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This page indexes the individual year in music pages.

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List of popular music genres
v t e

2020s

• 2025 in music, 2025 in American music
• 2024 in music, 2024 in African music, 2024 in Asian music, 2024 in British music, 2024 in American music, 2024 in Canadian music, 2024 in Japanese music, 2024 in Philippine music, 2024 in Scandinavian music, 2024 in South Korean music
  • Deaths of Chris Karrer, Slim Shady, Glynis Johns, David Soul, Larry Collins, James Kottak, Audie Blaylock, Bill Hayes, Laurie Johnson, Marlena Shaw, Frank Farian, Melanie, Wayne Kramer, Aston "Family Man" Barrett, Toby Keith, Mojo Nixon, Bobby Tench, Eric Carmen, Pete Rodriguez, Steve Harley, Michael Ward, Jerry Abbott, Clarence "Frogman" Henry, Mister Cee, Dickey Betts, Mike Pinder, Duane Eddy, Richard Tandy, Gary Floyd, Steve Albini, Charlie Colin, Doug Ingle, Mark Gormley, Richard M. Sherman, Rodger Fox, Cayouche, Doug Dagger, Ed Mann, Colin Gibb, Brother Marquis, C.Gambino, Rose-Marie, Enchanting, Françoise Hardy, Johnny Canales, Skowa, Dario G, Buzz Cason, James Chance, Kinky Friedman, John Mayall, Chino XL, Greg Kihn, Jack Russell, Fatman Scoop, Rich Homie Quan, Sérgio Mendes, Herbie Flowers, Will Jennings, Zoot Money, Tommy Cash, Tito Jackson, Nick Gravenites, Dick Diamonde, Kris Kristofferson, Cissy Houston, Liam Payne, Paul Di'Anno, DJ Clark Kent, Phil Lesh, Quincy Jones, Shel Talmy, Peter Sinfield, Chuck Woolery, Bob Bryar, Lennie De Ice
• 2023 in music, 2023 in African music, 2023 in Asian music, 2023 in British music, 2023 in American music, 2023 in Canadian music, 2023 in Japanese music, 2023 in Philippine music, 2023 in Scandinavian music, 2023 in South Korean music
  • Deaths of Gangsta Boo, Jeff Beck, Lisa Marie Presley, Robbie Bachman, Van Conner, David Crosby, Top Topham, Tom Verlaine, Barrett Strong, Burt Bacharach, Trugoy, Wayne Shorter, Steve Mackey, Gary Rossington, Jim Gordon, Bobby Caldwell, Fuzzy Haskins, Keith Reid, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Harry Belafonte, Gordon Lightfoot, Rolf Harris, Andy Rourke, Pete Brown, Chas Newby, Tina Turner, Cynthia Weil, Astrud Gilberto, Rick Froberg, Mo Foster, Coco Lee, Jane Birkin, Tony Bennett, Sinéad O'Connor, Randy Meisner, Carl Davis, Sixto Rodriguez, Robbie Robertson, Magoo, Bernie Marsden, Jimmy Buffett, Steve Harwell, Gary Wright, Bruce Guthro, Carla Bley, The 45 King, Charlie Dominici, Mars Williams, Geordie Walker, Shane MacGowan, Denny Laine, Colin Burgess, Eric Moyo, Torben Ulrich, Tom Smothers, Sandra Reaves-Phillips
  • Notable releases:
    • Travis Scott's Utopia
    • 100 gecs' 10,000 Gecs
    • Blur's The Ballad of Darren
    • Black Country, New Road's Live at Bush Hall
    • King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard's PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation
    • Metallica's 72 Seasons
    • Paramore's This Is Why
    • Young Fathers' Heavy Heavy
    • Miley Cyrus' Endless Summer Vacation
    • NewJeans' Get Up
• 2022 in music, 2022 in African music, 2022 in Asian music, 2022 in British music, 2022 in American music, 2022 in Canadian music, 2022 in Japanese music, 2022 in Philippine music, 2022 in Scandinavian music, 2022 in South Korean music
  • Deaths of Ronnie Spector, Meat Loaf, Jon Zazula, Mark Lanegan, Gary Brooker, Betty Davis, Timmy Thomas, Taylor Hawkins, Chris Bailey, Gilbert Gottfried, Jewell, Vangelis, Andy Fletcher, Alan White, Ronnie Hawkins, Trouble, Alec John Such, Jim Seals, Q Lazzarus, Olivia Newton-John, Lamont Dozier, PnB Rock, Ramsey Lewis, Jesse Powell, Pharoah Sanders, Coolio, Loretta Lynn, Angela Lansbury, Jerry Lee Lewis, D.H. Peligro, Takeoff, Aaron Carter, Gal Costa, Nik Turner, Keith Levene, Irene Cara, Christine McVie, Bob McGrath, Jet Black, Thom Bell, Sidhu Moose Wala
  • American Heavy Metal band W.A.S.P. Announces 40th Anniversary tour, returning to the United States for the first time since 2012.
  • Notable releases:
    • Pink Floyd and Andriy Khlyvnyuk's "Hey, Hey, Rise Up!"
    • Black Country, New Road's Ants from Up There
    • Denzel Curry's Melt My Eyez See Your Future
    • Mitski's Laurel Hell
    • Big Thief's Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You
    • Charli XCX's Crash
    • Rosalía's Motomami
    • Viagra Boys' Cave World
    • Black Midi's Hellfire
    • Zeal & Ardor's Zeal & Ardor
    • Voivod's Synchro Anarchy
    • Kendrick Lamar's Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers
    • JID's The Forever Story
    • Angel Olsen's Big Time
    • Harry Styles' Harry's House
    • Bad Bunny's Un Verano Sin Ti
    • Beyoncé's Renaissance
    • SZA's SOS
    • Taylor Swift's Midnights
• 2021 in music, 2021 in African music, 2021 in British music, 2021 in Asian music, 2021 in American music, 2021 in Canadian music, 2021 in European music, 2021 in Japanese music, 2021 in Philippine music, 2021 in Scandinavian music, 2021 in South Korean music
  • Deaths of Gerry Marsden, Sophie, DMX, Young Dolph, Phil Spector, Samuel E. Wright, Gift of Gab, Joey Jordison, Bunny Wailer, Tom T. Hall, Michael Nesmith, Hub, Milford Graves, Anita Lane, Biz Markie, Dusty Hill, Jerzy Matuszkiewicz, Don Everly
  • Notable releases:
    • Black Country, New Road's For the First Time
    • Weezer's OK Human
    • Julien Baker's Little Oblivions
    • Lana Del Rey's Chemtrails over the Country Club
    • Taylor Swift's Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version)
    • Adele's 30
    • ABBA's Voyage, with a virtual concert of the same name that accompanies both the album and a few of its songs, along with plenty of the band's older songs, premiering in London the following year.
    • Kanye West's Donda
    • Lana Del Rey's Blue Banisters
    • Radiohead's Kid A Mnesia
    • Iron Maiden's Senjutsu
    • Turnstile's Glow On
    • Tyler, the Creator's Call Me If You Get Lost
    • Black Midi's Cavalcade
    • Little Simz's Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
    • Injury Reserve's By the Time I Get to Phoenix
    • Squid's Bright Green Field
    • Silk Sonic's An Evening with Silk Sonic
    • JPEGMafia's LP!
    • Brockhampton's Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine
    • Lingua Ignota's Sinner Get Ready
    • Magdalena Bay's Mercurial World
    • Japanese Breakfast's Jubilee
    • Olivia Rodrigo's SOUR
    • Doja Cat's Planet Her
    • Billie Eilish's Happier Than Ever
    • Lorde's Solar Power
    • Halsey's If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power
    • Coldplay's Music of the Spheres
    • Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, and the London Symphony Orchestra's Promises
    • Godspeed You! Black Emperor's G_d's Pee at State's End!
    • Madlib's Sound Ancestors
    • BTS' single Butter
    • Tomorrow X Together's The Chaos Chapter: Freeze
    • Chungha's Querencia
    • NCT Dream's Hot Sauce
    • Twice's Formula of Love: O+T=＜3
    • IU's Lilac
    • Shinee's Don't Call Me
    • Stray Kids' Noeasy
    • (G)I-dle's I Burn
    • Aespa's Savage
    • Parannoul's To See the Next Part of the Dream
    • Chai's Wink
    • Måneskin's Teatro d'ira: Vol. I, which includes the band's commercial breakthrough hit Zitti e buoni, that won the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.
• 2020 in music, 2020 in African music, 2020 in British music, 2020 in Asian music, 2020 in American music, 2020 in Canadian music, 2020 in European music, 2020 in Japanese music, 2020 in Philippine music, 2020 in Scandinavian music, 2020 in South Korean music
  • Deaths of Pop Smoke, Neil Peart, Bob Shane, McCoy Tyner, Bill Withers, John Prine, Fred the Godson, Little Richard, Kenny Rogers, Florian Schneider, Joe Diffie, Charlie Daniels, Tim Smith, Eddie Van Halen, Mory Kanté, Krzysztof Penderecki, Ennio Morricone, MF Doom, King Von, Nikki McKibbin, Naya Rivera
  • Notable releases:
    • The Weeknd's After Hours
    • Ariana Grande's Positions
    • Selena Gomez's Rare
    • Westside Gunn's Pray for Paris
    • Lady Gaga's Chromatica
    • Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia
    • Yves Tumor's Heaven to a Tortured Mind
    • Fiona Apple's Fetch the Bolt Cutters
    • Phoebe Bridgers' Punisher
    • Run the Jewels's RTJ4
    • Tame Impala's The Slow Rush
    • Halsey's Manic
    • Lil Uzi Vert's Eternal Atake
    • Testament's Titans of Creation
    • Taylor Swift's Folklore and Evermore
    • The Microphones's Microphones in 2020
    • Paul McCartney's McCartney III
    • Oneohtrix Point Never's Magic Oneohtrix Point Never
    • Against All Logic's 2017–2019
    • Autechre's Sign
    • Kenshi Yonezu's Stray Sheep
    • Ichiko Aoba's Windswept Adan
    • Rina Sawayama's Sawayama
    • BTS' Map of the Soul: 7 and Be
    • Blackpink's The Album
    • NCT's Neo Zone and NCT 2020 Resonance
    • Twice's Eyes Wide Open
    • Stray Kids' Go Live
    • Yukika Teramoto's Soul Lady
    • BoA's Better
    • Taemin's Never Gonna Dance Again
    • Tomorrow X Together's Minisode1: Blue Hour
  • The COVID-19 pandemic results in the cancellation or postponement of numerous music-related events scheduled to take place this year, including major tours, festivals and television appearances.

