1980 in music

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Punk rocker Siouxsie Sioux in 1980.

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1980. If you like 80s music check out some classic 80 s tee shirts

Events

January–March

• January 1
  • Cliff Richard is appointed an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
  • The Zorros audition drummer Greg Pedley.
• January 7 – At the age of 44, songwriter Larry Williams is found dead in his Los Angeles, California home of a gunshot wound to the head. Investigators are never able to determine whether his death was a murder or suicide.
• January 13 – The Beach Boys, Grateful Dead, and Jefferson Starship perform at a benefit concert at Oakland Coliseum for the people of Kampuchea.
• January 16 – Paul McCartney is arrested in Tokyo for possession of a half pound of marijuana. The remaining part of McCartney's tour has to be canceled.
• January 25 – Paul McCartney is released from a Japanese jail and ejected from the country by Japanese authorities.
• February 8 – David Bowie and his wife of nearly 10 years, Angie, file for divorce. Bowie gets custody of their 9-year-old son, Zowie.
• February 14 – Lou Reed marries Sylvia Morales in New York City's Greenwich Village.
• February 19 – Bon Scott, lead singer of AC/DC, dies in London. Although common folklore cites pulmonary aspiration of vomit as the cause of his death, the official cause is listed as "Acute alcohol poisoning" and "Death by Misadventure".
• February 23 – Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones and his wife are busted for cocaine possession on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin. They are set free after spending five days in custody due to the inability of authorities to prove the cocaine in the apartment belonged to either of them.
• February 29 – Buddy Holly's trademark glasses and the Big Bopper's wristwatch are "rediscovered" in old police files by the Mason City, Iowa, sheriff (both were killed in a plane crash on February 3, 1959, along with singer Ritchie Valens).
• March 1 – Patti Smith marries former MC5 member Fred "Sonic" Smith.
• March 3 – Sotheby's auction house in London auctions off a Rivera Hotel, Las Vegas, napkin signed by Elvis Presley for ₤500. Other items auctioned included four American dollar bills autographed by the Beatles, for £220 and a collection of personal letters belonging to the Rolling Stones, also for £220.
• March 8 – March 16 – Tbilisi Rock Festival (1980): the first state-sanctioned rock music festival in the Soviet Union.
• March 14 – Record producer Quincy Jones receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• March 19 – Elvis Presley's autopsy is subpoenaed during the trial of Dr. George Nichopoulous, who would later be found guilty of overprescribing drugs to Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and other clients.
• March 20 – Radio Caroline shuts down in the UK after radio ship Mi Amigo sinks in a storm.

April–June

• April 1 – Brian Johnson is made the new lead singer of AC/DC.
• April 13 – The Broadway musical Grease closes its run of 3,388 performances, making it the longest running show on Broadway up until that time.
• April 14 – A member of the New Jersey State assembly introduces a resolution to make Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" the official state song.
• April 17 – As the "official guests of State", Bob Marley and the Wailers perform at Zimbabwe's Independence festival. Marley calls the event the "greatest honor of my life."
• April 19 – Johnny Logan wins the 25th Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland, with the song "What's Another Year".
• April 25 – Black Sabbath release Heaven and Hell, their first album to feature new vocalist Ronnie James Dio.
• April 30 – The Roger Daltrey film, McVicar, opens in London.
• May 4 – America's Top 10, the television version of radio's American Top 40 and hosted by Casey Kasem, debuts this week in syndication.
• May 18 – Ian Curtis, vocalist of pioneering post-punk group Joy Division, hangs himself in his Macclesfield home, just days before Joy Division are scheduled to begin their first U.S. tour.
• June
  • Rock and Roll pioneer Bill Haley performs for the last time during a tour of South Africa. After this tour, his health deteriorates and he dies in February 1981. July 1980 marks the 25th anniversary of Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" reaching No. 1 on the American singles charts.
  • The Sony Walkman goes on sale in the United States.
• June 25 – Kiss plays its first show with new drummer Eric Carr at the New York Palladium.
• June 27 – John Lydon and Keith Levene of Public Image Ltd make an appearance on The Tomorrow Show with host Tom Snyder. In a famously uncomfortable interview, Lydon gives curt and vague responses to most of Snyder's questions.

