1950 in music

Specific locations

• 1950 in British music
• 1950 in Norwegian music

Specific genres

• 1950 in country music
• 1950 in jazz

Events

• January 3 – Sam Phillips launches Sun Records at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee.
• March 14 – Pablo Casals terminates his recording contract with RCA Records and signs with their chief competitor, Columbia Records.
• June 26 – Louis Armstrong records the first American version of C'est si bon with the English lyrics by Jerry Seelen.
• August 29 – The first American Music Competition of the Sigma Alpha Iota music fraternity is won by Richard Winslow for Huswifery, a choral composition for women's voices.
• August – Herbert Howells' Hymnus Paradisi is premiered at the Three Choirs Festival.
• September 24 – Alan Lomax sets sail from the United States for London and spends until 1959 recording in Europe for the Columbia World Library of Folk and Primitive Music.
• October 1 – Italian composer Luciano Berio marries American mezzo-soprano Cathy Berberian.
• October 11 – On temporary release from Ellis Island pending a deportation decision from U. S. immigration authorities, 20-year-old Friedrich Gulda makes his Carnegie Hall debut.
• November – The Eleanor Steber Award is won by soprano Willabelle Underwood.
• Johann Sebastian Bach is reburied in St. Thomas Church, Leipzig.
• Malcolm Sargent becomes chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
• Isaak Dunayevsky is named People's Artist of the USSR.
• Mitch Miller signs as A&R man with Columbia Records.
• Patti Page becomes the first artist to have a Number One record on the Pop, R&B and Country charts concurrently.
• Al Cernick is signed to Columbia by Mitch Miller, who changes the singer's name to Guy Mitchell.
• Columbia Records lures Jo Stafford away from Capitol.
• Georgia Gibbs leaves the Majestic label and scores her first charting single with Coral.
• Bandleader Les Baxter founds the school of "Outer Space" exotica.
• Sam Cooke replaces R. H. Harris as lead singer of The Soul Stirrers.

Albums released

• American Folks Songs – Jo Stafford
• Auld Lang Syne – Bing Crosby
• Autumn in New York – Jo Stafford
• Barber Shop Ballads – The Mills Brothers
• Blue of the Night – Bing Crosby
• The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert – Benny Goodman
• Christmas Greetings – Bing Crosby
• Cole Porter Songs – Bing Crosby
• Country Feelin – Dinah Shore
• Dedicated to You – Frank Sinatra
• Drifting and Dreaming – Bing Crosby
• Dulce Patria – Jorge Negrete
• Ella Sings Gershwin – Ella Fitzgerald
• Frankie Laine – Frankie Laine
• Going My Way – Bing Crosby
• Historical America in Song – Burl Ives
• King Cole Trio – King Cole Trio
• King Cole Trio Volume 2 – King Cole Trio
• Live at Carnegie Hall – Benny Goodman
• Oh! Susanna – Al Jolson
• Patti Page – Patti Page
• Popular Classics for Four Pianos – Philharmonic Piano Quartet
• Porgy and Bess – Various Artists
• Sing a Song of Christmas – The Ames Brothers
• Sing and Dance with Frank Sinatra – Frank Sinatra
• Songs By Gershwin – Bing Crosby
• Songs of Faith – Jo Stafford
• Songs for Sunday Evening – Jo Stafford
• Tea for Two – Doris Day
• Two Loves Have I – Frankie Laine
• Voice of the Xtabay – Yma Sumac
• Young Man with a Horn – Doris Day

No. 1 hit singles

Biggest hit singles

Top R&B hits on record

• "Double Crossing Blues" – ''Johnny Otis with Little Esther & The Robins''