2010s

• 2019 in music, 2019 in African music, 2019 in American music, 2019 in Asian music, 2019 in British music, 2019 in Canadian music, 2019 in Danish music, 2019 in European music, 2019 in Finnish music, 2019 in Icelandic music, 2019 in Irish music, 2019 in Japanese music, 2019 in Norwegian music, 2019 in Philippine music, 2019 in Scandinavian music, 2019 in South Korean music, 2019 in Swedish music
• Deaths of Michel Legrand, André Previn, Doris Duke, Peggy Lipton, Doris Day, Dr. John, João Gilberto, Ric Ocasek, Ginger Baker, Juice WRLD, Keith Flint, Nipsey Hussle
  • Notable releases:
    • Maggie Rogers’ Heard It In A Past Life
    • Ariana Grande's Thank U, Next
    • Madonna's Madame X
    • Bring Me the Horizon's Amo
    • Lewis Capaldi's Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent
    • Tool's Fear Inoculum
    • Tyler, The Creator's Igor
    • Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss' musical Six (originally performed in 2017) debuts in the West End
    • Charli XCX's Charli
    • Lana Del Rey's Norman F***ing Rockwell!
    • Taylor Swift's Lover
    • FKA Twigs's Magdalene
    • Freddie Gibbs & Madlib's Bandana
    • Weyes Blood's Titanic Rising
    • Carly Rae Jepsen's Dedicated
    • Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' Ghosteen
    • DaBaby' Baby on Baby
    • Thom Yorke' Anima
    • BTS' Map of the Soul: Persona
    • Billie Eilish's When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
    • Babymetal's Metal Galaxy
• 2018 in music, 2018 in African music, 2018 in American music, 2018 in Australian music, 2018 in British music, 2018 in Canadian music, 2018 in Chinese music, 2018 in Danish music, 2018 in European music, 2018 in Finnish music, 2018 in Icelandic music, 2018 in Japanese music, 2018 in Norwegian music, 2018 in Philippine music, 2018 in Scandinavian music, 2018 in South Korean music, 2018 in Swedish music
  • Deaths of Hugh Masekela, Tom Rapp, Vic Damone, Bud Luckey, Fredo Santana, Craig Mack, Avicii, XXXTentacion, Jimmy Wopo, Joe Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Mac Miller, Dolores O'Riordan, Charles Aznavour, Pete Shelley
  • Notable releases:
    • Ariana Grande's Sweetener
    • Christina Aguilera's Liberation
    • Earl Sweatshirt's Some Rap Songs
    • Car Seat Headrest's Twin Fantasy (Face to Face), a reworking of their 2011 album Twin Fantasy
    • Migos' Culture II
    • Nasty C's Strings and Bling
    • Camila Cabello's self-titled album
    • Panic! At the Disco's Pray for the Wicked
    • Kendrick Lamar's Black Panther: The Album for the 2018 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Black Panther
    • Cardi B's Invasion of Privacy
    • Kacey Musgraves's Golden Hour
    • Parquet Courts' Wide Awake!
    • A Perfect Circle's Eat the Elephant
    • Kanye West's Ye
    • Nas's NASIR
    • Mac Miller's Swimming
    • Eminem's Kamikaze
    • Paul McCartney's Egypt Station
    • Brockhampton's Iridescence
    • Kids See Ghosts's self-titled album
    • Khruangbin's Con Todo el Mundo
    • Molchat Doma's Etazhi
    • Daughters' You Won't Get What You Want
    • Noname's Room 25
    • Tim Hecker's Konoyo
    • Jon Hopkins's Singularity
    • Against All Logic's 2012–2017
    • BTS' Love Yourself: Tear
    • Exo's Don't Mess Up My Tempo
    • Blackpink's Square Up
    • Monsta X's Take.1 Are You There?
• 2017 in music, 2017 in African music, 2017 in American music, 2017 in Australian music, 2017 in British music, 2017 in Canadian music, 2017 in Chinese music, 2017 in Danish music, 2017 in European music, 2017 in Finnish music, 2017 in Icelandic music, 2017 in Japanese music, 2017 in Norwegian music, 2017 in Philippine music, 2017 in Scandinavian music, 2017 in South Korean music, 2017 in Swedish music
  • Deaths of Tom Petty, Chester Bennington, Al Jarreau, Fats Domino, Allan Holdsworth, Chuck Berry, J. Geils, John Wetton, Larry Coryell, Svend Asmussen, Chris Cornell, Gregg Allman, Butch Trucks, Rosalie Sorrels, Prodigy, Glen Campbell, Walter Becker, Grant Hart, Walter "Junie" Morrison, Jaki Liebezeit, Holger Czukay, David Cassidy, Johnny Hallyday, Keely Smith, Malcolm Young, Pierre Henry and Lil Peep
  • The One Love Manchester event takes place after the devastating Manchester Arena bomb attacks, following an Ariana Grande concert.
  • Notable releases:
    • Katy Perry's Witness
    • Taylor Swift's Reputation
    • Imagine Dragons' Evolve
    • Jay Z's 4:44
    • Linkin Park's One More Light
    • Sepultura's Machine Messiah
    • The xx's I See You
    • Sam Smith's The Thrill of It All
    • Stormzy's Gang Signs & Prayer
    • Demi Lovato's Tell Me You Love Me
    • Dua Lipa's self-titled debut album
    • Sampha's Process
    • Ed Sheeran's ÷
    • Thundercat's Drunk
    • Lorde's Melodrama
    • Pasek and Paul's soundtrack to the 20th Century Fox musical film The Greatest Showman
    • Kendrick Lamar's DAMN.
    • Rag'n'Bone Man's Human
    • SZA's Ctrl
    • Drake's More Life
    • Smino's blkswn
    • Tyler, The Creator's Flower Boy
    • BROCKHAMPTON's Saturation, Saturation II, and Saturation III
    • Rex Orange County's Apricot Princess
    • Father John Misty's Pure Comedy
    • Ryuichi Sakamoto's async
  • Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee release the record breaking hit single "Despacito".
• 2016 in music, 2016 in African music, 2016 in American music, 2016 in Asian music, 2016 in Australian music, 2016 in Brazilian music,2016 in British music, 2016 in Canadian music, 2016 in Chinese music, 2016 in Danish music, 2016 in European music (Continental Europe), 2016 in Finnish music, 2016 in French music, 2016 in German music, 2016 in Icelandic music, 2016 in Indian music, 2016 in Irish music, 2016 in Japanese music, 2016 in Malaysian music, 2016 in Norwegian music, 2016 in Philippine music, 2016 in Scandinavian music, 2016 in South Korean music, 2016 in Swedish music, 2016 in Vietnamese music
  • Deaths of Juan Gabriel, Paul Bley, Pierre Boulez, Elizabeth Swados, David Bowie, Paul Kantner, Glenn Frey, Leif Solberg, Harald Devold, George Martin, Naná Vasconcelos, Keith Emerson, Merle Haggard, Christina Grimmie, Glenn Yarbrough, Dan Hicks, Maurice White, Pete Burns, John Berry, Vanity, Prince, Oscar Brand, Mose Allison, Nick Menza, the members of Viola Beach, Fred Hellerman, Leonard Cohen, Leon Russell, Sharon Jones, Phife Dawg, Greg Lake and George Michael
  • Notable releases:
    • David Bowie's Blackstar
    • Chance the Rapper's Coloring Book
    • Leonard Cohen's You Want It Darker
    • Gwen Stefani's This Is What the Truth Feels Like
    • Ariana Grande's Dangerous Woman
    • Britney Spears' Glory
    • A Tribe Called Quest's We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service
    • Nick Jonas's Last Year Was Complicated
    • Bruno Mars's 24K Magic
    • Post Malone's Stoney
    • Green Day's Revolution Radio
    • Blink-182's California
    • Lady Gaga's Joanne
    • Beyoncé's Lemonade
    • Drake's Views
    • Yussef Kamaal's Black Focus
    • Rihanna's Anti
    • Tove Lo's Lady Wood
    • The Weeknd's Starboy
    • Avenged Sevenfold's The Stage
    • Metal Church's XI
    • Metallica's Hardwired... to Self-Destruct
    • Megadeth's Dystopia
    • Anthrax's For All Kings
    • Testament's Brotherhood of the Snake
    • Bon Jovi's This House Is Not for Sale
    • Kanye West's The Life of Pablo
    • Solange's A Seat at the Table
    • Panic! at the Disco's Death of a Bachelor
    • Kendrick Lamar's Untitled Unmastered
    • Childish Gambino's "Awaken, My Love!"
    • Kings of Leon's Walls
    • Radiohead's A Moon Shaped Pool
    • Frank Ocean's Blonde and Endless
    • BTS' Wings
    • Babymetal's Metal Resistance
    • Justin Timberlake's record breaking single "Can't Stop the Feeling" (from the soundtrack to the DreamWorks Animation film Trolls).
• 2015 in music, 2015 in American music, 2015 in Australian music, 2015 in British music, 2015 in Canadian music, 2015 in Chinese music, 2015 in Danish music, 2015 in European music (Continental Europe), 2015 in Finnish music, 2015 in Icelandic music, 2015 in Indian music, 2015 in Irish music, 2015 in Japanese music, 2015 in Philippine music, 2015 in South Korean music, 2015 in Norwegian music, 2015 in Swedish music
  • Deaths of Lemmy, Clark Terry, Erik Amundsen, Rod McKuen, John Eaton, Lesley Gore, Percy Sledge, Ben E. King, B.B. King, Jean Ritchie, Ronnie Gilbert, Ornette Coleman, Theodore Bikel, Bob Johnston, Kurt Masur, Nora Brockstedt, Scott Weiland, Svein Christiansen, Gary Richrath, Dallas Taylor, Kim Fowley, James Last and Natalie Cole.
  • Notable releases:
    • Twenty One Pilots's Blurryface
    • Coldplay's A Head Full of Dreams
    • Blur's The Magic Whip
    • Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly
    • Breaking Benjamin's Dark Before Dawn
    • Disturbed's Immortalized
    • Jeff Lynne's ELO's Alone in the Universe
    • Sufjan Stevens's Carrie & Lowell
    • Travis Scott's Rodeo
    • Adele's 25
    • Iron Maiden's The Book of Souls