July–September

• July 18 – The documentary and concert film No Nukes opens in New York.
• July 25 – AC/DC release Back in Black which later becomes the highest selling album by any band to date.
• July 31 – The Eagles end their tour with a contentious show in Long Beach, California. They would not play together again until 1994.
• August 4 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono begin the recording of the Double Fantasy album.
• August 19 – Fans at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto stage a riot after Alice Cooper cancels because of illness.
• August 16 – The first Monsters of Rock heavy metal festival is held at Donington Park in England. Rainbow headlines, and Judas Priest, Scorpions, April Wine, Saxon, Riot and Touch also perform.
• August 23 – The Heatwave festival near Toronto features The B-52's, Talking Heads, The Pretenders, Elvis Costello and many others.
• August 26 – Pete Comita replaces Tom Petersson in Cheap Trick.
• August 31 – Karen Carpenter marries Thomas Burris. "Because We Are in Love" is played at their wedding.
• September 13
  • Solid Gold, a new music television series, premieres in syndication.
  • Elton John plays a free concert for 400,000 people in New York's Central Park. He performs the encore in a Donald Duck costume.
• September 25 – John Bonham, drummer of Led Zeppelin, is found dead by bandmate John Paul Jones.

October–December

• October 9 – A riot breaks out at a Black Sabbath concert in Milwaukee after bassist Geezer Butler is hit in the head by a bottle and the band quits the stage.
• October 26 – Paul Kantner of Jefferson Starship is rushed to hospital following a cerebral hemorrhage. He soon recovers without surgery, defying medical odds.
• November 21 – The Eagles' Don Henley is arrested when cocaine, Quaaludes, and marijuana are found in his hotel room after a 16-year-old prostitute has drug-related seizures. Henley is also subsequently charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
• December – Duran Duran signs with EMI after finalizing its lineup and touring as a support act for Hazel O'Connor.
• December 4 – Led Zeppelin disbands following the death of drummer John Bonham.
• December 7 – Darby Crash, leader of seminal L.A. punk band The Germs dies of a heroin overdose in a suicide pact.
• December 8 – Mark David Chapman buys a copy of Catcher in the Rye and spends most of the day outside John Lennon's apartment building in New York City. Having obtained Lennon's autograph at about 5pm, he approaches the star again on his return at 10.49pm and shoots him dead. Lennon's single, "(Just Like) Starting Over", subsequently becomes a number one hit in many countries, including the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.
• December 14 – Over 100,000 mourners attend a public vigil for John Lennon in Central Park. 10 minutes of silence are observed at 2pm.
• December 31 – The ninth annual New Year's Rockin' Eve special airs on ABC, with appearances by The Charlie Daniels Band, Billy Preston, Syreeta, Chuck Berry and Barry Manilow.

Also in 1980

• Record labels established in 1980
• Record labels disestablished in 1980
• The single "Groovy Ghost Show" by Casper is one of the first recorded hip hop songs from Chicago.
• The Hee Bee Gee Bees release a cutting parody of a Bee Gees' disco-style single. Though not a hit in the UK, it is a huge success elsewhere, especially in South Africa, and helps to encourage the Gibb brothers to diversify stylistically.
• Phil Collins signs a contract with Atlantic Records to distribute his solo records in the US and in Europe outside the UK (on WEA label).