Published popular music

• "Adelaide's Lament" words and music: Frank Loesser
• "African Bolero" m. John Serry Sr.
• "American Beauty Rose" w.m. Hal David, Redd Evans & Arthur Altman
• "Be My Love" w. Sammy Cahn m. Nicholas Brodszky
• "The Best Thing For You" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Blind Date" w.m. Sid Robin
• "A Bushel And A Peck" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Candy And Cake" w.m. Bob Merrill
• "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy" w.m. Harry Stone & Jack Stapp
• "Choo'n Gum" w. Mann Curtis m. Vic Mizzy
• "Cold, Cold Heart" w.m. Hank Williams
• "The Cry of the Wild Goose" w.m. Terry Gilkyson
• "Dearie" w.m. Bob Hilliard & David Mann
• "Domino" w. Don Raye Jacques Plante m. Louis Ferrari
• "Freight Train" w. Paul James & Fred Williams m. trad arr. Elizabeth Cotton
• "The French Can-Can Polka" w. Jimmy Kennedy m. Jacques Offenbach
• "From This Moment On" w.m. Cole Porter
• "Frosty the Snowman" w.m. Steve Nelson & Jack Rollins
• "Fugue For Tinhorns" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Get Out Those Old Records" w.m. Carmen Lombardo & John Jacob Loeb
• "Gone Fishin'" w.m. Nick Kenny & Charles Kenny
• "Guys and Dolls" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Home Cookin"' w.m. Jay Livingston & Ray Evans
• "Hoop-Dee-Doo" w. Frank Loesser m. Milton De Lugg
• "The Hostess With The Mostes' On The Ball" w.m. Irving Berlin. Introduced by Ethel Merman in the musical Call Me Madam
• "I Almost Lost My Mind" w.m. Ivory Joe Hunter
• "I Didn't Slip, I Wasn't Pushed, I Fell" w.m. Edward Pola & George Wyle
• "I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine" w.m. Mack David
• "I Leave My Heart in an English Garden" w.m. Harry Parr-Davies and Christopher Hassall from the musical Dear Miss Phoebe
• "I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat" w.m. Alan Livingston, Billy May & Warren Foster
• "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked A Cake" w.m. Al Hoffman, Bob Merrill & Clem Watts
• "If I Were A Bell" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "I'll Know" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "I'll Never Be Free" w.m. Bennie Benjamin & George David Weiss
• "I'm Movin' On" w.m. Hank Snow
• "It Is No Secret" w.m. Stuart Hamblen
• "It's A Lovely Day Today" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "I've Never Been In Love Before" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Ivory Rag" Lou Busch, Jack Elliott
• "Little White Duck" w.m. Walt Barrows & Bernard Zaritsky
• "The Loveliest Night of the Year" w. Paul Francis Webster m. Juventino P. Rosas
• "Luck Be a Lady" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Lucky Lucky Lucky Me" Berle, Arnold
• "Marry The Man Today" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Marrying For Love" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "More I Cannot Wish You" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "My Heart Cries For You" w.m. Carl Sigman & Percy Faith
• "My Time Of Day" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "No Other Love" adaptation from Chopin's Étude No. 3 in E major, Op. 10. w.m. Bob Russell & Paul Weston
• "The Old Piano Roll Blues" w.m. Cy Coben
• "The Oldest Established" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Orange Colored Sky" w.m. Milton De Lugg & William Stein
• "Patricia" w.m. Benny Davis
• "(Remember Me) I'm the One Who Loves You" w.m. Stuart Hamblen
• "The Roving Kind" adapt. w.m. Jessie Cavanaugh & Arnold Stanton
• "Sam's Song" w. Jack Elliott m. Lew Quadling
• "Shot Gun Boogie" w.m. Tennessee Ernie Ford
• "Silver Bells" w.m. Jay Livingston & Ray Evans. Introduced by Bob Hope in the 1951 Musical film The Lemon Drop Kid.
• "Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat" w.m. Frank Loesser. Introduced by Stubby Kaye in the musical Guys and Dolls.
• "Sixty Minute Man" w.m. Billy Ward & Rose Marks
• "Sleigh Ride" w. Mitchell Parish m. Leroy Anderson
• "Sue Me" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "The Syncopated Clock" w. Mitchell Parish m. Leroy Anderson
• "Take Back Your Mink" w.m. Frank Loesser. Introduced by Vivian Blaine in the musical Guys and Dolls.
• "The Thing" w.m. Charles R. Grean
• "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena" adapt. trad Hebrew w. Mitchell Parish m. Issachar Miron & Julius Grossman
• "You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry" w.m. Bob Merrill & Terry Shand
• "You're Just In Love" w.m. Irving Berlin

