1975 in music

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (November 2009)

Led Zeppelin in Chicago, 1975

Events

January–April

• January 2 - New York City U.S. District Court Judge Richard Owen rules that former Beatle John Lennon and his lawyers can have access to Department of Immigration files pertaining to his deportation case.
• January 5 - The Wiz, a new musical version of the classic Wizard of Oz story, opens at Broadway's Majestic Theater in New York City.
• January 6 - Approximately 1000 Led Zeppelin fans, waiting for tickets to go on sale for Led Zeppelin's February 4 concert, cause an estimated $30,000 in damage to the lobby of the Boston Garden. The fans reportedly broke chairs and doors and caused other damage to the building. Boston Mayor Kevin White cancels the upcoming show.
• January 8 - Three Led Zeppelin concerts at Madison Square Garden sell out in a record four hours.
• January 12 - "The Warner Brothers Music Show" begins a nine city, 18 show tour of Europe. The tour included Warner Brothers acts Little Feat, Tower of Power, the Doobie Brothers, Bonaroo, Montrose, and Graham Central Station.
• February 13 - The film Slade In Flame, starring the members of Slade, premieres at the Metropole Theatre in London.
• February 21 - John Lennon releases his Rock 'n' Roll LP, featuring his favorite rock songs from the 1950s. To promote the album he conducts a telephone interview with 20 rock radio stations simultaneously.
• March 2 - Los Angeles Police make a routine traffic stop that turns out to be Paul McCartney and his wife Linda. Linda is arrested for having 170 to 225 grams (six to eight ounces) of marijuana in her pocketbook.
• March 21 - Alice Cooper, now a solo artist, begins the Welcome to My Nightmare tour in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The elaborate show is among the largest stage spectacles of the decade.
• March 22 - In the Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, Sweden, the Dutch group Teach-In wins with the song "Ding-A-Dong".
• March 23 - Promoter Bill Graham stages the S.N.A.C.K. (Students Need Athletics, Culture and Kicks) charity concert at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, California, to benefit the city's educational system. Almost 60,000 people come to see The Grateful Dead, The Doobie Brothers, Santana, Jefferson Starship, Tower of Power, Eddie Palmieri, Joan Baez, Graham Central Station and Neil Young joined by members of The Band along with a surprise appearance by Bob Dylan. It's the largest benefit concert in history to date.
• March 26 - The film version of The Who's Tommy premieres in London.
• April 3 - Steve Miller is arrested and charged with setting fire to the clothes and personal effects of a friend, Benita DiOrio, and resisting arrest. DiOrio drops the charges the following day.
• April 7 - Ritchie Blackmore plays a final show with Deep Purple in Paris before quitting to form his own group, Rainbow.
• April 17 - Cambodian singer-songwriter Sinn Sisamouth and his pregnant wife are among millions forced out of Phnom Penh by the Khmer Rouge.
• April 18 - Alice Cooper's first television special, Welcome to My Nightmare: The Making of a Record Album airs.
• April 24 - Pete Ham, founder of the group Badfinger, is found hanged in his London garage. His death is ruled a suicide.
• April 28 - Tom Snyder interviews John Lennon on the Tomorrow Show.

May–August

• May 1 - The Rolling Stones announce their forthcoming North American tour by performing Brown Sugar from a flatbed truck on Fifth Avenue in New York City. The occasion was guitarist Ronnie Wood's debut with the band.
• May 10 - Stevie Wonder performs before 125,000 people at the Washington Monument as part of Human Kindness Day festivities.
• June 1 - The Rolling Stones open their North American Tour in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
• June 20 - Talking Heads perform their first show at CBGB in New York.
• June 23 - Alice Cooper falls off the stage during a concert in Vancouver, breaking six ribs.
• June 24 - "Gens du pays", the unofficial national anthem of Quebec, is performed for the first time by Gilles Vigneault in a concert on Montreal's Mount Royal.
• June 30 - Cher and Gregg Allman are married in a Las Vegas hotel suite.
• July 4 - the Texas Senate declares the Fourth of July "Willie Nelson Day", as over 70,000 fans visit Liberty Hill for the third annual picnic and country rock show headlined by Willie himself.
• August 4 - Robert Plant and his wife Maureen are seriously injured in a car accident while vacationing on the Greek island of Rhodes. The immediate future of Led Zeppelin is cast into doubt, as Plant will not recover for quite some time.
• August 9
  • The Bee Gees begin their mid-1970s international comeback when "Jive Talkin'" reaches #1 and goes platinum with sales over 1 million.
  • Renato Carosone's comeback concert after a 15-year retirement.
  • The first Rock Music Awards, produced by Don Kirshner, are held in Los Angeles, co-hosted by Elton John and Diana Ross. John wins "Outstanding Rock Personality of the Year". The Who's film Tommy wins "Rock Movie of the Year."
• August 23 - Peter Gabriel leaves British progressive rock group Genesis.

