duckworth Chant)" – Vaughn Monroe
• "Sparrow in the Treetop" – Guy Mitchell
• "A Sunday Kind Of Love" – Jo Stafford
• "Sweet Violets" – Dinah Shore
• "The Syncopated Clock" – Leroy Anderson & his Orchestra
• "Tell Me" – Doris Day
• "Tell Me Why" – The Four Aces featuring Al Alberts
• "Tell The Lady I Said Goodbye" – Johnnie Ray
• "Tom's Tune" – Georgia Gibbs
• "Too Young" – Nat King Cole
• "Undecided" – The Ames Brothers
• "Vanity" – Don Cherry
• "When It's Sleep Time Down South" – Frankie Laine
• "While You Danced, Danced, Danced" – Georgia Gibbs
• "The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise" – Les Paul and Mary Ford
• "Would I Love You (Love You, Love You)" – Patti Page

`

Top R&B hits on record

• "Rocket 88" – Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats
• "Sixty-Minute Man" – Dominoes
• "The Glory Of Love" – Five Keys
• "The Thrill Is Gone" – Roy Hawkins

Published popular music

• "Alice In Wonderland"     w. Bob Hilliard m. Sammy Fain
• "All In The Golden Afternoon"     w. Bob Hilliard m. Sammy Fain
• "Allentown Jail"     w.m. Irving Gordon
• "And So To Sleep Again" w.m. Joe Marsala & Sunny Skylar
• "Anywhere I Wander"     w.m. Frank Loesser
• "A-Round The Corner"     trad arr. Josef Marais
• "Asia Minor"     w.m. Roger King Mozian
• "A-Sleepin' At The Foot Of The Bed"      Happy Wilson, Luther Patrick
• "Be My Life's Companion"     w.m. Bob Hilliard & Milton De Lugg
• "Beautiful Brown Eyes"     trad arr. Arthur Smith & Alton Delmore
• "Because of You"     w.m. Arthur Hammerstein & Dudley Wilkinson
• "Belle, Belle, My Liberty Belle"     w.m. Bob Merrill
• "Bermuda"     w.m. Cynthia Strother & Eugene R. Strother
• "The Blacksmith Blues"     w.m. Jack Holmes
• "Blue Velvet"     w.m. Bernie Wayne & Lee Morris
• "Christopher Columbus"     w.m. Terry Gilkyson
• "Come On-A My House"     w.m. Ross Bagdasarian & William Saroyan
• "Cry"     w.m. Churchill Kohlman
• "Dance Me Loose"     w. Mel Howard m. Lee Erwin
• "Domino"     w. (Eng) Don Raye (Fr) Jacques Plante m. Louis Ferrari
• "Getting To Know You"     w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "Good Morning Mister Echo"     w.m. Bill Putman & Belinda Putman
• "Half As Much"     w.m. Curly Williams
• "He Had Refinement"     w. Dorothy Fields m. Arthur Schwartz
• "Hello, Young Lovers"     w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "Hey, Good Lookin"'     w.m. Hank Williams
• "How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Love You When You Know I've Been A Liar All My Life?"     w. Alan Jay Lerner m. Burton Lane
• "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)"     w.m. Hank Williams
• "I Get Ideas"     w. Dorcas Cochran m. Lenny Sanders
• "I Have Dreamed"     w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "I Love Lucy theme song" m. Eliot Daniel
• "I Love The Sunshine Of Your Smile"     w. Jack Hoffman m. Jimmy MacDonald
• "I Still See Elisa"     w. Alan Jay Lerner m. Frederick Loewe. Introduced by James Barton in the musical Paint Your Wagon. Performed in the film version by Clint Eastwood.
• "I Talk To The Trees"     w. Alan Jay Lerner m. Frederick Loewe. Introduced by Tony Bavaar and Olga San Juan in the musical Paint Your Wagon
• "I Whistle A Happy Tune"     w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "I Wish I Wuz"     w.m. Sid Kuller & Lyn Murray. Introduced in the film Slaughter Trail
