List of musical events

This page indexes the individual year in music pages. Each year is annotated with a significant event as a reference point.

See also: Timeline of trends in music (1900-1950), Timeline of trends in music (1951-1979), Timeline of trends in music (1980-present)

Table of contents

1 2000s

2 1990s

3 1980s

4 1970s

5 1960s

6 1950s

7 1940s

8 1930s

9 1920s

10 1910s

11 1900s

12 1890s

13 1880s

14 1870s

15 1860s

16 1850s

17 1840s

18 1830s

19 1820s

20 1810s

21 1800s

2000s

2003 in music - Phil Spector arrested
2002 in music - Baha Men release the movie hits collection Greatest Movie Hits[?]
2001 in music - Napster's popularity peaks
2000 in music - The Beatles release the greatest hits collection 1

1990s

1999 in music - Red Hot Chili Peppers release Californication
1998 in music - Offspring release Americana
1997 in music - Radiohead release Ok Computer[?]
1996 in music - Death of Tupac Shakur
1995 in music - MxPx release Teenage Politics
1994 in music - Weezer release The Blue Album
1993 in music - Tool release Undertow
1992 in music - Dr. Dre releases The Chronic
1991 in music - Nirvana release Nevermind
1990 in music - Public Enemy releases Fear Of A Black Planet[?]

1980s

1989 in music - N.W.A. release Straight Outta Compton
1988 in music - Jane's Addiction release Nothing's Shocking
1987 in music - U2 release The Joshua Tree
1986 in music - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opens
1985 in music - Live Aid concert raises money for African famine relief
1984 in music - Tina Turner releases Private Dancer
1983 in music - Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney record "Say, Say, Say"
1982 in music - Michael Jackson releases Thriller
1981 in music - MTV first airs
1980 in music - John Lennon is murdered

1970s

1979 in music - The Clash releases London Calling
1978 in music - Sony introduce the Walkman
1977 in music - Elvis Presley dies
1976 in music - The Eagles release Hotel California
1975 in music - Bruce Springsteen releases Born to Run
1974 in music - Jackson Browne releases Late for the Sky
1973 in music - Pink Floyd releases Dark Side of the Moon
1972 in music - Deep Purple releases Machine Head
1971 in music - Marvin Gaye releases What's Going On?
1970 in music - Simon & Garfunkel release Bridge Over Troubled Water

1960s

1969 in music - Woodstock music festival held in Bethel, New York
1968 in music - Jimi Hendrix releases Electric Ladyland
1967 in music - The Beatles release Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
1966 in music - The Beach Boys release Pet Sounds
1965 in music - The Beatles play Shea Stadium
1964 in music - Roy Orbison releases "Oh, Pretty Woman'", the fastest selling single in history
1963 in music - Surfin' U.S.A. released by The Beach Boys
1962 in music - Dee Dee Sharp[?] releases Mashed Potato Time
1961 in music - Hello Mary Lou released by Ricky Nelson
1960 in music - "Cathy's Clown" is a hit for the The Everly Brothers

1950s

1959 in music - Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, The Big Bopper die in plane crash
1958 in music - Jerry Lee Lewis's "Great balls of fire"
1957 in music - John Coltrane releases Blue Train[?]
1956 in music - Elvis Presley has a hit with "Hound dog"
1955 in music - Chuck Berry releases "Maybellene"
1954 in music - Bill Haley and his Comets release "Rock Around the Clock"
1953 in music - Fats Domino has a hit with "Please Don't Leave Me"
1952 in music - The Weavers[?] have a hit with "Wimoweh"
1951 in music - Patti Page[?] tops the charts with Mockingbird Hill
1950 in music - Sun Records opens in Memphis, Tennessee

1940s

1949 in music - Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats releases "Rocket 88"
1948 in music - 331/3 RPM LPs introduced
1947 in music -
1946 in music - Frank Sinatra releases Voice of Frank Sinatra
1945 in music - Glenn Miller's album Glenn Miller is released.
1944 in music - Glenn Miller dies
1943 in music -
1942 in music - Bing Crosby releases "White Christmas"
1941 in music - Les Paul builds the first solid-body electric guitar
1940 in music -

1930s

1939 in music - Charlie Christian's musical career begins
1938 in music - Pete Seeger's musical career begins
1937 in music - Hank Williams' and Sonny Boy Williamson[?]'s musical careers begin
1936 in music - Tony Bennett's and Nat King Cole's musical careers begin
1935 in music - Frank Sinatra's and Ella Fitzgerald's musical career begins
1934 in music - Sun Ra's and Django Reinhart[?]'s musical careers begin
1933 in music - Billie Holliday's musical career begins
1932 in music - Johnny Cash is born
1931 in music - Roy Rogers' musical career begins
1930 in music - Bukka White[?] begins performing

