List of musical events

This page indexes the individual year in music pages. Each year is annotated with a significant event as a reference point.

2000s – 1990s – 1980s – 1970s – 1960s – 1950s – 1940s – 1930s – 1920s – 1910s – 1900s – 1890s – 1880s – 1870s – 1860s – 1850s – 1840s – 1830s – 1820s – 1810s – 1800s – 1790s – 1780s – 1770s – 1760s – 1750s – 1740s – 1730s – 1720s – 1710s – 1700s – 1690s – 1680s – 1670s – 1660s – 1650s – 1640s – 1630s – 1620s – 1610s – 1600s – 1590s – 1580s – 1570s -

2000s

• 2007 in music, 2007 in music (UK)  –
• 2006 in music, 2006 in music (UK)  –
• 2005 in music, 2005 in music (UK)  – Oasis releases Don't Believe the Truth
• 2004 in music, 2004 in music (UK) – Dave Grohl releases PROBOT, Loretta Lynn releases Van Lear Rose, Kanye West, The College Dropout, Stephen Sondheim, Assassins
• 2003 in music, 2003 in music (UK) – Michael Jackson arrested
• 2002 in music, 2002 in music (UK) – Eminem releases his third album, Eminem Show
• 2001 in music, 2001 in music (UK) – Napster's popularity peaks
• 2000 in music, 2000 in music (UK) – The Beatles release the greatest hits collection 1

1990s

• 1999 in music, 1999 in music (UK) – Red Hot Chili Peppers release Californication
• 1998 in music, 1998 in music (UK) – The Offspring release Americana
• 1997 in music – Radiohead release Ok Computer
• 1996 in music – Death of Tupac Shakur
• 1995 in music – Alanis Morissette releases Jagged Little Pill
• 1994 in music – Ace of Base have 3 top 5 hits ( The Sign #1, All That She Wants #2, Don't Turn Around #4)
• 1993 in music – Ace of Base releases The Sign
• 1992 in music – Dr. Dre releases The Chronic
• 1991 in music – Nirvana release Nevermind
• 1990 in music – Ace of Base Forms

1980s

• 1989 in music – N.W.A. release Straight Outta Compton
• 1988 in music – Jane's Addiction release Nothing's Shocking
• 1987 in music – U2 release The Joshua Tree
• 1986 in music – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opens
• 1985 in music – Live Aid concert raises money for African famine relief
• 1984 in music – Tina Turner releases Private Dancer
• 1983 in music – Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney record "Say, Say, Say"
• 1982 in music – Michael Jackson releases Thriller
• 1981 in music – MTV first airs
• 1980 in music – John Lennon is murdered

1970s

• 1979 in music – The Clash releases London Calling
• 1978 in music – Sony introduce the Walkman
• 1977 in music – Elvis Presley dies
• 1976 in music – The Eagles release Hotel California
• 1975 in music – Bruce Springsteen releases Born to Run
• 1974 in music – Jackson Browne releases Late for the Sky
• 1973 in music – Pink Floyd releases Dark Side of the Moon
• 1972 in music – Deep Purple releases Machine Head
• 1971 in music – Rod Stewart releases Every Picture Tells a Story, containing his breakthrough hit "Maggie May".
• 1970 in music – Simon & Garfunkel release Bridge Over Troubled Water

1960s

• 1969 in music – Woodstock music festival held in Bethel, New York
• 1968 in music – Jimi Hendrix releases Electric Ladyland
• 1967 in music – The Beatles release Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
• 1966 in music – The Beach Boys release Pet Sounds
• 1965 in music – The Beatles play Shea Stadium
• 1964 in music – Roy Orbison releases "Oh, Pretty Woman'", the fastest selling single in history
• 1963 in music – Surfin' U.S.A. released by The Beach Boys
• 1962 in music – Dee Dee Sharp releases Mashed Potato Time
• 1961 in music – Hello Mary Lou released by Ricky Nelson
• 1960 in music – "Cathy's Clown" is a hit for The Everly Brothers

1950s

• 1959 in music – Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, The Big Bopper die in plane crash
• 1958 in music – Jerry Lee Lewis's "Great balls of fire"
• 1957 in music – John Coltrane releases Blue Train
• 1956 in music – Elvis Presley has a hit with "Hound dog"
• 1955 in music – "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and his Comets is played over the titles of the film "The Blackboard Jungle", kicking off the Rock and Roll era
• 1954 in music – Frank Sinatra releases his "In The Wee Small Hours" album
• 1953 in music – "I Believe" by Frankie Laine sets the U.K.'s all-time record for weeks at number one on the charts
• 1952 in music – Georgia Gibbs scores her biggest hit with "Kiss Of Fire"
• 1951 in music – Johnnie Ray tops the charts with the double-sided smash single Cry/The Little White Cloud That Cried
• 1950 in music – Al Jolson dies

