Price's Final Aida Appearance
Jan 3 Leontyne Price makes her final operatic appearance in a televised performance of "Aida" at the Metropolitan Opera, New York.
"The King & I"
Jan 7 Revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical "The King & I", still starring Yul Brynner opens at Broadway Theater, NYC; runs for 191 performances
"Born in the USA"
Jan 19 "Born in the USA", single by Bruce Springsteen, peaks at #9
Norman Sings at Inauguration
Jan 21 Jessye Norman sings "Simple Gifts" at the second inauguration of US President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D. C.
- Jan 27 "Doug Henning & His World of Magic" closes at Lunt-Fontanne NY after 60 performances
12th American Music Awards
Jan 28 12th American Music Awards: Cyndi Lauper & Lionel Richie win
"We Are the World"
Jan 28 Charity single "We Are the World" recorded by supergroup USA for Africa (Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Quincy Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, and other pop stars)
"Harrigan 'n Hart"
Jan 31 Max Showalter and Peter Walker's musical "Harrigan 'n Hart", starring Harry Groening and Mark Hamill, opens at Longacre Theater, NYC; runs for 4 performances
- Feb 3 Max Showalter and Peter Walker's musical "Harrigan 'n Hart", starring Harry Groening and Mark Hamill, closes at Longacre Theater, NYC, after 4 performances
- Feb 7 "New York, New York" becomes the official anthem of New York City
Whitney Houston
Feb 14 "Whitney Houston" debut album by Whitney Houston is released (Grammy Award Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female 1986, Billboard Album of Year 1986)
Grammy Awards
Feb 26 27th Grammy Awards: "What's Love Got to Do With It?", and Cyndi Lauper win
Music History
Mar 1 American singer Liza Minnelli enters Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California for substance abuse rehabilitation
My One and Only
Mar 3 Musical created around songs of George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin "My One and Only", starring Tommy Tune, Twiggy, and Roscoe Lee Brown, closes at St James Theater, NYC, after 767 performances and 3 Tony award wins
Music History
Mar 23 David Bowie is special surprise guest at Tina Turner concert at NEC arena in Birmingham, England; they perform duets of Bowie's "Tonight" and a medley of Chris Montez' "Let's Dance" and Bowie's song of the same name
Big River
Apr 25 Roger Miller's musical "Big River", based on Mark Twain's 1884 novel "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", opens at Eugene O'Neill Theater, NYC; runs for 1005 performances, wins 3 Tony Awards
- May 4 30th Eurovision Song Contest: Bobbysocks! for Norway wins singing "La det swinge" in Gothenburg
Rhythm & Romance
May 6 Columbia Records releases "Rhythm & Romance", the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash; produced by husband Rodney Crowell, the album was her first to feature her songwriting on a majority of the tracks
Academy of Country Music Awards
May 8 20th Academy of Country Music Awards: Alabama, George Strait, and Reba McEntire win
Music History
May 18 Murray Head's "One Night In Bangkok" single (written by Tim Rice, and Abba's Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus) hits #3 in US
Music History
Jun 1 "Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody" by David Lee Roth hits #12
Dare To Be Stupid
Jun 1 Weird Al Yankovic releases his "Dare To Be Stupid" album
- Jun 2 39th Tony Awards: "Biloxi Blues" (play) and "Big River" (musical) win
Music City News Awards
Jun 10 19th Music City News Country Awards: Statler Brothers, Barbara Mandrell win
Glastonbury Festival
Jun 21 Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, England opens: Echo & the Bunnyman, Joe Cocker, and The Boomtown Rats headline; other performers include: The Style Council, Ian Dury and The Blockheads, Nick Lowe, Third World, Gregory Isaacs, Hugh Masekela, Clannad, Midnight Oil, Aswad, and The Pogues
- Jun 22 "Grind" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 79 performances
Music History
Jun 22 "Smuggler's Blues" by Glenn Frey peaks at #12