• "I Won't Cry Anymore"     w. Fred Wise m. Al Frisch
• "I'm A Fool To Want You"     w.m. Jack Wolf, Joel Herron & Frank Sinatra
• "I'm Late"     w. Bob Hilliard m. Sammy Fain
• "In The Cool, Cool, Cool Of The Evening"     w. Johnny Mercer m. Hoagy Carmichael. Introduced by Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman in the film Here Comes The Groom.
• "It's All In The Game"     w. Carl Sigman m. Charles Gates Dawes Based on "Melody" by Dawes 1912.
• "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"     w.m. Meredith Willson
• "Jezebel"     w.m. Wayne Shanklin
• "A Kiss To Build A Dream On"     w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Harry Ruby
• "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine"     w. Paul Campbell m. Joel Newman
• "The Little White Cloud That Cried"     w.m. Johnnie Ray
• "The March Of The Siamese Children"     m. Richard Rodgers
• "Mister And Mississippi"     w.m. Irving Gordon
• "Misto Cristofo Columbo"     w.m. Jay Livingston & Ray Evans
• "Mockin' Bird Hill"     w.m. Vaughn Horton
• "The Morningside Of The Mountain"     w.m. Dick Manning & Larry Stock
• "My Truly, Truly Fair"     w.m. Bob Merrill
• "No Two People"     w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Sail Away"     w.m. Noël Coward
• "Shall We Dance?"     w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "Somewhere Along The Way"   w. Sammy Gallop m. Kurt Adams
• "Shanghai"     w.m. Bob Hilliard & Milton De Lugg
• "Shrimp Boats"     w.m. Paul Mason Howard & Paul Weston
• "(It's No) Sin"     w. Chester R. Shull m. George Hoven
• "Slow Poke"     w.m. Pee Wee King, Redd Stewart & Chilton Price
• "So Far, So Good"      w. Betty Comden & Adolph Green m. Jule Styne from the revue Two On The Aisle
• "Something Wonderful"     w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "Sound Off"     w.m. Willie Lee Duckworth, B. Lentz
• "Sparrow In The Tree Top"     w.m. Bob Merrill
• "Suzy Snowflake"     w.m. Sid Tepper & Roy C. Bennett
• "Sweet Violets"     arr. Cy Coben & Charles Grean
• "Tell Me Why"     w. Al Alberts m. Marty Gold
• "They Call The Wind Maria"     w. Alan Jay Lerner m. Frederick Loewe. Introduced in the musical Paint Your Wagon by Rufus Smith
• "The Thrill Is Gone"     w.m. Rick Darnell & Roy Hawkins
• "Thumbelina"     w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Too Young"     w. Sylvia Dee m. Sidney Lippman
• "Top Banana"      w.m. Johnny Mercer from the musical Top Banana (musical)
• "The Typewriter"     m. Leroy Anderson
• "Unforgettable"     w.m. Irving Gordon
• "Vanity"     w. Jack Manus & Bernard Bierman m. Guy Wood
• "Very Good Advice"     w. Bob Hilliard m. Sammy Fain
• "A Very Merry Un-Birthday To You"     w.m. Mack David, Al Hoffman & Jerry Livingston
• "Wand'rin' Star"     w. Alan Jay Lerner m. Frederick Loewe. Introduced by Rufus Smith, Robert Penn and Jared Reed in the musical Paint Your Wagon.
• "We Kiss In A Shadow"     w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "When The World Was Young"     w. (Eng) Johnny Mercer (Fr) Angela Vannier m. M. Philippe-Gerard
• "Wonderful Copenhagen"     w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Would I Love You (Love You, Love You)"     w. Bob Russell m. Harold Spina