September–December

• September 15 - Pink Floyd releases their ninth album, Wish You Were Here.
• September 29 - Singer Jackie Wilson suffers a massive heart attack while performing on stage in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He survives but never physically recovers.
• October 7 - John Lennon finally wins his battle to stay in the United States after the New York Court of Appeals overturns Lennon's 1972 deportation order.
• October 9
  • John Lennon and Yoko Ono become parents of Sean Ono Lennon at 2:00 AM. The birth heralds the beginning of John's temporary retirement from the music business as he vows to devote himself to family for the next five years.
  • Rock band Kiss earns publicity by playing the homecoming dance of Cadillac High School in Cadillac, Michigan.
• October 18 - Simon & Garfunkel reunite on the second-ever episode of Saturday Night Live on NBC, performing "The Boxer", "Scarborough Fair", and new collaboration "My Little Town".
• October 27 - Bruce Springsteen appears on the covers of both Time and Newsweek magazines on the same week.
• October 30 - Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour begins.
• November 6 - The Sex Pistols play their first concert at St. Martin's School of Art in London.
• November 21 - Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" goes to number one, where it remains for 5 weeks of 1975 and 4 weeks of 1976.
• December 10 - The John Denver holiday special Rocky Mountain Christmas airs on ABC.
• December 18 - The official break-up of Faces is announced at a London press conference. Rod Stewart will continue his solo career while Ronnie Wood is widely expected to be announced as an official member of The Rolling Stones in the near future.
• December 24 - The first issue of Punk magazine is released with a January 1976 cover date. A drawing of Lou Reed is on the cover.
• December 25 - Bassist Steve Harris forms Iron Maiden, drawing the name from a torture device mentioned in The Man in the Iron Mask.
• December 31 - The fourth annual New Year's Rockin' Eve airs on ABC, with performances by Average White Band, Melissa Manchester, Freddy Fender, and Neil Sedaka.

Also in 1975

• John Rutter becomes Director of Music at Clare College, Cambridge.
• Billy Davis, Jr. and Marilyn McCoo leave the 5th Dimension and start solo careers.
• The Goodies have five top twenty singles (in the UK) becoming, according to Bill Oddie, "the first, the only and the most successful comedy rockers".
• Ramones sign to Sire Records.

Bands formed

• See Musical groups established in 1975

Bands disbanded

Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart with "Faces" in 1975, the year the band disbanded.

• Brinsley Schwarz
• Faces
• Faust (reform in 1990)
• The First Edition (Played a few shows without Mickey Jones in 1976 before Kenny Rogers formed a new band)
• The Guess Who (reform in 1977)
• Hatfield and the North
• Humble Pie (reform in 1979, 1989 and 2001)
• If
• Jo Jo Gunne (reform in 2005)
• McGuinness Flint
• Neu! (reform in 1985)
• Ocean
• Raspberries
• Stealers Wheel (reform in 2008)
• Wizzard
• The Butts Band

Albums released

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Release Date Unknown

Biggest hit singles

The following songs achieved the highest chart positions in the charts of 1975.

