"Oh My My"
Jan 9 Ringo Starr releases single "Oh My My" in the UK
Pacific Overtures
Jan 11 Stephen Sondheim's musical "Pacific Overtures" opens at Winter Garden Theater, NYC; runs for 193 performances, wins 2 Tony and 2 Drama Desk Awards
"I Write the Songs"
Jan 17 "I Write the Songs" cover by Barry Manilow hits #1
"X Offender"
Jan 17 Blondie release their debut single "X Offender" written by Debbie Harry and Gary Valentine
Station to Station
Jan 23 RCA releases "Station to Station", David Bowie's 10th studio album, recorded in Los Angeles; it peaks in the U.S. charts at No.3, and No. 5 in the U.K.
3rd American Music Awards
Jan 31 3rd American Music Awards: Olivia Newton-John & John Denver win
"The Sonny & Cher Show"
Feb 1 Sonny & Cher resume TV variety show, despite real-life divorce; now titled "The Sonny & Cher Show"
"This Guitar (Can't Keep From Crying)"
Feb 6 George Harrison releases single "This Guitar (Can't Keep From Crying)"
- Feb 7 Larry Groce's "Junk Food Junkie" peaks at #9
- Feb 17 Cliff Jones' theatrical rock opera "Rockabye Hamlet", starring Beverly D'Angelo, opens at Minskoff Theater, NYC; runs for 7 performances
- Feb 21 Cliff Jones' theatrical rock opera "Rockabye Hamlet", starring Beverly D'Angelo, closes at Minskoff Theater, NYC, after 7 performances
Grammy Awards
Feb 28 18th Grammy Awards: "Love Will Keep Us Together" Record of the Year; Natalie Cole 1st African American to win Best New Artist
Academy of Country Music Awards
Mar 1 11th Academy of Country Music Awards: Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn win
- Mar 2 Musical revue featuring song from the Harlem Renaissance "Bubbling Brown Sugar" opens at ANTA Theater, NYC; runs for 766 performances
- Mar 6 Revival of Sidney Howard's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1924 stage drama "They Knew What They Wanted", closes at the Playhouse Theatre, NYC, after 23 performances
Music History
Mar 25 Revival of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's musical "My Fair Lady" opens at St James Theater, later transferring to the Lunt-Fontaine, NYC; runs for 377 performances
Music History
Mar 25 Richard Rodgers, Sheldon Harnick, and Sherman Yellen's musical "Rex", starring Nicol Williamson and Glenn Close, opens at Lunt-Fontaine Theater, NYC; runs for 48 performances
Music History
Apr 6 1st quadrophonic movie track: "Ladies & Gentlemen the Rolling Stones"
- Apr 18 30th Tony Awards: "Travesties" (play) & "A Chorus Line" (musical) win
- Apr 20 George Harrison sings "The Lumberjack Song" with Monty Python in NYC
- Apr 27 Stan Daniels' musical "So Long 174th Street", starring Robert Morse, opens at Harkness Theater, NYC; runs for 16 performances
- Apr 30 "Silly Love Songs" single released by Wings (Billboard Song of the Year, 1976)
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
May 4 Leonard Bernstein and Alan Jay Lerner's musical "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" opens at Mark Hellinger, NYC; runs for 7 performances
- May 8 Leonard Bernstein and Alan Jay Lerner's musical "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" closes at Mark Hellinger, NYC, after 7 performances
- May 9 Stan Daniels' musical "So Long 174th Street", starring Robert Morse, closes at Harkness Theater, NYC, after 16 performances
- May 15 "Fonz Song" by Heyettes hits #91
- May 15 Kentucky Moonrunner by Cledus Maggard hits #85
Turnstiles
May 19 Columbia Records releases "Turnstiles", singer-songwriter Billy Joel's fourth studio album
- May 27 Musical whodunit "Something's Afoot" opens at Lyceum Theater, NYC; runs for 61 performances
Music History
May 29 Car tune "One Piece At A Time" by Johnny Cash hits #29
- Jun 11 Beatles "Rock & Roll Music" compilation LP is released in USA
Yes, Yes, Yes
Jun 12 "Yes, Yes, Yes" single by Bill Cosby hits #46
Music History
Jun 13 Bob Marley performs at Jaap Edenhal, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Music History
Jul 3 Brian Wilson performs with the Beach Boys after his 12 year stage absence, at Anaheim Stadium in California
- Jul 12 Ian Dury & Kilburns disband
- Jul 18 "Something's Afoot" closes at Lyceum Theater NYC after 61 performances
- Jul 19 Allman Brother's roadie Scooter Herring sentenced to 75 years for providing drugs for the group, based on Gregg Allman's testimony
- Jul 19 British rock group Deep Purple disbands
- Jul 21 "Guys & Dolls" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 239 performances
- Jul 22 "Let My People Come" opens at Morosco Theater NYC for 106 performances
- Jul 23 Wings release single "Let 'em In"
- Jul 25 Philip Glass and Robert Wilson's opera "Einstein on the Beach" premieres at Théâtre Municipal, in Avignon, France
John Lennon Gets a Green Card
Jul 27 Former Beatle John Lennon is granted a green card for permanent residence in US
Music History
Aug 11 "The Who" drummer Keith Moon collapses and is hospitalized in Miami, Florida
Very Good Eddie
