1953 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1953.
Specific locations
- 1953 in British music
- 1953 in Norwegian music
Specific genres
- 1953 in country music
- 1953 in jazz
Events
- February 6 – Contralto Kathleen Ferrier, already terminally ill with cancer, leaves Covent Garden Opera House in London on a stretcher after being taken ill on the second night of her run in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice.
- March 12 – Heinrich Sutermeister's opera Romeo und Julia receives its English première at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London, conducted by James Robertson.
- April – Pat Boone begins his recording career at Republic Records.
- May 26 – Werner Meyer-Eppler, Fritz Enkel, Herbert Eimert and Robert Beyer open a pioneering electronic music studio at the Cologne studios of the NWDR.
- May 30 - Shirley Booth, Dino Di Luca and John Serry Sr. collaborate for the last time in the final performance of The Time of the Cuckoo at the closing of the Empire Theatre in New York City.
- July 16–29 – The Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik are held at Darmstadt.
- July 18 – Elvis Presley's Sun recordings: Elvis Presley makes his first recordings.
- September 27 – Helen Traubel ends her long association with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City after having appeared in Chicago as a night-club singer.
- October – Sir Arthur Bliss replaces Sir Arnold Bax as Master of the Queen's Music in the United Kingdom.
- October 5 – Wilhelm Furtwängler and the soloists in the Vienna State Opera's production of Don Giovanni publicly protest against the suspension of Egon Hilbert as administrator of the Burg Theater and State Opera.
- October 19 – Opening of the Covent Garden opera season in London, with a production of Wagner's Die Walküre.
- October 30 – Ernst Marboe is announced as the new administrator of the Vienna State Opera and Burg Theater, replacing Egon Hilbert.
- November 2 – the Metropolitan Opera announces that a new two-year contract has been agreed with the musicians' union, averting a threatened strike by the orchestra.
- November 17 – Carl Ebert is announced as the new Intendant of the Städtische Oper, Berlin.
- December 7 – the La Scala opera season opens with a production of Alfredo Catalani's La Wally, to mark the hundredth anniversary of the composer's birth.
- Alfred Schnittke becomes a student of Evgeny Golubev.
- Frank Sinatra begins recording at Capitol.
- "Crazy Man, Crazy", recorded by Bill Haley & His Comets, becomes the first rock and roll single to make the Billboard national American musical charts.
- American singer Frankie Laine sets the all-time United Kingdom record for weeks at Number One in a given year on the UK Singles Chart, when his hit singles "Answer Me," "Hey Joe!" and "I Believe" hold the top slot for 27 weeks: a little over half a year. "I Believe", Number One for 18 weeks, also holds the all-time record for a single. Over 50 years later, both records will still hold.
- Eddie Fisher becomes "The Coca-Cola Kid" on the television show Coke Time at a salary of one million dollars a year.
- The Allegri Quartet is formed in the United Kingdom.
- The Platters form in Los Angeles.
- The Erato Records label is founded to promote French classical music.
Albums released
- Anita O'Day Collates – Anita O'Day
- The Astaire Story – Fred Astaire
- Broadway's Best – Jo Stafford
- By the Light of the Silvery Moon – Doris Day
- Calamity Jane – Doris Day
- Country Girl – Bing Crosby
- Dean Martin Sings – Dean Martin
- Dinah Shore Sings the Blues – Dinah Shore
- Georgia Gibbs Sings Oldies – Georgia Gibbs
- Jazz at Massey Hall – The Quintet
- Kay Starr Style – Kay Starr
- Let There Be Love – Joni James
- May I Sing To You – Eddie Fisher
- New Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm – Stan Kenton
- Portrait Of New Orleans – Jo Stafford and Frankie Laine
- Requested By You – Frank Sinatra
- Sinatra Sings His Greatest Hits – Frank Sinatra
- Songs by Tom Lehrer – Tom Lehrer
- Songs of Open Spaces – Guy Mitchell
- Starring Jo Stafford – Jo Stafford
Biggest hit singles
in the limited set of charts available for 1953.
| # | Artist | Title | Year | Country | Chart entries |
| 1 | Dean Martin | That's Amore | 1953 |  US No. 1 hit singlesThese singles reached the top of US Billboard magazine's charts in 1953.Top hits on recordTop R&B and country hits on record
|