1987 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)

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1987.

See also:

• Record labels established in 1987

Events

January–February

• January 3 – Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The other inductees this year consist of The Coasters, Eddie Cochran, Bo Diddley, Marvin Gaye, Bill Haley, Clyde McPhatter, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Smokey Robinson and Jackie Wilson.
• January 5 – Elton John, after several months of voice problems, undergoes throat surgery in an Australian hospital. The outcome would hinder his voice permanently and he would soon start singing in a deep register.
• January 16 – Beastie Boys become the first act to be censored by American Bandstand.
• January 24 – Steve "Silk" Hurley's innovative "Jack Your Body" becomes the first house music record to top the UK singles chart.
• February 6 – Sonny Bono announces his candidacy for mayor of Palm Springs, California.
• February 14
  • Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" reaches #1 in the USA. It would be 1987's biggest hit song worldwide.
  • Los Angeles radio station KMET signs off after nineteen years on the air. The station had been a pioneer of underground progressive rock programming.
• February 15 – Video Hits premieres on Australian television.
• February 26 – The first five Beatles albums, Please Please Me, With the Beatles, A Hard Day's Night, Beatles for Sale and Help! are released on Compact disc. Capitol Records decides to release the original UK mixes of the Beatles albums, which means that the first four CDs are released in mono. This marks the first time that many of these mono mixes are available in the US.

March–April

• March 9
  • U2 releases The Joshua Tree, an album that launches them into superstar status in the music world. The album would sell over 14 million copies worldwide in 1987 alone and would win the Grammy for "Album of the Year" (at the 1988 ceremony). U2 have two #1 hit songs from this album on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts.
  • Carole King is inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York City.
  • The career that would end in an infamous appearance at The Brit awards and the burning of a million pounds began in Britain, as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu release their debut single, "All You Need Is Love".
• March 13
  • Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
  • In the US, Bryan Adams' "Heat of the Night" becomes the first single to be commercially released on cassette. Cassette singles become known as cassingles.
• March 27 – Inspired by The Beatles' 1969 rooftop concert, U2 shoots a music video for the song "Where the Streets Have No Name" on a rooftop in Los Angeles
• April 23 – Carole King sues the owner of her record company, Lou Adler, claiming that she is owed more than $400,000 in royalties. King also asks for rights to her old recordings.

May–August

• May 9 – Ireland's Johnny Logan wins the Eurovision Song Contest, held in Brussels, Belgium, with the song "Hold Me Now", making him the first artist to win the contest twice. The song tops the charts in Ireland, and peaks at No. 2 in the UK.
• June 14 – Madonna starts her Who's That Girl Tour in Osaka, Japan.
• June 27 – Whitney Houston's second album Whitney becomes the first album by a female artist to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200.
• July 4 – The first joint rock concert between the United States and the Soviet Union is held in Moscow to promote peace. The Doobie Brothers, James Taylor, Santana and Bonnie Raitt share the bill with Soviet rock group Autograph.
• July 21 – American rock group Guns N' Roses release Appetite for Destruction which, after initial slow sales will become the best selling debut album of all time with more than 18 million copies sold in the US alone to date
• August 1
  • Dave Stewart of Eurythmics and Siobhan Fahey of Bananarama are married in Normandy, France.
  • MTV Europe is launched. The first video played is "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits.
• August 3 – Def Leppard releases Hysteria, the longest rock album ever released as a single LP or cassette.
• August 27 – The Jello Biafra criminal trial is dismissed after ending in a hung jury in Los Angeles court. Biafra and his manager had been charged with distributing harmful material to minors due to a poster included in the Dead Kennedys' Frankenchrist album of a painting depicting rows of sexual organs.
• August 31 – Michael Jackson releases Bad, the first studio album after Thriller, the best-selling album of all time. The album would produce five number one singles in the USA, a record which has not been broken.