1940s

• 1949 in music – Mitch Miller begins his career as one of the century's most successful record producers at Mercury
• 1948 in music – 331/3 RPM LPs introduced
• 1947 in music –
• 1946 in music – Frank Sinatra releases Voice of Frank Sinatra
• 1945 in music – Glenn Miller's album Glenn Miller is released.
• 1944 in music – Glenn Miller dies
• 1943 in music – Oklahoma! opens on Broadway
• 1942 in music – Bing Crosby releases "White Christmas"
• 1941 in music – Les Paul builds the first solid-body electric guitar
• 1940 in music – Walt Disney releases Fantasia

1930s

• 1939 in music – Charlie Christian's musical career begins
• 1938 in music – Pete Seeger's musical career begins
• 1937 in music – Hank Williams' and Sonny Boy Williamson's musical careers begin
• 1936 in music – Tony Bennett's and Nat King Cole's musical careers begin
• 1935 in music – Frank Sinatra's and Ella Fitzgerald's musical career begins
• 1934 in music – Sun Ra's and Django Reinhardt's musical careers begin
• 1933 in music – Billie Holliday's musical career begins
• 1932 in music – Johnny Cash and Petula Clark are born
• 1931 in music – Roy Rogers' musical career begins
• 1930 in music – Bukka White begins performing

1920s

• 1929 in music – Cab Calloway's, and Gene Autry's musical careers begin
• 1928 in music – Louis Armstrong records "West End Blues", Burt Bacharach is born
• 1927 in music – Carter Family make first recordings
• 1926 in music – Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers begin recording
• 1925 in music – Big record labels begin using electric microphones for recording
• 1924 in music – Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue premieres
• 1923 in music – Bessie Smith, King Oliver, many other African American artists begin recording
• 1922 in music – Ravel orchestrates Pictures at an Exhibition
• 1921 in music – Enrico Caruso dies
• 1920 in music – Mamie Smith has Blues recording hit

1910s

• 1919 in music – Original Dixieland Jazz Band brings jazz to the UK
• 1918 in music – Ella Fitzgerald, Leonard Bernstein born
• 1917 in music – First Jazz recordings by Original Dixieland Jass Band
• 1916 in music – Charles Ives' 4th Symphony
• 1915 in music – Tom Brown starts billing his group as a "Jass Band"
• 1914 in music – First calypso music recordings
• 1913 in music – near-riot at premiere of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring
• 1912 in music – W.C. Handy publishes "The Memphis Blues"
• 1911 in music – Scott Joplin's ragtime opera, "Treemonisha".
• 1910 in music – Mahler's "Symphony No. 8"

1900s

• 1909 in music – Benny Goodman born
• 1908 in music – Mahler's 7th; Take Me Out to the Ball Game
• 1907 in music – Cab Calloway born
• 1906 in music – Little Brother Montgomery born
• 1905 in music – Franz Lehár The Merry Widow premieres
• 1904 in music – Puccini's Madame Butterfly premieres
• 1903 in music – Mississippi John Hurt begins performing
• 1902 in music – Leadbelly begins performing
• 1901 in music – Louis Armstrong born
• 1900 in music – Puccini's Tosca premieres

1890s

• 1899 in music – Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag; Elgar's Enigma Variations
• 1898 in music -
• 1897 in music – Ragtime music becomes popular in the USA
• 1896 in music – Puccini's La Bohème premieres
• 1895 in music -
• 1894 in music – Enrico Caruso's musical career begins
• 1893 in music – Falstaff premieres
• 1892 in music – "After The Ball" sells over 1 million sheet music copies
• 1891 in music – Sergei Prokofiev, Cole Porter born
• 1890 in music -

1880s

• 1889 in music – first gramophone records by Emile Berliner
• 1888 in music – wax phonograph cylinders commercially marketed
• 1887 in music – Alexander Borodin dies
• 1886 in music – Ma Rainey born
• 1885 in music – Tin Pan Alley music industry formed
• 1884 in music – Sophie Tucker born
• 1883 in music – Mamie Smith born
• 1882 in music – Leopold Stokowski born
• 1881 in music – Offenbach's Tales of Hoffman premieres
• 1880 in music – Jacques Offenbach dies

