1978 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1978.
Specific locations
Specific genres
- 1978 in country music
- 1978 in heavy metal music
- 1978 in jazz
- 1978 in progressive rock
Events
JanuaryโApril
- January 14 โ The Sex Pistols play their final show at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom.
- January 16 โ Elton John appears on this week's People (magazine) without his trademark glasses. John will still wear glasses occasionally for the next ten years until wearing them permanently again.
- January 17 โ Simple Minds make their very first live performance at Glasgow's Satellite City.
- January 21 โ As Saturday Night Fever becomes a cultural phenomenon, the soundtrack hits #1 on the Billboard Charts, where it will stay until July.
- January 23 โ Terry Kath, guitarist and founding member of rock band Chicago, dies from an accidental gunshot wound to the head from a gun he thought was unloaded, in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles; he is 32 years old.
- January 25
- *Electric Light Orchestra kick off their "Out of the Blue" world tour in Honolulu, Hawaii.
- *Bob Dylan makes his directorial debut in the surrealist film Renaldo and Clara, shot during his Rolling Thunder Revue tour.
- January 26 โ Workers at EMI's record processing plant in England refuse to press copies of The Buzzcocks's second single "What Do I Get?" because of its flipside, "Oh Shit!". The single is eventually pressed and goes on to become the band's first hit.
- January 28 โ By request, Ted Nugent autographs his name into a fan's arm with a bowie knife in Philadelphia.
- February 4 โ Elton John appears as the guest star on The Muppet Show.
- February 10 โ Van Halen debuts with a self-titled album; Eddie Van Halen introduces a powerful new sound and technique to world, while David Lee Roth is ushered in as the front man.
- February 23 โ The 20th Annual Grammy Awards are presented in Los Angeles, hosted by John Denver. Fleetwood Mac's Rumours wins Album of the Year, the Eagles' "Hotel California" wins Record of the Year and, in a rare tie, Barbra Streisand's "Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)" and Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life" both collectively win Song of the Year. Boone also wins Best New Artist.
- March 11 โ Kate Bush tops the UK Singles Chart with "Wuthering Heights", becoming the first-ever female artist to top the chart with a self-penned song.
- March 18 โ California Jam II is held at the Ontario Motor Speedway in California. Over 300,000 fans come to see Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, Santana, Dave Mason, Foreigner, Heart and more.
- April 22
- *In the Eurovision Song Contest in Paris, France, victory goes to Israel's entry "A-Ba-Ni-Bi", performed by Izhar Cohen & The Alphabeta.
- *The "One Love Peace Concert" is held in Kingston, Jamaica, headlined by Bob Marley, making his first concert appearance since December 1976.
- *Steve Martin performs the original "King Tut" on Saturday Night Live; also this night, The Blues Brothers make their first appearance on the show.
MayโJuly
- May 6 โ The Knack is formed.
- May 13 โ Barry Gibb becomes the only songwriter in history to have written 4 consecutive #1 singles on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart.
- May 18 โ The Buddy Holly Story, starring Gary Busey, is released. It would win the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score, and earn a nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Sound.
- May 23 โ Grieg Hall inaugurated in Bergen, Norway as a concert venue.
- May 25 โ In a performance used for The Kids Are Alright, The Who play their last show with Keith Moon.
- June 7 โ Prince's debut single, "Soft and Wet", is released by Warner Bros. Records.
- June 10 โ The Rolling Stones begin their 25-date US summer tour in Lakeland, Florida.
- June 13 โ The Cramps play a free concert for patients at the Napa State Mental Hospital.
- June 16 โ The film adaptation of the musical Grease, opens in theaters and is a box office hit.
- June 20 โ Grace Slick splits with Jefferson Starship the day after a disastrous concert in Hamburg, Germany, in which a heavily intoxicated Slick verbally abused the crowd and groped various fans and bandmates.
- June 29 โ Peter Frampton is nearly killed in a car accident in The Bahamas, suffering multiple broken bones, a concussion, and muscle damage.
