April 1, 1983 The second Men at Work album, Cargo, is released in America. The group's debut was released there less than a year earlier and is still getting airplay, leading to Men at Work saturation. Sudden success takes its toll on the group, which breaks up a few years later.
March 26, 1983 Thanks to heavy rotation on MTV, Duran Duran have their first American hit when "Hungry Like The Wolf" hits #3 on the Hot 100.More
March 25, 1983 INXS play America for the first time, performing at The Spirit Club in San Diego to a crowd of 24 people. In May, they play to a more substantial crowd when they're on the bill at the US Festival.
March 25, 1983 The Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever special is recorded at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium; it is broadcast on NBC in May. Highlights of the show include Michael Jackson's Moonwalk and a The Supremes reunion. A lowlight is no mention of the label's house band, The Funk Brothers. Bass player James Jamerson, who played on many of the hits performed this evening, has to buy his own ticket. He dies a few months later.
March 23, 1983 ZZ Top release their album Eliminator, which features Billy Gibbons' custom hot rod on the cover. Thanks to videos for "Gimme All Your Lovin'," "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Legs" featuring the car and various babes, they become unlikely MTV stars, earning a new generation of fans.More
March 10, 1983 Carrie Underwood is born in Muskogee, Oklahoma. She begins her music career by winning Season 4 of American Idol, becoming the first country singer to do so. She becomes the best-selling Idol alum in any genre, with over 20 million albums sold in America.
March 7, 1983 New Order release "Blue Monday," which becomes the biggest-selling 12-inch single of all time. The track is reissued twice by the band: in 1988 and 1995. Despite massive success in Europe and on the specialist dance chart, only the 1988 Quincy Jones remix makes it to the mainstream Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #68.
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 28, 1983 U2 release their third album, War, with "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "New Year's Day." It's their first album to sell a million copies in America.
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.
February 22, 1983 Styx release Kilroy Was Here, a concept album about a dystopian future where rock and roll is banned and technology has run amok.More
February 13, 1983 Marvin Gaye performs a very memorable national anthem at the NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles, doing a sultry version with a beat.More
February 5, 1983 Continental shift: "Africa" by Toto replaces "Down Under" by Men At Work at #1 in the US.
February 1, 1983 Journey release their eighth album, Frontiers. It sells 6 million copies and spawns the hit singles "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" and "Faithfully," but has the misfortune of being released while Michael Jackson's Thriller is red hot; it holds Frontiers at #2 for nine weeks.
January 29, 1983 Stevie Nicks marries Kim Anderson in a union she later describes as "a terrible, terrible mistake."More
January 20, 1983 Def Leppard release their third album, Pyromania. Like their previous effort, High 'n' Dry, it's produced by Mutt Lange, who does the Gunter Glieben Glauten Globen on "Rock of Ages."More
January 20, 1983 Kenny Loggins falls off the stage while making his entrance at a concert in Provo, Utah. The house lights are dimmed, so the crowd doesn't see it. The audience is stunned to learn that Loggins is being taken to the hospital, where he is treated for broken ribs. The show is rescheduled, and while recovering, Loggins writes the song "Footloose" with Dean Pitchford, providing the title track for the movie.
December 31, 1982 E Street Band guitarist Miami Steve and/or Little Steven Van Zandt marries Maureen Santora at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Little Richard officiates, Bruce Springsteen is the best man, and Percy Sledge sings "When A Man Loves A Woman" during the reception.
December 29, 1982 Unexpectedly (and some say inexplicably) delving into electronic music, Neil Young releases his 12th studio album, Trans. This album, along with the one that follows it (Everybody's Rockin'), causes Geffen Records to sue Young for intentionally creating music that won't sell.
December 25, 1982 David Bowie and Bing Crosby's "The Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth," an unlikely duet broadcast five years earlier on Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas TV special, becomes an even more unlikely hit, reaching #1 in the UK.
December 8, 1982 Nicki Minaj is born Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty in Trinidad. With a panoply of flows and a striking visual presense, she signs with Lil Wayne's Young Money label and becomes the most popular female rapper in history, with over 100 chart placements, mostly features on tracks by the likes of Rihanna, Usher and Post Malone.
December 5, 1982 Keri Hilson is born in Decatur, Georgia. She sings on about a dozen hits from 2005-2011, including Timbaland's "The Way I Are" and her own "Knock You Down," but leaves the industry at the height of fame to battle depression. She returns with another album in 2025 and becomes an advocate for mental health in hip-hop.
November 30, 1982 Michael Jackson releases Thriller, which becomes, by far, the best selling album worldwide.More
November 6, 1982 The first single from Michael Jackson's Thriller album, the Paul McCartney duet "The Girl Is Mine," enters the Hot 100 at #45. With the exception of a two-week stretch between "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" and "Thriller," at least one song from the album is on the chart every week until May 19, 1984.
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 30, 1982 The Jam announce their breakup. Bandleader Paul Weller forms The Style Council with Mick Talbot shortly thereafter.
October 16, 1982 Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," a #1 Country hit in 1974, goes back to the top spot thanks to its use in the movie The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas. This makes it the first song to top that chart twice.
October 8, 1982 Culture Club release their debut album, Kissing To Be Clever, in their native UK. Issued in America a few months later, it kicks out three Top 10 hits in that country ("Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?," "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" and "Time (Clock of the Heart)"), leading a wave of MTV-friendly UK acts that includes Duran Duran and Eurythmics.
October 1, 1982 Steely Dan frontman Donald Fagen releases his debut solo album, The Nightfly. The album, which includes the singles "I.G.Y. (What A Beautiful World)" and "New Frontier," reaches #11 on the albums chart. The Nightfly and its tracks go on to receive a total of seven nominations at 1983 Grammy Awards.
September 27, 1982 Rapper Lil Wayne is born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. in New Orleans, Louisiana. At age 9, he becomes the youngest member of Cash Money Records.
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