August 28, 1982 Country singer LeAnn Rimes is born Margaret LeAnn Rimes in Jackson, Mississippi.
August 27, 1982 George Strait makes his movie debut in The Soldier, where he performs his song "Fool Hearted Memory" in a honky tonk as a brawl breaks out. The song becomes the first of Strait's 44 #1 Country hits.
August 13, 1982 Southern Soul singer Joe Tex dies of a heart attack at age 47 in Navasota, Texas.
August 12, 1982 The "Performance Video" exhibition opens at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The exhibition, which explores how musicians present their work in "the shallow focal area directly in front of the video camera," includes the music videos for "Mickey" by Toni Basil and "Once In A Lifetime" by Talking Heads.
July 30, 1982 The Ron Howard comedy Night Shift, starring Henry Winkler and Michael Keaton, debuts in theaters. The soundtrack features the song "That's What Friends Are For," performed by Rod Stewart. Written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager, it becomes a huge hit four years later when Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder (aka Dionne & Friends) cover it for AIDS awareness, winning Grammys for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Song of the Year.
July 24, 1982 Thanks to its use in the movie Rocky III, "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor hits #1 for the first of six weeks.
July 15, 1982 Bill Justis of "Raunchy" fame dies of cancer at age 55.
July 4, 1982 Neil Diamond sees the movie E.T. along with the songwriters Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager. That night, they write the song "Heartlight" based on the film.
June 24, 1982 Jeffrey Daniel of Shalamar does the Moonwalk on the British TV show Top Of The Pops, getting the attention of Michael Jackson, who popularizes it in America a year later.More
June 16, 1982 James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitarist for The Pretenders) dies of heart failure due to cocaine intolerance at age 25.
June 12, 1982 As part of the "No Nukes" movement during the Cold War, the largest political rally in US history takes place when about 750,000 people go to New York's Central Park for the Rally for Nuclear Disarmament, which features performances by Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, and Gary "U.S." Bonds.More
June 11, 1982 After much anticipation Grease 2, the sequel to the smash 1978 musical, lands in theaters... but crashes and burns.More
June 6, 1982 The "Peace Sunday: We Have a Dream" concert takes place in Los Angeles, featuring Tom Petty, Stevie Nicks, Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne and Stevie Wonder. 85,000 attend the show, which supports nuclear disarmament.
May 29, 1982 "House Of Fun" by Madness hits #1 in the UK. It's the only #1 hit of their career, but they place 17 songs in the Top 10 and 31 in the Top 40.
May 29, 1982 Paul McCartney's Tug Of War begins a three-week run at #1 in the US; it's his first album to top the chart since Wings broke up. The album features the chart-topping hit "Ebony And Ivory," a duet with Stevie Wonder, as well as the #10 single "Take It Away" and the John Lennon tribute "Here Today."
May 28, 1982 Roxy Music release their final album, Avalon, featuring the dreamy title track and the melancholy "More Than This." It very slowly catches on in America, where it's certified Platinum 10 years later in 1992.
May 28, 1982 Rocky III hits theaters. This one features a new theme song written around a key line of dialogue in the film: "Eye of the Tiger." Sylvester Stallone asked the upstart Chicago band Survivor to write and record the song when he couldn't get permission to use the Queen song "Another One Bites The Dust."
May 24, 1982 Grateful Dead, Jefferson Starship, Boz Scaggs, and Country Joe & the Fish play a benefit concert for Vietnam vets at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
May 24, 1982 The 11-minute film The Cooler, staring Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, is screened in the Short Film category at the Cannes Film Festival.
May 15, 1982 The racial-harmony anthem "Ebony And Ivory," by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder, hits #1 in the US.More
May 4, 1982 Under the leadership of chairman Elton John, who has invested heavily in the team, the Watford Football Club is promoted to the First Division of English football with a win over Wrexham. The team was in the lowly Fourth Division when Elton took over as chairman in 1976.
May 3, 1982 Huey Lewis & the News play a great gig at the Agora in Cleveland. On the ride out, Lewis looks at the skyline and thinks, "The heart of rock and roll is beating in Cleveland." A song is born.
April 17, 1982 Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force release "Planet Rock," the first hip-hop hit with electronic elements and a rhythm powered by a Roland TR-808 drum machine. It's just the third rap song to reach the Hot 100, following "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang and "The Breaks" by Kurtis Blow.More
April 17, 1982 Denison University freshman Laura Carter is killed when a bullet from a gunfight a block away strikes her in the chest while she is riding in a car with her parents. Christopher Cross, who is dating her best friend, writes "Think Of Laura" in her honor.
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 15, 1982 Anvil release their sophomore album, Metal on Metal. Produced by Chris Tsangarides, the album spawns the anthemic title track, which instantly becomes an Anvil concert standard.
April 13, 1982 David Crosby is busted for freebasing cocaine, leading to a downward spiral that winds through the Dallas County Jail.More
April 3, 1982 Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager marry. Five days earlier, the songwriters took home Oscars for Best Original Song for their work on "Arthur's Theme (The Best That You Can Do)" from the movie Arthur.
March 31, 1982 The Doobie Brothers announce their breakup. After a summer goodbye tour, lead singer Michael McDonald launches a successful solo career. The band regroups in 1987.
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.
©2026 Songfacts®, LLC