1870s

• 1879 in music – Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance premieres
• 1878 in music – George M. Cohan born
• 1877 in music – phonograph invented. Buddy Bolden born.
• 1876 in music – Ricard Wagner's Siegfried premieres
• 1875 in music – Georges Bizet's Carmen premieres
• 1874 in music – Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky
• 1873 in music – W.C. Handy, Enrico Caruso born
• 1872 in music -
• 1871 in music – Giuseppe Verdi's Aida premieres
• 1870 in music -

1860s

• 1869 in music – Ricard Wagner's Das Rheingold
• 1868 in music – Scott Joplin born
• 1867 in music – "Blue Danube Waltz" by Johann Strauss II
• 1866 in music – Bedrich Smetana's The Bartered Bride
• 1865 in music – Jean Sibelius born
• 1864 in music – Stephen Foster dies
• 1863 in music – Ernesto Nazareth born
• 1862 in music – Claude Debussy born
• 1861 in music – Nellie Melba born
• 1860 in music – Gustav Mahler born

1850s

• 1859 in music -
• 1858 in music – Giacomo Puccini born
• 1857 in music -
• 1856 in music -
• 1855 in music -
• 1854 in music – Stephen Foster's "Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair"
• 1853 in music – Verdi's Il Trovatore premieres
• 1852 in music -
• 1851 in music – Stephen Foster's Old Folks At Home
• 1850 in music – Stephen Foster's Oh, Susana!

1840s

• 1849 in music -
• 1848 in music – Gaetano Donizetti dies
• 1847 in music -
• 1846 in music – Adolphe Sax invents the "saxophone"
• 1845 in music – Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser premieres
• 1844 in music – Rimsky-Korsakov born
• 1843 in music – Minstrel show premieres in United States
• 1842 in music – Arthur Sullivan born
• 1841 in music -
• 1840 in music – Paganini dies; Tchaikovsky born

1830s

• 1839 in music – Modest Mussorgsky born, Frederic Chopin, Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat Minor introducing Funeral March
• 1838 in music -
• 1837 in music -
• 1836 in music – Donizetti's Belisario premieres
• 1835 in music – Camille Saint-Saëns born
• 1834 in music -
• 1833 in music – Alexander Borodin born
• 1832 in music -
• 1831 in music -
• 1830 in music -

1820s

• 1829 in music – Anton Rubenstein born
• 1828 in music -
• 1827 in music – Beethoven dies
• 1826 in music – Stephen Foster born
• 1825 in music – Antonio Salieri dies
• 1824 in music – Beethoven's 9th Symphony
• 1823 in music -
• 1822 in music -
• 1821 in music – Pauline Garcia-Viardot born
• 1820 in music -

1810s

• 1819 in music – Jacques Offenbach born
• 1818 in music – Silent Night premieres
• 1817 in music -
• 1816 in music -
• 1815 in music -
• 1814 in music -
• 1813 in music -
• 1812 in music -
• 1811 in music -
• 1810 in music -

1800s

• 1809 in music – Joseph Haydn dies
• 1808 in music – Beethoven's 5th Symphony
• 1807 in music – La Vestale by Gaspare Spontini
• 1806 in music -
• 1805 in music – Fidelio
• 1804 in music -
• 1803 in music -
• 1802 in music -
• 1801 in music – Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata
• 1800 in music -

1790s

• 1799 in music -
• 1798 in music -
• 1797 in music -
• 1796 in music -
• 1795 in music -
• 1794 in music -
• 1793 in music -
• 1792 in music -
• 1791 in music – Mozart's The Magic Flute
• 1790 in music -

1780s

• 1789 in music – Mozart's Così fan tutte
• 1788 in music -
• 1787 in music – Mozart's Don Giovanni
• 1786 in music – Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro
• 1785 in music -
• 1784 in music -
• 1783 in music -
• 1782 in music -
• 1781 in music -
• 1780 in music -

1770s

• 1779 in music -
• 1778 in music -
• 1777 in music -
• 1776 in music -
• 1775 in music -
• 1774 in music -
• 1773 in music -
• 1772 in music -
• 1771 in music -
• 1770 in music – Ludwig van Beethoven born

1760s

• 1769 in music -
• 1768 in music -
• 1767 in music -
• 1766 in music -
• 1765 in music -
• 1764 in music -
• 1763 in music -
• 1762 in music -
• 1761 in music -
• 1760 in music -

1750s

• 1759 in music -
• 1758 in music -
• 1757 in music -
• 1756 in music – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart born
• 1755 in music -
• 1754 in music -
• 1753 in music -
• 1752 in music -
• 1751 in music -
• 1750 in music – Johann Sebastian Bach dies