September–October

• September 6 – Madonna ends her Who's That Girl Tour in Florence, Italy.
• September 7 - Pink Floyd release A Momentary Lapse of Reason. The subsequent tour grossed around $135 million worldwide, a sum that was only equaled by the earnings of Michael Jackson and U2 combined.
• September 11 – Reggae musician Peter Tosh is murdered during a robbery in his home.
• September 12 – Michael Jackson starts the Bad World Tour, supporting his Bad album.
• September 25
  • Matthew Garrison Chapman is born, the first child of Amy Grant and Gary Chapman. Lead Me On, Amy's 1988 album, is said to have been dedicated to Matt.
  • CBS launches an American version of the long-running UK television show Top of the Pops. It lasts one year.
• October 4 – electronic data gathering completely replaces the old sales diary technique in compiling the UK singles and albums chart. The publication day of new charts is moved from Tuesday to Sunday.
• October 8 – Chuck Berry receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• October 19 – Mötley Crüe release the song "You're All I Need" as a single. Its lyrics cause MTV to refuse to play its video. Radio stations never play the song either.
• October 30 – George Michael releases his first solo studio album, Faith, which would win the Grammy Award for album of the year and sell 11 million copies in USA alone.
• October 31 -The Zorros headline on the Halloween for the last ever show at the Crystal Ballroom, Melbourne's premier Punk/ New Wave Venue. The Crystal Ballroom has seen almost ten years of intense musical evolution. The venue has chandeliers, stained glass windows, paisley wallpaper and a tiled foyer.

November–December

• November 13 – Sonny and Cher reunite for a performance on Late Night with David Letterman.
• November 18 – CBS Records is sold to the Sony Corporation in a deal worth about $2 billion.
• November 24 – ABC airs Rolling Stone Magazine's 20 Years of Rock 'n' Roll television special, chronicling the music and the people of the past twenty years to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Rolling Stone magazine. The special includes new interviews as well as vintage performance footage of many rock legends such as Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Sex Pistols, Bruce Springsteen and many more.
• December 16 – John Mellencamp performs two free shows in the small town of Chillicothe, Ohio after one-fifth of the population signed a petition asking him to play.
• December 23 – Nikki Sixx of the rock band Mötley Crüe suffers a heroin overdose, but is revived shortly thereafter.
• December 31 – The sixteenth annual New Year's Rockin' Eve special airs on ABC, with appearances by Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, Los Lobos, Barry Manilow, Restless Heart and The Temptations.

Also in 1987

• Social Distortion returns to record Prison Bound.
• Winger signs to Atlantic Records.
• Kylie Minogue's recording career begins, when her cover version of the Little Eva hit The Loco-Motion spends seven weeks at number one in her native Australia and leads to a contract with UK-based record producers Stock Aitken Waterman.
• Lynyrd Skynyrd reform and now has Ronnie Van Zant's little brother Johnny Van Zant as lead singer.
• The Smiths disband after guitarist and songwriter Johnny Marr leaves the band.
• Andreas Kisser replaces Jairo Guedes in Sepultura.
• Alice Cooper almost dies on stage when one of the props, the Gallows, malfunctions.
• Prince cancels the The Black Album just before its release. It eventually becomes officially available in 1994.

Bands formed

• See Musical groups established in 1987

Bands Disbanded

• See Musical groups disestablished in 1987

Bands reformed

• The Doobie Brothers
• Lynyrd Skynyrd

Albums released

January–March

April – June

July – September

October – December

Release Date Unknown

Biggest hit singles

The following songs achieved the highest chart positions in the charts of 1987.