    • Tame Impala's Currents
    • Kamasi Washington's The Epic
    • Slayer's Repentless
    • Madonna's Rebel Heart
    • Marius Neset's Pinball
    • Dag Arnesen's Grieg, Tveitt & I
    • Olga Konkova Trio's The Goldilocks Zone
    • Death Grips's The Powers That B
    • Pentatonix's self-titled
    • Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton
    • Faith No More's Sol Invictus
    • Demi Lovato's Confident
    • Selena Gomez's Revival
    • Oneohtrix Point Never's Garden of Delete
    • Carly Rae Jepsen's E•MO•TION
    • 2814's Birth of a New Day
    • Björk's Vulnicura
    • Death's Dynamic Shroud.wmv's I'll Try Living Like This
  • Silento releases his hit song Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae), that creates a viral dance trend.
  • Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth release "See You Again" for the film, Furious 7, as a tribute to Paul Walker, who died in a car crash.
  • Jerry Lee Lewis embarks on a final tour of the UK.
• 2014 in music, 2014 in American music, 2014 in Asian music, 2014 in Australian music, 2014 in Brazilian music, 2014 in British music, 2014 in Canadian music, 2014 in Chinese music, 2014 in European music (Continental Europe), 2014 in Irish music, 2014 in Japanese music, 2014 in New Zealand music, 2014 in Norwegian music, 2014 in Philippine music, 2014 in South Korean music, 2014 in Swedish music
  • Death of Phil Everly, Pete Seeger, Casey Kasem, Bobby Womack, Tommy Ramone, Johnny Winter, Robin Williams, Paco De Lucia, Jack Bruce, Bobby Keys, Joe Cocker
  • Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney perform together on 50th anniversary celebration to the Beatles, with performances by various artists.
  • Notable releases:
    • Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett's Cheek to Cheek
    • Ed Sheeran's x
    • Linkin Park's The Hunting Party
    • Slipknot's .5: The Gray Chapter
    • Coldplay's Ghost Stories
    • Jackie Evancho's Awakening
    • Taylor Swift's 1989
    • Jake Bugg's Shangri-La
    • Sia's 1000 Forms of Fear
    • Bob Dylan's The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete
    • J. Cole's 2014 Forest Hills Drive
    • U2's Songs of Innocence
    • Beck's Morning Phase
    • Freddie Gibbs and Madlib's Piñata
    • Aphex Twin's Syro
    • Machine Girl's WLFGRL
    • BadBadNotGood's III
    • Todd Terje's It's Album Time
    • Arca's Xen
    • Babymetal's self-titled debut album
    • Sam Smith's In the Lonely Hour
    • Nicki Minaj's Pinkprint
    • Pharrell Williams's Girl
    • Exodus' Blood In, Blood Out
    • Pink Floyd's The Endless River
  • Mark Ronson teams up with Bruno Mars to record the number one hit single Uptown Funk
• 2013 in music, 2013 in American music, 2013 in Australian music, 2013 in British music, 2013 in Canadian music, 2013 in European music (Continental Europe), 2013 in Irish music, 2013 in Japanese music, 2013 in Norwegian music, 2013 in South Korean music, 2013 in Swedish music
  • Death of Patti Page, Cecil Womack, Lil Snupe, Alvin Lee, Clive Burr, Jeff Hanneman, Lou Reed, Cory Monteith, and Ray Manzarek.
  • Notable releases:
    • Lorde's Pure Heroine
    • Lady Gaga's Artpop
    • Katy Perry's Prism
    • Justin Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience
    • Chance The Rapper's Acid Rap
    • Tyler, The Creator's Wolf
    • Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories
    • Boards of Canada’s Tomorrow's Harvest
    • Oneohtrix Point Never’s R Plus Seven
    • Tim Hecker’s Virgins
    • Jon Hopkins’ Immunity
    • William Onyeabor’s Who is William Onyeabor?
    • Kyary Pamyu Pamyu releases Nanda Collection
    • Anamanaguchi releases Endless Fantasy
    • My Bloody Valentine's m b v
    • Disclosure's Settle
    • Jay-Z's Magna Carta Holy Grail
    • Oneohtrix Point Never's R Plus Seven
  • Actress Anna Kendrick releases Cups (When I'm Gone) (featured on the soundtrack to the film Pitch Perfect)
• 2012 in music, 2012 in African music, 2012 in American music, 2012 in Asian music, 2012 in Australian music, 2012 in British music, 2012 in Canadian music, 2012 in European music (Continental Europe), 2012 in Norwegian music, 2012 in Irish music, 2012 in Japanese music, 2012 in New Zealand music, 2012 in Swedish music, 2012 in South Korean music
  • Death of Ian Bargh, Whitney Houston, Etta James, Ravi Shankar, Davy Jones, Robert B. Sherman, Earl Scruggs, Levon Helm, Adam Yauch, Donna Summer, Robin Gibb, Doc Watson, Bob Welch, Kitty Wells, Jon Lord, Andy Williams, Jenni Rivera, Mitch Lucker, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Dave Brubeck and Richard Rodney Bennett.
  • The Beach Boys embark on a 2012 world tour celebrating their 50th Anniversary.
  • Swedish House Mafia announce their break up and embark on One Last Tour.
  • English singer-songwriter Jake Bugg releases his debut album, Jake Bugg.
  • Madonna's 12th studio album is released, entitled MDNA. It tops the charts across the globe including the United Kingdom where she becomes the solo artist with the most number one albums and the UK breaks the iTunes pre-order record. To support the album she embarks on The MDNA Tour which grosses over $305 million and becomes the second highest grossing female tour, behind her own Sticky and Sweet Tour.
  • South Korean pop singer Psy releases his album Psy 6 (Six Rules), Part 1, which includes the viral dance song, Gangnam Style, that becomes the most viewed YouTube video for 5 years.
  • Nicki Minaj releases her album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded
  • Kesha releases Warrior
  • Taylor Swift releases Red
  • Tame Impala releases Lonerism
  • Kyary Pamyu Pamyu releases Pamyu Pamyu Revolution
  • Kendrick Lamar releases good kid, m.A.A.d city
  • Frank Ocean releases Channel Orange
  • Lana Del Rey releases Born to Die
  • Imagine Dragons release Night Visions
  • Godspeed You! Black Emperor release 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
  • Flying Lotus releases Until the Quiet Comes
  • Blank Banshee releases Blank Banshee 0
• 2011 in music, 2011 in American music, 2011 in Asian music, 2011 in British music, 2011 in Canadian music, 2011 in European music (Continental Europe), 2011 in Irish music, 2011 in Japanese music, 2011 in Norwegian music, 2011 in Swedish music
  • Death of Gerry Rafferty, Gary Moore, George Shearing, Mike Starr, Ferlin Husky, Gil Scott-Heron, Clarence Clemons, Amy Winehouse, Sylvia Robinson, Bert Jansch, and Dobie Gray.
  • English singer Adele released the album 21, which had sold 26.4 million copies worldwide according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, became the best selling album in the past 15 years, and also won six Grammys.
  • Lady Gaga releases her iconic album Born This Way
  • Jessie J releases her debut studio album, Who You Are
  • LMFAO release the album Sorry for Party Rocking
  • Radiohead release the album The King of Limbs
  • Vektroid release the album Floral Shoppe
  • Oneohtrix Point Never releases the album Replica
  • The Caretaker releases the album An Empty Bliss Beyond This World
  • Tim Hecker releases the album Ravedeath, 1972
  • James Ferraro releases the album Far Side Virtual
  • Rustie releases the album Glass Swords
  • C418 releases Minecraft – Volume Alpha, the first soundtrack album to the sandbox video game Minecraft
  • Robert Lopez and South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone team up and create the musical The Book of Mormon.
  • Gotye releases the album Making Mirrors, which features the number one hit single "Somebody That I Used to Know"
  • Rebecca Black releases her debut single, "Friday", to scathing reviews, and being the most disliked YouTube video until it was taken down 6 months later.
• 2010 in music, 2010 in American music, 2010 in Asian music, 2010 in Australian music, 2010 in British music, 2010 in European music (Continental Europe), 2010 in Irish music, 2010 in Japanese music, 2010 in New Zealand music, 2010 in Norwegian music, 2010 in Philippine music, 2010 in Swedish music
  • Tour of Jerry Lee Lewis.
  • Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax perform together for the first time as part of the Big 4 shows.
  • Death of Teddy Pendergrass, Ed Thigpen, Kate McGarrigle, Ronnie James Dio, Peter Steele, Paul Gray, Lena Horne, Jimmy Dean, Tuli Kupferberg, Eddie Fisher, Joan Sutherland and Bobby Farrell.
  • Notable releases:
    • Gorillaz's Plastic Beach
    • Flying Lotus's Cosmogramma
    • Four Tet's There Is Love in You
    • Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday
    • Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
    • Katy Perry's Teenage Dream
    • CeeLo Green's The Lady Killer
    • Kesha releases her first studio album, Kesha, as well as her first EP, Cannibal.
    • Yolanda Be Cool's "We No Speak Americano"
    • Bruno Mars's Doo-Wops and Hooligans
    • Australian musical project Tame Impala releases his debut album Innerspeaker