1740s

• 1749 in music -
• 1748 in music -
• 1747 in music -
• 1746 in music -
• 1745 in music -
• 1744 in music -
• 1743 in music -
• 1742 in music -
• 1741 in music -
• 1740 in music -

1730s

• 1739 in music -
• 1738 in music -
• 1737 in music -
• 1736 in music -
• 1735 in music -
• 1734 in music -
• 1733 in music -
• 1732 in music – Joseph Haydn born
• 1731 in music -
• 1730 in music -

1720s

• 1729 in music -
• 1728 in music -
• 1727 in music -
• 1726 in music -
• 1725 in music -
• 1724 in music -
• 1723 in music -
• 1722 in music -
• 1721 in music -
• 1720 in music -

1710s

• 1719 in music -
• 1718 in music -
• 1717 in music -
• 1716 in music -
• 1715 in music -
• 1714 in music -
• 1713 in music -
• 1712 in music -
• 1711 in music -
• 1710 in music -

1700s

• 1709 in music -
• 1708 in music -
• 1707 in music -
• 1706 in music – Johann Pachelbel dies
• 1705 in music -
• 1704 in music -
• 1703 in music -
• 1702 in music -
• 1701 in music -
• 1700 in music -

1690s

• 1699 in music -
• 1698 in music -
• 1697 in music -
• 1696 in music -
• 1695 in music – Henry Purcell dies
• 1694 in music -
• 1693 in music -
• 1692 in music -
• 1691 in music -
• 1690 in music -

1680s

• 1689 in music -
• 1688 in music -
• 1687 in music -
• 1686 in music -
• 1685 in music – Johann Sebastian Bach born
• 1684 in music -
• 1683 in music -
• 1682 in music -
• 1681 in music -
• 1680 in music -

1670s

• 1679 in music -
• 1678 in music -
• 1677 in music -
• 1676 in music -
• 1675 in music -
• 1674 in music -
• 1673 in music -
• 1672 in music -
• 1671 in music -
• 1670 in music -

1660s

• 1669 in music -
• 1668 in music -
• 1667 in music -
• 1666 in music -
• 1665 in music -
• 1664 in music -
• 1663 in music -
• 1662 in music -
• 1661 in music -
• 1660 in music -

1650s

• 1659 in music – Henry Purcell born
• 1658 in music -
• 1657 in music -
• 1656 in music -
• 1655 in music -
• 1654 in music -
• 1653 in music – Arcangelo Corelli, Johann Pachelbel born
• 1652 in music -
• 1651 in music -
• 1650 in music -

1640s

• 1649 in music -
• 1648 in music -
• 1647 in music -
• 1646 in music -
• 1645 in music -
• 1644 in music -
• 1643 in music –
• 1642 in music –
• 1641 in music -
• 1640 in music -

1630s

• 1639 in music -
• 1638 in music -
• 1637 in music -
• 1636 in music -
• 1635 in music -
• 1634 in music -
• 1633 in music –
• 1632 in music –
• 1631 in music -
• 1630 in music -

1620s

• 1629 in music -
• 1628 in music -
• 1627 in music -
• 1626 in music -
• 1625 in music -
• 1624 in music -
• 1623 in music –
• 1622 in music –
• 1621 in music -
• 1620 in music -

1610s

• 1619 in music -
• 1618 in music -
• 1617 in music -
• 1616 in music -
• 1615 in music -
• 1614 in music -
• 1613 in music –
• 1612 in music –
• 1611 in music -
• 1610 in music -

1600s

• 1609 in music –
• 1608 in music – "Arianna" by Claudio Monteverdi
• 1607 in music – "La Favola D'Orfeo" by Claudio Monteverdi
• 1606 in music –
• 1605 in music –
• 1604 in music –
• 1603 in music –
• 1602 in music –
• 1601 in music –
• 1600 in music -

1590s

• 1599 in music -
• 1598 in music -
• 1597 in music -
• 1596 in music -
• 1595 in music -
• 1594 in music -
• 1593 in music -
• 1592 in music -
• 1591 in music -
• 1590 in music -

1580s

• 1589 in music -
• 1588 in music -
• 1587 in music -
• 1586 in music -
• 1585 in music -
• 1584 in music -
• 1583 in music -
• 1582 in music -
• 1581 in music -
• 1580 in music -

1570s

• 1579 in music -
• 1578 in music -
• 1577 in music -
• 1576 in music -
• 1575 in music -
• 1574 in music -
• 1573 in music -
• 1572 in music -
• 1571 in music -
• 1570 in music -