#	Artist	Title	Year	Country	Chart entries
1	Billy Swan	I Can Help	1975		US BB 1 - Sep 1974, Holland 1 - Dec 1974, Austria 1 - Jan 1975, Switzerland 1 - Jan 1975, Norway 1 - Feb 1975, Belgium 1 - Dec 1975, New Zealand 1 - Feb 1975, Germany 1 - Feb 1975, Australia 1 - Jan 1975, France 1 - Feb 1975, Canada 2 - Nov 1974, South Africa - 3, ...
2	ABBA	SOS	1975		Germany 1 - Jan 1976, Australia 1 - 1, South Africa - 1, Aug 1976, Holland 2 - Jun 1975, Austria 2 - Sep 1975, Norway 2 - Oct 1975, Switzerland 3 - Aug 1975, UK 6 - Sep 1975, Italy 7 of 1976, US BB 15 - Oct 1975, Canada 16 - Oct 1975
3	George Baker Selection	Paloma Blanca	1975		Holland 1 - Mar 1975, Sweden 1 - Nov 1975, Austria 1 - Jul 1975, Switzerland 1 - Jun 1975, Norway 1 - Sep 1975, Germany 1 - May 1975, South Africa - 1, Canada 5 - Jan 1976, UK 10 - Sep 1975, US BB 26 - Jan 1976, Italy 44 of 1975
4	The Sweet	Fox on the Run	1975		Germany 1 - Mar 1975, Australia 1 - Mar 1975, South Africa - 1, UK 2 - Mar 1975, Canada 2 - Nov 1975, Holland 2 - Apr 1975, Norway 2 - Apr 1975, Austria 3 - May 1975, Switzerland 3 - May 1975, US BB 5 - Nov 1975, Sweden 10 - Nov 1975
5	Glen Campbell	Rhinestone Cowboy	1975		US BB 1 - Sep 1975, Canada - 1, Belgium - 1, Ireland - 1, New Zealand - 2, South Africa - 2, Netherlands - 3, UK - 4, Australia - 5

Chronological table of U.S. and UK number one hit singles

Note: best sellers of the year are bold.