- July 1 โ The first Texxas Jam is held over the July 4 long weekend at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The first day features Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush, Heart, Journey, Head East, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Eddie Money, Van Halen and Walter Egan. Sunday consists of Willie Nelson headlining his sixth annual Fourth of July picnic.
- July 15 โ The Picnic at Blackbushe Aerodrome, Camberley, Surrey, England, a concert featuring Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Joan Armatrading, attracts some 200,000 people.
- July 19 โ Dead Kennedys play their first concert, at the Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco, California.
- July 21 โ Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, a much-hyped musical film starring Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees performing the music of The Beatles, opens in theaters. The film is savaged by critics and proves a box office disappointment.
- July 29 โ Glenn Goins, one of the lead vocalists for the band Parliament-Funkadelic dies of Hodgkin's lymphoma at age of 24.
- July 30 โ Thin Lizzy officially announces that Gary Moore has replaced Brian Robertson on guitar.
AugustโDecember
- August 26 โ 80,000 concertgoers attend Mosport Speedway in Ontario for the "Canada Jam Festival", featuring sets by the Doobie Brothers, Commodores, Kansas, Village People, Dave Mason, the Atlanta Rhythm Section and Triumph.
- August 26 โ 67,000 Funk fans assembled at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois to attend the first annual Funk Festival, billed as "One Nation Under A Groove", featuring A Taste of Honey, Parlet, Con Funk Shun, the Bar-Kays, and Parliament-Funkadelic.
- September 7 โ The Who drummer Keith Moon dies in a central London flat after a prescription drug overdose at the age of 32.
- September 14โ16 โ The Grateful Dead perform three shows in Giza, Egypt, very close to the Sphinx and Great Pyramid.
- October 12 โ Nancy Spungen, the American girlfriend of Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious, is found dead in a New York hotel room of a stab wound. Sid is arrested and charged with her murder.
- October 21 โ Founder members John Taylor and Nick Rhodes name their newly formed band Duran Duran after the character "Dr. Durand Durand" from the sci-fi film Barbarella the day after the film had been broadcast on BBC 1.
- October 24 โ Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards pleads guilty to a reduced charge of possessing heroin in Toronto in 1977. The more serious charge of drug trafficking is dropped and Richards is given a one-year suspended sentence as well as ordered to play a charity concert for the blind.
- October 29 โ Michael Schenker plays his final show with UFO in Stanford, California before leaving the group to rejoin Scorpions.
- November โ Iron Maiden hires lead singer Paul Di'Anno.
- November 21 โ French pop star Dalida performs a concert at New York's Carnegie Hall.
- November 25
- *A now sober Alice Cooper releases the album From the Inside, which tells of his stay in rehab for alcoholism.
- *Aerosmith cuts a concert short after Steven Tyler suffers cuts to his face from a bottle that shatters upon hitting a stage monitor.
- *Donna Summer becomes the first female artist of the modern rock era to have the number one single and album on Billboard charts simultaneously.
- November 27 โ Def Leppard's permanent drummer Rick Allen joins the band at the age of 15.
- December โ Soviet orchestral conductor defects to the Netherlands while on tour there.
- December 2 โ The 7th OTI Festival, held at the Municipal Theatre in Santiago, Chile, is won by the song "El amor... cosa tan rara", written and performed by representing Brazil.
- December 31
- *Matthias Jabs joins Scorpions, replacing Uli Jon Roth.
- *The seventh annual [Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve (entertainer)|Eve with Ryan Seacrest|New Year's Rockin' Eve] special airs on ABC, with performances by Barry Manilow, Village People, Chuck Mangione, Tanya Tucker and Rick James.
- *CBS airs New Year's Eve with Guy Lombardo for the final time, nearly two years after the band leader's death and ending a 22-year run that began in 1956.
- *The Winterland Ballroom venue in San Francisco closes with a New Year's Eve performance by the Grateful Dead, New Riders of the Purple Sage and the Blues Brothers.
