Editing 1976 in music (section)

==Events==

===January–February===
*[[January 5]] – Former [[The Beatles|Beatles]] road manager [[Mal Evans]] is shot dead by Los Angeles police after refusing to drop what police only later determine is an [[air rifle]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Nicholas Schaffner|title=The British Invasion: From the First Wave to the New Wave|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qEEUAQAAIAAJ|date=1 January 1982|publisher=McGraw-Hill|isbn=978-0-07-055089-6|page=306}}</ref>
*[[January 6]] – [[Peter Frampton]] releases his live album ''[[Frampton Comes Alive!]]''
*[[January 7]] – Kenneth Moss, a former record company executive, is sentenced to 120 days in the Los Angeles [[jail|County Jail]] and four years [[probation]] for involuntary [[manslaughter]] in the 1974 [[Hard and soft drugs|drug]]-induced death of [[Average White Band]] drummer [[Robbie McIntosh (drummer)|Robbie McIntosh]].
*[[January 13]] – A trial begins for seven [[Brunswick Records]] and [[Dakar Records]] employees. The record company employees are charged with stealing more than $184,000 in royalties from artists.
*[[January 19]] – Concert promoter Bill Sargent makes an offer of $30 million to [[the Beatles]] if they will reunite for a concert.<ref>{{cite book|author=New York Media, LLC|title=New York Magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YuMCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA77|date=22 March 1976|publisher=New York Media, LLC|pages=77|issn=0028-7369}}</ref>
*[[February 15]] – [[Bette Midler]] bails seven members of her entourage out of jail after they are arrested on charges of [[cocaine]] and [[cannabis (drug)|marijuana]] possession.
*[[February 19]] – Former [[Tower of Power]] lead singer Rick Stevens is arrested and charged with the drug-related murders of three men in [[San Jose, California]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/after-36-years-prison-tower-power-s-rick-stevens-returns-n573001|title=After 36 Years in Prison, Tower of Power's Rick Stevens Returns to Sing|author=Jon Schuppe|date=12 May 2016|website=NBC News|access-date=17 November 2019}}</ref>
*[[February 20]] – [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]] have their footprints added to the sidewalk outside Hollywood's [[Grauman's Chinese Theatre]].
*[[February 24]] – Released one week before, [[Eagles (band)|Eagles]]' ''[[Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)]]'' compilation becomes the first [[album]] certified [[Platinum album|platinum]] by the [[RIAA]]. The new platinum certification represents sales of at least 1 million copies for albums and 2 million copies for [[Single (music)|single]]s. Globally, it will become probably the second [[List of best-selling albums|best-selling album]] of all time.
*[[February 28]] – The [[18th Annual Grammy Awards]] are presented in [[Los Angeles]], hosted by [[Andy Williams]]. [[Paul Simon]]'s ''[[Still Crazy After All These Years]]'' wins [[Grammy Award for Album of the Year|Album of the Year]], [[Captain & Tennille]]'s "[[Love Will Keep Us Together]]" wins [[Grammy Award for Record of the Year|Record of the Year]] and [[Judy Collins]]' version of "[[Send in the Clowns]]" wins [[Grammy Award for Song of the Year|Song of the Year]]. [[Natalie Cole]] wins [[Grammy Award for Best New Artist|Best New Artist]].