Other significant singles

• "#9 Dream" - John Lennon
• "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady" - Helen Reddy
• "All By Myself" - Eric Carmen
• "All My Friends Are Getting Married" - Skyhooks
• "Amie" - Pure Prairie League
• "Apache" - The Shadows (re-release)
• "At Seventeen" - Janis Ian
• "Autobahn" - Kraftwerk
• "Baby Please Don't Go" - AC/DC
• "Back in the Night" - Dr. Feelgood
• "Bad Luck" - Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes
• "The Ballroom Blitz" - Sweet
• "Black Friday" - Steely Dan
• "Black Superman Muhammed Ali" - Johnny Wakelin
• "Bloody Well Right" - Supertramp
• "Blue Guitar" - Justin Hayward and John Lodge
• "Boogie on Reggae Woman" - Stevie Wonder
• "Born to Run" - Bruce Springsteen
• "The Boys Are Back in Town" - Thin Lizzy
• "Calypso" - John Denver
• "Can I Sit Next to You Girl" - AC/DC
• "Can't Get It Out of My Head" - Electric Light Orchestra
• "Can't Stop Myself from Loving You" - William Shakespeare
• "The Carpet Crawlers" - Genesis
• "Cavalry" - Daryl Braithwaite
• "Chevy Van" - Sammy Johns
• "Convoy" - C. W. McCall
• "Could It Be Magic" - Barry Manilow
• "Curiosity Killed the Cat" - Little River Band
• "Cut the Cake" - Average White Band
• "D.I.V.O.R.C.E." - Billy Connolly
• "Daisy Jane" - America
• "Dance With Me" - Orleans
• "Department of Youth" - Alice Cooper
• "Ding-A-Dong" - Teach-In
• "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" - Sugarloaf
• "Dreamer" - Supertramp
• "Dynomite, Part 1" - Bazuka
• "Ego Is Not a Dirty Word" - Skyhooks
• "Eighteen With a Bullet" - Pete Wingfield
• "Emma" - Hot Chocolate
• "Evil Woman" - Electric Light Orchestra
• "Express" - B.T. Express
• "Feel Like Makin' Love" - Bad Company
• "Feelings" - Morris Albert
• "Fight the Power (Part 1)" - The Isley Brothers
• "Fly Away" - John Denver
• "Fly, Robin, Fly" - Silver Convention
• "Fox on the Run" - Sweet
• "Freedom" - Sherbet
• "Funky Gibbon" - The Goodies
• "Funky Moped" - Jasper Carrott
• "Get Dancin'" - Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes
• "Golden Years" - David Bowie
• "Good Lovin' Gone Bad" - Bad Company
• "Have a Cigar" - Pink Floyd
• "Heat Wave" - Linda Ronstadt
• "Hey You" - Bachman–Turner Overdrive
• "High Voltage" - AC/DC
• "Hijack" - Herbie Mann
• "Hold Back the Night" - The Trammps
• "Hold On To Love" - Peter Skellern
• "Honky Tonk Angel" - Cliff Richard
• "Horror Movie" - Skyhooks
• "How Does It Feel" - Slade
• "How Long?" - Ace
• "How Long (Betcha Got a Chick on the Side)" - Pointer Sisters
• "I Am Love" - The Jackson 5
• "I Believe In Father Christmas" - Greg Lake
• "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" - ABBA
• "I Love Music" - The O'Jays
• "I Only Have Eyes For You" - Art Garfunkel
• "I Write the Songs" - David Cassidy
• "If You Think You Know How To Love Me" - Smokie
• "I'm Not In Love" - 10cc
• "In Dulci Jubilo/On Horseback" - Mike Oldfield
• "In for a Penny" - Slade
• "Island Girl" - Elton John
• "It's a Long Way to the Top" - AC/DC
• "It's a Miracle" - Barry Manilow
• "It's Been So Long" - George McCrae
• "Jackie Blue" - Ozark Mountain Daredevils
• "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" - Eric Clapton
• "Kometenmelodie 2" - Kraftwerk
• "Lady" - Styx
• "The Last Farewell" - Roger Whittaker
• "Let Me Be the One" - The Shadows
• "Let the Music Play" - Barry White
• "Life... Is For Living" - Sherbet
• "Listen to What the Man Said" - Paul McCartney & Wings
• "Lonely People" - America
• "Long Tall Glasses" - Leo Sayer
• "Love Hurts" - Jim Capaldi
• "Love Hurts" - Nazareth
• "L-O-V-E (Love)" - Al Green
• "Love Is the Drug" - Roxy Music
• "Love Me, Love My Dog" - Peter Shelley
• "Love Rollercoaster" - The Ohio Players
• "Love to Love You Baby" - Donna Summer
• "Love Won't Let Me Wait" - Major Harris
• "Low Rider" - War
• "Lyin' Eyes" - Eagles
• "Magic" - Pilot
• "Mamma Mia" - ABBA
• "Man on the Silver Mountain" - Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow
• "Matter of Time" - Sherbet
• "Midnight Blue" - Melissa Manchester
• "Million Dollar Riff" - Skyhooks
• "Miracles" - Jefferson Starship
• "Mr. Jaws" - Dickie Goodman
• "Mr. Raffles (Man It Was Mean)" - Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
• "My Little Town" - Simon & Garfunkel
• "Never Can Say Goodbye" - Gloria Gaynor
• "The Newcastle Song" - Bob Hudson
• "Nightingale" - Carole King
• "Nights on Broadway" - Bee Gees
• "No No Song" - Ringo Starr
• "No Woman No Cry" - Bob Marley & The Wailers
• "Now I'm Here" - Queen
• "Old Days" - Chicago
• "Once Bitten Twice Shy" - Ian Hunter
• "Once You Get Started" - Rufus
• "Only Women Bleed" - Alice Cooper
• "Only Yesterday" - The Carpenters
• "Our Day Will Come" - Frankie Valli
• "Out on the Floor" - Dobie Gray
• "Paloma Blanca" - George Baker Selection
• "Please Mr. Please" - Olivia Newton-John
• "Poetry Man" - Phoebe Snow
• "Real Man" - Todd Rundgren
• "Remember What I Told You to Forget" - Tavares
• "Right Back Where We Started From" - Maxine Nightingale
• "Rock and Roll All Nite" - KISS
• "Rockin' All Over the World" - John Fogerty
• "Rockin' Chair" - Gwen McCrae
• "Rocky" - Austin Roberts
• "Roll on Down the Highway" - Bachman–Turner Overdrive
• "Roll Over Lay Down" - Status Quo
• "Run, Billy, Run" - The Shadows
• "Run Joey Run" - David Geddes
• "Saturday Night" - Bay City Rollers
• "Saturday Night Special" - Lynyrd Skynyrd
• "Scotch on the Rocks" - Band of the Black Watch
• "Send in the Clowns" - Judy Collins
• "Shame, Shame, Shame" - Shirley & Company
• "Shaving Cream" - Benny Bell
• "She Does It Right" - Dr. Feelgood
• "Sing a Song" - Earth, Wind & Fire
• "Sky High" - Jigsaw
• "Slow Ride" - Foghat
• "The Snake" - Al Wilson
• "Solitaire" - The Carpenters
• "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" - Elton John
• "SOS" - ABBA
• "Soul Stripper" - AC/DC
• "Spirit in the Night" - Manfred Mann's Earth Band
• "Squeeze Box" - The Who
• "Stand by Me" - John Lennon
• "Strange Magic" - Electric Light Orchestra
• "Summer Love" - Sherbet
• "Summertime City" - Mike Batt with the New Edition
• "Super Natural Thing" - Ben E. King
• "Swearin' To God" - Frankie Valli
• "Sweet Emotion" - Aerosmith
• "Sweet Surrender" - John Denver
• "Sweet Thing" - Rufus
• "Tangled Up in Blue" - Bob Dylan
• "Thanks for the Memory (Wham Bam Thank You Mam)" - Slade
• "That's the Way (I Like It)" - KC and the Sunshine Band
• "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" - Diana Ross
• "There Goes Another Love Song" - The Outlaws
• "There Goes My First Love" - The Drifters
• "They Just Can't Stop It (Games People Play)" - The Spinners
• "Third Rate Romance" - Amazing Rhythm Aces
• "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)" - Natalie Cole
• "Too Much Rock 'N' Roll" - Rabbit
• "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" - Laurel and Hardy with The Avalon Boys
• "Una Paloma Blanca" - Jonathan King
• "Up in a Puff of Smoke" - Polly Brown
• "Venus and Mars/Rockshow" - Paul McCartney & Wings
• "Walk Away From Love" - David Ruffin
• "Walk This Way" - Aerosmith
• "Walking in Rhythm" - The Blackbyrds
• "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" - Freddy Fender
• "The Way I Want to Touch You" - Captain & Tennille
• "The Way We Were" - Gladys Knight & the Pips
• "Welcome to the Machine" - Pink Floyd
• "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" - Esther Phillips
• "What Am I Gonna Do With You?" - Barry White
• "(What's the Word?) Johannesburg" - Gil Scott-Heron
• "When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease" - Roy Harper
• "When Will I Be Loved" - Linda Ronstadt
• "Who Loves You" - The Four Seasons
• "Why Can't We Be Friends" - War
• "Wildfire" - Michael Murphey
• "W*O*L*D" - Harry Chapin
• "You Are So Beautiful" - Joe Cocker
• "You Sexy Thing" - Hot Chocolate
• "Young Americans" - David Bowie
• "You're My Best Friend" - Queen

