Timeline of Musical Events - 1980s

1980s

• 1989 in music, 1989 in British music - Debut albums by 3rd Bass (The Cactus Album), De La Soul (3 Feet High and Rising), The D.O.C. (No One Can Do It Better), Morbid Angel (Altars of Madness), Nine Inch Nails (Pretty Hate Machine), Nirvana (Bleach), The Offspring (The Offspring) and The Stone Roses (The Stone Roses) are released; Janet Jackson releases her hit album Rhythm Nation 1814; Mötley Crüe releases Dr. Feelgood, one of the notable hard rock/heavy metal albums to top the Billboard 200. "Weird Al" Yankovic releases the album and film UHF. Ice Cube departs from N.W.A after financial problems and several conflicts with their manager Jerry Heller and the group's founder Eazy-E, and begins a solo career.
• 1988 in music - Debut albums by Biz Markie (Goin' Off), Tracy Chapman (Tracy Chapman), Danzig (Danzig), Eazy-E (Eazy-Duz-It), EPMD (Strictly Business), Jane's Addiction (Nothing's Shocking), Living Colour (Vivid), Morrissey (Viva Hate), N.W.A (Straight Outta Compton), NOFX (Liberal Animation), The Pixies (Surfer Rosa) and Soundgarden (Ultramega OK) are released; Bon Jovi releases New Jersey, which charts five consecutive Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, the most ever for a hard rock album; Bad Religion returns with Suffer; Swedish band Bathory release their fourth album Blood Fire Death, marking the arrival of the Viking metal genre; Formation of the Traveling Wilburys, Death of Roy Orbison, Birth of B.o.B
• 1987 in music - Michael Jackson releases the album Bad, which is the first and only album to have 5 consecutive #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. Guns N' Roses release Appetite for Destruction, which becomes one of the best selling debut albums ever, with 28 million copies shift whilst Def Leppard releases Hysteria. U2 releases the mult-platined album The Joshua Tree with the hits: "With or Without You", "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "Where the Streets Have No Name". The Beastie Boys' debut Licensed to Ill, released the year before, becomes the first hip hop record to reach number one on the Billboard 200. Death of legendary record producer John H. Hammond. Death release their debut album Scream Bloody Gore, marking the arrival of death metal.
• 1986 in music - Aerosmith re-records "Walk This Way" with rap group Run-D.M.C. which blends rock and rap music, introduces rap music to a mainstream audience for the first time, and marks the beginning of the resurrection of Aerosmith's career, one of rock's most remarkable comebacks; Bon Jovi releases Slippery When Wet which stays at #1 on the Billboard 200 for 4 weeks; Metallica releases their third album Master of Puppets, Megadeth releases their second album Peace Sells... But Who's Buying; Death of Benny Goodman, Richard Manuel, Cliff Burton, and Janet Jackson releases her breakthrough album Control.
• 1985 in music - Death of Ricky Nelson, Live Aid and Farm Aid benefit concerts, Whitney Houston releases her first self-titled album which becomes the most successful female debut album of all time. Duran Duran records A View to a Kill to the James Bond movie of the same name. This single remains the only Bond theme to go to Number 1 on the US charts, and the highest-placed Bond theme on the UK chart where it reached Number 2. The famous hard rock band Guns N' Roses was formed in Los Angeles, influential thrash metal band Megadeth release their debut album Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!.
• 1984 in music - Duran Duran was the first group ever to utilize a monitor in concert to project their performance. Death of Marvin Gaye, Jackie Wilson; release of Bob Marley & The Wailers collection Legend, the best-selling reggae album of all time. Akhnaten by Philip Glass premieres in Stuttgart, Prince releases the album and film Purple Rain, Tina Turner comesback with Private Dancer, Van Halen release the Diamond-certified 1984, which contains the #1 single "Jump" and becomes their last studio album to feature David Lee Roth on vocals., R. Murray Schafer's Concerto for flute and orchestra peroformed featuring Robert Aitken on flute. Michael Jackson's album Thriller wins a record-breaking 8 Grammy Awards at the 1984 Grammys. Debut self-titled album released by Swedish band Bathory, pioneers of black metal and Viking metal.
• 1983 in music - Death of Muddy Waters, New Order release "Blue Monday"; Def Leppard releases Pyromania, The Police's Synchronicity tour starts, Metallica releases their first album Kill 'Em All. Madonna releases her 5x Platinum self-titled debut album.
• 1982 in music - Death of Thelonious Monk, Lightnin' Hopkins, Glenn Gould, Randy Rhoads; Michael Jackson releases Thriller, the best-selling album of all time; Blondie disband; The compact disc is introduced. English band Venom release Black Metal, coining the term which would later be associated with the black metal genre.
• 1981 in music - MTV first airs; Death of Bob Marley.
• 1980 in music - Joy Division singer Ian Curtis commits suicide, Bon Scott dies, John Lennon is murdered outside the Dakota Building in New York City, accidental death of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, Death of Tim Hardin, Death of Vinicius de Moraes. U2 releases their first album Boy. Bryan Adams release his first album Bryan Adams. Iron Maiden release their self-titled debut album; AC/DC releases Back in Black.