#	Artist	Title	Year	Country	Chart Entries
1	Los Lobos	La Bamba	1987		UK 1 – Jul 1987, US BB 1 – Jul 1987, Switzerland 1 – Aug 1987, Italy 1 of 1987, Éire 1 – Jul 1987, New Zealand 1 for 7 weeks Aug 1987, Australia 1 for 7 weeks Apr 1988, Holland 2 – Aug 1987, Australia 2 of 1987, Austria 4 – Oct 1987, Norway 4 – Aug 1987, US BB 8 of 1987, POP 8 of 1987, Germany 9 – Aug 1987, US CashBox 11 of 1987, Sweden 12 – Aug 1987, Poland 17 – Sep 1987, South Africa 17 of 1987, Scrobulate 75 of Latin, KROQ 81 of 1987, RYM 116 of 1987, Party 227 of 1999, Acclaimed 2050
2	Rick Astley	Never Gonna Give You Up	1987		UK 1 – Aug 1987, US BB 1 – Jan 1988, Netherlands 1 – Sept 1987, France 1 – Aug 1987, Norway 1 – Oct 1987, Germany 1 – Sept 1987, New Zealand 1 for 1 weeks Feb 1988, Australia 1 for 7 weeks Jun 1988, South Africa 1 of 1988, US CashBox 2 of 1988, Switzerland 2 – Sept 1987, Sweden 3 – Sept 1987, Austria 4 – Nov 1987, Australia 5 of 1988, Italy 13 of 1987, US BB 34 of 1988, POP 61 of 1988, Germany 140 of the 1980s, OzNet 765
3	Whitney Houston	I Wanna Dance with Somebody Who Loves Me	1987		UK 1 – May 1987, US BB 1 – May 1987, Holland 1 – May 1987, Switzerland 1 – May 1987, Norway 1 – May 1987, Germany 1 – May 1987, New Zealand 1 for 4 weeks Jun 1987, Australia 1 for 5 weeks Jan 1988, US CashBox 2 of 1987, Sweden 2 – May 1987, Austria 3 – Jun 1987, Poland 4 – Jun 1987, South Africa 4 of 1987, France 10 – Jun 1987, Italy 10 of 1987, Australia 11 of 1987, POP 22 of 1987, Germany 67 of the 1980s
4	Guns N' Roses	Welcome To The Jungle	1987		Sweden 1 – Oct 1987, Austria 1 – Oct 1987, Switzerland 1 – Nov 1987, Norway 1 – Nov 1987, Poland 1 – Nov 1987, Germany 1 – Dic 1987, Éire 1 – Dic 1987, Holland 3 – Dic 1987, France 5 – Jan 1988, US BB 9 – Jan 1988, South Africa 18 of 1987, Italy 21 of 1987, KROQ 27 of 1987, RYM 34 of 1987, Germany 94 of the 1980s, Acclaimed 1308
5	U2	With or Without You	1987		US BB 1 – Apr 1987, Poland 1 – Mar 1987, Éire 1 – Apr 1987, Holland 2 – Mar 1987, UK 4 – Mar 1987, Sweden 5 – Apr 1987, Europe 5 of the 1980s, RYM 6 of 1987, Germany 7 – Apr 1987, KROQ 9 of 1987, Switzerland 10 – Apr 1987, POP 10 of 1987, US CashBox 12 of 1987, US BB 14 of 1987, Poland 14 of all time, Austria 15 – Jun 1987, Belgium 24 of all time, OzNet 44, TheQ 47, Scrobulate 93 of rock, WXPN 116, Rolling Stone 131, Party 168 of 2007, Acclaimed 309