- Jun 30 Revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical "The King & I" closes at Broadway Theater, NYC, after 191 performances
- Jul 10 Playboy (and also Penthouse) publish nude pictures of Madonna
- Jul 12 "Singin' in the Rain", musical adaptation of the 1952 film, opens at Gershwin Theater, NYC; runs for 367 performances
- Jul 13 "Live Aid" concerts held at both Wembley Stadium (London, England) and JFK Stadium (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) raises over $70 million for African famine relief
- Jul 21 "Leader of the Pack" closes at Ambassador Theater NYC after 120 performances
Music History
Jul 29 Singer Tina Turner films music video for the song “One Of The Living” at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; song is from the film "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome" in which she co-starred with Mel Gibson
Broadway Album
Aug 7 Barbra Streisand records "Broadway Album"
- Aug 11 "Tap Dance Kid" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 669 performances
- Aug 14 Michael Jackson buys ATV Music (including publishing rights to most of the Beatles song catalog) for $47.5M; 10 years later he sells 1/2 of his interest to Sony for $150M
- Sep 13 2nd MTV Video Music Awards: Don Henley, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, and USA for Africa win
Music History
Sep 18 Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "Song and Dance", starring Bernadette Peters, opens at Royale Theater, NYC; runs for 474 performances and a Tony Award for Peters
Farm Aid Concert
Sep 22 First Farm Aid benefit concert, Champaign, Illinois; organized by Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp; performers included Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Billy Joel, B.B. King, Hoyt Axton, Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones, and Emmylou Harris [1]
Music History
Sep 28 "Don't Lose My Number" by Phil Collins peaks at #4
- Sep 28 "Every Step Of The Way" single by John Waite peaks at #25
- Sep 28 "Freedom" by Wham! peaks at #3
- Sep 28 "Janet" by Commodores peaks at #87
Album Release
Sep 30 Island Records releases "Rain Dogs", the ninth studio album by singer-songwriter Tom Waits; the album features guitarist Marc Ribot, guest appearances from Keith Richards, and one of Waits' most covered songs, "Downtown Train"
- Oct 8 Alain Boubil and Herbert Kretzner's musical "Les Misérables" premieres in London at the Barbican Centre
Music History
Oct 8 Little Richard seriously injured in a single car accident in Los Angeles
Music History
Oct 9 "Strawberry Fields" memorial to John Lennon in Central Park, NYC is dedicated by mayor Ed Koch
- Oct 9 "Tango Argentino" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater, NYC; runs for 198 performances
- Oct 13 "Sunday in the Park with George" closes at Booth NYC after 604 performances
- Oct 14 19th Country Music Association Awards: Ricky Skaggs wins
- Oct 30 "Rockin' with the Rhythm" second studio album by The Judds is released (Billboard Album of the Year 1986)
- Nov 5 Paul Schierhorn's rock musical "The News" opens at Helen Hayes Theater, NYC; runs for 4 performances
- Nov 9 Paul Schierhorn's rock musical "The News" closes at Helen Hayes Theater, NYC, after 4 performances
Diamond's 9th Symphony
Nov 17 David Diamond's 9th Symphony, dedicated to Dmitri Mitropoulos, premieres with the American Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein
Spies Like Us
Nov 18 Paul McCartney releases film theme single "Spies Like Us"
"I'm Not Rappaport"
Nov 19 Herb Gardner's stage comedy "I'm Not Rappaport", starring Judd Hirsch and Cleavon Little, opens at the Booth Theatre, NYC; runs 891 performances, with 3 Tony Award wins
Music Premiere
Dec 2 Rupert Holmes' musical "The Mystery of Edwin Drood", based on an unfinished work of Charles Dickens, opens at the Imperial Theater, NYC; runs for 608 performances, winning 5 Tony Awards
- Dec 18 Jerry Herman's musical revue "Jerry's Girls" opens at St James Theater, NYC; runs for 139 performances
- Dec 19 "Wind in the Willows" opens at Nederlander Theater NYC for 4 performances
- Dec 21 Heart's "Heart" album goes #1
- Dec 22 "Wind in the Willows" closes at Nederlander Theater NYC after 4 performances