- Jan 2 "Camelot" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 48 performances
Osbourne Bites Head Off Bat
Jan 20 Heavy metal musician Ozzy Osbourne allegedly bites the head off a bat on stage in Des Moines, Iowa
- Jan 21 "Little Me" opens at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC for 36 performances
9th American Music Awards
Jan 25 9th American Music Awards: Pat Benatar & Kenny Rogers win
"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"
Jan 27 Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's biblical rock opera "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" opens at Royale Theatre, NYC; runs for 747 performances
Music History
Feb 13 Pink Floyd's album "Dark Side of the Moon" marks 402 weeks on Billboard Top 200 Album charts
Ain't Misbehavin'
Feb 21 Musical review of Fats Waller songs "Ain't Misbehavin'" starring Nell Carter and Irene Cara, closes at Longacre Theater, NYC, after 1604 performances, winning 3 Tony and 4 Drama Desk Awards
- Feb 24 24th Grammy Awards: "Bette Davis Eyes", "Double Fantasy" win
People's Choice Awards
Mar 10 8th People's Choice Awards: Burt Reynolds, Sally Field & Jane Fonda win (Motion Picture) and Alan Alda & Barbara Mandrell win (TV)
Ebony & Ivory
Mar 26 Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder release the single "Ebony & Ivory" in the UK
Music History
Apr 12 American composer Roger Sessions receives Pulitzer Prize for Music, for his "Concerto for Orchestra"
Music History
Apr 17 Country music legend Johnny Cash hosts Saturday Night Live, participates in skits, performs medley of hits; Elton John is additional musical guest
- Apr 24 27th Eurovision Song Contest: Nicole for Germany wins singing "Ein bißchen Frieden" in Harrogate
Music History
Apr 26 Rod Stewart is mugged, gunman steals his $50,000 Porsche on Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, California
Academy of Country Music Awards
Apr 29 17th Academy of Country Music Awards: Alabama, Merle Haggard, and Barbara Mandrell win
- May 7 "Is There Life after High School?" opens at Barrymore Theatre, NYC; runs for 12 performances
Nine
May 9 Arthur Kopit's musical "Nine" premieres in NYC
Radio History
May 10 WABC radio (NYC) plays its last record - John Lennon's "Imagine" - and switches to all-talk format
- May 16 "Barnum" closes at St James Theater NYC after 854 performances
- May 16 "Is There Life After High School?" closes at Barrymore after 12 performances
- May 27 Musical "Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?", after successful runs in Chicago and Philadelphia, opens at Alvin Theatre, NYC; runs for 5 performances
- May 29 "I Know What Boys Like" by The Waitresses hits #62
- May 30 Musical "Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?", after successful runs in Chicago and Philadelphia, closes at Alvin Theatre, NYC, after 5 performances
- May 31 "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" opens at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC for 63 performances
- Jun 2 "Blues in the Night" opens at Rialto Theater NYC for 53 performances
- Jun 5 "Murphy's Law" by Cheri hits #39
- Jun 6 36th Tony Awards: "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby" (play) & "Nine" (musical) win
Music City News Awards
Jun 7 16th Music City News Country Awards: Barbara Mandrell wins
Music History
Jun 7 Graceland, Elvis Presley's home, is opened to the public
Somewhere in the Stars
Jun 16 Columbia Records releases "Somewhere in the Stars", the fourth studio album by Rosanne Cash; produced by husband Rodney Crowell, and featuring her father Johnny Cash on one track
Music History
Jun 18 Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, England opens: Van Morrison and Jackson Browne headline; other performers include: Osibisa, Judie Tzuke, Richie Havens, Aswad, Steel Pulse, Thompson Twins, Climax Blues Band, Talisman, and Incubus
Take It Away
Jun 21 Paul McCartney releases single "Take It Away"
- Jun 27 "Dancin'" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 1,774 performances
- Jun 30 "Lena Horne: Lady, Music" closes at Nederlander, NYC, after 333 performances
- Jul 1 ABC national music radio network scheduled premiere (never happened)