===March–April===
*[[March 4]] – [[ABBA]] arrive at Sydney airport for a promotional tour in Australia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abbaofficial.com/australia_1976.html|title=The Promotional Tour March 1976|website=ABBA Official Australian Fan Club|access-date=17 November 2019}}</ref>
*[[March 6]] – [[EMI]] Records reissues all 22 previously released British [[The Beatles|Beatles]] singles, plus a new single of the classic "[[Yesterday (Beatles song)|Yesterday]]". All 23 singles hit the UK charts at the same time.
*[[March 7]] – A wax likeness of [[Elton John]] is put on display in London's [[Madame Tussaud's]] Wax Museum.
*[[March 9]] – [[The Who]]'s [[Keith Moon]] collapses onstage ten minutes into a performance at the [[Boston Garden]].
*[[March 15]] – Members of [[The Plastic People of the Universe]] are arrested in communist [[Czechoslovakia]]. They were sentenced from 8 to 18 months in jail.
*[[March 20]] – [[Alice Cooper]] marries Sheryl Goddard in an [[Acapulco]] restaurant.
*[[March 25]] – [[Jackson Browne]]'s wife Phyllis commits suicide.
*[[March 26]] – In Paris, France, [[Wings (band)|Wings]] guitarist [[Jimmy McCulloch]] breaks one of his fingers when he slips in his hotel bathroom following the final performance on the band's European tour. The injury ended up delaying the band's United States tour by three weeks.
*[[April 3]] – British pop group [[Brotherhood of Man]] win the 21st [[Eurovision Song Contest 1976|Eurovision Song Contest]] in [[The Hague]], Netherlands, with the song "[[Save Your Kisses For Me]]". It goes on to be the biggest selling Eurovision winner ever.
*[[April 14]] – [[Stevie Wonder]] announces that he has signed a "$13 million-plus" contract with [[Motown Records]].
*[[April 23]] – The [[Ramones]] release their debut studio album, ''[[Ramones (album)|Ramones]]''.
*[[April 24]] – ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' producer [[Lorne Michaels]] makes a semi-serious on-air offer to pay [[the Beatles]] $3000 to reunite live on the show. In a 1980 interview, [[John Lennon]] stated that he and [[Paul McCartney]] happened to be watching the show together at Lennon's apartment in New York and considered walking down to the SNL studio "for a gag" but were "too tired".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20061113060341/http://www.geocities.com/wireless_machine/lennon/pi1.htm John Lennon Playboy interview, 1980]</ref> On May 22, Michaels raises his offer from $3,000 to $3,200.
*[[April 28]] – [[The Rolling Stones]] open their European tour in [[Frankfurt]], Germany.
*[[April 29]] – When his tour stops in [[Memphis, Tennessee]], [[Bruce Springsteen]] jumps the wall at [[Elvis Presley]]'s mansion, "[[Graceland]]", in an attempt to see his idol. Security guards stop Springsteen and escort him off the grounds.

===May–June===
*[[May 1]] – [[The Alan Parsons Project]] release their debut studio album, [[Tales of Mystery and Imagination (Alan Parsons Project album)|''Tales of Mystery and Imagination'']].<ref>''Classic Rock magazine'', July 2010, Issue 146.</ref>
*[[May 3]]
**[[Paul McCartney]] and [[Wings (band)|Wings]] start their [[Wings over America Tour]] in [[Fort Worth, Texas]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Fred Bronson|title=The Billboard Book of Number One Hits|url=https://archive.org/details/billboardbookofn00fred|url-access=registration|year=1997|publisher=Billboard Books|isbn=978-0-8230-7641-3}}</ref> This is the first time McCartney has performed in the US since [[The Beatles]]' last concert in 1966 at [[Candlestick Park]].
**[[Paul Simon]] puts together a benefit show at [[Madison Square Garden]] to raise money for the New York Public Library. [[Phoebe Laub|Phoebe Snow]], [[Jimmy Cliff]] and the [[Brecker Brothers]] also perform. The concert brings in over $30,000 for the Library.
*[[May 19]]
**[[Rolling Stones]] guitarist [[Keith Richards]] is involved in a car accident northwest of London. [[Cocaine]] is found in his wrecked car. Richards is given a court date of January 12, 1977.
**Rumour spread by German press: [[ABBA]] members killed in plane crash, only Anni-Frid survived.
*[[May 25]] – [[Bob Dylan]]'s [[Rolling Thunder Revue]] tour ends.
* June – Former Spring Canyon keyboardist [[Mark Cook (musician)|Mark Cook]] joins [[Daniel Amos]].
*[[June 6]] – [[Keith Richards]] and [[Anita Pallenberg]] suffer tragedy when their 10-week-old son Tara dies of respiratory failure.
*[[June 10]] – [[Alice Cooper]] collapses and is rushed to UCLA Hospital in Los Angeles, three weeks before the [[Alice Cooper Goes to Hell|Goes To Hell]] tour would begin. The tour is cancelled.
*[[June 17]] – the first [[Macroom Mountain Dew Festival]] is held, the first ever [[rock festival]] to take place in [[Ireland]].
*[[June 18]] – [[ABBA]] perform "[[Dancing Queen]]" for the first time on Swedish television in [[Stockholm]] on the eve of the wedding of [[King Carl XVI Gustaf]] to [[Silvia Sommerlath]].
*[[June 25]] – [[Uriah Heep (band)|Uriah Heep]] performs its last show with [[David Byron]] as lead singer in [[Bilbao]], Spain. Byron is sacked shortly afterward.