2000s

• 2009 in music, 2009 in British music, 2009 in Canadian music, 2009 in Irish music, 2009 in Japanese music, 2009 in Norwegian music, 2009 in South Korean music
  • Deaths of Michael Jackson, James Owen Sullivan, Leon Kirchner, Les Paul, Ali Akbar Khan, Merce Cunningham, Ron Asheton, Henri Pousseur, Mary Travers, Stephen Gately, and Alain Bashung.
  • Lady Gaga releases The Fame Monster
  • Britney Spears releases her comeback album Circus which receives critical acclaim.
  • Flo Rida releases his studio album R.O.O.T.S.. His lead single "Right Round" introduces future pop star Kesha to a mainstream audience.
  • Noel Gallagher departs from Oasis after a heated confrontation with vocalist and brother Liam Gallagher in Rock en Seine, France leading to the disbandment of Oasis.
  • Phoenix release Lisztomania
  • Animal Collective releases Merriweather Post Pavilion
  • Owl City releases Ocean Eyes
  • Michael Bublé release Crazy Love
  • The Heavy release The House That Dirt Built
  • The Black Eyed Peas release The E.N.D
  • Ryuichi Sakamoto release Playing the Piano
• Debut of:
  • Susan Boyle's I Dreamed a Dream
• 2008 in music, 2008 in British music, 2008 in Canadian music, 2008 in Irish music, 2008 in Japanese music, 2008 in Norwegian music, 2008 in South Korean music
  • Deaths of Mauricio Kagel, Artie Traum, Wilfrid Mellers, LeRoi Moore, Erik Darling, Isaac Hayes, Bo Diddley, Richard Wright, Nick Reynolds, Mitch Mitchell, Miriam Makeba, Odetta, Eartha Kitt, Freddie Hubbard, and Robert Hazard.
  • Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body" becomes her 18th U.S. chart-topper, setting the record for most U.S. number ones singles by a solo artist – only behind the Beatles with 20 – and most weeks at number one on the Hot 100 chart with a total of 79.
  • Lil Wayne released Tha Carter III and sold 1 million copies in the first week, becoming the best selling album of 2008.
  • Madonna's Sticky and Sweet Tour becomes the highest grossing female tour of all-time (surpassing her own record) and then the highest grossing solo tour of all time. It promotes her 11th studio album Hard Candy which sells 4 million copies and includes the international hit song "4 Minutes".
  • Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak
  • Coldplay's Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
  • Lady Gaga's first studio album, The Fame
  • Katy Perry releases her first studio album, One of the Boys
  • Taylor Swift's second studio album, Fearless releases.
  • Flying Lotus' Los Angeles
  • Earth's The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull
  • DJ Sprinkles's Midtown 120 Blues
• 2007 in music, 2007 in British music, 2007 in Canadian music, 2007 in Irish music, 2007 in Japanese music, 2007 in Norwegian music, 2007 in South Korean music
  • Deaths of Beverly Sills, Max Roach, Oscar Peterson, Izumi Sakai, Luciano Pavarotti, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Don Arden.
  • Live Earth and Led Zeppelin reunion.
  • Radiohead splits from EMI and independently releases In Rainbows with an online download method of payment that allows the buyer to choose their price.
  • The Mars Volta releases one of the first USB flash drive albums, as part of their The Bedlam in Goliath.
  • Kanye West releases Graduation
  • Mika releases Life in Cartoon Motion
  • Burial releases Untrue
  • Arcade Fire release Neon Bible
  • Animal Collective releases Strawberry Jam
  • LCD Soundsystem release Sound of Silver
  • Bon Iver releases For Emma, Forever Ago
  • Arctic Monkeys release Favourite Worst Nightmare
  • Panda Bear releases Person Pitch
  • The National release Boxer
  • Alcest releases Souvenirs d'un autre monde
  • M.I.A. releases Kala
  • Battles releases Mirrored
  • Justice release Cross
• 2006 in music, 2006 in British music, 2006 in Irish music, 2006 in Norwegian music, 2006 in South Korean music, 2006 in Swiss music
  • Jack Johnson's Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George to the Universal Studios' animated feature Curious George
  • System of a Down announces hiatus
  • Taylor Swift releases her debut album, Taylor Swift
  • Amy Winehouse releases Back to Black
  • My Chemical Romance release The Black Parade
  • Rihanna releases A Girl like Me
  • Evanescence releases The Open Door
  • J Dilla releases Donuts
  • Arctic Monkeys release Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
  • Joanna Newsom releases Ys
  • Tool release 10,000 Days
  • Brand New release The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me
  • Muse releases Black Holes and Revelations
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers release Stadium Arcadium
  • Deaths of James Brown and Syd Barrett.
• 2005 in music, 2005 in British music, 2005 in Irish music, 2005 in Norwegian music, 2005 in South Korean music, 2005 in Swiss music
  • After four years, Gorillaz release their second studio album, Demon Days.
  • Mariah Carey releases her 10-million selling The Emancipation of Mimi, the best-selling album of the year worldwide, alongside the album's second single "We Belong Together", the year's most successful single, and the Song of the Decade 2000–2009.
  • Death of Luther Vandross and John Herald.
  • Pink Floyd reunion for Live 8.
  • R. Kelly releases his opera series Trapped in the Closet.
  • Daft Punk release Human After All
  • Boris release Pink
  • Boards of Canada release The Campfire Headphase
  • Venetian Snares release Rossz Csillag Alatt Született
  • Madonna releases Confessions on a Dance Floor, her 10th studio album. It wins a Grammy award, Brit award, sells in excess of 12 million copies and has the worldwide hit "Hung Up" which tops the charts in a record-breaking 41 countries.
  • Kanye West releases his album Late Registration
  • Musicals first performed:
    • Monty Python member Eric Idle releases the Monty Python musical Spamalot
    • Elton John's musical adaptation of the British drama film Billy Elliot, which features the song "Electricity"
    • Bob Gaudio's biopic Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons musical Jersey Boys
  • Debuts by:
    • Bullet for My Valentine's The Poison
• 2004 in music, 2004 in British music, 2004 in Irish music, 2004 in Norwegian music, 2004 in South Korean music
  • Death of Ray Charles, Rick James, Dimebag Darrell.
  • Danger Mouse releases The Grey Album, sparking days of electronic disobedience by Internet file sharers against EMI.
  • Green Day releases American Idiot to critical acclaim.
  • Madvillain's Madvillainy
  • MF Doom's Mm..Food
  • Green Day's American Idiot
  • Animal Collective's Sung Tongs
  • Modest Mouse's Good News for People Who Love Bad News
  • Interpol's Antics
  • Mastodon's Leviathan
  • Björk's Medúlla
  • Eminem's Encore (Eminem album)
  • Canadian singer Celine Dion became recipient of the Diamond award, and she was honored in 2004 by World Music Awards receiving the best selling female artist of all time.
  • Debut by:
    • Kanye West's The College Dropout
    • The Go! Team's Thunder, Lightning, Strike
    • Arcade Fire's Funeral
    • Franz Ferdinand's self-titled album
  • Notable releases:
    • Moldovan pop band O-Zone release "Dragostea Din Tei", going on to become an Internet sensation.
• 2003 in music, 2003 in British music, 2003 in Irish music, 2003 in Norwegian music, 2003 in South Korean music
  • Death of Nina Simone, Celia Cruz, June Carter Cash, Johnny Cash, Herbie Mann, and John Serry Sr.
  • Debut by:
    • Beyoncé Dangerously in Love
  • Notable releases:
    • Linkin Park's Meteora
    • Stephen Schwartz's musical Wicked
    • Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
    • Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx's Avenue Q
    • Evanescence's Fallen
    • The Black Eyed Peas' Elephunk
    • Radiohead's Hail to the Thief
    • Kraftwerk's Tour de France Soundtracks
    • The White Stripes' Elephant
    • Sleep's Jerusalem and Dopesmoker
    • Blink-182's self-titled album
    • Sweet Trip's Velocity : Design : Comfort
    • Explosions in the Sky's The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place
    • Boris's Boris at Last -Feedbacker-
    • MF Doom's Take Me to Your Leader
    • Nujabes' Metaphorical Music
    • Four Tet's Rounds
• 2002 in music, 2002 in British music, 2002 in Norwegian music, 2002 in South Korean music
  • Deaths of Waylon Jennings, Dave Van Ronk, Layne Staley, Lisa Left-Eye Lopes, Lonnie Donegan, John Entwistle and Joe Strummer.
  • Beginning of American Idol (initially titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar) which brings the arrival of first winner Kelly Clarkson.
  • Alan Jackson releases Drive.
  • Eminem releases The Eminem Show and "Lose Yourself" from his film 8 Mile, the first rap song of its kind to win an Academy Award for Best Original Song.
  • Justin Timberlake releases his debut album Justified.
  • Marc Shaiman's musical adaptation of the film Hairspray first performed.
  • Junior Senior release D-D-Don't Don't Stop the Beat.
  • Boards of Canada release Geogaddi
  • Godspeed You! Black Emperor releases Yanqui U.X.O..
  • Isis releases Oceanic (Isis album).
• 2001 in music, 2001 in British music, 2001 in Norwegian music, 2001 in South Korean music
  • Deaths of Mimi Fariña, Chet Atkins, Aaliyah, George Harrison, John Lee Hooker, John Phillips, Perry Como, Isaac Stern, and Chuck Schuldiner
  • Duran Duran is reunited with the original five members and goes on tour for the first time since 1985.
  • Michael Jackson's last studio album Invincible released.
  • Gorillaz' self-titled debut album is released.
  • Daft Punk releases Discovery
  • Kylie Minogue releases Fever
  • Comedy legend Mel Brooks' musical adaptation of his 1967 film The Producers first performed, starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick.
  • Basement Jaxx release Rooty
  • Fennesz releases Endless Summer
  • The Strokes' debut album Is This It is released
  • Rammstein releases Mutter
  • Opeth releases Blackwater Park
  • The Microphones releases The Glow Pt. 2
  • Muse releases Origin of Symmetry
  • System of a Down releases Toxicity
  • Björk releases Vespertine
  • Alicia Keys releases Songs in A Minor
  • Shakira releases Laundry Service
  • Manu Chao releases Próxima Estación: Esperanza
  • Tool release Lateralus
  • Cornelius release Point
  • Hikaru Utada releases Distance
  • Aphex Twin releases Drukqs
  • Stars of the Lid releases The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid
  • Autechre releases Confield
  • Napster's popularity peaks.
  • Metallica and Dr. Dre sue Napster over illegal distribution of their music.
  • Debuts by:
    • Avenged Sevenfold's Sounding the Seventh Trumpet
    • My Chemical Romance’s "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love"
• 2000 in music, 2000 in British music, 2000 in Norwegian music, 2000 in South Korean music
  • Mariah Carey becomes the Best-Selling Artist of the Millennium according to the World Music Awards.
  • Britney Spears' Oops!... I Did It Again sells over 23 million copies and becomes the best-selling album by a female artist of the decade.
  • Blink-182 enjoy mainstream success (mainly from their hit single "All the Small Things") and lead pop-punk into the 21st Century.
  • Madonna releases her album Music, which goes on to sell 15 million copies, becomes universally acclaimed, and gets nominated for 5 Grammy awards. It follows her 1998 comeback Ray of Light.
  • Debuts by:
    • Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory
    • Coldplay's Parachutes
    • Craig David's Born to Do It
    • The Avalanches' Since I Left You
  • Notable releases
    • Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP
    • Baha Men's Who Let the Dogs Out?
    • Outkast's Stankonia
    • Ayumi Hamasaki's Duty
    • Mai Kuraki's Delicious Way
    • Ringo Sheena's Shōso Strip
    • Boris release Flood
    • Radiohead's Kid A
    • Godspeed You! Black Emperor's Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
    • Vladislav Delay's Vocalcity
    • The Beatles's 1

List of 10 best-selling albums of the 2000s

1. The Beatles – 1 – 31 million – 2000
2. Norah Jones – Come Away with Me – 26 million – 2002
3. Backstreet Boys – Black & Blue – 24 million – 2000
4. Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory – 24 million – 2000
5. Britney Spears – Oops!... I Did It Again – 20 million – 2000
6. Usher – Confessions – 20 million – 2004
7. Eminem – The Eminem Show – 19 million – 2002
8. Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP – 19 million – 2000
9. Avril Lavigne – Let Go – 17 million – 2002
10. Evanescence – Fallen – 17 million – 2003