Classical music

Compositions

• Hendrik Andriessen – Concerto for Organ and Orchestra
• Malcolm Arnold – English Dances for orchestra, Op. 27
• Alexander Arutiunian – Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra
• Arno Babajanian – Heroic Ballade
• Ernest Bloch – Suite hébraïque
• Karl-Birger Blomdahl – Symphony No. 3 Facetter
• Pierre Boulez –
• *Polyphonie X
• *Le soleil des eaux, for soprano, chorus and orchestra
• John Cage – String Quartet in Four Parts
• Carlos Chávez – Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
• Jani Christou – First Symphony
• Arnold Cooke – Trio for Violin, Viola and Cello
• George Crumb – A Cycle of Greek Lyrics for voice and piano
• Henri Dutilleux – Blackbird for piano
• Jesús Guridi – String Quartet in A minor
• Eivind Groven – Hjalarljod Overture, Op. 38
• Karl Amadeus Hartmann – Symphony No. 5 Symphonie Concertante
• Hans Henkemans – Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
• Vagn Holmboe – Symphony No. 7
• Wojciech Kilar – Toccata for piano
• Ernst Krenek – Suite for String Trio Parvula Corona Musicalis
• Bohuslav Martinů –
• *Concerto No. 2 for two violins and orchestra
• *Duo No. 2, for Violin and Viola
• *Intermezzo for Large Orchestra
• *Sinfonietta La Jolla, in A major, for piano and chamber orchestra
• *Trio No. 2, for violin, cello, and piano, in D minor
• Luigi Nono – Variazioni canoniche sulla serie dell’op.41 di A. Schönberg, for chamber orchestra
• Vincent Persichetti – Divertimento for Band
• Allan Pettersson – First Concerto for Strings
• Walter Piston – Symphony No.4
• Theodor Rogalski – Three Romanian Dances for orchestra
• Arnold Schoenberg –
• *Psalm 130 "De profundis", Op. 50b
• *Modern Psalm, Op. 50c
• *Style and Idea
• Humphrey Searle – Poem for 22 Strings
• John Serry Sr. –
• * Eight Accordion Quartet Arrangements
• *La Culebra, for flute & accordion
• *African Bolero, for flute & accordion
• Karlheinz Stockhausen –
• *Choral, for a cappella choir, Nr. 1/9
• *Chöre für Doris, for a cappella choir, Nr. ¹/₁₁
• *Drei Lieder, for alto voice and chamber orchestra, Nr. 1/10
• Heitor Villa-Lobos –
• * String Quartet No. 12
• * Symphony No. 8

Opera

• Luigi Dallapiccola – Job
• Norman Dello Joio – The Triumph of Saint Joan
• Lukas Foss – The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
• Vittorio Giannini – The Taming of the Shrew
• Gian Carlo Menotti – ''The Consul''

Film

• Georges Auric - Orpheus
• Aram Khachaturian – Secret Mission (1950 film)
• Leith Stevens - Destination Moon
• Franz Waxman – ''Sunset Boulevard (film)''

Musical theatre

• Carousel London production opened at the Drury Lane Theatre on June 7 and ran for 566 performances.Dear Miss Phoebe London production opened at the Phoenix Theatre on October 13 and ran for 283 performances
• Guys and Dolls. Broadway production opened at the 46th Street Theatre on November 24 and ran for 1200 performances.
• The Highwayman Music, Lyrics & Book: Edmond Samuels. Australian production opened at the Kings Theatre, Melbourne on November 18Michael Todd's Peep Show Broadway revue opened at Winter Garden Theatre on June 28 and ran for 278 performances.
• Out Of This World Broadway production opened at the New Century Theatre on December 21 and ran for 157 performances.
• Peter Pan Lyrics and Music: Leonard Bernstein. Broadway production opened at the Imperial Theatre on April 24 and ran for 321 performancesTickets, Please! Broadway revue opened at the Coronet Theatre on April 27 and ran for 245 performances.

Musical films

• Annie Get Your Gun, starring Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, Louis Calhern and Keenan Wynn.
• Bhai Bahen, starring Geeta Bali and Bharat Bhushan.
• Canzoni per le strade, starring Luciano Taioli and Antonella Lualdi
• Cinderella, animated film featuring the voice of Ilene Woods and Verna Felton.
• Come Dance with Me featuring Anne Shelton and Anton Karas
• Cossacks of the Kuban , starring Vladlen Davydov and Marina Ladynina
• Fancy Pants starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball
• Hamara Ghar, starring Meena Kumari and Durga Khote
• I'll Get By starring June Haver, Gloria DeHaven and Dennis Day, and featuring Harry James.
• Mr. Music starring Bing Crosby and featuring Peggy Lee, Groucho Marx and Dorothy Kirsten.
• Mussorgsky, starring Aleksandr Borisov
• My Blue Heaven, starring Betty Grable and Dan Dailey
• Pagan Love Song starring Esther Williams and Howard Keel
• Samsaram, starring N. T. Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao and LakshmirajyamSinging Guns released February 28 starring Vaughn Monroe, Ella Raines, Walter Brennan and Ward BondTea For Two starring Doris Day and Gordon MacRaeThere's a Girl in My Heart starring Lee Bowman, Elyse Knox, Gloria Jean and Peggy Ryan
• Three Little Words starring Fred Astaire, Red Skelton and Vera Ellen, and featuring Helen Kane dubbing for Debbie Reynolds.
• The Chocolate Girl (La petite chocolatière), starring Giselle Pascal, Claude Dauphin and Henri Genès
• The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady, starring June Haver and Gordon MacRae
• The Toast of New Orleans starring Kathryn Grayson and Mario Lanza
• Two Weeks With Love starring Jane Powell, Ricardo Montalbán, Louis Calhern, Debbie Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter.
• The West Point Story starring James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Doris Day and Gordon MacRae