Published popular music

• "And All That Jazz" w. Fred Ebb m. John Kander. Introduced by Chita Rivera in the musical Chicago
• "Anytime (I'll Be There)"     w.m. Paul Anka
• "At Seventeen" w.m. Janis Ian
• "Calypso"     w.m. John Denver
• "I'm Not in Love"     w.m. Graham Gouldman & Eric Stewart
• "I'm Sorry"     w.m. John Denver
• "Love Will Keep Us Together"     w.m. Neil Sedaka & Howard Greenfield
• "Mamma Mia"     w.m. Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson & Björn Ulvaeus
• "Movin' On Up" w.m. Jeff Barry and Ja'net Dubois, theme from the TV series The Jeffersons
• "New York State of Mind" w.m. Billy Joel
• "One"     w. Edward Kleban m. Marvin Hamlisch
• "Rockin' All Over the World" w.m. John C. Fogerty
• "Wasted Days Wasted Nights"     w.m. Freddy Fender & Wayne Duncan
• "The Way I Want To Touch You"     w.m. Toni Tennille
• "What I Did For Love"     w. Edward Kleban m. Marvin Hamlisch
• "You"     w.m. Tom Snow

Classical music

• Samuel Adler - Symphony No. 5, We are the Echoes
• Osvaldas Balakauskas - Sonata of the Mountains
• Claude Bolling and Jean Pierre Rampal - Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano
• Mario Davidovsky - Scenes from Shir ha-Shirim for soprano, two tenors, bass soli and chamber ensemble
• Lorenzo Ferrero
  • Ellipse II
  • Siglied
• Theo Loevendie - Concerto for Bass Clarinet and Orchestra, Incantations
• Witold Lutosławski - Les Espaces du Sommeil
• Frederic Rzewski - "The People United Will Never Be Defeated!"
• Karlheinz Stockhausen – Tierkreis
• Alexander Vustin - The Word
• Dmitri Shostakovich - Viola Sonata - his final work

Opera

• John Rutter - Bang!

Musical theatre

• Chicago - Broadway production
• A Chorus Line (Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban) - Broadway production
• A Little Night Music (Stephen Sondheim) - London production
• Dance With Me - Broadway Production
• The Wiz - Broadway production
• Pacific Overtures - Broadway Production

Musical films

• At Long Last Love
• Funny Lady
• Lisztomania
• The Magic Flute
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show
• Tommy

Births

January

• January 2
  • Doug Robb (Hoobastank)
  • Chris Cheney, Australian rock musician (The Living End)
• January 3 - Thomas Bangalter (Daft Punk)
• January 9 – Kim Mathers, ex-wife of rapper Eminem
• January 13 - Jason King, radio DJ
• January 15 – Edith Bowman, British radio DJ
• January 24 – Paul Marazzi, English singer (A1)
• January 28 - Lee Latchford-Evans, British singer (Steps)
• January 29 – Kelly Packard, American singer-actress-hostess
• January 30 – Yumi Yoshimura, Japanese singer (Puffy Amiyumi)

February

• February 1 - Big Boi (OutKast)
• February 4 - Natalie Imbruglia, Australian singer
• February 5 - Adam Carson, drummer (AFI)
• February 6 – Tomoko Kawase, Japanese singer
• February 7 - Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit)
• February 14 – Scott Owen, Australian rock musician (The Living End)
• February 17
  • Harisu, South Korean singer, model and actress
  • Wish Bone, rapper
• February 19 – Daniel Adair, Canadian rock drummer (Nickelback)
• February 20 - Brian Littrell, American singer (Backstreet Boys)
• February 21 – Heri Joensen, Faroese rock musician (Týr)
• February 23 - Robert Lopez, composer and lyricist

March

• March 4 – Hawksley Workman, Canadian rock singer-songwriter
• March 8 - Peggy Zina, Greek singer
• March 10 - Jerry Horton (Papa Roach)
• March 12 - Kelle Bryan, British singer (Eternal)
• March 15 – will.i.am, American rapper/singer of the Black Eyed Peas
• March 17
  • Justin Hawkins, vocalist (The Darkness)
  • Jairzinho Oliveira, Brazilian singer/songwriter/composer
• March 18 – Sutton Foster, American actress, singer and dancer
• March 25 – Melanie Blatt, singer (All Saints)
• March 27 – Fergie, (Stacy Ferguson) singer (The Black Eyed Peas)

April

• April 10 – Chris Carrabba, American rock musician (Dashboard Confessional)
• April 14 – Stefano Miceli, Italian conductor and pianist
• 22 April - Anders Nyström, Swedish guitarist (Katatonia & Bloodbath)
• April 26
  • Joey Jordison (Slipknot)
  • Jose Pasillas (Incubus)