Classical music

• Malcolm Arnold – English Dances for Orchestra, op. 33
• Pierre Boulez – Polyphonie X
• John Cage – Imaginary Landscape No. 4
• Elliott Carter – String Quartet No. 1
• George Crumb – Prelude and Toccata for piano
• Mario Davidovsky – String Quartet No. 1
• Henri Dutilleux – Symphony No. 1
• George Enescu – String Quartet No. 2
• Morton Feldman – Structures
• Howard Ferguson – Piano Concerto in D
• Gerald Finzi – All This Night
• Lukas Foss – Piano Concerto No. 2
• Roberto Gerhard – Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
• Reinhold Glière – Concerto for Horn and Orchestra
• Vagn Holmboe – Symphony No. 8
• Gordon Jacob – Concerto for Flute and Strings
• György Ligeti – Concert românesc for Orchestra
• Peter Mennin – String Quartet No. 2
• Vincent Persichetti – Symphony No. 4 completed
• Allan Pettersson – Seven Sonatas for Two Violins
• Joseph Guy Ropartz – String Quartet No. 6 in F
• Edmund Rubbra – String Quartet No. 2 in E-flat Op. 73
• Mátyás Seiber – Concertino for Clarinet and String Orchestra
• Roger Sessions – String Quartet No. 2
• Dmitri Shostakovich – Twenty-Four Preludes and Fugues for Piano op. 87 finished
• Karlheinz Stockhausen – Kreuzspiel
• Eduard Tubin – Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano
• Heitor Villa-Lobos – Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra

Opera

• Benjamin Britten – Billy Budd, with libretto by E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier
• Paul Dessau – The Trial of Lucullus, with libretto by Bertolt Brecht (March 18, Berlin), despite rumours that the work would be forbidden by the East German authorities.^[17]
• Marcel Landowski – Le Rire de Nils Halerius
• Gian-Carlo Menotti – Amahl and the Night Visitors
• Igor Stravinsky – The Rake's Progress, with libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman
• Ralph Vaughan Williams – The Pilgrim's Progress^[18]

Musical theater

• And So To Bed (Vivian Ellis) London production opened at the New Theatre on October 17 and ran for 323 performances
• Borscht Capades
• Flahooley (E. Y. Harburg and Sammy Fain) Broadway production opened at the Broadhurst Theatre on May 14 and ran for 40 performances.
• Gay's The Word London production opened at the Saville Theatre on February 16 and ran for 504 performances
• The King And I (Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II) – Broadway production
• Kiss Me, Kate (Cole Porter) – London production opened at the Coliseum on March 8 and ran for 501 performances
• The Lyric Revue     London production
• Make a Wish (Hugh Martin)Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on April 18 and ran for 102 performances. Starred Nanette Fabray.
• A Month Of Sundays Broadway production.
• Oklahoma! first German production (Berlin)
• Paint Your Wagon (Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe) – Broadway production opened at the Shubert Theatre on November 12 and ran for 289 performances
• Penny Plain     London production
• See You Later (Sandy Wilson) London production opened at the Watergate Theatre on October 3.
• Seventeen Broadway production opened at the Broadhurst Theatre on June 21 and ran for 182 performances
• South Pacific (Rodgers & Hammerstein) – London production
• Top Banana Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on November 1 and ran for 350 performances.
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Broadway production opened at the Alvin Theatre on April 19 and ran for 267 performances
• Two On The Aisle     Broadway production opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on July 19 and ran for 279 performances
• Zip Goes A Million     London production opened at the Palace Theatre on October 20 and ran for 544 performances

Musical films

• Alice In Wonderland
• An American In Paris starring Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, Georges Guétary and Nina Foch
• Call Me Mister starring Betty Grable and Dan Dailey
• Excuse My Dust starring Red Skelton, Monica Lewis, Sally Forrest, Macdonald Carey and William Demarest. Dirested by Roy Rowland.
• The Great Caruso
• Here Comes The Groom released September 20 starring Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman.
• The Lemon Drop Kid starring Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell.
• Lullaby Of Broadway starring Doris Day and Gene Nelson
• Mr. Imperium starring Lana Turner and Ezio Pinza
• On Moonlight Bay
• On the Riviera starring Danny Kaye, Gene Tierney and Corinne Calvet
• Purple Heart Diary starring Frances Langford, Judd Holdren, Ben Lessy and Tony Romano. Directed by Richard Quine.
• Rich, Young and Pretty starring Jane Powell, Danielle Darrieux, Wendell Corey, Vic Damone and Una Merkel
• Royal Wedding starring Fred Astaire and Jane Powell
• Show Boat
• Slaughter Trail starring Brian Donlevy, Gig Young and Virginia Grey and featuring Terry Gilkyson and Rosemary Clooney
• The Strip starring Mickey Rooney and featuring Louis Armstrong
• Two Tickets to Broadway released November 20 starring Janet Leigh, Tony Martin, Gloria DeHaven, Ann Miller and Bob Crosby.