- *Iron Maiden records a demo, consisting of four songs, at Spaceward Studios in Cambridge which would eventually become The Soundhouse Tapes.
Also in 1978
- Kenny Rogers continues his highly successful solo career with the single "The Gambler" and will go on to star in no less than five movies based around the song.
- In the UK, singles sales are at their all-time high this year, boosted by the simultaneous peak of the disco and punk phenomena and the success of singles from the movie Grease.
- Mozambique holds its first National Dance Festival, involving half a million people.
- Rolnicka Praha children's choir is founded in Prague, Czech Republic.
Bands formed
''See :Category:Musical groups established in 1978''Bands disbanded
- ''See :Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1978''
Albums released
August
Release date unknown
- 2 Hot โ Peaches & Herb
- 3 Phasis โ Cecil Taylor
- Africa Must Be Free by 1983 โ Hugh Mundell
- Alive on Arrival โ Steve Forbert
- Awaiting Your Reply โ Resurrection Band
- Animal House โ Various Artists โ Soundtrack
- At the Third Stroke โ Russ Ballard
- At Yankee Stadium โ NRBQ
- Best Dressed Chicken in Town โ Dr. Alimantado
- The Best of Bette โ Bette Midler
- Black Noise โ FM
- Blam! โ The Brothers Johnson
- Bloodbrothers โ The Dictators
- Bobby Caldwell โ Bobby Caldwell
- Book Early โ City Boy
- Bop-Be โ Keith Jarrett
- Burchfield Nines โ Michael Franks
- Bush Doctor โ Peter Tosh
- Carlene Carter โ Carlene Carter
- Cecil Taylor Unit โ Cecil Taylor
- Central Heating โ Heatwave
- Cha Cha โ Herman Brood โ Live
- Cheryl Ladd โ Cheryl Ladd
- Chuck Berry Live in Concert โ Chuck Berry โ Live
- Cidade do Salvador โ Gilberto Gil
- City Lights - Dr. John
- Count Basie Meets Oscar Peterson โ The Timekeepers โ Count Basie and Oscar Peterson
- The Cream โ John Lee Hooker
- Departure from the Northern Wasteland โ Michael Hoenig
- The Dirt Band - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
- DMZ โ DMZ
- Dream โ Captain & Tennille
- Dream Dancing โ Ella Fitzgerald
- Dream of a Child โ Burton Cummings
- Durch die Wรผste โ Hans-Joachim Roedelius
- Every Time Two Fools Collide โ Kenny Rogers & Dottie West
- Final Exam โ Loudon Wainwright III
- Finzi: Cello Concerto, Clarinet Concerto โ Yo-Yo Ma
- From Rats to Riches โ Good Rats
- Funk or Walk โ The Brides of Funkenstein
- Funky Situation โ Wilson Pickett
- Further Adventures Of โ Bruce Cockburn
- Gรฉnรฉration 78 โ Dalida
- Get It Out'cha System โ Millie Jackson
- Get Off โ Foxy
- Girl Most Likely โ Claudja Barry
- Golden Country Origins โ Bill Haley
- Greatest Hits โ Captain & Tennille
- Guaranteed โ Ronnie Drew
- Headin' Down into the Mystery Below - John Hartford
- Heat in the Street โ Pat Travers
- Honky Tonk Masquerade โ Joe Ely
- Hot Dawg - David Grisman
- How Long Has This Been Going On? โ Sarah Vaughan
- I Love My Music โ Wild Cherry
- The Incredible Shrinking Dickies โ The Dickies
- Janis Ian โ Janis Ian
- Killin' Time โ Gasolin'
- Life Beyond L.A. โ Ambrosia
- Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Vol. 2 โ Ivor Cutler
- Live at Last โ Steeleye Span
- Live Floating Anarchy 1977 โ Gong
- Live in London โ Helen Reddy
- Live in the Black Forest โ Cecil Taylor
- Live Tonite โ Prism โ live album
- The Loop โ Andrew Cyrille
- Mama Let Him Play โ Jerry Doucette
- Marcus' Children โ Burning Spear