May

• May 3 - Maksim Mrvica, pianist
• May 8 - Enrique Iglesias, singer
• May 15 – Peter Iwers, Swedish rock bassist (In Flames)
• May 16
  • Tonéx, American singer
  • Tony Kakko, Finnish singer
• May 18 - Jack Johnson, singer-songwriter
• 19 May - Jonas Renkse, Swedish vocalist (Katatonia) & bassist (Bloodbath)
• May 20 – Andrew Sega, American musician
• May 25 - Lauryn Hill, singer (The Fugees)
• May 27 - André 3000, vocalist (OutKast)
• May 29 - Melanie Brown, singer (Spice Girls)

June

• June 4 - Russell Brand, actor, comedian and DJ
• June 8 - Emm Gryner, Canadian singer-songwriter
• June 23 - KT Tunstall, singer-songwriter and guitarist
• June 26 - Marie-Nicole Lemieux, operatic contralto
• June 28
  • Jon Nödtveidt, Swedish singer (d. 2006)
  • Ning Baizura, Malaysian singer

July

• July 1 – Sufjan Stevens, American folk musician
• July 2 - Erik Ohlsson, Millencolin
• July 5 – Gunnar H. Thomsen, Faroese rock bassist (Týr)
• July 6 - 50 Cent, rapper
• July 9
  • Isaac Brock, American musician
  • Shona Fraser, British born music journalist and judge
  • Jack White (The White Stripes)
• July 11 – Lil' Kim, American rapper
• July 12 - Tracie Spencer, American singer and actress
• July 14
  • Jaime Luis Gomez, known as "Taboo", rapper/singer of the Black Eyed Peas
  • Tameka Cottle known as "Tiny", American singer/songwriter member of the group Xscape
• July 18
  • Daron Malakian (System of a Down)
  • M.I.A., English musician
• July 21 – Fredrik Johansson, Swedish rock guitarist
• July 22 - Aile Asszonyi, operatic soprano
• July 25 - Håvard Ellefsen (Mortiis)

August

• August 5 – Eicca Toppinen, Finnish cellist (Apocalyptica)
• August 7 - Gaahl, black metal vocalist
• August 12 – John Stevenson, American songwriter/musician
• 27 August - Björn Gelotte Swedish guitarist (In Flames)
• August 28 - Marek Szulen, electronic music composer

September

• September 1
  • • Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Australian actress and singer
  • Omar Rodríguez-López (At the drive-in, The Mars Volta)
• September 4 – Mark Ronson, British DJ and music producer
• September 8 - Richard Hughes, British drummer (Keane)
• September 9 - Michael Bublé, Canadian big band singer
• September 11 - Brad Fischetti, LFO
• September 16 - Shannon Noll, Australian singer
• September 17 - Constantine Maroulis, American singer (Pray for the Soul of Betty)
• September 22 - Mystikal, rapper
• September 23 – Chris Hawkins, British radio personality
• September 30 – Georges-Alain Jones, French singer

October

• October 9 – Sean Ono Lennon, son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono
• October 14 – Shaznay Lewis, English singer (All Saints)
• October 27 – Max Lilja, Finnish cellist (Apocalyptica)
• October 30 – Ian D'Sa, Canadian rock guitarist (Billy Talent)

November

• November 1 - Bo Bice, singer
• November 5
  • Lisa Scott-Lee, singer (Steps)
  • Jamie Spaniolo (Jamie Madrox), American rapper
• November 6 - Mike Herrera (MxPx)
• November 8 – Ángel Corella, Spanish dancer
• November 12 – Aaron Solowoniuk, Canadian rock drummer (Billy Talent)
• November 14
  • Travis Barker, drummer (blink-182)
  • Faye Tozer, British singer (Steps)
• November 19 - Tamika Scott, American singer/songwriter and producer
• November 20
  • Dierks Bentley, singer-songwriter
  • Davey Havok, AFI
  • Jeffrey Lewis, American anti-folk singer
• November 25 - Paul Mealor, composer