Bands formed

See Category:Musical groups established in 1980

Bands disbanded

See Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1980

Albums released

January – March

April – June

July – September

October – December

Release Date Unknown

Awards

• BBC Young Musician of the Year: Nicholas Daniel, oboist
• Boy Edgar Award: Rein de Graaff
• Country Music Association Awards
• Eurovision Song Contest 1980
• Grammy Awards of 1980
• Harriet Cohen International Music Award

Charts

List of number 1 hits

• Hot 100 number-one hits of 1980 (USA)

Biggest hit singles

The following songs achieved the highest chart positions in the charts of 1980.

#	Artist	Title	Year	Country	Chart entries
1	Pink Floyd	Another Brick in the Wall (part 2)	1980		UK 1 – Dec 1979, US BB 1 – Feb 1980, Canada 1 – Jan 1980, Sweden (alt) 1 – Feb 1980, France 1 – Feb 1980, Austria 1 – Feb 1980, Switzerland 1 – Jan 1980, Norway 1 – Jan 1980, Germany 1 – Jan 1980, Éire 1 – Dec 1979, Poland 1 of all time, US CashBox 3 of 1980, Holland 3 – Dec 1979, Australia 4 of 1980, KROQ 6 of 1980, POP 7 of 1980, South Africa 8 of 1980, Germany 9 of the 1980s, Europe 11 of the 1970s, Italy 12 of 1980, US BB 15 of 1980, RYM 18 of 1979, TheQ 28, Virgin 39, Belgium 50 of all time, Scrobulate 51 of live, RIAA 296, Rolling Stone 375, Acclaimed 392, OzNet 594
2	Diana Ross	Upside Down	1980		US BB 1 – Aug 1980, Sweden (alt) 1 – Aug 1980, France 1 – Aug 1980, Switzerland 1 – Aug 1980, Norway 1 – Aug 1980, New Zealand 1 for 3 weeks Oct 1980, Australia 1 for 4 weeks Aug 1981, UK 2 – Jul 1980, Holland 2 – Jul 1980, Austria 2 – Oct 1980, US CashBox 4 of 1980, Germany 4 – Sep 1980, Canada 8 – Sep 1980, Italy 8 of 1980, South Africa 11 of 1980, Australia 15 of 1980, POP 22 of 1980, US BB 30 of 1980, Scrobulate 42 of disco, RYM 83 of 1980, Germany 87 of the 1980s, Acclaimed 1364
3	Barbra Streisand	Woman in Love	1980		UK 1 – Oct 1980, US BB 1 – Sep 1980, Holland 1 – Sep 1980, Sweden (alt) 1 – Oct 1980, Austria 1 – Dec 1980, Switzerland 1 – Oct 1980, Norway 1 – Nov 1980, Germany 1 – Jan 1981, Éire 1 – Oct 1980, Australia 1 for 2 weeks Sep 1981, South Africa 2 of 1980, Italy 3 of 1981, France 7 – Oct 1980, US CashBox 9 of 1980, Australia 21 of 1980, Germany 36 of the 1980s, RYM 157 of 1980
4	Lipps Inc	Funkytown	1980		US BB 1 – Apr 1980, Holland 1 – Apr 1980, Austria 1 – Jul 1980, Switzerland 1 – May 1980, Norway 1 – Jul 1980, Germany 1 – Jun 1980, UK 2 – May 1980, Sweden (alt) 2 – Jun 1980, US BB 4 of 1980, POP 5 of 1980, Scrobulate 7 of disco, Australia 9 of 1980, US CashBox 10 of 1980, Germany 14 of the 1980s, Italy 30 of 1980, RYM 73 of 1979, Acclaimed 520
5	John Lennon	(Just Like) Starting Over	1980		UK 1 – Nov 1980, US BB 1 – Nov 1980, Canada 1 – Nov 1980, Switzerland 1 – Dec 1980, Australia 1 for 4 weeks Dec 1981, Austria 2 – Feb 1981, Norway 2 – Dec 1980, Sweden (alt) 3 – Nov 1980, Germany 6 – Jan 1981, France 9 – Nov 1980, US BB 12 of 1980, Australia 18 of 1981, Italy 29 of 1981, RYM 32 of 1980, POP 49 of 1980, US CashBox 57 of 1980, Germany 298 of the 1980s, OzNet 683, Acclaimed 1637