Births

January – February

• January 1
• *Morgan Fisher
• *Steve Ripley
• January 3 – Beth Anderson, American composer
• January 5 – Chris Stein, guitarist and co-founder of Blondie
• January 7 – Juan Gabriel, singer
• January 9 – David Johansen, proto-punk singer
• January 21 – Billy Ocean, singer
• January 23
• *Bill Cunningham, American bass and keyboard player
• *Luis Alberto Spinetta, "father of Argentine rock"
• *Danny Federici
• January 26 – Paul Pena, singer, songwriter and guitarist
• January 28 – Bob Hay, American singer-songwriter
• January 29 – Max Carl, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and keyboard player
• February 1 – Mike Campbell, American guitarist, songwriter and producer
• February 2 – Ross Valory, American rock bass player
• February 3 – John Schlitt, American Christian rock singer
• February 6 – Natalie Cole, African American singer, daughter of Nat King Cole
• February 12 – Steve Hackett, guitarist and composer
• February 13 – Peter Gabriel, singer and composer
• February 14 – Roger Fisher, American guitarist
• February 15 – David Brown, bass guitarist
• February 16 – Roman Tam, Chinese Cantopop singer
• February 19 – Andy Powell, rock guitarist
• February 20 – Walter Becker, jazz rock bass guitarist, songwriter and record producer
• February 24 – Pappo, Argentinian rock musician
• February 26
• * Jonathan Cain, rock musician
• * Billy Steinberg, American songwriter

March – April

• March 2 – Karen Carpenter, singer
• March 11 – Katia Labèque, pianist
• March 20 – Carl Palmer, drummer
• March 21
• *Roger Hodgson
• *Cho Yong-pil, South Korean singer and songwriter
• March 22 – David Golub, pianist and conductor
• March 26 – Teddy Pendergrass, singer
• March 27
• *Tony Banks, rock keyboardist
• *Maria Ewing, operatic soprano
• March 28 – Claudio Lolli, Italian novelist, singer and songwriter
• April 5 – Agnetha Fältskog, singer
• April 12
• *David Cassidy, singer
• *Ivar Frounberg, Danish composer and organist
• April 22 – Peter Frampton, singer
• April 24 – Rob Hyman
• April 25 – Steve Ferrone
• April 28 – Wilie Colón, Puerto Rican salsa musician

May – June

• May 2 – Lou Gramm
• May 3 – Mary Hopkin, singer
• May 4 – Darryl Hunt
• May 7 – Prairie Prince, American rock drummer and graphic artist
• May 9 – Tom Petersson
• May 12 – Billy Squier, singer-songwriter and guitarist
• May 13
• *Stevie Wonder, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
• *Danny Kirwan, guitarist
• May 16 – Ray Condo, singer, saxophonist, and guitarist
• May 18 – Mark Mothersbaugh
• May 20 – Victor Lewis, American jazz drummer, composer, and educator
• May 22 – Bernie Taupin, lyricist
• May 29 – Rebbie Jackson, singer
• May 24 – Terry Scott Taylor, record producer
• June 1 – Graham Russell
• June 3 – Suzi Quatro, rock singer
• June 5
• *Ronnie Dyson, singer and actor
• *Michael Monarch
• June 19 – Ann Wilson
• June 21 – Joey Kramer

July – August

• July 4 – Tonio K, American singer-songwriter
• July 5
• *Huey Lewis, singer and songwriter
• *Michael Monarch, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
• July 10 – Greg Kihn, rock musician, radio personality and novelist.
• July 12 – Eric Carr
• July 14 – Gwen Guthrie, singer-songwriter
• July 18 – Glenn Hughes
• July 19 – Freddy Moore, singer-songwriter
• July 23 – Blair Thornton
• August 12 – Kid Creole, American singer
• August 13 – Pluto Shervington, Jamaican reggae singer
• August 18 – Dennis Elliott, British rock drummer
• August 25 – Willy DeVille, American singer and songwriter