1990s

• 1999 in music, 1999 in British music, 1999 in Norwegian music, 1999 in South Korean music
  • Arrival of Britney Spears, Coldplay, Jenni Rivera, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, Slipknot, Muse and Jennifer Lopez.
  • Deaths of Barış Manço, Rick Danko, Scatman John and Curtis Mayfield.
  • Notable releases:
    • Dr. Dre's 2001
    • Moby's Play
    • Sigur Rós' Ágætis byrjun
    • Santana' Supernatural
    • The Flaming Lips' The Soft Bulletin
    • Red Hot Chili Peppers's Californication
    • MF Doom's Operation: Doomsday
    • Eminem's The Slim Shady LP
    • The Dismemberment Plan's Emergency & I
    • Nine Inch Nails' The Fragile
    • Rage Against the Machine's The Battle of Los Angeles
    • Opeth's Still Life
    • Mos Def's Black on Both Sides
    • Fiona Apple's When the Pawn...
    • Mr. Bungle's California
    • Blur's 13
    • Built to Spill's Keep It Like a Secret
    • Dream Theater's Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory
    • The Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs
    • The Roots's Things Fall Apart
    • Wilco's Summerteeth
    • Blink-182's Enema of the State
    • American Football's first self-titled album
    • Fatboy Slim's You've Come a Long Way, Baby
    • Lynda Thomas' Mi Día de la Independencia
    • Jamiroquai's Synkronized
    • Backstreet Boys' Millennium
    • Christina Aguilera' self-titled debut album
    • Lou Bega's Mambo No. 5
    • Ricky Martin's Livin' la Vida Loca
    • Eiffel 65's Europop
    • Hikaru Utada's First Love
    • Boredoms' Vision Creation Newsun
    • Darude' Before the Storm
    • Mogwai's Come On Die Young
    • Burzum's Hliðskjálf
    • Mr. Oizo's Analog Worms Attack
    • Susumu Yokota's Sakura
    • Trey Parker and Marc Shaiman's soundtrack to the Comedy Central animated film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
  • Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus's ABBA musical Mamma Mia! first performed.
• 1998 in music, 1998 in British music, 1998 in Norwegian music, 1998 in South Korean music
  • Deaths of:
    • Frank Sinatra
    • Hide
    • Linda McCartney
  • Lauryn Hill releases The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
  • Neutral Milk Hotel releases In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.
  • The Offspring releases Americana.
  • "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith, from the Michael Bay film Armageddon, becomes the first song by a rock band to debut at No. 1.
  • Insane Clown Posse gets dropped from the Walt Disney Company's record label Hollywood Records after the release of The Great Milenko, in order for Disney to prevent a violent Southern Baptist Church protest due to Walt Disney World's Gay Days events.
  • Madonna releases her seventh studio album Ray of Light which goes on to sell over 16 million copies, become universally acclaimed and win 4 Grammy Awards.
  • Robbie Williams releases I've Been Expecting You
  • Lauryn Hill releases The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
  • Boris release Amplifier Worship
  • Massive Attack release Mezzanine
  • System of a Down release their self-titled debut album
  • Outkast release Aquemini
  • Duster release Stratosphere
  • Elliott Smith releaseS XO
  • Refused release The Shape of Punk to Come
  • Queens of the Stone Age release self-titled debut album
  • Belle and Sebastian release The Boy with the Arab Strap
  • Black Star release Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star
  • The Smashing Pumpkins release Adore
  • Pearl Jam release Yield
  • Gorguts release Obscura
  • Air release Moon Safari
  • Boards of Canada release Music Has the Right to Children
  • Tortoise release TNT
  • Autechre releases LP5
  • Don Caballero releases What Burns Never Returns
  • Amon Tobin releases Permutation
  • Dirty Three release Ocean Songs
  • Gas releases Zauberberg and Königsforst
  • Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion release "The Prayer" from the animated Warner Bros. film Quest for Camelot
  • Geri Halliwell leaves the Spice Girls
  • Death releases their final album The Sound of Perseverance.
• 1997 in music, 1997 in British music, 1997 in Norwegian music, 1997 in South Korean music
  • Debuts of Backstreet Boys and Robbie Williams (after leaving Take That)
  • Death of John Denver, Jeff Buckley, Townes Van Zandt, The Notorious B.I.G., Michael Hutchence, Fela Kuti, and Velvet.
  • Notable releases:
    • Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty, and David Newman's soundtrack to the animated feature film Anastasia.
    • Radiohead's OK Computer
    • Björk's Homogenic
    • Janet Jackson's The Velvet Rope
    • Mariah Carey's #1's, selling 17 million copies.
    • Blur release the single "Song 2" to a chart-topping success.
    • Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love, which sold over 31 million copies worldwide. Lead single "My Heart Will Go On", from the James Cameron film Titanic, became the best selling single of the year and the second best selling single by a female artist of all time.
    • Elton John and Tim Rice's musical version of the Disney Animation film The Lion King
    • The Verve's Urban Hymns
    • Shania Twain's Come On Over
    • Elliott Smith's Either/Or
    • Modest Mouse's The Lonesome Crowded West
    • Spiritualized's Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
    • Portishead's self-titled debut album
    • Yo La Tengo's I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One
    • Built to Spill's Perfect from Now On
    • Ween's The Mollusk
    • Deftones' Around the Fur
    • The Prodigy's The Fat of the Land
    • Metallica's Reload
    • Blur's self-titled album
    • Foo Fighters' The Colour and the Shape
    • Stereolab's Dots and Loops
    • Buena Vista Social Club's self-titled debut album
    • Daft Punk's Homework
    • Godspeed You! Black Emperor's F♯ A♯ ∞
    • Mogwai's Mogwai Young Team
    • The Chemical Brothers' Dig Your Own Hole
    • Biosphere's Substrata
    • Squarepusher's Hard Normal Daddy
    • Autechre's Chiastic Slide
    • Amon Tobin's Bricolage
    • Christoph de Babalon's If You're Into It, I'm Out of It
    • Fishmans' Uchū Nippon Setagaya
    • Fantastic Plastic Machine's self-titled debut album
    • Cornelius' Fantasma
• 1996 in music, 1996 in British music, 1996 in Norwegian music, 1996 in South Korean music
  • Death of Ella Fitzgerald, Tupac Shakur, Zeki Müren and Brad Nowell.
  • Arrival of Lynda Thomas, Spice Girls.
  • Guns N' Roses break up, later reuniting for 2008's Chinese Democracy.
  • Pink Floyd disband.
  • Celine Dion released the album Falling into You, selling over 32 million copies worldwide.
  • Max Cavalera leaves Sepultura, later going on to form Soulfly.
  • Notable releases:
    • Sepultura's Roots
    • Jonathan Larson's Rent
    • Jamiroquai's Travelling Without Moving
    • Spice Girls' Spice
    • DJ Shadow's Endtroducing.....
    • Weezer's Pinkerton
    • Fishmans' Long Season
    • Tool's Ænima
    • Aphex Twin's Richard D. James Album
    • Belle and Sebastian's If You're Feeling Sinister
    • Swans' Soundtracks for the Blind
    • Burzum's Filosofem
    • Beck's Odelay
    • Outkast ATLiens
    • Metallica's Load
    • Tortoise's Millions Now Living Will Never Die
    • Toshinori Kondo and DJ Krush's Ki-Oku
  • Debut album:
    • Supergrass's I Should Coco
    • Neutral Milk Hotel's On Avery Island
    • Jay-Z Reasonable Doubt
    • Robert Miles's Dreamland
• 1995 in music, 1995 in British music, 1995 in Norwegian music, 1995 in South Korean music
  • A year after the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest interval performance, Irish dance show Riverdance debuts.
  • Michael Jackson releases HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I, the best-selling multi-disc album of all time. This double album contains "You Are Not Alone" – the first single ever to enter the Billboard Hot 100 at number one.
  • Death of Jerry Garcia, Dean Martin, Phyllis Hyman, Selena, Burl Ives, and Eazy-E.
  • Mariah Carey becomes the first female artist in history to have a song debut at number one with Fantasy.
  • Coolio and L.V. release the award-winning single "Gangsta's Paradise" from the film Dangerous Minds
  • Mariah Carey and band Boyz II Men releases the multiple-record holding "One Sweet Day", the single with the most weeks at number and the Song of the Decade 1990–1999.
  • Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli first performs and releases the acclaimed opera song "Con te partirò".
  • Italian DJ Robert Miles releases his debut single "Children" to universal acclaim.
  • Los del Río release "Macarena", the record breaking dance song of all time.
  • Queen releases their final album Made in Heaven following the death of frontman Freddie Mercury.
  • Notable releases:
    • Death's Symbolic
    • The Smashing Pumpkins' Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
    • Radiohead's The Bends
    • Björk's Post
    • Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
    • GZA's Liquid Swords
    • Death's Symbolic
    • Elliott Smith's self-titled album
    • Mobb Deep's The Infamous Mobb Deep
    • Pulp's Different Class
    • Swans' The Great Annihilator
    • Ulver's Bergtatt – Et eeventyr i 5 capitler
    • PJ Harvey's To Bring You My Love
    • Pavement's Wowee Zowee
    • Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...
    • The Chemical Brothers' Exit Planet Dust
    • Sonic Youth's Washing Machine
    • David Bowie's Outside
    • Alice in Chains' self-titled album
    • Dissection's Storm of the Light's Bane
    • Blur's The Great Escape
    • Three 6 Mafia's Mystic Stylez
    • Aphex Twin's ...I Care Because You Do
    • Autechre's Tri Repetae
    • Slowdive's Pygmalion
    • Oval's 94 Diskont
    • Porcupine Tree's The Sky Moves Sideways
    • Hallucinogen's Twisted
• 1994 in music, 1994 in British music, 1994 in Norwegian music
  • Deaths of:
    • Dinah Shore
    • Kurt Cobain
  • Debuts by:
    • Oasis (Definitely Maybe)
    • Weezer (The Blue Album)
    • Brandy (Brandy)
    • Nas (Illmatic)
    • The Notorious B.I.G. (Ready to Die)
    • Portishead (Dummy)
    • Sunny Day Real Estate (Diary)
  • Other albums released:
    • Pink Floyd's The Division Bell, their last album until 2014's The Endless River.
    • Madonna's Bedtime Stories
    • Blur's Parklife
    • Green Day's major-label debut, Dookie, with the hits "Longview", "Welcome to Paradise", "Basket Case", "When I Come Around" and "She".
    • The Offspring's Smash
    • Common's Resurrection
    • Soundgarden's Superunknown
    • R.E.M.'s Monster
    • NOFX's Punk in Drublic
    • Jeff Buckley's Grace
    • Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Volume II
    • Global Communication's 76:14
    • Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral
    • Nirvana's live album MTV Unplugged in New York
    • Bad Religion's Stranger Than Fiction. With this album, the band earned their first (and only) US gold record in its 15-year career.
    • Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas, with its multi-platinum lead single "All I Want for Christmas Is You", which eventually becomes the nineteenth best-selling digital single of the 20th century.
    • Beck's major-label debut, Mellow Gold.
    • The Prodigy's Music for the Jilted Generation.
• 1993 in music, 1993 in British music, 1993 in Norwegian music
  • Debuts by:
    • Cynic (Focus)
    • Rancid (Rancid)
    • Snoop Doggy Dogg (Doggystyle)
    • Tool (Undertow)
    • Wu-Tang Clan (Enter the Wu-Tang)
    • Radiohead (Pablo Honey)
    • Björk (Debut)
    • Autechre (Incunabula)
    • Earth (Earth 2)
    • Seefeel (Quique)
  • Nirvana release their final album, titled In Utero.
  • Birth of Ariana Grande
  • Deaths of Frank Zappa, Marian Anderson, and Dizzy Gillespie.
  • Mariah Carey releases her 32-million selling Music Box album.
  • Bad Religion signs to Atlantic Records, where the band later achieves success.
  • Other albums released:
    • Death's Individual Thought Patterns
    • Duran Duran's The Wedding Album
    • Morbid Angel's Covenant
    • Pestilence's Spheres
    • Sepultura's Chaos A.D.
    • Sting's Ten Summoner's Tales
    • Slowdive's Souvlaki
    • The Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream
    • A Tribe Called Quest's Midnight Marauders
    • Pearl Jam's Vs.
    • Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell
    • Orbital's Orbital
• 1992 in music, 1992 in British music, 1992 in Norwegian music, 1992 in South Korean music
  • Debuts by:
    • Body Count (Body Count)
    • Aphex Twin (Selected Ambient Works 85–92)
    • Dr. Dre (The Chronic)
    • The Future Sound of London (Accelerator)
    • Pavement (Slanted and Enchanted)
    • Rage Against the Machine (Rage Against the Machine)
    • Stone Temple Pilots (Core)
    • Sublime (40oz. to Freedom)
    • Therapy? (Nurse)
    • Red House Painters (Down Colorful Hill)
    • Ugly Kid Joe (America's Least Wanted)
    • Tori Amos (Little Earthquakes)
  • Death of John Cage and Yutaka Ozaki.
  • U2 start the Zoo TV Tour
  • Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
  • Birth of Selena Gomez
  • Other releases:
    • R.E.M.'s Automatic for the People
    • Alice in Chains' Dirt
    • Sonic Youth's Dirty
    • Dream Theater's Images and Words
    • Pantera's Vulgar Display of Power
    • Tom Waits' Bone Machine
    • Darkthrone's A Blaze in the Northern Sky
    • Megadeth's Countdown to Extinction
    • Kyuss' Blues for the Red Sun
    • The Cure's Wish
    • Sade's Love Deluxe
    • Beastie Boys' Check Your Head
    • The Orb's U.F.Orb
    • Madonna's sexually-provocative book Sex, which was accompanied by the double-platinum album Erotica. It becomes one of the most controversial books and albums ever released, but enjoys commercial success. From it, Madonna made $500 million for her label.
    • The soundtrack to the film The Bodyguard, the best selling soundtrack album of all time, selling over 45 million copies worldwide to date. Its leading single "I Will Always Love You" became the best selling single by a female artist (Whitney Houston) of all time, selling over 15 million copies.
    • Faith No More's Angel Dust
    • Obituary's The End Complete
    • Artificial Intelligence, Warp's compilation album by various artists is released.
    • Japanese pop band Dreams Come True release their album The Swinging Star, whose track Sweet Sweet Sweet originated as the ending theme of the Sega Genesis video game Sonic the Hedgehog 2, for which Masato Nakamura composed the music.
• 1991 in music, 1991 in British music, 1991 in Norwegian music
  • Debut albums by:
    • Blur (Leisure)
    • Cypress Hill (Cypress Hill)
    • EMF (Schubert Dip)
    • The Infectious Grooves (The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move...It's the Infectious Grooves)
    • Kyuss (Wretch)
    • Pearl Jam (Ten)
    • The Smashing Pumpkins (Gish)
    • Beck (Golden Feelings)
    • Massive Attack (Blue Lines)
    • LFO (Frequencies)
    • The Orb (The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld)
    • Orbital (Orbital)
    • Electronic (Electronic)
    • Biosphere (Microgravity)
    • Nightmares on Wax (A Word of Science: The First and Final Chapter)
  • Arrival of Blue Man Group
  • Death of Miles Davis, Freddie Mercury, Eric Carr, Steve Clark.
  • Notable releases:
    • Death's Human
    • Michael Jackson's Dangerous
    • Metallica's Metallica
    • Morbid Angel's Blessed Are the Sick
    • Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical adaptation of the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard
    • Enya's Shepherd Moons
    • Nirvana's Nevermind
    • Bryan Adams's "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" from the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
    • Pestilence's Testimony of the Ancients
    • Sepultura's Arise
    • U2's Achtung Baby
    • The KLF's The White Room
    • 808 State's ex:el
    • Kraftwerk's The Mix
    • Ultramarine's Every Man and Woman Is a Star
    • Primal Scream's Screamadelica
    • Red Hot Chili Pepper's Blood Sugar Sex Magik
    • Sonny Sharrock's Ask the Ages
  • Mariah Carey wins the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Mariah Carey becomes the only artist in history to have their first 5 consecutive singles reach number one in the United States.
• 1990 in music, 1990 in British music, 1990 in Norwegian music
  • Debut albums by Alice in Chains (Facelift), Cannibal Corpse (Eaten Back to Life), Mariah Carey (Mariah Carey), Deee-Lite (World Clique), Green Day (39/Smooth), Helmet (Strap It On), Ice Cube (AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted), Primus (Frizzle Fry), Ride (Nowhere) and A Tribe Called Quest (People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm) are released.
  • Death of Sarah Vaughan, Leonard Bernstein, Luigi Nono, Johnnie Ray, and Sammy Davis Jr.
  • Milli Vanilli becomes exposed as a music fraud.
  • The Three Tenors (consisting of Plácido Domingo, José Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti) perform their first concert at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, with a recording of the concert turned into Carreras Domingo Pavarotti in Concert, becoming the fastest-selling classical album of all time.
  • Notable releases:
    • Slayer's Seasons in the Abyss
    • Obituary's Cause of Death
    • Pantera's Cowboys from Hell
    • Megadeth's Rust in Peace
    • Judas Priest's Painkiller
    • Depeche Mode's Violator
    • Cocteau Twins's Heaven or Las Vegas
    • Sonic Youth's Goo
    • Fugazi's Repeater
    • Ride's Nowhere
    • Pixies' Bossanova
    • Sinéad O'Connor' I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got