Births

• January 6 – Kim Wilson (The Fabulous Thunderbirds)
• January 9 – Crystal Gayle, country singer
• January 19
  • Dewey Bunnell (America)
  • Martha Davis (The Motels)
• January 20 – Ian Hill
• January 27
  • Brian Downey, drummer (Thin Lizzy)
  • Seth Justman (The J. Geils Band)
• January 30 – Phil Collins, drummer, singer and actor
• January 31
  • K.C. (Harry Wayne Casey), singer (K.C. and the Sunshine Band)
  • Phil Manzanera, guitarist (Roxy Music)
• February 9 – Dennis Thomas (Kool and the Gang)
• February 12 – Gil Moore (Triumph)
• February 15 – Melissa Manchester, singer
• February 22 – Ellen Greene, singer and actress
• February 27 – Steve Harley, singer (Cockney Rebel)
• March 4 – Chris Rea, singer-songwriter
• March 9 – Zakir Hussain, Indian tabla player, music producer, film actor and soundtrack composer
• March 17 – Scott Gorham (Thin Lizzy)
• March 20 – Jimmie Vaughan (The Fabulous Thunderbirds)
• March 21
  • Russell Thompkins, Jr., vocalist (The Stylistics)
  • Conrad Lozano (Los Lobos)
• March 23 – Phil Keaggy, guitarist, singer
• April 3 – Mel Schacher (Question Mark & the Mysterians, Grand Funk Railroad)
• April 6 – Pascal Rogé, pianist
• April 7 – Janis Ian, singer-songwriter
• April 12 – Alex Briley (The Village People)
• April 13
  • Peabo Bryson, singer
  • Max Weinberg, drummer and bandleader (Late Night with Conan O'Brien)
• April 14 – Julian Lloyd Webber, cellist
• April 20 – Luther Vandross, soul singer (d. 2005)
• April 22 – Paul Carrack, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
• April 27 – Ace Frehley (Kiss)
• May 3 – Christopher Cross, singer-songwriter
• May 4
  • Jackie Jackson, vocalist (The Jackson Five)
  • Mick Mars (Mötley Crüe)
• May 8 – Philip Bailey, vocalist (Earth, Wind & Fire)
• May 10 – Ronald Banks (The Dramatics)
• May 16 – Jonathan Richman
• May 19 – Joey Ramone, singer (Ramones) (d. 2001)
• June 3 – Deniece Williams, singer
• June 8 – Bonnie Tyler, singer
• June 10 – Ed McTaggart (Daniel Amos, The Road Home)
• June 12
  • Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick)
  • Brad Delp (Boston) (d. 2007)
• June 15 – Steve Walsh, (Kansas)
• June 30 - Steve Waller, guitarist (d. 2000)
• July 1 – Fred Schneider (The B-52s)
• July 7 – Blondie Chaplin, guitarist and singer
• July 11 – Bonnie Pointer (The Pointer Sisters)
• July 12 – Sylvia Sass, operatic soprano
• July 15 – Gregory Isaacs, reggae musician (d. 2010)
• August 2 – Andrew Gold, singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
• August 3 – Johnny Graham (Earth, Wind & Fire)
• August 4 – Lois V Vierk, composer
• August 13 – Dan Fogelberg, singer-songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist (d. 2007)
• August 19 – John Deacon, bass guitarist (Queen)
• August 23
  • Jimi Jamison (Survivor)
  • Mark Hudson (The Hudson Brothers)
• August 25 – Rob Halford (Judas Priest)
• August 28 – Wayne Osmond, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter (The Osmonds)
• September 2 – Mik Kaminski (Electric Light Orchestra)
• September 7 – Chrissie Hynde, singer (The Pretenders)
• September 12 – Olga Breeskin, violinist, dancer and actress
• September 19 – Daniel Lanois, record producer, guitarist and singer-songwriter
• September 22 – David Coverdale, vocalist (Deep Purple, Whitesnake)
• September 25 – Peter Dvorský, operatic tenor
• October 2 – Sting, singer
• October 5 – Bob Geldof, singer (The Boomtown Rats), social campaigner & organizer of LiveAid
• October 6 – Kevin Cronin (REO Speedwagon)
• October 7 – John Mellencamp, singer-songwriter, artist and actor
• October 13 – John Ford Coley, singer, pianist, guitarist, actor, and author
• October 20 – Alan Greenwood (Foreigner)
• October 23 – Charly García, singer-songwriter and pianist
• October 26 – Maggie Roche (The Roches)
• October 27 – K. K. Downing (Judas Priest)
• November 1 – Ronald Bell (Kool & the Gang)
• November 13 – Bill Gibson (Huey Lewis and the News)
• November 27 – Kevin Kavanaugh (Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes)
• November 29 – Barry Goudreau (Boston)
• December 4 – Gary Rossington (Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rossington-Collins Band)
• December 10 – Johnny Rodriguez, country singer
• December 16
  • Robben Ford, guitarist
  • Mark Heard, singer-songwriter (d. 1992)
• December 21 – Nick Gilder, singer and songwriter
• December 23 – Johnny Contardo (Sha Na Na)
• December 25 – Barbara Dever, operatic soprano
• December 26
  • Paul Anthony Quinn (Saxon)
  • John Scofield, jazz guitarist and composer
• December 29 – Yvonne Elliman, singer
• December 31
  • Tom Hamilton (Aerosmith)
  • George Thorogood, blues musician
• date unknown – Lorenzo Ferrero, composer