Sep 5 Revival of Jerome Kern and Schuyler Greene's musical "Very Good Eddie" closes at Booth Theater, NYC, after 307 performances
- Sep 5 Richard Rodgers, Sheldon Harnick, and Sherman Yellen's musical "Rex", starring Nicol Williamson and Glenn Close, closes at Lunt-Fontaine Theater, NYC, after 48 performances
Telethon
Sep 6 Singer Frank Sinatra brings surprise guest Dean Martin to his appearance on Jerry Lewis' 11th Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon - the first time Martin and Lewis share a stage in 20 years
- Sep 7 US courts find George Harrison guilty of 'subconsciously' plagiarizing "He's So Fine" for his song "My Sweet Lord"
Music History
Sep 17 British punk rock band the Sex Pistols play before a captive audience at Chelmsford Prison, Essex, England
- Sep 17 Polydor/Atlantic releases Ringo Starr' fifth studio album "Ringo's Rotogravure"
- Sep 19 "Going Up" opens at John Golden Theater NYC for 49 performances
- Sep 19 New York concert promoter Sid Bernstein offers $230 million to charity for a Beatles reunion; they politely decline
- Sep 20 "The Captain and Tennille" television musical-variety show debuts in US (ABC)
- Sep 20 Albert Records releases rock band AC/DC's third studio album "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" in Australia and Europe
Oh! Calcutta! - The Bare Facts
Sep 24 "Oh! Calcutta!" revival opens at Edison Theater, NYC; runs for 5,959 performances, Broadway’s longest-running musical revue
Music History
Sep 25 Bono, David Evans, his brother Dik, and Adam Clayton respond to an advertisement on a bulletin board at Mount Temple posted by fellow student Larry Mullen Jr. to form a rock band, which becomes U2
- Sep 25 George Gershwin's "Porgy & Bess" opens at Uris Theater NYC for 122 performances
Songs in the Key of Life
Sep 28 "Songs in the Key of Life" 18th studio album by Stevie Wonder is released (Billboard Song of the Year 1977)
- Sep 28 A&M Records sues George Harrison who fails to meet deadline for LP completion
Music History
Sep 29 Boy George expelled from school
Music History
Sep 29 Rock piano playing-singer Jerry Lee Lewis, attempting to shoot soda bottles hits his bass player Norman Owens twice in the chest
- Oct 2 "Let My People Come" closes at Morosco Theater NYC after 106 performances
Music History
Oct 8 EMI signs British punk rock band "Sex Pistols"
- Oct 9 "Robber Bridegroom" opens at Biltmore Theater NYC for 145 performances
- Oct 11 10th Country Music Association Awards: Mel Tillis wins
- Oct 15 Ringo Starr releases single "A Dose of Rock 'n' Roll"; peaks at 26 in US, fails to chart in UK
- Oct 30 "Going Up" closes at John Golden Theater NYC after 49 performances
- Nov 1 Ron Eliran and Harvey Jacobs' musical revue "Don't Step On My Olive Branch" opens at Playhouse, NYC; runs for 16 performances
- Nov 14 "Don't Step on My Olive Branch" closes at Playhouse NYC after 16 performances
- Nov 19 George Harrison releases single "This Song", an expression of his frustration at being sued for copyright infringement
- Nov 20 George Harrison appears on "Saturday Night Live": haggling with Lorne Michaels; performing "Here Comes the Sun" and "Homeward Bound" with Paul Simon; and airing two music videos
The Band's Farewell Concert
Nov 25 The Band's farewell concert at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, California; guest performers include Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, and the Staples Singers; concert film "The Last Waltz" directed by Martin Scorcese
- Nov 26 British punk rockers Sex Pistols release their debut single "Anarchy In The UK"
- Nov 26 East Germany strips singer-songwriter and poet Wolf Biermann of his citizenship while he tours West Germany
- Nov 26 Ringo Starr releases single "Hey Baby"
- Dec 1 Sex Pistols using profanity on TV, gets them branded as "rotten punks"
A Star is Born
Dec 18 Second remake of "A Star is Born" film, directed by Frank Pierson and starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, premieres
- Dec 20 Richard Adler and Will Holt's musical "Music Is", based on William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", opens at St James Theater, NYC; runs for 8 performances
- Dec 22 "Your Arm's Too Short..." opens at Lyceum NYC for 429 performances
- Dec 22 East Germany grants rock singer Nina Hagen her request to leave the country, after refusing her stepfather re-entry
- Dec 26 Richard Adler and Will Holt's musical "Music Is" based on Shakespeare's "The Tempest", starring Christopher Hewitt, and directed by George Abbott, closes at St James Theater, NYC after 8 performances
Music Premiere
Dec 28 Revival of Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick's musical "Fiddler on the Roof", starring Zero Mostel, opens at Winter Garden Theater, NYC; runs for 167 performances
Country Singers
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Opera Singers
Pop Singers
Rappers
Rock Singers