1981 in music

Specific locations

• 1981 in British music
• 1981 in Japanese music
• 1981 in Norwegian music
• 1981 in Scandinavian music

  Specific genres

• 1981 in country music
• 1981 in heavy metal music
• 1981 in hip-hop
• 1981 in jazz
• 1981 in progressive rock

  Events

January–April

• January – Nearly a year after the suicide of Ian Curtis, the surviving members of Joy Division plus Gillian Gilbert, now under the name New Order, release their debut single "Ceremony"; the single and its B-side, "In a Lonely Place", are both re-recordings of songs originally written and performed by Curtis. The single's release marks the band's first public use of the "New Order" moniker, which they retained for the remainder of their career.
• 10 January – A revival of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance opens at Broadway's Uris Theatre, starring Linda Ronstadt and Rex Smith.
• 11 January – Country singer Hank Williams Jr. releases his 32nd album, Rowdy. It is certified Gold by the RIAA.
• 18 January – Wendy O. Williams of The Plasmatics is arrested in Milwaukee for simulating masturbation with a sledgehammer on stage. In a scuffle with the police Williams is pinned to the floor and receives a cut above the eye requiring twelve stitches.
• 24 January – Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler is injured in a motorcycle crash that leaves him hospitalized for two months.
• 9 February – Phil Collins releases his first solo album, Face Value, whose opening track "In the Air Tonight" popularizes the gated reverb drum sound that became ubiquitous for the next ten years; while the album ended up a smash success, Collins remained a member of Genesis until 1995.
• 14 February
• *Ultravox reach number 2 on the UK Singles Chart with "Vienna", but despite huge radio play and massive sales it is subsequently held off the top position for two consecutive weeks by Joe Dolce's novelty song "Shaddup You Face".
• *Billy Idol leaves the band Generation X to begin a solo career.
• 25 February – The 23rd Annual Grammy Awards are presented in New York, hosted by Paul Simon. Christopher Cross, with his self-titled debut album and its single "Sailing", becomes the first artist to win all four General Field awards in a single ceremony, controversially beating Pink Floyd's The Wall for Album of the Year.
• 14 March – Suffering from bleeding ulcers, Eric Clapton is admitted to United Hospital in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. Clapton's 60-city tour of the US is cancelled, and he remains in hospital for a month.
• 21 March – Yellow Magic Orchestra release their fourth studio album, BGM; the album is the first to make use of the Roland TR-808 drum machine, which would go on to become an influential device in both electronic dance music and hip-hop.
• 27 March – Ozzy Osbourne bites the head off a dove at a CBS record label gathering in Los Angeles.
• 4 April – British pop group Bucks Fizz wins the 26th Eurovision Song Contest, held at the RDS Simmonscourt Pavilion, Dublin, with the song "Making Your Mind Up".
• 11 April – Van Halen's lead guitarist Eddie Van Halen marries actress Valerie Bertinelli.
• 12 April – Soviet orchestral conductor Maxim Shostakovich defects while on tour in West Germany with his son.
• 18 April – Yes announce that they are breaking up..
• 20 April – The Mamas & the Papas' John Phillips is sentenced to five years in jail after pleading guilty to drug possession charges. Phillips' sentence was then suspended after thirty days in exchange for 250 hours of community service.
• 22 April – Eric Clapton is taken to the hospital suffering from bruised ribs and a lacerated shin, following a car accident in Seattle, Washington.
• 26 April/27 April/28 April – Gary Numan performs three sold out 'farewell concerts' at Wembley Arena, following his announcement to retire from live work at the height of his popularity.
• 27 April – Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach marry, in London, England.