Deaths

• January 20 - Alexander Chuhaldin, violinist, conductor, composer, and music educator, 58
• February 3 – Fréhel, French singer, actress, 59
• February 9 – Eddy Duchin, pianist and bandleader, 41 (leukaemia)
• February 20 – Howard Brockway, composer, 80
• February 28 – Giannina Russ, operatic soprano, 77
• March 5 – Leo Singer, vaudeville impresario, 73
• March 6 – Ivor Novello, operetta composer, entertainer, 58 (coronary thrombosis)
• March 12 – Harold Bauer, pianist and violinist, 77
• March 25 – Sid Catlett, jazz drummer, 41 (heart attack)
• April 21 – Olive Fremstad, operatic soprano, 80
• May 29
  • Fanny Brice, US actress, comedienne and singer
  • Josef Bohuslav Foerster, Czech classical composer (born 1859)
  • Robert Kahn, composer, 85
• June 4 – Serge Koussevitzky, double-bassist, conductor and composer, 76
• June 26 – Frank Ferera, Hawaiian musician (born 1885)
• July 9
  • Giannina Arangi-Lombardi, operatic soprano, 60
  • Egbert Van Alstyne, US songwriter
  • Jorgen Bentzon, Danish composer
• July 13 – Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian composer, 76
• August 15 – Artur Schnabel, pianist, 69
• August 21 – Constant Lambert, composer, 45 (pneumonia and undiagnosed diabetes)
• September 3 – Leo Sheffield, d'Oyly Carte star, 77
• September 14 – Fritz Busch, conductor, 61
• September 17 – Jimmy Yancey, US jazz pianist
• November 4 - Oscar Natzka, opera singer, 39
• November 9 – Sigmund Romberg, composer
• November 11 – César Vezzani, operatic tenor, 63
• November 13 – Nikolai Medtner, pianist and composer, 71
• December 26 – Vic Berton, jazz drummer, 55
• date unknown
  • Edward Joseph Collins, pianist, conductor and composer
  • Giuseppina Huguet, operatic soprano (born 1871)
  • Margot Ruddock, actress and singer

Notes