List of 10 best-selling albums of the 1990s

1. Whitney Houston / Various artists – The Bodyguard – 45 million – 1992
2. Shania Twain – Come on Over – 40 million – 1997
3. Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill – 33 million – 1995
4. Mariah Carey – Music Box – 32 million – 1993
5. Celine Dion – Falling into You – 32 million – 1996
6. Michael Jackson – Dangerous – 32 million – 1991
7. Celine Dion – Let's Talk About Love – 31 million – 1997
8. Madonna – The Immaculate Collection – 30 million – 1990
9. Britney Spears – ...Baby One More Time – 30 million – 1999
10. Backstreet Boys – Millennium – 30 million – 1999

1980s

• 1989 in music, 1989 in British music, 1989 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
    • The swing revival is agreed upon to have started around 1989.
    • The musical Miss Saigon first performed
  • Deaths of:
    • Herbert von Karajan
    • Irving Berlin
    • Vladimir Horowitz
  • Notable releases:
    • 3rd Bass – The Cactus Album (Debut)
    • De La Soul – 3 Feet High and Rising (Debut)
    • The D.O.C. – No One Can Do It Better (Debut)
    • Morbid Angel – Altars of Madness (Debut)
    • Nine Inch Nails – Pretty Hate Machine (Debut)
    • Nirvana – Bleach (Debut)
    • Obituary – Slowly We Rot (Debut)
    • The Offspring – The Offspring (Debut)
    • The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses (Debut):
    • Janet Jackson – Rhythm Nation 1814
    • Madonna – Like A Prayer
    • Mötley Crüe – Dr. Feelgood
    • Fine Young Cannibals – The Raw & the Cooked
    • Pestilence – Consuming Impulse
    • Sepultura – Beneath the Remains
    • Phil Collins – ...But Seriously
    • Kate Bush – The Sensual World
    • 808 State – 90
    • "Weird Al" Yankovic – soundtrack to the film UHF
• 1988 in music, 1988 in British music, 1988 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
  • Deaths of:
    • Roy Orbison
    • Andy Gibb
    • Gil Evans
    • Chet Baker
  • Notable releases:
    • Biz Markie – Goin' Off (Debut)
    • Tracy Chapman – Tracy Chapman (Debut)
    • Danzig – Danzig (Debut)
    • Eazy-E – Eazy-Duz-It (Debut)
    • EPMD – Strictly Business (Debut)
    • Jane's Addiction – Nothing's Shocking (Debut)
    • Living Colour – Vivid (Debut)
    • Morrissey – Viva Hate (Debut)
    • N.W.A – Straight Outta Compton (Debut)
    • NOFX – Liberal Animation (Debut)
    • Pestilence – Malleus Maleficarum (Debut)
    • The Pixies – Surfer Rosa (Debut)
    • Soundgarden – Ultramega OK (Debut)
    • Bon Jovi – New Jersey
    • Bad Religion – Suffer
    • Enya – Watermark
    • Bathory – Blood Fire Death
    • Steve Roach – Dreamtime Return
    • Nurse with Wound – Soliloquy for Lilith
    • Kino – Gruppa krovi
    • Whitney Houston – "Where Do Broken Hearts Go"
• 1987 in music, 1987 in British music, 1987 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
  • Deaths of:
    • John H. Hammond
    • Liberace
    • Buddy Rich
    • Andres Segovia
    • Fred Astaire
    • Jackie Gleason
    • Jaco Pastorius
  • Notable releases:
    • Anthrax – Among the Living
    • Michael Jackson – Bad
    • Whitney Houston – Whitney
    • Sepultura – Schizophrenia
    • Def Leppard – Hysteria
    • U2 – The Joshua Tree
    • Joe Satriani – Surfing with the Alien
    • The Beastie Boys – Licensed to Ill (Debut)
    • Death – Scream Bloody Gore (Debut)
    • Guns N' Roses – Appetite for Destruction (Debut)
    • Testament – The Legacy (Debut)
    • Rick Astley – Whenever You Need Somebody (Debut)
• 1986 in music, 1986 in British music, 1986 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
    • The musical The Phantom of the Opera first performed
    • Aerosmith re-records "Walk This Way" with rap group Run-D.M.C.
  • Deaths of:
    • Benny Goodman
    • Harold Arlen
    • Richard Manuel
    • Cliff Burton
    • Phil Lynott
  • Notable releases:
    • Sepultura – Morbid Visions (Debut)
    • Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet
    • Metallica – Master of Puppets
    • Megadeth – Peace Sells... But Who's Buying
    • Slayer – Reign in Blood
    • Peter Gabriel – So
    • Europe – The Final Countdown
    • The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead
    • Sonic Youth – Evol
    • Beastie Boys – Licensed to Ill
    • Iron Maiden – Somewhere in Time
    • Big Black – Atomizer
    • The soundtrack album to the film Top Gun is released.
    • Paul Simon – Graceland
    • Kraftwerk – Electric Café
    • Genesis – Invisible Touch
    • Janet Jackson – Control
    • John Farnham – Whispering Jack
    • Hiroshi Yoshimura – Green
    • Madonna – True Blue
• 1985 in music, 1985 in British music, 1985 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
    • The musical Les Misérables first performed
    • Live Aid and Farm Aid benefit concerts take place.
  • Deaths of:
    • Ricky Nelson
  • Notable releases:
    • Exodus – Bonded by Blood (Debut)
    • Whitney Houston – Whitney Houston (Debut)
    • Megadeth – Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! (Debut)
    • Overkill – Feel the Fire (Debut)
    • A-ha – Hunting High and Low (Debut)
    • Phil Collins – No Jacket Required
    • Dead or Alive – Youthquake (including "You Spin Me Right Round")
    • Falco – "Rock Me Amadeus"
    • Slayer – Hell Awaits
    • Tears for Fears – Songs from the Big Chair
    • Billy Joel – Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II
• 1984 in music, 1984 in British music, 1984 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
    • Band Aid is formed to perform "Do They Know It's Christmas?"
    • The Opera Akhnaten by Philip Glass premieres in Stuttgart
    • The musical Sunday in the Park with George first performed
    • The musical Starlight Express first performed
    • Duran Duran utilize a monitor in concert to project their performance
  • Deaths of:
    • Marvin Gaye
    • Jackie Wilson
    • Count Basie
  • Notable releases:
    • The Bob Marley & The Wailers – Legend
    • Madonna – Like A Virgin
    • Mercyful Fate – Don't Break the Oath
    • Metallica – Ride the Lightning
    • Prince – Purple Rain
    • Tina Turner – Private Dancer
    • Van Halen – 1984
    • Red Hot Chili Peppers – self-titled debut album
    • Bruce Springsteen – Born in the U.S.A.
    • Hüsker Dü – Zen Arcade
    • Manuel Göttsching – E2-E4
    • Yngwie Malmsteen – Rising Force (Debut)
    • Mariya Takeuchi – Variety
    • Tatsuro Yamashita – soundtrack to the Japanese film Big Wave
    • Anthrax – Fistful of Metal (Debut)
    • Bathory – self-titled (Debut)
    • Bon Jovi – self-titled (Debut)
    • Celtic Frost – Morbid Tales (Debut)
    • Metal Church - self-titled (Debut)
    • Ratt – Out of the Cellar (Debut)
    • Voivod – War and Pain (Debut)
    • W.A.S.P. – self-titled (Debut)
• 1983 in music, 1983 in British music, 1983 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
    • The musical Blood Brothers first performed
  • Deaths of:
    • Muddy Waters
    • Karen Carpenter
    • Pete Farndon
    • Harry James
    • Ira Gershwin
  • Notable releases:
    • Accept – Balls to the Wall
    • Def Leppard – Pyromania
    • Iron Maiden – Piece of Mind
    • David Bowie – Let's Dance
    • Mötley Crüe – Shout at the Devil
    • New Order – Power, Corruption & Lies & Blue Monday
    • Ozzy Osbourne – Bark at the Moon
    • The Police – Synchronicity
    • ZZ Top – Eliminator
    • U2 – War
    • Cocteau Twins – Head over Heels
    • Pink Floyd – The Final Cut
    • Brian Eno – Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks
    • Asia – Alpha
    • Quiet Riot – Metal Health
    • D.R.I. – Dirty Rotten EP/LP (Debut)
    • Dio – Holy Diver (Debut)
    • Dokken – Breaking the Chains (Debut)
    • Cyndi Lauper – She's So Unusual (Debut)
    • Madonna – Madonna (Debut)
    • Mercyful Fate – Melissa (Debut)
    • Metallica – Kill 'Em All (Debut)
    • Pantera – Metal Magic (Debut)
    • Queensrÿche – self-titled EP (Debut)
    • R.E.M. – Murmur (Debut)
    • Slayer – Show No Mercy (Debut)
    • Sonic Youth – Confusion Is Sex (Debut)
    • Suicidal Tendencies – self-titled (Debut)
    • Tears for Fears – The Hurting (Debut)
    • Wham! – Fantastic (Debut)
    • Stevie Ray Vaughan – Texas Flood (Debut)
    • "Weird Al" Yankovic – self-titled (Debut)
    • Irene Cara – Flashdance... What a Feeling
• 1982 in music, 1982 in British music, 1982 in Japanese music, 1982 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
    • The compact disc is introduced.
    • The musical Little Shop of Horrors first performed
  • Deaths of:
    • Thelonious Monk
    • Lightnin' Hopkins
    • John Belushi
    • Glenn Gould
    • Artur Rubinstein
    • Randy Rhoads
  • Notable releases:
    • Accept – Restless and Wild
    • Phil Collins – Hello, I Must Be Going!
    • Duran Duran – Rio
    • INXS – Shabooh Shoobah
    • Asia – Asia (Debut)
    • Descendents – Milo Goes to College (Debut)
    • Iron Maiden – The Number of the Beast
    • Judas Priest – Screaming for Vengeance
    • Michael Jackson – Thriller
    • Toto – Toto IV
    • The Cure – Pornography
    • Kate Bush – The Dreaming
    • Bruce Springsteen – Nebraska
    • Bad Brains – Bad Brains
    • The Clash – Combat Rock
    • Roxy Music – Avalon
    • Rush – Signals
    • Venom – Black Metal
    • Prince – 1999
    • Tatsuro Yamashita – For You
    • Survivor – Eye of the Tiger
• 1981 in music, 1981 in British music, 1981 in Japanese music, 1981 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
    • MTV first airs
    • The musical Cats first performed
    • The musical Dreamgirls first performed
  • Deaths of:
    • Bob Marley
    • David Lynch
    • Bill Haley
  • Notable releases:
    • Phil Collins – Face Value (Debut)
    • Duran Duran – self-titled (Debut)
    • Mötley Crüe – Too Fast for Love (Debut)
    • Venom – Welcome to Hell (Debut)
    • Depeche Mode – Speak & Spell (Debut)
    • Genesis – Abacab
    • Queen – Greatest Hits
    • Rush – Moving Pictures
    • The Human League – Dare
    • The Police – Ghost in the Machine
    • Grace Jones – Nightclubbing
    • Electric Light Orchestra – Time
    • Brian Eno and David Byrne – My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
    • Glenn Branca – The Ascension
    • Jean-Michel Jarre – Les Chants Magnétiques
    • Kraftwerk – Computer World
    • Yellow Magic Orchestra – BGM & Technodelic
    • Eiichi Ohtaki – A Long Vacation
• 1980 in music, 1980 in British music, 1980 in Japanese music, 1980 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
    • The musical 42nd Street first performance
  • Deaths of:
    • Bill Evans
    • Ian Curtis
    • Bon Scott
    • John Lennon
    • John Bonham
    • Tim Hardin
    • Vinicius de Moraes
  • Notable releases:
    • U2 – Boy (Debut)
    • Bryan Adams – self-titled (Debut)
    • Iron Maiden – self-titled (Debut)
    • Sheena Easton – Take My Time (Debut)
    • Bauhaus – In the Flat Field (Debut)
    • AC/DC – Back in Black
    • Joy Division – Closer
    • Dead Kennedys – Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
    • The Cure – Seventeen Seconds
    • Black Sabbath – Heaven and Hell
    • Queen – The Game
    • Dead Kennedys – Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
    • Kate Bush – Never for Ever
    • Judas Priest – British Steel
    • The Feelies – Crazy Rhythms
    • Motörhead – Ace of Spades
    • David Bowie – Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
    • Rush – Permanent Waves
    • Talking Heads' Remain in Light
    • Swell Maps – Jane from Occupied Europe
    • Tatsuro Yamashita – Ride on Time
    • Johnny Landry – "Hina Na Ho Hine"