September – October

• September 10 – Joe Perry, guitarist
• September 14 – Paul Kossoff, guitarist
• September 17 – Fee Waybill rock singer-songwriter
• September 27 – Linda Lewis, singer
• October 1 – Elpida, singer
• October 2 – Mike Rutherford, musician and songwriter
• October 8 – Robert Kool Bell, singer
• October 12 – Lowell Lo, Hong Kong singer-songwriter, actor and film composer
• October 20 – Tom Petty, rock singer-songwriter and guitarist
• October 24 - May Pang, American former music executive. She worked for John Lennon and Yoko Ono as a personal assistant and production coordinator.

November – December

• November 1 – Dan Peek
• November 11 – Jim Peterik
• November 12 – Barbara Fairchild, American singer-songwriter
• November 18
• *Graham Parker, British singer-songwriter
• *Rudy Sarzo, Cuban-American bass player
• November 20 – Gary Green
• November 21
• *Marie Bergman, Eurovision singer
• *Livingston Taylor, singer-songwriter
• November 22
• *Tina Weymouth, American musician, singer-songwriter, bassist
• *Steven Van Zandt
• December 1 – Richard Keith, American drummer and actor
• December 5 – Camarón de la Isla, flamenco singer
• December 6 – Joe Hisaishi, Japanese composer and director
• December 8 – Dan Hartman, singer-songwriter
• December 9 – Joan Armatrading, singer-songwriter
• December 20 – Arturo Márquez, composer
• December 25 – Rockdrigo González, folk & rock singer-songwriter
• December 28 – Alex Chilton

Deaths

• January 1 – Kate Carney, English singer and comedian
• January 2 – Theophrastos Sakellaridis, Greek composer and conductor
• January 13 – Dimitrios Semsis, Greek violinist
• January 28 – Kansas Joe McCoy, American blues musician and songwriter
• February 10 – Armen Tigranian, Armenian composer
• February 26 – Sir Harry Lauder, Scottish singer, comedian and songwriter
• February 28 – Ernst Abert Couturier, cornet virtuoso, composer, inventor and instrument manufacturer
• March 2 – Milton Schwarzwald, film director and composer
• March 8 – Jaroslav Kocián, violinist, composer and teacher
• April 2 – Adolf Wiklund, Swedish composer
• April 3 – Kurt Weill, composer in many styles
• April 8 – Vaslav Nijinsky, ballet dancer
• April 23 – Gemma Bellincioni, operatic soprano
• April 27 — Karl Straube, German organist
• May 7 – Bertha "Chippie" Hill, blues singer and vaudeville performer
• May 13 – Pauline de Ahna, operatic soprano
• May 27 – Auguste Aramini, French singer
• June 9 – Joe Burke, pianist and composer
• June 26 – Antonina Nezhdanova, coloratura soprano
• July 1 – Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, developer of eurhythmics
• July 7 – Fats Navarro, jazz musician
• July 11 – Buddy DeSylva, songwriter
• July 26 – Papa Charlie McCoy, blues musician
• July 30 – Guilhermina Suggia, cellist
• August 3 – Georg Høeberg, composer and conductor
• August 8 – Nikolai Myaskovsky, Soviet composer and teacher of Polish birth
• August 26 – Giuseppe De Luca, operatic baritone
• September 5 – Al Killian, trumpeter and bandleader
• September 20 – Georges Mager, trumpet player
• October 11 – Emil Votoček, chemist, composer and music theorist
• October 15 – Clément Doucet, pianist
• October 23 – Al Jolson, singer and actor
• October 26 – Evelyn Suart, English pianist
• November 20 – Francesco Cilea, opera composer
• November 23 – Percival Mackey, English pianist, composer and bandleader
• December 2 – Dinu Lipatti, Romanian pianist and composer
• December 9 – Georg Hann, operatic bass-baritone
• December 22 – Julius Weismann, German composer and conductor
• December 26 – Ben Black, songwriter and impresario
• December 28 – Charles L. Johnson, composer of ragtime and popular music
• December 31 – Charles Koechlin, composer and teacher
• date unknown
• *Jaime de Angulo, ethnomusicologist
• *Edouard Espinosa, dancer, choreographer and teacher
• *Cenobio Hernandez, composer
• *Ray Perry, jazz musician