===July–August===
*[[July 2]]
**Composer [[Benjamin Britten]] accepts a life peerage, only a few months before his death.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=46954|page=9295|date=6 July 1976}}</ref>
**[[Brian Wilson]] performs on stage with [[The Beach Boys]] for the first time in three years at a [[Days on the Green|Day on the Green]] concert in [[Oakland, California]].
*[[July 4]] – Many outdoor festivals and shows are held all over the United States as the country [[United States Bicentennial|celebrates its bicentennial]]. [[Elton John]] performs for 62,000 at Shaffer Stadium in [[Foxboro, Massachusetts]], while [[Eagles (band)|The Eagles]] and [[Fleetwood Mac]] play for 36,000 at [[Tampa Stadium]], [[Lynyrd Skynyrd]] and [[ZZ Top]] draw 35,000 at [[Memphis Memorial Stadium]] and [[Elvis Presley]] performs for 11,974 at the [[Mabee Center]] in [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]].
*[[July 7]] – 50,000 fans brave the rain in New York to attend a free [[Jefferson Starship]] concert in [[Central Park]].
*[[July 27]] – [[Tina Turner]] files for divorce from husband [[Ike Turner|Ike]].
*[[August 5]] – [[Eric Clapton]] provokes an uproar over comments he makes on stage at a [[Birmingham]] concert, voicing his opposition to immigration using multiple racial slurs while exhorting the audience to support [[Enoch Powell]] and to "keep Britain white".
*[[August 11]] – [[Keith Moon]] is rushed to hospital for the second time in five months, collapsing after trashing his Miami hotel room.<ref>{{cite book|author=Tony Fletcher|title=Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2t1T3Jywu0MC&pg=PT523|date=4 March 2010|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=978-0-85712-222-3|pages=523}}</ref>
*[[August 13]] – The official [[ABBA]] logo with the reversed 'B' is adopted.
*[[August 16]] – [[Cliff Richard]] becomes one of the first Western artists ever to perform in the Soviet Union when he gives a concert in [[Leningrad]].
*[[August 21]] – An estimated 120,000 fans pack [[Concerts at Knebworth House|Knebworth House]] to see [[The Rolling Stones]]. [[Todd Rundgren]], [[Lynyrd Skynyrd]] and [[10cc]] also perform.
*[[August 25]] – [[Boston (band)|Boston]] release their eponymous debut studio album, ''[[Boston (album)|Boston]]''.
*[[August 31]] – A U.S. district court decision rules that [[George Harrison]] had [[cryptomnesia|"subconsciously" copied]] [[The Chiffons]]' hit "[[He's So Fine]]" when he wrote the song "[[My Sweet Lord]]".

===September–October===
*[[September 1]] – [[Ode Records]] president [[Lou Adler]] is kidnapped at his Malibu home and released eight hours later after a $25,000 ransom is paid. Two suspects are soon arrested.
*[[September 3]] – [[Rory Gallagher]] joins the short list of Western popular musicians to perform behind the [[Iron Curtain]] with a show in [[Warsaw]], Poland.
*[[September 8]] – In a candid interview appearing in the October 7 edition of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' published today, [[Elton John]] publicly discloses his [[bisexuality]] for the first time.
*[[September 14]] – The one-hour [[Bob Dylan]] concert special ''Hard Rain'' airs on NBC, coinciding with the release of [[Hard Rain (Bob Dylan album)|the live album of the same name]].
*[[September 18]]
**[[Queen (band)|Queen]] performs a [[Queen Hyde Park 1976|massive free concert]] at London's [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]] for over 150,000 people.
**The second annual Rock Music Awards air on CBS. [[Peter Frampton]] wins Rock Personality of the Year, while [[Fleetwood Mac]] wins for Best Group and Best Album.
*[[September 20]]-21 – [[100 Club Punk Festival]], the first international punk festival is held in London. [[Siouxsie and the Banshees]] play their first concert.
*[[September 25]] – [[Bono]], [[The Edge]], [[Adam Clayton]] and [[Larry Mullen Jr.]] form a band called Feedback in [[Dublin]]. The band would later be renamed [[U2]].
*[[October 2]] – [[Joe Cocker]] performs a duet of "[[Feelin' Alright?|Feelin' Alright]]" with himself (as portrayed by [[John Belushi]]) on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''.
*[[October 8]] – English [[punk rock]] group the [[Sex Pistols]] sign a contract with [[EMI]] Records.
*[[October 11]] – Irish singer [[Joe Dolan]] is banned for life by [[Aer Lingus]] after an air rage incident en route to Corfu from Dublin.
*[[October 20]] – The [[Led Zeppelin]] concert film ''[[The Song Remains the Same (film)|The Song Remains the Same]]'' premieres at Cinema I in New York.
*[[October 22]] - [[The Damned (band)|The Damned]] releases their debut single “[[New Rose]]”, considered to be the first release from a British punk group.
*[[October 31]] – [[George Clinton (funk musician)|George Clinton]] and [[Parliament Funkadelic]] begin "The P-Funk/Rubber Band Earth Tour" in [[Houston]], a national live series highlighting one of the biggest and revolutionary stage shows in the history of the music industry (the rock group [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]] would be the other group to do a similar act), relying on elaborate costumes, special lighting and effects, and extremely large props including "the Mothership", which would arrive and land on stage, all of what this band is generally known for. This live set would vary in length (on average of 3 to 5 hours long) and at high volume.