Top hits on record

• "Alone" – Heart
• "Always" – Atlantic Starr
• "Always on My Mind" – Pet Shop Boys
• "Animal" – Def Leppard
• "Angel" – Angela Winbush
• "Angel" – Aerosmith
• "Another Step (Closer to You)" – Kim Wilde & Junior
• "At This Moment" – Billy Vera and the Beaters
• "Back in the High Life Again" – Steve Winwood
• "Bad" – Michael Jackson
• "Ballerina Girl" – Lionel Richie
• "Barcelona" – Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé
• "Because of You" – The Cover Girls
• "Behind the Wheel" – Depeche Mode
• "Big Love" – Fleetwood Mac
• "Big Time" – Peter Gabriel
• "Can't We Try" – Dan Hill and Vonda Shepard
• "Carrie" – Europe
• "Casanova" – Levert
• "Catch Me (I'm Falling)" – Pretty Poison
• "Causing a Commotion" – Madonna
• "C'est la ouate" – Caroline Loeb
• "C'est la Vie" – Robbie Nevil
• "Change of Heart" – Cyndi Lauper
• "Cherry Bomb" – John Cougar Mellencamp
• "Citizen Jane" – Bernie Taupin
• "Come as You Are" – Peter Wolf
• "Come Go with Me" – Exposé
• "Control" – Janet Jackson (released in 1986)
• "Criticize" – Alexander O'Neal
• "Cross My Broken Heart" – The Jets
• "Didn't We Almost Have It All" – Whitney Houston
• "Doing It All for My Baby" – Huey Lewis and the News
• "Don't Dream It's Over" – Crowded House
• "Don't Disturb This Groove" – The System
• "Don't Mean Nothing" – Richard Marx
• "Don't Shed a Tear" – Paul Carrack
• "Down To Earth" – Curiosity Killed the Cat (released in 1986)
• "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" – Aerosmith
• "Electric Blue" – Icehouse
• "Electrica Salsa" – OFF
• "Ella elle l'a" – France Gall
• "Étienne" – Guesch Patti
• "Everlasting Love" – Sandra
• "Every Little Kiss" – Bruce Hornsby and the Range
• "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" – Wang Chung (released in 1986)
• "Everywhere" – Fleetwood Mac
• "Faith" – George Michael
• "The Final Countdown" – Europe
• "The Finer Things" – Steve Winwood
• "The Game" – Echo & the Bunnymen
• "Got My Mind Set On You" George Harrison
• "Hazy Shade of Winter" – The Bangles
• "Head to Toe" – Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam
• "Heart and Soul" – T'Pau
• "Heartbreak Beat" – The Psychedelic Furs
• "Heat of the Night" – Bryan Adams
• "Here I Go Again" – Whitesnake
• "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" – Belinda Carlisle
• "Hold Me Now" – Johnny Logan
• "Hysteria" – Def Leppard
• "I Don't Think That Man Should Sleep Alone" – Ray Parker, Jr.
• "I Get Weak" – Belinda Carlisle
• "I Found Someone" – Cher
• "I Heard a Rumour" – Bananarama
• "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" – Michael Jackson and Siedah Garrett
• "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" – Cutting Crew
• "I Knew You Were Waiting for Me" – Aretha Franklin and George Michael
• "I Know What I Like" – Huey Lewis and the News
• "I Need Love" – LL Cool J
• "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" – U2
• "I Think We're Alone Now" – Tiffany
• "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" – Whitney Houston
• "I Want Your Sex" – George Michael
• "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" – Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes
• "Im Nin'Alu" – Ofra Haza
• "Is This Love" – Whitesnake
• "I'm No Angel" – Gregg Allman Band
• "In Too Deep – Genesis
• "It Doesn't Have To Be This Way" – The Blow Monkeys
• "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" – R.E.M.
• "Jacob's Ladder" – Huey Lewis and the News
• "Joe le taxi" – Vanessa Paradis
• "Just to See Her" – Smokey Robinson
• "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" – The Georgia Satellites
• "Kiss Him Goodbye" – The Nylons
• "Là-bas" – Jean-Jacques Goldman and Sirima
• "La Bamba" – Los Lobos
• "La Isla Bonita" – Madonna
• "The Lady in Red" – Chris DeBurgh
• "Land of Confusion" – Genesis
• "Lean on Me" – Club Nouveau
• "Let's Go!" – Wang Chung
• "Let Me Be the One" – Exposé
• "Let's Wait Awhile" – Janet Jackson
• "Lips Like Sugar" – Echo & the Bunnymen
• "Little Lies" – Fleetwood Mac
• "Livin' on a Prayer" – Bon Jovi (released in 1986)
• "Looking for a New Love" – Jody Watley
• "Lost in Emotion" – Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam
• "Love Bites" – Def Leppard
• "Love Will Find a Way" – Yes
• "Love You Down" – Ready for the World
• "Luka" – Suzanne Vega
• "Mandolin Rain" – Bruce Hornsby and The Range
• "Midnight Blue" – Lou Gramm
• "Misfit" – Curiosity Killed the Cat (released in 1986)
• "Mony Mony" – Billy Idol
• "Mr. Manic and Sister Cool" – Shakatak
• "My Pretty One" – Cliff Richard
• "Need You Tonight" – INXS
• "New Sensation" – INXS
• "Never Gonna Give You Up" – Rick Astley
• "Never Let Me Down Again" – Depeche Mode
• "No One In the World" – Anita Baker
• "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You" – Glenn Medeiros (USA release)
• "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" – Starship
• "Notorious" – Duran Duran
• "One Heartbeat" – Smokey Robinson
• "The One I love" – R.E.M.
• "Only in My Dreams" – Debbie Gibson
• "Open Your Heart" – Madonna (released in 1986)
• "Ordinary Day" – Curiosity Killed the Cat
• "Out of the Blue" – Debbie Gibson
• "Paper in Fire" – John Cougar Mellencamp
• "People Are Strange" – Echo & the Bunnymen
• "The Pleasure Principle" – Janet Jackson
• "Point of No Return" – Exposé
• "Pour Some Sugar on Me" – Def Leppard
• "The Power of Love" – Laura Branigan
• "Pulaski" – The Shadows
• "Rag Doll" – Aerosmith
• "Remember Me" – Cliff Richard
• "Rent" – Pet Shop Boys
• "Respect Yourself" – Bruce Willis
• "Rock Steady" – The Whispers
• "Rocket" – Def Leppard
• "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" – Mel & Kim
• "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" – Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine
• "Sans contrefaçon" – Mylène Farmer
• "Say You Really Want Me" – Kim Wilde
• "Shake You Down" – Gregory Abbott
• "Shake Your Love" – Debbie Gibson
• "Shakedown" – Bob Seger
• "Someday" – Glass Tiger
• "Some People" – Cliff Richard
• "Songbird" – Kenny G
• "Something So Strong" – Crowded House
• "Somewhere Out There" – Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram
• "Stone Love" – Kool & the Gang
• "Strangelove" – Depeche Mode
• "Surrender" – Swing Out Sister
• "Sweet Child o' Mine" – Guns N' Roses
• "Throwing It All Away" – Genesis
• "True Blue" – Madonna
• "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" – Genesis
• "Touch Me (I Want Your Body)" – Samantha Fox
• "Touch of Grey" – Grateful Dead
• "Tristana" – Mylène Farmer
• "Twilight World" – Swing Out Sister
• "U Got the Look" – Prince and Sheena Easton
• "Une autre histoire" – Gérard Blanc
• "Victory" – Kool & the Gang
• "Wait" – White Lion
• "Walking Down Your Street" – The Bangles
• "Walking in the Air (Theme from 'The Snowman')" – The Shadows
• "Wanted Dead or Alive" – Bon Jovi (released in 1986)
• "War" – Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
• "The Way It Is" – Bruce Hornsby and the Range
• "Welcome to the Jungle" – Guns 'n' Roses
• "We're Ready" – Boston
• "What's Going On" – Cyndi Lauper
• "What You Get Is What You See" – Tina Turner
• "Where the Streets Have No Name" – U2
• "Who Found Who?" – Jellybean featuring Elisa Fiorillo
• "Who Will You Run To?" – Heart
• "Who's That Girl" – Madonna
• "Will You Still Love Me?" – Chicago
• "Wonderful Life" – Black
• "You're the Voice" – John Farnham
• "With or Without You" – U2
• "You Got It All" – The Jets
• "You Keep Me Hanging On" – Kim Wilde

