Joy Division singer Ian Curtis commits suicide,Bon Scott dies, John Lennon is murdered outside the Dakota Building in New York City, accidental death of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, Death of Tim Hardin,Death of Vinicius de Moraes U2 release first album: Boy. Iron Maiden release their debut self-titled album. AC/DC release Back In Black.

MTV first airs; Death of Bob Marley

Death of Thelonious Monk, Lightnin' Hopkins, Glenn Gould; Michael Jackson releases Thriller, the best-selling album of all time; Blondie disband; The compact disc is introduced

Death of Muddy Waters, New Order release "Blue Monday"; Def Leppard releases Pyromania, The Police's Synchronicity tour starts, Metallica releases their first album Kill 'Em All. Madonna releases her 5x Platinum self-titled debut album.

Death of Marvin Gaye, release of Bob Marley & The Wailers collection Legend, the best-selling reggae album of all time; Madonna releases "Like A Virgin" which goes Diamond Akhnaten by Philip Glass premieres in Stuttgart, Prince releases the album and film Purple Rain, Van Halen release the Diamond-certified 1984, which contains the #1 single "Jump" and becomes their last studio album to feature David Lee Roth on vocals.

Death of Rick Nelson, Live Aid and Farm Aid benefit concerts, Whitney Houston releases her first self-titled album which becomes the most successful feminine debut album of all time. The famous hard rock band 'Guns N' Roses' was formed in LA, USA.

Aerosmith re-records "Walk This Way" with rap group Run-DMC which blends rock and rap music, introduces rap music to a mainstream audience for the first time, and marks the beginning of the resurrection of Aerosmith's career, one of rock's most remarkable comebacks; Bon Jovi releases Slippery When Wet which stays at #1 on the Billboard 200 for 15 weeks, the longest ever for a hard rock album; Death of Benny Goodman, Richard Manuel, Cliff Burton Madonna releases the hit album True Blue; Pixies form in Boston.

Michael Jackson releases the album Bad, which is the first and only album to have 5 consecutive #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. Guns N' Roses releases Appetite for Destruction, Def Leppard releases Hysteria, U2 release the mult-platined album The Joshua Tree with the hits: With Or Without You, I Still Haven't Found... and Where The Streets Have No Name, Whitney Houston releases her second album Whitney with one of the biggest hit singles of 80s I Wanna Dance With Somebody; Death of legendary record producer John H. Hammond.

Living Colour releases first studio album Vivid; Bon Jovi releases New Jersey, which charts five consecutive Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, the most ever for a hard rock album; Formation of the Traveling Wilburys, Death of Roy Orbison.

Madonna releases the hit Like a Prayer album.