March 7, 1983 The English new wave duo Tears For Fears release their debut album, The Hurting, featuring the melancholic "Mad World." The album is inspired by the work of American psychologist Arthur Janov, founder of primal therapy.More
February 23, 1983 After 18 nominations, Lionel Richie finally wins a Grammy when his solo debut single "Truly" takes the award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male.
November 30, 1982 Michael Jackson releases Thriller, which becomes, by far, the best selling album worldwide.More
November 19, 1982 Led Zeppelin release their final studio album, Coda, a collection of unused songs recorded before drummer John Bonham died in 1980.
November 4, 1982 Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz of Talking Heads become parents when their son Robin is born in Nassau, Bahamas, where the band is recording their Speaking In Tongues album.
October 2, 1982 "Jack And Diane," a little ditty about two American kids growin' up in the heartland, hits #1 in America. It's the first and only #1 on the tally for John Cougar, who later reverts to his real name, John Mellencamp.
September 14, 1982 Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco, dies the day after suffering a stroke at the wheel and driving her car off a cliff. The 52-year-old former actress garnered acclaim in the 1956 musical comedy High Society alongside Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. She was also one of many stars name-checked in Madonna's "Vogue."
September 3, 1982 Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak throws the US Festival "for a few thousand friends" in hopes of uniting people through music and technology. A crowd of at least 200,000 shows up in the blistering heat of San Bernardino, California, for three days of music, tech-geekery, and dust... a whole lot of dust. Fleetwood Mac, performing for the first time in two years, headlines a bill that also includes The Police and the Grateful Dead.More
May 15, 1982 The racial-harmony anthem "Ebony And Ivory," by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder, hits #1 in the US.More
May 6, 1982 Tom Paton, manager of the Bay City Rollers, is convicted of gross indecency with teenage boys and sentenced to three years in jail.
April 17, 1982 "The seventh Commodore," long-time manager and dear friend Benny Ashburn, dies from a heart attack. Only a short time later Lionel Richie officially announces his departure from the group to pursue his solo career.
April 13, 1982 David Crosby is busted for freebasing cocaine, leading to a downward spiral that winds through the Dallas County Jail.More
March 29, 1982 "Arthur's Theme (The Best That You Can Do)," sung by Christopher Cross, wins the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Cross wrote the song with Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager (along with Peter Allen, who came up with the line "When you get caught between the moon and New York City") for the film Arthur, starring Dudley Moore and Liza Minnelli.
March 15, 1982 The Songwriters Hall of Fame, formed in 1969, finally lets Bob Dylan in.
March 14, 1982 At Radio City in Anaheim, California, Metallica play their first-ever show. Their first song is "Hit The Lights."
February 26, 1982 Nate Ruess, lead singer in the band Fun ("We Are Young"), is born in Iowa City, Iowa. In 2012 he duets with Pink on the hit "Just Give Me A Reason," and later he turns his attention to writing songs for artists like Lauren Daigle and The Kid Laroi.
January 29, 1982 Adam Lambert is born in Indianapolis, Indiana. After making his mark on American Idol, he goes on to a successful solo career and becomes the frontman for Queen.
December 11, 1981 Bad Brains play the last-ever show at Max's Kansas City, a storied New York City nightclub where The Velvet Underground, David Bowie, and The New York Dolls all played early in their careers. Their opening act is a group of teenagers from Brooklyn called The Beastie Boys.
November 1, 1981 LaTavia Roberson, an original member of Destiny's Child, is born in Houston, Texas.
September 25, 1981 The Rolling Stones start their US tour with a concert at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, where they play to a crowd of 90,000. The tour is sponsored by musk maker Jovan, establishing a new paradigm for corporate involvement.More
August 28, 1981 Guy Stevens (music producer/manager) dies of a prescription drug overdose in South London, England, at age 38. He produced The Clash's third album, London Calling.
August 26, 1981 The mayor of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Marion Dewar, declares today "Paul Anka Day" in honor of its Paul Anka.
August 19, 1981 Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant meet at an electronics shop in London and start talking synthesizers. They form Pet Shop Boys, and five years later land their first hit with "West End Girls."
August 15, 1981 "Endless Love," a duet between Diana Ross and Lionel Richie, tops the Hot 100 for the first of nine weeks. It's the theme song from a movie of the same name, starring Brooke Shields.More
August 7, 1981 The animated sci-fi film Heavy Metal is released. Although it shares its name with the hard-rock genre, the film isn't intended to have anything to do with music, but instead is an anthology of various stories from the comic magazine Heavy Metal. Almost as an afterthought, an all-star soundtrack is added, featuring songs by Sammy Hagar, Devo, Blue Öyster Cult, Cheap Trick, Journey, and Black Sabbath, to name a few.More
July 2, 1981 Bruce Springsteen plays the first of six sold-out shows at the new Byrne Arena in New Jersey. His average show lasts 28 songs.
July 1, 1981 Rushton Moreve (original bass guitarist for Steppenwolf) dies in an automobile accident at age 32.
June 21, 1981 Walter Becker and Donald Fagen announce the split of Steely Dan and begin work on solo projects. They re-form in 1993 but don't put out another album until 2000.
May 10, 1981 Kraftwerk release their eighth studio album, Computer World, featuring prescient songs about the influence of computers on society.More
April 28, 1981 Original T. Rex bass player Steve Currie dies in a car accident at age 33, four years after the group's lead singer Marc Bolan met his demise in a similar fashion.
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