US and UK #1 hit singles

(in chronological order)

Other significant singles

Published popular music

• "Come Follow the Band" w. Michael Stewart m. Cy Coleman from the musical Barnum
• "Desire" w.m. Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb & Robin Gibb
• "Do Right" w.m. Paul Davis
• "Fame"     w. Dean Pitchford m. Michael Gore
• "He's So Shy" w. Cynthia Weil m. Tom Snow
• "Memory" w. T. S. Eliot & Trevor Nunn m. Andrew Lloyd Webber from the musical Cats
• "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" w.m. Sharon Vaughan
• "Never Knew Love Like This Before" w.m. James Mtume & Reginald Lucas
• "Nine to Five" w.m. Dolly Parton from the film Nine to Five
• "No Night So Long" w. Will Jennings m. Richard Kerr
• "The Winner Takes It All"     w.m. Benny Andersson & Bjorn Ulvaeus

Classical music

• George Crumb – A Little Suite for Christmas, A.D. 1979 for piano
• Mario Davidovsky – Consorts for symphonic band
• Mario Davidovsky – String Quartet No. 4
• Lorenzo Ferrero
  • Nebbia di latte for flutes and live electronics
  • Variazioni sulla notte for guitar
• Helmut Lachenmann - Ein Kinderspiel seven little pieces for piano
• Trygve Madsen – Sonata for Tuba and Piano
• Krzysztof Penderecki – Symphony No. 2 – "Christmas"

Opera

• Philip Glass – Satyagraha
• Kirke Mechem – Tartuffe
• William Mathias – The Servants (libretto by Iris Murdoch)
• David Warrack – Drummer

Musical theater

• Barnum     Broadway production opened at the St. James Theatre on April 30 and ran for 854 performances
• Brigadoon (Lerner & Loewe) – Broadway revival opened at the Majestic Theatre on October 16 and ran for 133 performances
• Camelot (Lerner & Loewe) – Broadway revival opened at the New York State Theatre on July 8 and ran for 56 performances
• Colette London production opened at the Comedy Theatre on September 24 and ran for 47 performances
• A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine     Broadway production opened at the John Golden Theatre on April 2 and transferred to the Royale Theatre on June 17 for a total run of 588 performances
• Forty-Second Street     Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on August 25, transferred to the Majestic Theatre on March 30, 1981 and transferred to the St. James Theatre on April 7, 1987 for a total run of 3486 performances
• The Life and Adventures Of Nicholas Nickleby   London production opened at the Aldwych Theatre on June 5
• On The Twentieth Century     London production opened at Her Majesty's Theatre on March 19 and ran for 165 performances
• Sweeney Todd (Stephen Sondheim) – London production opened at the Drury Lane Theatre on July 2 and ran for 157 perofrmances
• The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg London production opened at the Phoenix Theatre on April 10
• West Side Story (Leonard Bernstein) – Broadway revival opened at the Minskoff Theatre on February 14 and ran for 333 performances

Musical films

• The Blues Brothers
• Can't Stop the Music
• Fame
• The Idolmaker
• The Jazz Singer
• Kallukkul Eeram
• La boum
• One Trick Pony
• Popeye
• Qurbani
• Ram Balram
• Times Square
• Xanadu