Other Singles

• "Shattered Glass" – Laura Branigan
• "Somebody Save Me" – Cinderella
• "Freedom" – Alice Cooper
• "Why Can't I Be You?" – The Cure
• "Just Like Heaven" – The Cure
• "Pour en arriver là" – Dalida
• "Les hommes de ma vie" – Dalida
• "Midnight Blue" – Lou Gramm
• "Bring Him Back Home" – Hugh Masekela
• "Beds Are Burning" – Midnight Oil
• "True Faith" – New Order
• "Tell Me True" – Juice Newton
• "In The Dutch Mountains" – The Nits
• "Pressure Down" – John Collits
• "We Connect"- Stacey Q.
• "Free" – Stryper
• "Something inside so strong" – Labi Siffre
• "China in Your Hand" – T'Pau
• "Hot Love" – Twisted Sister
• "Sugar Free" – WaWaNee

Published popular music

• "Last Midnight"     w.m. Stephen Sondheim
• "Children Will Listen"     w.m. Stephen Sondheim
• "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" w.m. Gloria Estefan & E. E. Garcia
• "The Time of My Life"     w.m. Franke Previte, Donald Markowitz & John DeNicola

Classical music

• Mario Davidovsky – Quartetto for flute, violin, viola and violoncello
• Joël-François Durand – Lichtung
• Philip Feeney – Mémoire Imaginaire (ballet)
• Lorenzo Ferrero
  • Ostinato
  • Non parto, non resto
• Malcolm Forsyth – Songs from the Qu'appelle Valley
• Karel Goeyvaerts – Aanloop en kreet (Run and Cry), for symphony orchestra and chorus
• Nicholas Maw – Odyssey
• Juan Maria Solare – Doce variaciones 1987 (for piano)
• Joan Tower – Fanfare for the uncommon woman no 1