- Jul 3 Riot at building site of Stopera concert hall in Amsterdam causes Ÿ1 million in damages
- Jul 8 "7 Brides for 7 Brothers" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 5 performances
- Jul 11 "7 Brides for 7 Brothers" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 5 performances
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Jul 14 Musical film adaptation of "Pink Floyd - The Wall", directed by Alan Parker, starring Bob Geldof, and written by Roger Waters, premieres at the Empire, Leicester Square, in London,
- Jul 18 "Blues in the Night" closes at Rialto Theater NYC after 53 performances
- Jul 20 T Macauly & D Vosburghs musical "Windy City," premieres in London
- Jul 24 "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" closes at E O'Neill NYC after 63 performances
- Jul 24 Single "Eye Of The Tiger" by Survivor from "Rocky III" soundtrack starts 6-week run at #1 on US charts (Grammy for Best Rock Performance)
Little Shop of Horrors
Jul 27 Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's musical "Little Shop of Horrors" opens Off-Broadway at the Orpheum Theatre in NYC
- Aug 28 "Sugar Babies" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 1208 performances
#1 in the Charts
Aug 29 Steve Miller's single "Abracadabra" hits #1
- Sep 2 Rolling Stone Keith Richard's house burns down
- Sep 6 Parlophone/EMI releases Paul McCartney single "Tug of War" from album of the same name
- Sep 9 "Your Arm's Are Too Short To Box With God" opens at Alvin Theater, NYC; runs for 69 performances
- Sep 10 Decca releases Beatles audition on "Complete Silver Beatles" album, 20 years after label executives rejected them feeling that "guitar groups are on the way out" and "the Beatles have no future in show business"
Bad to the Bone
Sep 17 "Bad to the Bone" single by George Thorogood and the Destroyers first released
- Sep 23 "Doll's Life" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 5 performances
The Nylon Curtain
Sep 23 Columbia Records releases "The Nylon Curtain", singer-songwriter Billy Joel's eighth studio album
- Sep 26 "Doll's Life" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 5 performances
Nebraska
Sep 30 Columbia Records releases Bruce Springsteen's sixth studio album "Nebraska", a solo record, made without a backing band
Midnight Love
Oct 1 Marvin Gaye releases his last studio album "Midnight Love" featuring single "Sexual Healing"
The Nightfly
Oct 1 Warner Bros. Records releases "The Nightfly". the debut solo studio album by singer-songwriter keyboardist Donald Fagen of the band Steely Dan
- Oct 7 Musical "Cats" opens at Winter Garden Theater on Broadway, NYC; runs for nearly 18 years before closing on September 10, 2000, wins 7 Tony and 1 Grammy Award
Country Music Association Awards
Oct 11 16th Country Music Association Awards: Willie Nelson & Ricky Skaggs win
The Girl is Mine
Oct 29 Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson release single "The Girl is Mine"; peaks at # 2 in US, and #8 in UK
- Oct 31 Musical revue "Rock 'n Roll!: The First 5,000 Years" closes at St James Theatre. NYC, after 9 performances
Gone Troppo
Nov 5 George Harrison releases "Gone Troppo", his tenth solo album
Your Arms are Too Short to Box With God
Nov 7 Revival of Alex Bradford, Vinnette Carroll, and Micki Grant's "Your Arms are Too Short to Box With God", based on the Bible's Book of Matthew, and featuring Al Green and Patti LaBelle, closes at Alvin Theatre, NYC. after 69 performances
Music History
Nov 11 "Foxfire" Susan Cooper and Hume Cronyn's stage drama with songs, starring Jessica Tandy, Keith Carradine, and Cronyn, opens at Ethel Barrymore Theatre, NYC; runs for 213 performances, wins Tandy a Tony Award
- Nov 28 "Pirates of Penzance" closes at Uris Theater NYC after 772 performances
- Nov 30 "Thriller", 6th studio album by Michael Jackson is released (Grammy Award Album of the Year 1984, best-selling album of all time, Billboard Album of the Year 1983)
- Dec 8 "Herman Van Veen: All of Him" opens at Ambassador. NYC; runs for 6 performances
- Dec 12 "Herman Van Veen: All of Him" closes at Ambassador NYC after 6 performances
Bob Marley Stamp
Dec 29 Jamaican Post issues commemorative postage stamp featuring reggae singer Bob Marley
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