Births

• January 14 – Hiroshi Tamaki, Japanese actor, model, and singer
• January 21 – Nana Mizuki, Japanese voice actress and singer
• January 28 – Nick Carter (The Backstreet Boys)
• February 15 – Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes)
• February 18 – Regina Spektor, singer-songwriter
• February 27 – Cyrus Bolooki, New Found Glory
• February 26 – Alex Fong Lik-Sun, Hong Kong singer and actor
• March 2 – Vince Walker, American rock singer (Suburban Legends)
• March 13 – Flavia Cacace, dancer
• March 19 – Agnes Pihlava, Finnish pop singer
• March 20 – Mikk Murdvee, violinist and conductor
• March 21 – Deryck Whibley (Sum 41)
• March 30 – Yalin, Turkish pop singer and songwriter
• March 31 – Maaya Sakamoto, Japanese singer
• April 10 – Bryce Soderberg, Canadian musician (Lifehouse)
• April 12 – Brian McFadden, vocalist (Westlife)
• April 14 – Win Butler, American/Canadian musician
• April 24 – Danny Gokey, American Idol season 8 finalist
• April 29 – Kian Egan (Westlife)
• May 5 – Maia Hirasawa, Swedish pop singer
• May 6 – Taebin, Korean hip-hop artist (1TYM)
• May 28 – Mark Feehily (Westlife)
• June 2 – Orish Grinstead, American R&B singer (d. 2008)
• June 7 – Henkka Seppälä, Finnish bassist (Children of Bodom)
• June 13 – Sarah Connor, German singer
• June 16 – Joey Yung, Hong Kong singer
• June 17 – Kimeru, Japanese singer
• June 20 – Tony Lovato (Mest)
• June 21 – Brandon Flowers (The Killers) lead singer.
• June 23 - Jessica Taylor, (Liberty X)
• June 26 – Jason Schwartzman (Phantom Planet)
• June 29 – Katherine Jenkins, Welsh soprano
• July 10 – Jessica Simpson, singer and actress
• July 15 – JW-Jones, Canadian blues artist
• July 19 - Michelle Heaton, (Liberty X)
• July 20 – Mike Kennerty (The All-American Rejects)
• July 22 – Kate Ryan, Belgian singer
• July 23 – Michelle Williams, singer (Destiny's Child)
• July 26 – Dave Baksh (Sum 41)
• July 28
  • Stephen Christian, American Christian rock singer (Anberlin)
  • Noel Sullivan, Welsh singer (Hear'Say) and actor
• July 30 – Diam's, French rapper
• August 12 – Matt Thiessen, Canadian singer/guitarist
• August 16 – Vanessa Carlton, American singer
• August 19
  • Houcine Camara, French singer
  • Darius Danesh, Scottish singer-songwriter & actor
• September 5 - Kevin Simm, English singer (Liberty X)
• September 6 – Kerry Katona, singer (Atomic Kitten)
• September 11 – Mikey Way (My Chemical Romance)
• September 13 – Teppei Teranishi (Thrice)
• September 19 - Tegan and Sara Quin (Tegan And Sara)
• September 25 – T.I., American rapper
• September 29 – Dallas Green (musician), Canadian singer/songwriter
• October 5 – Paul Thomas (Good Charlotte)
• October 8 – Nick Cannon, American actor and rapper
• October 10 – Sherine, Egyptian singer
• October 12 – Soledad Pastorutti, folklore singer
• October 13 – Ashanti, singer
• October 24 – Monica, R&B singer
• November 3 – Dan Marsala, American musician
• November 10 – Calvin Chen, Taiwanese pop singer
• November 15 – Ace Young, American singer and reality show finalist
• November 17 – Isaac Hanson (Hanson)
• November 18 – Dustin Kensrue (Thrice)
• November 26 – Satoshi Ohno, Japanese singer
• November 28 – Lisa Middelhauve, German singer (Xandria)
• December 5 – Ibrahim Maalouf, trumpeter
• December 6 – Kei Yasuda, Japanese singer
• December 9 – Simon Helberg, American actor and comedian
• December 10
  • Sarah Chang, violinist
  • Chris Gaynor (The All-American Rejects)
• December 18 – Christina Aguilera, singer and actress
• December 24 – Tomas Kalnoky, American musician (Streetlight Manifesto)