Opera

• John Adams – Nixon in China
• Friedrich Cerha – Der Rattenfänger (The Pied Piper)
• Michael Nyman – Vital Statistics
• Judith Weir – A Night at the Chinese Opera

Musical theater

• Anything Goes – Broadway- revival
• Bless the Bride – West End revival
• Cabaret (Kander and Ebb) – Broadway revival
• Dreamgirls – Broadway revival
• Into the Woods – Broadway production
• Les Misérables – Broadway production
• Oil City Symphony – Broadway production
• The Phantom of the Opera – Broadway production
• Starlight Express (Andrew Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe) – Broadway production

Musical films

• Aria
• Dirty Dancing
• Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll
• Hearts of Fire
• La Bamba
• Mr. India
• Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare
• Sign o' the Times
• Testimony

Births

• January 12 – Sunday The Grace, Korean pop singer
• January 27 – Katy Rose, singer, songwriter, producer, musician and actress
• January 29 – Ashley Perez Moza, singer-songwriter
• February 7 – Kerli, Estonian singer and songwriter
• February 10 – Choi Si Won, Korean actor and pop singer
• February 12 – O'Ryan, R&B singer
• February 24 – Kim Kyu Jong, Korean pop singer
• March 1 – Ke$ha, American pop singer
• March 9 – Bow Wow, American Hip-Hop artist
• March 26 – YUI, Japanese pop singer
• April 3 – Park Jung Min, Korean pop singer
• April 9 – Jesse McCartney, American singer and actor
• April 10 – Hayley Westenra, soprano singer
• April 11 – Joss Stone, soul singer-songwriter
• April 30 – Nikki Webster, pop singer
• June 16 – Diana DeGarmo, American Idol contestant
• June 21 – Kim Ryeo Wook, Korean pop singer
• July – Nicola Benedetti, violinist
• July 1 – Yoga Lin, Taiwanese pop singer, One Million Star, Season 1 winner
• July 6 – Kate Nash, English pop singer
• August 21 – Kim Ki Bum, Korean actor and pop singer
• September 26 – Rosie Munter, Swedish vocalist and dancer
• September 28
  • Hilary Duff, American singer and actress
  • Chloe Hanslip, violinist
• October 17 – Stephanie The Grace, Korean pop singer
• November 5 – Kevin Jonas, member of Jonas Brothers
• November 30 – Dougie Poynter, bassist, McFLY
• December 2 – Teairra Mari, American R&B singer
• December 7 – Aaron Carter, pop singer
• December 18 – ayaka, Japanese pop singer
• December 27 – Yui Okada, Japanese pop singer