===November–December===
*[[November 18]] – Former [[Tower of Power]] lead singer [[Rick Stevens]] and another person are found guilty on two counts of murder.
*[[November 23]]
**[[Thin Lizzy]] are forced to cancel their U.S. tour when guitarist [[Brian Robertson (guitarist)|Brian Robertson]] injures his hand in a bar fight.
**[[Jerry Lee Lewis]] is arrested after showing up drunk outside [[Graceland]] at 3 a.m., waving a pistol and loudly demanding to see [[Elvis Presley]]. Presley has declined his request.
*[[November 25]] – [[The Band]] gives its last public performance; [[Martin Scorsese]] is on hand to film it.
*[[November 26]] – The [[Sex Pistols]]' debut single "[[Anarchy in the U.K.]]" is released by EMI.
*[[December 1]] – The [[Sex Pistols]] appear on [[Thames Television]]'s ''Today'' show as a last-minute replacement for [[Queen (band)|Queen]]. The group causes a national outcry after swearing on the show.
*[[December 2]] – The [[Bee Gees]] perform at [[Madison Square Garden]] and donate the proceeds to the [[Police Athletic League]] in New York. In January 1979, they will receive the Police Athletic League's "Superstars of the Year" award.
*[[December 3]]
**A [[Pink Floyd]] album cover shoot in South London goes awry when a large inflatable pig balloon being used for the shoot breaks free of its moorings and drifts out of sight.
**[[Attempted assassination of Bob Marley]] (with his manager Don Taylor and others) in a shooting at his home in [[Kingston, Jamaica]].
*[[December 8]]
**[[The Carpenters]] air their ''"Very First Television Special"'' on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]].
**The [[Eagles (band)|Eagles]] release ''[[Hotel California (Eagles album)|Hotel California]]''. Globally, it will become the third [[List of best-selling albums|best-selling album]] of all time, behind the same band's February-released ''Greatest Hits'' compilation.
*[[December 12]] – [[Ace Frehley]] is shocked on stage during a [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]] concert in [[Lakeland, Florida]] after touching an [[ground (electricity)|ungrounded]] metal railing. The incident inspires the song "[[Shock Me]]".
*[[December 31]] – The fifth annual [[Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest|New Year's Rockin' Eve]] special airs on ABC, with performances by [[Donna Summer]], [[Bachman-Turner Overdrive]], [[The Four Seasons (band)|The Four Seasons]], and [[KC and the Sunshine Band]].

===Also in 1976===
* The last practitioner of the [[rekuhkara]] form of throat-singing dies, in Hokkaido, Japan.
* Tenor [[Franco Corelli]] retires from the stage at the age of 55.
* [[Cheryl Byron]] performs [[rapso]] in [[calypso tent]]s for the first time, beginning the popularization of rapso.
* [[Peter Brown (singer)|Peter Brown]]'s solo career begins.
* [[Peter Tosh]]'s solo career begins.
* [[Bunny Wailer]]'s solo career begins.
* [[Leif Garrett]]'s solo career begins.
* [[38 Special (band)|.38 Special]]'s musical career begins.
* [[Y&T]] (Yesterday & Today)'s musical career begins.
* [[Sergio Franchi]] becomes TV spokesman for Chrysler Corporation's Plymouth "Volare" and media spokesman for Hills Brothers coffee.
* [[Steve Martin]] signs a contract with [[Warner Bros.]]
* [[Eddie Money]] signs a contract with [[CBS]].
* "Ten Percent", by [[Double Exposure (band)|Double Exposure]], becomes the first [[12-inch single]] commercially available to the public (as opposed to DJ-only promotional copies).
* The [[Chinese Music Society of North America]] is founded.
* [[Gabin Dabiré]] embarks on a tour of Italy.