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December 3, 1981 At a show in Hartford, Connecticut, AC/DC is prohibited from firing their cannons during "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)," as police enforce an ordinance banning stage weaponry.
December 2, 1981 Britney Spears is born in McComb, Mississippi, raised in Louisiana. At 11 she joins the cast of The Mickey Mouse Club; at 16 she releases her first single, the #1 hit "...Baby One More Time."
December 2, 1981 The Broadway musical Dreamgirls, which is based on The Supremes, opens on Broadway. It is later made into a hit movie starring Beyoncé and Jennifer Hudson.
November 23, 1981 AC/DC release the album For Those About to Rock We Salute You, their follow-up to Back In Black. The title track, complete with custom cannons, becomes their regular encore.
November 21, 1981 "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John hits #1 in the US. The sweaty aerobics anthem stays at the top spot for 10 weeks, making it the biggest hit of 1981.More
November 21, 1981 The Queen/David Bowie collaboration "Under Pressure" goes to #1 in the UK, Queen's first chart-topper there since "Bohemian Rhapsody."
November 20, 1981 In Pittsburgh, Prince begins his Controversy tour with a band he created, The Time, as his opening act. Members of The Time include Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who go on to become a top production team, best known for their work with Janet Jackson.
October 12, 1981 U2 release their second album, October. Reflecting their Christian faith, it's filled with allusions to the Bible, notably on the song "Gloria."
October 11, 1981 Opening a show for The Rolling Stones at Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, Prince gets booed off the stage. The Stones have good intentions in bringing in a rising star, but his act isn't a good fit for this crowd, and when he opens his trench coat to reveal bikini briefs, it gets ugly. Prince never again performs as an opening act.
October 5, 1981 Jud Strunk, comedian and singer/songwriter, crashes his private plane when he suffers a heart attack while taking off in Maine. The 45-year-old Strunk and his passenger are both killed. Known for the 1973 hit ballad "Daisy A Day."
October 4, 1981 The music variety show All Time Greats launches on BBC Radio 2 with "Up-Up and Away" by The 5th Dimension starting things off. The show, which is later re-named Desmond Carrington: The Music Goes Round, lasts 36 years.
October 3, 1981 Two months after MTV's debut, Blue Öyster Cult's "Burnin' For You" reaches its peak of #40 in the US - their first Top 40 since "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" - thanks to a video shot in a Los Angeles culvert. Few American acts are making videos, so established rockers like BÖC and REO Speedwagon can get airtime. This changes a few years later when more photogenic artists make videos on a regular basis.
October 3, 1981 Rod Stewart brings out special guest Tina Turner to join him on (what else) "Hot Legs" during his appearance on Saturday Night Live.More
October 2, 1981 The Police's fourth album is the last in a sequence of four annual autumn releases. The title, Ghost in the Machine, is taken from a psychology book by Arthur Koestler and breaks their erstwhile tradition of giving their records French-sounding titles. It is a #2 hit in the US, led by the hit single "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic."
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
September 21, 1981 Nicole Richie is born Nicole Escovedo in Berkeley, California. Born to percussion player Peter Escovedo, she is taken in by Lionel Richie and his wife Brenda at age 3, and adopted by the couple at 9. She becomes a popular socialite, starring with Paris Hilton on the reality show The Simple Life.
September 18, 1981 Genesis release their "abstract" album, Abacab, in the UK.More
September 5, 1981 Soft Cell hit #1 in the UK with an electronic cover of "Tainted Love," a song originally released by the American soul singer Gloria Jones in 1964. The song also charts in America, reaching #8 in July 1982. It's the only hit for the duo in the States, but they have many more in their native UK.
September 4, 1981 Beyoncé Knowles is born in Houston, Texas. She finds fame as the lead singer of the '90s girl group Destiny's Child before becoming Queen Bey.
September 1, 1981 Hall & Oates release the Private Eyes album, which contains two #1 hits: the title track and "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)."
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 28, 1981 Country singer Jake Owen is born Joshua Ryan Owen in Winter Haven, Florida. Arriving with him is fraternal twin brother, Jarrod.
August 26, 1981 The mayor of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Marion Dewar, declares today "Paul Anka Day" in honor of its Paul Anka.
August 24, 1981 The Rolling Stones release Tattoo You. The big hit from the album is "Start Me Up," which they first recorded with a reggae rhythm in 1977. That version was scrapped, but they rocked it up for Tattoo You with better results.
August 22, 1981 "Girls On Film" hits #5 in the UK, giving Duran Duran their breakthrough hit in Britain. It does not chart on its US release, but surges in popularity after its music video goes into heavy rotation on MTV. The clip, directed by Godley and Creme, has to be heavily edited for TV as it was only intended to be played in nightclubs and features adult themes and nudity.
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
August 7, 1981 It's "Wolverton Mountain Day" in Arkansas in honor of the Claude King song "Wolverton Mountain," which is named after a real mountain in the state.
August 1, 1981 MTV goes on the air, bringing music videos to the masses - at least the ones with cable.More
August 1, 1981 Hans Zimmer plays keyboards in the video for the Buggles' "Video Killed The Radio Star," the first music video to air on MTV. Zimmer goes on to become a renowned Hollywood film composer, winning the Oscar for Best Original Score for The Lion King (1994) and Dune (2021).
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