1920s

1929 in music - Cab Calloway's, and Gene Autry's musical careers begin
1928 in music - Louis Armstrong records "West End Blues"
1927 in music - Carter Family make first recordings
1926 in music - Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers begin recording
1925 in music - Big record labels begin using electric microphones for recording
1924 in music Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue debuts
1923 in music - Bessie Smith, King Oliver, many other African American artists begin recording
1922 in music - Ravel orchestrates Pictures at an Exhibition
1921 in music - Enrico Caruso dies
1920 in music - Mamie Smith has Blues recording hit

1910s

1919 in music - Original Dixieland Jazz Band brings jazz to the UK
1918 in music - Ella Fitzgerald, Leonard Bernstein born
1917 in music - First Jazz recordings by Original Dixieland Jass Band
1916 in music - Charles Ives' 4th Symphony
1915 in music - Tom Brown starts billing his group as a "Jass Band"
1914 in music - First calypso music recordings
1913 in music - near-riot at premiere of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring
1912 in music - W.C. Handy publishes "The Memphis Blues"
1911 in music - Scott Joplin's ragtime opera, "Treemonisha".
1910 in music - Mahler's Symphony No. 8

1900s

1909 in music - Benny Goodman born
1908 in music - Mahler's 7th; Take Me Out to the Ball Game
1907 in music
1906 in music - Little Brother Montgomery born
1905 in music - Franz Lehar The Merry Widow permiers
1904 in music - Puccini's Madame Butterfly debuts
1903 in music - Mississippi John Hurt begins performing
1902 in music - Leadbelly begins performing
1901 in music - Louis Armstrong born
1900 in music - Puccini's Tosca premieres

1890s

1899 in music - Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag; Elgar's Enigma Variations
1898 in music
1897 in music - Ragtime music becomes popular in the USA
1896 in music - Puccini's La Boheme debuts
1895 in music
1894 in music - Enrico Caruso's musical career begins
1893 in music - Falstaff (opera) debuts
1892 in music - "After The Ball" sells over 1 million sheet music copies
1891 in music - Sergei Prokofiev, Cole Porter born
1890 in music

1880s

1889 in music - first disc records by Emile Berliner
1888 in music - wax phonograph cylinders commercially marketed
1887 in music - Alexander Borodin dies
1886 in music - Ma Rainey born
1885 in music - Tin Pan Alley music industry formed
1884 in music - Alcide Nunez born
1883 in music - Mamie Smith born
1882 in music - Leopold Stokowski born
1881 in music - Offenbach's Tales of Hoffman debuts
1880 in music - Jacques Offenbach dies

1870s

1879 in music - Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance debuts
1878 in music - George M. Cohan born
1877 in music - phonograph invented. Buddy Bolden born.
1876 in music - Ricard Wagner's Siegfried debuts
1875 in music - Georges Bizet's Carmen debuts
1874 in music - Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky
1873 in music
1872 in music
1871 in music - Giuseppe Verdi's Aida
1870 in music

1860s

1869 in music - Ricard Wagner's Das Rheingold
1868 in music - Scott Joplin born
1867 in music - "Blue Danube Waltz" by Johann Strauss
1866 in music - Bedrich Smetana's The Bartered Bride
1865 in music - Jean Sibelius born
1864 in music - Stephen Foster dies
1863 in music - Ernesto Nazareth born
1862 in music - Claude Debussy born
1861 in music - Nellie Melba born
1860 in music - Gustav Mahler born

1850s

1859 in music -
1858 in music - Giacomo Puccini dies
1857 in music -
1856 in music -
1855 in music -
1854 in music -
1853 in music - Verdi's Il Trovatore premieres
1852 in music -
1851 in music - Stephen Foster's Old Folks At Home
1850 in music - Stephen Foster's Oh, Susana!

1840s

1849 in music -
1848 in music - Gaetano Donizetti dies
1847 in music -
1846 in music - Adolphe Sax invents the "saxophone"
1845 in music - Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser debuts
1844 in music - Rimsky-Korsakov born
1843 in music - Minstrel show debuts in United States
1842 in music - Arthur Sullivan born
1841 in music -
1840 in music - Paganini dies; Tchaikovsky born

1830s

1839 in music - Modest Mussorgsky born
1838 in music -
1837 in music -
1836 in music - Donizetti's Belisarius debuts
1835 in music -
1834 in music -
1833 in music -
1832 in music -
1831 in music -
1830 in music -

1820s

1829 in music - Anton Rubenstein born
1828 in music -
1827 in music - Beethoven dies
1826 in music - Stephen Foster born
1825 in music - Antonio Salieri dies
1824 in music - Beethoven's 9th Symphony
1823 in music -
1822 in music -
1821 in music - Pauline Garcia-Viardot born
1820 in music -

1810s

1819 in music - Jacques Offenbach born
1818 in music - Silent Night debuts
1817 in music -
1816 in music -
1815 in music -
1814 in music -
1813 in music -
1812 in music -
1811 in music -
1810 in music -

1800s

1809 in music -
1808 in music - Beethoven's 5th Symphony
1807 in music -
1806 in music -
1805 in music - Fidelio
1804 in music -
1803 in music -
1802 in music -
1801 in music - Beethoven's Moolight Sonata
1800 in music -