Deaths

• January 1 – Adolph Deutsch (82), American composer
• January 3 – Amos Milburn (52), R&B singer and pianist
• January 6
  • Poley McClintock, jazz musician
  • Georgeanna Tillman (36), pop and R&B singer
• January 7 – Larry Williams (44), singer, songwriter and pianist
• January 13 – Andre Kostelanetz (78), Russian-born conductor and arranger
• January 21 - Elvira de Hidalgo (88), coloratura soprano and singing teacher
• January 29 – Jimmy Durante (86), pianist & entertainer
• January 30 – Professor Longhair (61), pianist
• February 17 – Jerry Fielding (57), American conductor and music director (heart failure)
• February 18 – Gale Robbins (58), American singer and actress (lung cancer)
• February 19 – Bon Scott (33), lead singer of AC/DC (alcohol poisoning)
• March 5 – Winifred Wagner (82), daughter-in-law of Richard Wagner, close friend of Adolf Hitler (b. 1897)
• March 14 – Anna Jantar (29), Polish singer (air crash)
• March 18 – Jessica Dragonette (80), American singer
• March 23 – Jacob Miller (27), reggae artist
• March 25 – Walter Susskind (76), Czech conductor
• March 26
  • Jon Paulus (32), the Buckinghams, drug overdose
  • Ted Shapiro (80), songwriter & pianist
• March 28 – Dick Haymes, (63), Argentinian-born US singer and actor
• March 29 – Mantovani (74), Italian-born British orchestra leader and composer
• April 4 – Red Sovine (61), American country & folk singer & songwriter
• April 20 – Katherine Kennicott Davis (87), American composer
• April 28 – Tommy Caldwell (30), bassist of Marshall Tucker Band (car accident)
• May 18 – Ian Curtis (23), lead singer of Joy Division (suicide)
• May 30 – Carl Radle (37), rock bassist
• June 16 – Bob Nolan (72), country singer and songwriter
• June 20 – Allan Pettersson (70), Swedish composer
• June 21 – Bert Kaempfert (56), German composer, bandleader and arranger (stroke)
• June 27 – Barney Bigard (74), jazz clarinetist
• June 28 – Jose Iturbi (84), pianist
• July 5 – A. J. Potter (72), Irish composer
• July 14 – Malcolm Owen (26), Lead singer The Ruts (overdose)
• July 15 – Ben Selvin (82), "The Dean of Recorded Music"
• July 23 – Keith Godchaux (32), keyboardist with Grateful Dead (car accident)
• July 25 – Vladimir Vysotsky (42), Russian singer-songwriter, poet, actor (heart failure)
• July 31 – Mohammed Rafi (55), Indian singer (heart attack)
• August 17 – Harold Adamson (73), lyricist
• August 20 – Joe Dassin (41), singer (heart attack)
• August 26 – Miliza Korjus (71), Estonian-Polish opera singer
• September 7 – Arvella Gray (74), blues and folk singer and guitarist
• September 12 – Lillian Randolph (81), actress and singer
• September 15 – Bill Evans (51), jazz pianist
• September 16 - Ludmila Červinková (72), operatic soprano
• September 25 – John Bonham (32), drummer (Led Zeppelin) (alcohol poisoning)
• October 25 – Virgil Fox (68), organist (cancer)
• October 27 – Steve Peregrin Took (31), bongo player for Tyrannosaurus Rex later a solo artist/frontman, choking
• December 7 – Darby Crash (22)(The Germs) (suicide)
• December 8 – John Lennon (40), singer, guitarist and songwriter (The Beatles) (gunshot)
• December 24 – Siggie Nordstrom (87), American model, actress, entertainer, socialite and lead singer (The Nordstrom Sisters)
• December 29 – Tim Hardin (39), singer-songwriter (heroin overdose)
• December 31 – Robert Pete Williams (66), blues singer and guitarist

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