  May–August

• 2 May – British vocalist Sheena Easton hits No. 1 in the US with "Morning Train " following a swift rise to fame as the result of a reality TV show.
• 9 May – Adam and the Ants single "Stand and Deliver" enters the UK Singles Chart at number 1. It remains at number 1 for five consecutive weeks and will sell over one million copies, becoming the years third best selling single in the UK.
• 14 May – Diana Ross signs with RCA Records, leaving Motown Records, her label of two decades. The $20,000,000 deal is the most lucrative recording contract in history at that time.
• 15 May – A riot breaks out at The Ritz rock club in New York when Public Image Ltd plays behind a videoscreen while completely different music plays over the club's speakers.
• 16 May – Adam and the Ants tops the UK Albums Chart for the tenth consecutive week with Kings of the Wild Frontier.
• 30 May – A reformed The Human League have their first commercial success as "The Sound of the Crowd" climbs to number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.
• 4 June – U2 appears on The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder, their first U.S. television appearance.
• 5 June – The TV series Night Flight, a variety show featuring music documentaries and videos, is premiered on the USA Network.
• 6 June – Kerrang! magazine publishes its first issue. Angus Young of AC/DC is on the cover.
• 30 June – Jerry Lee Lewis is rushed to hospital in Memphis for emergency surgery for a tear in his stomach. Despite being given less than a 50% chance of survival, he eventually pulls through.
• 13 July – Duran Duran release the single "Girls on Film". Accompanied by a highly controversial music video that is censored for airplay on MTV and banned by BBC the song becomes the band's first big hit, eventually peaking at number 5 on the UK Singles Chart during an 11-week chart run.
• 27 July – Stevie Nicks releases debut solo album Bella Donna, which sold 4 million copies in the US alone.
• 1 August
• *MTV broadcasts for the first time on cable television in the United States, playing music videos 24 hours a day. First to air is "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.
• *The success of Stars On 45 leads to a short-lived medley craze. The most successful imitator of the Stars On 45 format is, rather unexpectedly, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, whose "Hooked On Classics " reaches number two in the charts.
• 23 August – The Violent Femmes are discovered by members of The Pretenders busking outside a Milwaukee venue and are invited to play a 10-minute acoustic set as a second opening act in the Pretenders' show that night.

  September–December

• 5 September – Soft Cell tops the UK Singles Chart with "Tainted Love". The song also tops the chart the following week and becomes the second best selling single in the UK in 1981.
• 19 September
• *Simon & Garfunkel perform a free reunion concert in New York City's Central Park attended by over 500,000 fans.
• *Adam and the Ants have their second chart-topping single of the year as "Prince Charming" reach number 1 on the UK Singles Chart. It remains at number one for four consecutive weeks and becomes the years fourth best selling single in the UK.
• 26 September – Iron Maiden hires Samson lead singer Bruce Bruce AKA Bruce Dickinson to replace Paul Di'Anno. Dickinson will finish off the last 7 dates of the Killer World Tour.
• 16 October – The Human League release Dare. A huge commercial and critical success, it spent 69 weeks on the UK Albums Chart including four weeks at number 1 and be certified platinum in the UK, and gold in the US.
• 26 October – Iron Maiden plays its first show with Bruce Dickinson as the new lead singer in Bologna, Italy.
• 27 October – The British Phonographic Industry takes out newspaper ads unveiling its new slogan: "Home Taping Is Killing Music". The ads advocate a levy on blank cassette tapes.
• 31 October – Punk band Fear makes a memorable appearance on Saturday Night Live. A group of fans storm the stage and damage TV equipment while moshing, resulting in the show cutting to commercial.
• 18 November – While sitting in Tom's Restaurant in New York City, Suzanne Vega composes the song "Tom's Diner".
• 21 November – Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark hits number 3 on the UK Albums Chart with their third album Architecture & Morality. Including three UK top-5 singles, "Souvenir", "Joan of Arc" and "Maid of Orleans", it will remain on the chart for 37 weeks and be certified platinum in the UK.
• 5 December – The 10th OTI Festival, held at the National Auditorium in Mexico City, Mexico, is won by the song "Latino", written by Pablo Herrero and José Luis Armenteros, and performed by representing Spain.
• 11 December – The Human League reach number one on the UK Singles Chart with Don't You Want Me. The song remains at number one for five consecutive weeks and become the years best selling single in the UK.
• 18 December – An estimated 35 million people around the world watch a live satellite transmission of a Rod Stewart concert at the Los Angeles Forum. It is the first broadcast of its kind since Elvis Presley's "Aloha from Hawaii" special in 1973.
• 31 December
• * Benny Andersson, recently divorced from Anni-Frid Lyngstad, marries TV presenter Mona Nörklit.
• *The tenth annual New Year's Rockin' Eve special airs on ABC, with appearances by Four Tops, Rick Springfield, Barry Manilow, Alabama and Rick James.

  Also in 1981

• The organ at the famous Heinävesi Church in Finland is renewed, using locks from the original organ.
• Alice Cooper drastically changes his appearance, leaving behind his trademark make-up and donning a military uniform.
• Synthpop enjoys mainstream popularity in the UK, with groups such as Ultravox, Depeche Mode, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and The Human League releasing hit singles and albums. The Human League's "Don't You Want Me" and Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" become the years best selling singles in the UK.
• Menudo's golden era begins in Latin America, parts of Europe and Asia.
• Brad Whitford leaves Aerosmith and is replaced by Rick Dufay.
• Hal Willner "invents" the modern tribute album with Amacord Nino Rota.