- Meanwhile Back in Paris โ Streetheart
- Metamusicians' Stomp โ Andrew Cyrille and Maono
- Midnight Believer โ B. B. King
- Modra Rijeka โ Indexi
- Music for 18 Musicians โ Steve Reich
- Night Rider โ Count Basie and Oscar Peterson
- No New York โ Various Artists
- Of Queues and Cures โ National Health
- The Paris Concert โ Oscar Peterson
- Pat Metheny Group โ Pat Metheny Group
- Pleasure Principle โ Parlet
- Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ram โ Ram Jam
- Power in the Darkness โ Tom Robinson Band
- Pronto Monto โ Kate and Anna McGarrigle
- Queen of the Night - Loleatta Holloway
- Raydio โ Raydio
- Return of the Wanderer โ Dion DiMucci
- Return to Magenta โ Mink DeVille
- Salterbarty Tales โ Earthstar
- Sherbet โ Sherbet
- The Shirts โ The Shirts
- Shpritsz โ Herman Brood
- Sleeper Catcher โ Little River Band
- So Full of Love โ The O'Jays
- Solar Music โ Live โ Grobschnitt
- Sounds...and Stuff Like That!! โ Quincy Jones
- Spyro Gyra โ Spyro Gyra
- Step II โ Sylvester
- Strangers in the Wind โ Bay City Rollers
- Super Blue โ Freddie Hubbard
- Survivor โ Randy Bachman
- A Taste of Honey โ A Taste of Honey
- That's Life โ Sham 69
- There's a Light Beyond These Woods - The Manhattans
- There's No Good in Goodbye - Nanci Griffith
- Third โ Big Star
- Together Again: For the First Time โ Mel Tormรฉ, Buddy Rich
- To the Limit โ Joan Armatrading
- Totally Hot โ Olivia Newton-John
- A Touch on the Rainy Side โ Jesse Winchester
- Truth n' Time โ Al Green
- Visions of the Country โ Robbie Basho
- Viva โ La Dรผsseldorf
- Von Gestern bis Heute โ Die Flippers
- Way of the Sun โ Jade Warrior
- Weekend in L.A. โ George Benson
- Whatever Happened to Benny Santini? โ Chris Rea
- When I Dream โ Crystal Gayle
- Who's Happy Now? โ Connie Francis
- The Wonderful Grand Band โ The Wonderful Grand Band
Biggest hit singles
The following songs achieved the highest chart positionsin the charts of 1978.
| # | Artist | Title | Year | Country | Chart entries |
| 1 | Bee Gees | Stayin' Alive | 1977 |  Chronological table of US and UK and Japan number one hit singlesUS number one singles and artist
Published popular music
Classical music
Opera
Ballet
Musical theaterAin't Misbehavin' Broadway revue opened at the Longacre Theatre on May 9 and ran for 1604 performancesThe Best Little Whorehouse in Texas opened at the Entermedia Theatre on April 17 and ran for 85 performances. The show moved to Broadway in June 1978, and ran for 1584 performances.Eubie Broadway revue opened at the Ambassador Theatre on September 20 and ran for 439 performancesEvita โ London production opened at the Prince Edward Theatre on June 21Hello, Dolly! โ Broadway revival opened at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on March 5 and ran for 152 performancesI'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road Off-Broadway production opened at the Anspacher Theater on June 14 and ran for 1165 performancesTimbuktu Broadway production opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on March 1 and ran for 243 performancesOn The Twentieth Century Broadway production opened at the St. James Theatre on February 19 and ran for 460 performancesMusical filmsAmerican Hot WaxThe Buddy Holly StoryDonFMGreaseHeeralaal PannalaalRockersSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club BandThank God It's Friday
Births
Deaths
Awards |