1970s

• 1979 in music, 1979 in British music, 1979 in Japanese music, 1979 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
    • The Sony Walkman goes on sale
    • The musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street first performed
  • Deaths of:
    • Van McCoy
    • Richard Rodgers
    • Charles Mingus
    • Donny Hathaway
    • Sid Vicious
    • Minnie Ripperton
    • Nadia Boulanger
    • Stan Kenton
  • Notable releases:
    • The Clash – London Calling
    • Pink Floyd – The Wall
    • Earth, Wind & Fire – I Am
    • Sister Sledge – We Are Family
    • Michael Jackson – Off the Wall
    • Donna Summer – Bad Girls
    • Anita Ward – "Ring My Bell"
    • Public Image Ltd. – Metal Box
    • Elvis Costello – Armed Forces
    • AC/DC – Highway to Hell
    • David Bowie – Lodger
    • Wire – 154
    • Led Zeppelin – In Through the Out Door
    • Supertramp – Breakfast in America
    • ABBA – Voulez-Vous
    • The B-52's – self-titled debut album
    • Motörhead – Overkill and Bomber
    • Electric Light Orchestra – Discovery
    • Van Halen – Van Halen II
    • Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures
    • Talking Heads – Fear of Music
    • Gang of Four – Entertainment!
    • Scorpions – Lovedrive
    • Yellow Magic Orchestra – Solid State Survivor
    • Casiopea – self-titled debut album
    • Univers Zero – Heresie
    • Sugarhill Gang – "Rapper's Delight" (often noted as the official birth of rap music)
• 1978 in music, 1978 in British music, 1978 in Norwegian music
  • Deaths of:
    • Keith Moon
    • Ray Noble
    • Joe Venuti
    • Louis Prima
    • Don Ellis
    • Jacques Brel
  • Notable releases:
    • The Who – Who Are You
    • Kate Bush – The Kick Inside
    • Gloria Gaynor – Love Tracks (including her No. 1 hit single "I Will Survive").
    • Blondie – Parallel Lines
    • Funkadelic – One Nation Under a Groove
    • Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds
    • Devo – Q. Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!
    • Queen – Jazz
    • Talking Heads – More Songs About Buildings and Food
    • Chic – C'est Chic
    • Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta – soundtrack album to the musical film Grease
    • Brian Eno – Ambient 1: Music for Airports
    • Jean-Michel Jarre – Équinoxe
    • Klaus Schulze – X
    • Kraftwerk – The Man-Machine
    • Boney M. – Nightflight to Venus
    • Haruomi Hosono and Yellow Magic Band – Paraiso
    • Prince – For You
    • Van Halen – Van Halen (Debut)
    • Dire Straits – Dire Straits
    • Public Image Ltd. – Public Image: First Issue
    • The Blues Brothers – Briefcase Full of Blues
    • The Police – Outlandos d'Amour
    • Ryuichi Sakamoto – Thousand Knives
    • Yellow Magic Orchestra – Yellow Magic Orchestra
    • Haruomi Hosono, Shigeru Suzuki, and Tatsuro Yamashita's Pacific, the Omnibus album which contains a prototype version of Hosono's famous track Cosmic Surfin' that would later be upgraded in YMO's debut album the same year.
• 1977 in music, 1977 in British music, 1977 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
    • The musical Annie first performed
    • Lynyrd Skynyrd Convair 240 plane crash
  • Deaths of:
    • Elvis Presley
    • Bing Crosby
    • Marc Bolan
    • Errol Garner
    • Ethel Waters
    • Maria Callas
  • Notable releases:
    • Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
    • Queen – News of the World
    • Bee Gees – Saturday Night Fever
    • Kraftwerk's Trans-Europe Express
    • Television – Marquee Moon
    • Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
    • David Bowie – Low and Heroes
    • Pink Floyd – Animals
    • Earth, Wind & Fire – All 'n All
    • Electric Light Orchestra – Out of the Blue
    • Giorgio Moroder – From Here to Eternity
    • Taeko Onuki – Sunshower
    • Motörhead – Motorhead
    • Space – Magic Fly
    • Ashra – New Age of Earth
    • Weather Report – Heavy Weather
    • Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell
• 1976 in music, 1976 in British music, 1976 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
    • The Band performs their final concert, The Last Waltz
    • Russian-soviet baritone Eduard Khil releases the song "I'm So Glad, as I'm Finally Returning Home", which in three decades time, would become an internet sensation on YouTube
  • Deaths of:
    • Benjamin Britten
    • Paul Robeson
    • Phil Ochs
    • Howlin' Wolf
    • Charles Stepney
    • Johnny Mercer
  • Notable releases:
    • David Bowie – Station to Station
    • Stevie Wonder – Songs in the Key of Life
    • Rush – 2112
    • Led Zeppelin – Presence
    • Bob Dylan – Desire
    • Rainbow – Rising
    • Judas Priest – Sad Wings of Destiny
    • Electric Light Orchestra – A New World Record
    • Camel – Moonmadness
    • Queen – A Day at the Races
    • Kiss – Destroyed
    • AC/DC – High Voltage and Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
    • ABBA – Arrival
    • Genesis – A Trick of the Tail
    • The Eagles – Hotel California
    • Andrew Lloyd Webber – Evita concept album
    • Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygène
    • Mort Garson – Mother Earth's Plantasia
    • Ryo Fukui – Scenery
    • ABBA – Dancing Queen
    • Boston – Boston
    • The Ramones – Ramones
    • The Modern Lovers – The Modern Lovers
• 1975 in music, 1975 in British music, 1975 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
    • The musical A Chorus Line is first performed
  • Deaths of
    • Dmitri Shostakovich
    • Tim Buckley
    • Umm Kulthum
    • Louis Jordan
    • Cannonball Adderley
    • Bernard Herrmann
  • Notable releases:
    • Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run
    • Brian Eno – Another Green World
    • Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run
    • Black Sabbath – Sabotage
    • David Bowie – Young Americans
    • Neil Young – Tonight's the Night
    • Neu! – Neu! '75
    • Fela Ransome Kuti & Africa 70 – Expensive Shit
    • Neil Young and Crazy Horse – Zuma
    • Parliament – Mothership Connection
    • Kraftwerk – Radio-Activity
    • Fleetwood Mac – Fleetwood Mac
    • Camel – The Snow Goose
    • Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks
    • Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti
    • Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
    • Aerosmith – Toys in the Attic
    • Henry Cow and Slapp Happy – In Praise of Learning
    • Patti Smith – Horses
    • Queen – A Night at the Opera
    • Donna Summer – Love to Love You Baby
• 1974 in music, 1974 in British music, 1974 in Norwegian music
  • Deaths of:
    • Duke Ellington
    • Nick Drake
  • Notable releases:
    • David Bowie – Diamond Dogs
    • Camel – Mirage
    • Neil Young – On the Beach
    • Brian Eno – Here Come the Warm Jets & Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
    • Robert Wyatt – Rock Bottom
    • Genesis – The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
    • Frank Zappa – Apostrophe (')
    • Electric Light Orchestra – Eldorado
    • Queen – Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack
    • Yes – Relayer
    • Sparks – Kimono My House
    • Supertramp – Crime of the Century
    • Steely Dan – Pretzel Logic
    • Joni Mitchell – Court and Spark
    • Big Star – Radio City
    • Jorge Ben – A Tábua de Esmeralda
    • Kraftwerk – Autobahn
    • King Crimson – Red and Starless and Bible Black
    • John Coltrane – Interstellar Space
    • Cluster – Zuckerzeit
    • Henry Cow – Unrest
    • Tangerine Dream – Phaedra
    • Isao Tomita – Snowflakes Are Dancing
    • Kiss – Kiss
• 1973 in music, 1973 in British music, 1973 in Norwegian music –
  • Notable events:
    • The musical The Rocky Horror Show first performed
  • Deaths of:
    • Victor Jara
    • Bobby Darin
    • Gram Parsons
  • Notable releases:
    • Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon
    • Led Zeppelin – Houses of the Holy
    • The Who – Quadrophenia Released
    • Buffalo – Volcanic Rock
    • Diana Ross – Touch Me in the Morning
    • David Bowie – Aladdin Sane
    • Elton John – Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
    • Lou Reed – Berlin
    • Stevie Wonder – Innervisions
    • Can – Future Days
    • Genesis – Selling England by the Pound
    • The Stooges – Raw Power
    • Black Sabbath – Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
    • John Cale – Paris 1919
    • Queen – self-titled debut album
    • Camel – self-titled debut album
    • Steely Dan – Countdown to Ecstasy
    • Maureen McGovern – The Morning After
    • Roberta Flack – Killing Me Softly With His Song
    • Marie Osmond – Paper Roses
    • Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells
    • King Crimson – Larks' Tongues in Aspic
    • Herbie Hancock – Head Hunters and Sextant
    • Brian Eno and Robert Fripp – (No Pussyfooting)
    • Mahavishnu Orchestra – Birds of Fire
    • Gal Costa – Índia
    • Magma – Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh
    • Area – Arbeit macht frei
    • Faust – Faust IV
    • Haruomi Hosono – Hosono House
• 1972 in music, 1972 in British music, 1972 in Norwegian music –
  • Deaths of:
    • Ferde Grofe
    • Carl Stalling
  • Notable releases:
    • The Rolling Stones – Exile on Main St.
    • Elton John – Honky Château
    • David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
    • Can – Ege Bamyası
    • Premiata Forneria Marconi – Per un amico
    • Bette Midler – The Divine Miss M
    • Neu! – Neu!
    • Big Star (#1 Record)
    • Steely Dan – Can't Buy a Thrill
• 1971 in music, 1971 in British music, 1971 in Norwegian music
  • Deaths of:
    • Igor Stravinsky
    • Duane Allman
    • Louis Armstrong
    • Jim Morrison
    • Carl Ruggles
  • Notable releases:
    • Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV
    • David Bowie – Hunky Dory
    • Marvin Gaye – What's Going On
    • The Who – Who's Next
    • Elton John – Madman Across the Water
    • Pink Floyd – Meddle
    • Joni Mitchell – Blue
    • Can – Tago Mago
    • Serge Gainsbourg – Histoire de Melody Nelson
    • Flower Travellin' Band – Satori
• 1970 in music, 1970 in British music, 1970 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
    • The Beatles disband
    • Diana Ross departs from The Supremes and releases Ain't No Mountain High Enough
    • Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice release a concept album of their debut musical Jesus Christ Superstar (which gives birth to the musical name "rock opera")
  • Deaths of:
    • Jimi Hendrix
    • Janis Joplin
    • Alfred Newman
    • Tammi Terrell
    • George Szell
  • Notable releases:
    • Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin III
    • John Lennon – John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
    • Elton John – his self-titled album
    • Miles Davis – Bitches Brew
    • The Jackson 5 – ABC
    • Soft Machine – Third
    • Black Sabbath – Paranoid
    • George Harrison – All Things Must Pass
    • Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother

1960s

• 1969 in music, 1969 in British music, 1969 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
    • Woodstock music festival held in Bethel, New York
  • Deaths of:
    • Brian Jones
    • Judy Garland
    • Paul Chambers
    • Coleman Hawkins
    • Ted Heath
    • Leigh Harline
  • Notable releases:
    • The Beatles – Abbey Road and Yellow Submarine
    • Bob Dylan – Nashville Skyline
    • Frank Zappa – Hot Rats
    • David Bowie – Space Oddity
    • The Who – Tommy
    • King Crimson – In the Court of the Crimson King
    • Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin and Led Zeppelin II
    • Nick Drake – Five Leaves Left
    • Pink Floyd – Ummagumma and More
    • The Magic Band – Trout Mask Replica
    • The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground
    • Santana – Santana
    • Miles Davis – In a Silent Way and Filles de Kilimanjaro
    • The Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed
    • The Stooges – The Stooges
    • Neil Young and the Crazy Horse – Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
    • The Kinks – Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
    • Pharoah Sanders – Karma
    • Scott Walker – Scott 4
    • Moondog – Moondog
    • Creedence Clearwater Revival – Green River and Willy and the Poor Boys
    • The Doors – The Soft Parade
    • Sun Ra – Atlantis
    • MC5 – Kick Out the Jams
    • Sly and the Family Stone – Stand!
    • Terry Riley – A Rainbow in Curved Air
    • White Noise – An Electric Storm
    • Silver Apples – Contact
    • Can – Monster Movie
    • Amon Düül II – Phallus Dei
    • Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin – Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg
    • The Archies – Sugar, Sugar
• 1968 in music, 1968 in British music, 1968 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
  • Deaths of:
    • Jan Johansson
  • Notable releases
    • Van Morrison – Astral Weeks
    • Sammy Davis Jr. – I've Gotta Be Me
    • The Rolling Stones – Beggars Banquet
    • The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Electric Ladyland
    • The Beatles – The Beatles (AKA The White Album)
    • Johnny Cash – At Folsom Prison
    • The Band – Music from Big Pink
    • Anne Murray – What About Me
    • The Mothers of Invention – We're Only in It for the Money
    • Silver Apples – Silver Apples
    • The United States of America – The United States of America
    • The Velvet Underground – White Light/White Heat
    • Pink Floyd – A Saucerful of Secrets
    • The Zombies – Odessey and Oracle
    • The Kinks – The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
    • The Doors – Waiting for the Sun
    • Nico – The Marble Index
    • Cream – Wheels of Fire
    • Soft Machine – The Soft Machine
    • The Byrds – The Notorious Byrd Brothers
    • Gábor Szabó – Dreams
    • Os Mutantes – Os Mutantes
    • Peter Brötzmann – Machine Gun
• 1967 in music, 1967 in British music, 1967 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
    • Monterey Pop Festival
  • Deaths of
    • Woody Guthrie
    • John Coltrane
    • Billy Strayhorn
    • Otis Redding
    • Brian Epstein
    • Joe Meek
    • Ina Boyle
    • Paul Whiteman
  • Notable releases:
    • The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band & Magical Mystery Tour
    • The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico
    • Red Krayola – The Parable of Arable Land
    • The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced & Axis: Bold as Love
    • Pink Floyd – The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
    • David Bowie – David Bowie (Debut)
    • Aretha Franklin – I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You which features her own and iconic version of Respect.
    • The Doors – The Doors (including "Light My Fire") & Strange Days
    • Louis Armstrong – "What a Wonderful World"
    • Bob Dylan – John Wesley Harding
    • The 13th Floor Elevators – Easter Everywhere
    • Love – Forever Changes
    • Leonard Cohen – Songs of Leonard Cohen
    • Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band – Safe as Milk
    • Cream – Disraeli Gears
    • Jefferson Airplane – Surrealistic Pillow
    • The Who – The Who Sell Out
    • The Kinks – Something Else by the Kinks
    • Nico – Chelsea Girl
    • The Moody Blues with the London Festival Orchestra – Days of Future Passed
    • The Beach Boys – Wild Honey and Smiley Smile
    • The Rolling Stones – Their Satanic Majesties Request
    • The 13th Floor Elevators – Easter Everywhere
    • Miles Davis – Miles Smiles
    • Antônio Carlos Jobim – Wave
    • Red Krayola (with The Familiar Ugly) – The Parable of Arable Land
    • Duke Ellington – Far East Suite
• 1966 in music, 1966 in British music, 1966 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
  • Deaths of:
    • Bobby Fuller
    • Fritz Wunderlich
  • Notable releases:
    • The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
    • Cream – Fresh Cream
    • The Beatles – Yesterday and Today and Revolver
    • Bob Dylan – Blonde on Blonde
    • The 13th Floor Elevators – The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
    • The Monkees – The Monkees
    • The Mothers of Invention – Freak Out!
    • The Rolling Stones – Aftermath
    • Simon & Garfunkel – Sounds of Silence and Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
    • The Kinks – Face to Face
    • The Monks – Black Monk Time
    • Love – Da Capo
    • The Byrds – Fifth Dimension
    • The Who – A Quick One
    • Donovan – Sunshine Superman
    • The Yardbirds – Roger the Engineer
    • Them – Them Again
    • Buffalo Springfield – Buffalo Springfield
    • Nina Simone – Wild Is the Wind
    • John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers – Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton
    • The Mamas & the Papas – If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears
    • John Coltrane – Ascension and Meditations
    • Ennio Morricone – soundtrack album to the 1966 Italian western film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
    • Herbie Hancock – Maidene Voyage
    • Wayne Shorter – Speak No Evil
    • Krzysztof Komeda – Astigmatic
    • Larry Young – Unity
• 1965 in music, 1965 in British music, 1965 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
    • The musical Man of La Mancha first performed
  • Deaths of:
    • Edgar Varèse
    • Nat King Cole
    • Alan Freed
    • Jack Hylton
    • Tadd Dameron
    • Spike Jones
  • Notable releases:
    • The Beatles – Help! and Rubber Soul
    • Bob Dylan – Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited (with the single "Like a Rolling Stone")
    • The Rolling Stones – Out of Our Heads (with the single "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction")
    • Tom Jones – "What's New Pussycat?"
    • James Brown – "I Got You (I Feel Good)"
    • Otis Redding – Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul
    • The Who – My Generation
    • The Beach Boys – The Beach Boys Today!, Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) and Beach Boys' Party!
    • Nina Simone – Pastel Blues and I Put a Spell on You
    • The Byrds – Mr. Tambourine Man and Turn! Turn! Turn!
    • The Sonics – Here Are The Sonics
    • Jackson C. Frank – Jackson C. Frank
    • The Yardbirds – Having a Rave Up with the Yardbirds
    • Martha and the Vandellas – Dance Party
    • Cher – All I Really Want to Do
    • The Shangri-Las – Leader of the Pack
    • John Coltrane – A Love Supreme
    • Vince Guaraldi – A Charlie Brown Christmas the soundtrack album to the Peanuts animated television special of the same name.
    • Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass – Going Places
    • Albert Ayler – Spiritual Unity
    • Grant Green – Idle Moments
    • Andrew Hill – Point of Departure
    • Bobby Hutcherson – Dialogue
• 1964 in music, 1964 in British music, 1964 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
    • Bill Lear invents 8-track tape cartridge
  • Deaths of:
    • Cole Porter
    • Sam Cooke
    • Milton Babbitt
    • Jack Teagarden
    • Eric Dolphy
  • Notable releases:
    • The Beatles – A Hard Day's Night and Beatles for Sale
    • Stan Getz and João Gilberto – Getz/Gilberto
    • The Ronettes – Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica
    • Eric Dolphy – Out to Lunch!
    • Bob Dylan – The Times They Are a-Changin' and Another Side of Bob Dylan
    • The Beach Boys – All Summer Long (featuring the No. 1. hit I Get Around)
    • The Rolling Stones – The Rolling Stones and 12 x 5
    • Charles Mingus – Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus
    • Herbie Hancock – Empyrean Isles
    • Lee Morgan – The Sidewinder
    • Kinks – The Kinks
    • John Coltrane – Crescent
    • Simon & Garfunkel – Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.
    • Yusef Lateef – Eastern Sounds
    • Muddy Waters – Folk Singer
    • Andrew Hill – Black Fire
    • The Supremes – Where Did Our Love Go
    • Sam Cooke – Ain't That Good News
    • Dusty Springfield – A Girl Called Dusty
• 1963 in music, 1963 in British music, 1963 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
    • First cassette tapes made by Philips
  • Deaths of:
    • Francis Poulenc
    • Paul Hindemith
    • Patsy Cline
    • Dinah Washington
    • Édith Piaf
    • Axel Stordahl
    • Fritz Reiner
  • Notable releases:
    • The Beatles – Please Please Me and With the Beatles
    • Charles Mingus – The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
    • Bob Dylan – The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
    • James Brown and The Famous Flames – Live at the Apollo
    • The Righteous Brothers – Little Latin Lupe Lu
    • Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach – Money Jungle
    • Thelonious Monk – Monk's Dream
    • Duke Ellington and John Coltrane – Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
    • Jorge Ben – Samba Esquema Novo
    • The Beach Boys – Surfin' U.S.A., Surfer Girl and Little Deuce Coupe
    • John Coltrane – Ballads
    • A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector a collection of Christmas songs is released on Philles Records
    • John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman – John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
    • Sam Cooke – Night Beat
    • Kenny Burrell – Midnight Blue
    • Gerry Mulligan – Night Lights
    • Stan Getz and Luiz Bonfá – Jazz Samba Encore!
    • Marvin Gaye – That Stubborn Kinda Fellow
    • Stevie Wonder – fingertips -aged only 13, arguably making Motown music commercially popular for the first time even though its birth was in 1959
    • Elvis Presley – Today, Tomorrow and Forever
• 1962 in music, 1962 in British music, 1962 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
  • Deaths of:
    • Marilyn Monroe
    • Fritz Kreisler
    • Harry Barris
  • Notable releases:
    • Charles Mingus – Tijuana Moods and Oh Yeah
    • The Beach Boys – Surfin' Safari
    • Bill Evans and Jim Hall – Undercurrent
    • John Coltrane – Coltrane
    • Dexter Gordon – Go
    • Françoise Hardy – Tous les garçons et les filles
    • Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd – Jazz Samba
    • Booker T. & the M.G.'s – Green Onions
    • Herbie Hancock – Takin' Off
    • Ray Charles – Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music
    • Bill Evans Trio – Waltz for Debby
    • Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach – Money Jungle
    • Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan (Debut)
• 1961 in music, 1961 in British music, 1961 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
  • Deaths of:
    • Cisco Houston
    • Moss Hart
    • Thomas Beecham
    • Carlos Salzedo
  • Notable releases:
    • John Coltrane – My Favorite Things and Olé Coltrane
    • Ornette Coleman – Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation
    • John Coltrane – Africa/Brass
    • Max Roach – We Insist!
    • Oliver Nelson – The Blues and the Abstract Truth
    • Eric Dolphy – Out There
    • Thelonious Monk – Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane
• 1960 in music, 1960 in British music, 1960 in Norwegian music
  • Notable events:
    • The musical Oliver! first performed
  • Deaths of:
    • Oscar Hammerstein II
    • Eddie Cochran
  • Notable releases:
    • John Coltrane – Giant Steps
    • Miles Davis – Sketches of Spain
    • Charles Mingus – Blues & Roots and Mingus Dynasty
    • Bill Evans – Portrait in Jazz
    • Joan Baez – self-titled debut album
    • Etta James – At Last!
    • Wes Montgomery – The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery
    • Hank Mobley – Soul Station
    • Ornette Coleman – Change of the Century
    • João Gilberto – O Amor, o Sorriso e a Flor
    • Tina Brooks – True Blue