December

• December 13 - Tom Delonge, American musician (blink-182)
• December 14 - Justin Furstenfeld (Blue October)
• December 16 – Benjamin Kowalewicz, Canadian rock lead singer (Billy Talent)
• December 21 – Paloma Herrera, Argentine ballet dancer
• December 30 – Yoma Komatsu, former member of the female J-Pop group, BeForU

Deaths

• January 8 - Richard Tucker, operatic tenor, 61 (heart attack)
• January 11 - Max Lorenz, Wagnerian tenor, 73
• January 16 - Paul Beaver, electronic jazz keyboardist, 49
• January 26 - Toti Dal Monte, operatic soprano, 81
• January 30 - Boris Blacher, composer, 72
• February 3 - Umm Kulthum, singer, songwriter, and actress
• February 4 - Louis Jordan, jazz musician, 66
• February 10 - Dave Alexander, bassist (The Stooges), 27 (pulmonary edema)
• February 13 – Eric Thiman, English composer, 74
• February 19 - Luigi Dallapiccola, composer, 71
• February 22 - Lionel Tertis, viola player, 98
• March 4 - Cornel Chiriac, Romanian record producer, broadcaster and jazz musician, 33 (murdered)
• March 15 - Sandy Brown, jazz musician, 46 (heart attack)
• March 16 – T-Bone Walker, African-American musician (b. 1910)
• March 27 - Sir Arthur Bliss, Master of the Queen's Musick, 83
• April 12 – Josephine Baker, African-American dancer (b. 1906)
• April 14 - Michael Flanders, lyricist, actor, humorist and singer (Flanders and Swann), 53 (intracranial berry aneurysm)
• April 23 - Pete Ham, singer and songwriter (Badfinger), 27 (suicide)
• May 2 - Conchita Badía, operatic soprano, 77
• May 13 – Bob Wills, American musician, 70
• May 18 - Leroy Anderson, U.S. composer and conductor, 66
• June 4 - Frida Leider, operatic soprano, 87
• June 16 - Don Robey, songwriter and producer, 72
• June 21 - David Tamkin, composer, 68
• June 29 - Tim Buckley, singer-songwriter, 28 (drug overdose)
• July 5 - Gilda dalla Rizza, operatic soprano, 82
• July 10 - Ernst Fischer, composer, 75
• July 14 - Zutty Singleton, U.S. jazz drummer, 77
• July 19 – Lefty Frizzell, Country Music Hall of Fame singer, 47 (stroke)
• August 8 – Julian Cannonball Adderley, American saxophonist (b. 1928)
• August 9 - Dmitri Shostakovich, composer, 68 (heart attack)
• August 10 - Neva Carr Glyn, operatic contralto, 67
• September - Flora Perini, operatic soprano, 87
• September 5
  • Georg Ots, Estonian opera singer (b. 1920)
  • Bill Sprouse Jr., Christian singer and songwriter, 26 (heart attack)
• September 20 – Vincent Lopez, American bandleader (b. 1895)
• October 1 - Al Jackson, Jr., R&B drummer, 39 (shot)
• October 28 - Oliver Nelson, jazz saxophonist, 43
• October 30 - John Scott Trotter, U.S. arranger and conductor
• December 8 - Gary Thain, rock bassist, 27 (heroin overdose)
• December 14 - Mongezi Feza, jazz trumpeter and flautist, 30 (pneumonia)
• December 17
  • Noble Sissle, U.S. bandleader and singer, 86
  • Hound Dog Taylor, blues musician, 60
• December 24
  • Bernard Herrmann, composer, 64
  • Tilly Losch, dancer and actress, 72
• December 25 - Julio Cueva, trumpeter, bandleader and composer, 78
• date unknown
  • Will Mastin, American vaudevillian
  • Patrick Kelly, Irish folk fiddler

Awards

Grammy Awards

• Grammy Awards of 1975

Country Music Association Awards

Eurovision Song Contest

• Eurovision Song Contest 1975

Leeds International Piano Competition

• Dimitri Alexeev

Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship

• Ravi Shankar
• Zubin Mehta

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