Deaths

• January 6 – Jaidev, Bollywood composer, 67
• January 10 – Marion Hutton, singer and actress, 67
• January 15 – Ray Bolger, Wizard of Oz actor (cancer)
• January 30 – Harold Loeffelmacher, musician and bandleader (Six Fat Dutchmen), 81
• February 2
  • Spike Hughes, jazz musician, composer and journalist, 78
  • Alfred Lion, record executive and co-founder of Blue Note Records, 78
• February 4 – Liberace, US pianist
• February 8 – Tony Destra, drummer, 32 (car accident)
• February 18 – Dmitri Kabalevsky, composer
• February 23 – Zeca Afonso, folk musician
• February 24 – Jim Connors, radio DJ, 46 (car crash)
• March 3 – Danny Kaye, actor, singer, dancer and comedian
• March 6 – Eddie Durham, jazz musician, 80
• March 15 – Don Gant, singer/songwriter, record producer
• March 18 – Elizabeth Poston, composer, 82
• March 20 – Rita Streich, coloratura soprano, 66
• March 21
  • Dean Paul Martin, singer and actor, 35 (plane crash)
  • Robert Preston, actor and singer, 68
• March 28 – Maria von Trapp, subject of The Sound of Music, 82
• March 29 – Felix Prohaska, conductor
• April 2 – Buddy Rich, jazz drummer, 69 (brain tumor)
• April 7 – Carlton Barrett, reggae drummer (The Wailers), 36 (murdered)
• April 14 – Karl Höller, composer, 79
• May 2 – Larry Clinton, US bandleader and songwriter, 75
• May 3 – Dalida, singer, actress and Miss Egypt 1954, 54 (suicide)^[1][2]
• May 4 – Paul Butterfield, blues vocalist and harmonica player, 44 (drug overdose)
• May 13
  • Signe Amundsen, operatic soprano, 87
  • Ismael Rivera, salsa composer and singer, 55 (heart attack)
• May 14 – Rita Hayworth, dancer and film star, 68
• May 24 – Hermione Gingold, actress and singer
• May 26 – Robert Wilkins, blues guitarist and singer, 91
• May 29 – Phyllis Tate, avant-garde composer, 76
• June 3 – Andrés Segovia, guitar virtuoso, 94
• June 18 – Kid Thomas Valentine, jazz trumpeter & bandleader, 91
• June 21 – Abram Chasins, pianist and composer, 84
• June 22
  • Fred Astaire, dancer, actor and singer, 88
  • Frank Rehak, jazz trombonist
• June 25 – Boudleaux Bryant, Hall of Fame songwriter, 67
• June 26 – Henk Badings, composer, 80
• July 1 – Snakefinger, guitarist, 38 (heart attack)
• July 7 – Tibor Frešo, composer, 69
• July 10 – John Hammond, producer and musician, 76
• July 15 – Pete King, drummer (After The Fire, BAP), 28 (testicular cancer)
• July 25 – Alex Sadkin, saxopohonist and record producer, 37 or 38 (motor accident)
• July 26 – Joe Liggins, R&B, jazz and blues pianist, 72
• August 2 – David Martin, bassist (Sam the Sham), 50 (heart attack)
• August 12 – Sally Long, former Ziegfeld Follies star, 85
• August 14 – Vincent Persichetti, composer, 72
• August 27
  • Bruce Holder, violinist, conductor and composer, 82
  • Scott La Rock, hip-hop DJ and producer, 25 (shot)
• September 3 – Morton Feldman, composer, 51 (pancreatic cancer)
• September 11 – Peter Tosh, reggae musician, 42 (shot and killed in a house invasion/robbery)
• September 21- Jaco Pastorius, jazz bassist, 35 (brain damage resulting from fight)
• September 23 – Bob Fosse, dancer, choreographer and director of musicals, 60 (heart attack)
• October 3 – Hans Gál, composer, 97
• October 13 – Kishore Kumar, singer, actor, filmmaker, writer, musician and composer, 58
• October 14 – Rodolfo Halffter, composer, 86
• October 19 – Jacqueline du Pré, English cellist, 42 (multiple sclerosis)
• October 28 – Woody Herman, US bandleader
• November 12 – Cornelis Vreeswijk, Swedish singer-songwriter, 50 (liver cancer)
• November 16 – Zubir Said, composer, 80
• November 22 – Verna Arvey, librettist and pianist
• November 23 – Joseph Beer, composer, 79
• December 5 – Pappy Daily, country music entrepreneur and record producer, 85
• December 8 - Annelies Kupper, operatic soprano, 81
• December 10 – Jascha Heifetz, violinist
• December 12 – Clifton Chenier, zydeco singer and accordionist, 62
• December 18 – Conny Plank, record producer, 47
• December 21 – John Spence, ska musician, 18 (suicide)
• December 22 – Luca Prodan, rock musician, 34 (cirrhosis of the liver)
• date unknown
  • Emani Sankara Sastry, Veena player and composer
  • Allen Jones, record producer
  • Gabor Rejto, cellist

Awards

• The following artists are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: The Coasters, Eddie Cochran, Bo Diddley, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Bill Haley, B. B. King, Clyde McPhatter, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Smokey Robinson, Big Joe Turner, Muddy Waters, and Jackie Wilson

Grammy Awards

• Grammy Awards of 1987

Country Music Association Awards

Gary P. Blueyes Walker – CMA Air Personality of the Year / KYKX

Eurovision Song Contest

• Eurovision Song Contest 1987

Glenn Gould Prize

• R. Murray Schafer (laureate)

Charts

• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1987 (U.S.)

References