Editing 1981 in music (section)

==Events==
===January–April===
*[[January]] – Nearly a year after the suicide of [[Ian Curtis]], the surviving members of [[Joy Division]] plus Gillian Gilbert, now under the name [[New Order (band)|New Order]], release their debut single [[Ceremony (New Order song)|"Ceremony"]]; the single and its B-side, "In a Lonely Place", are both re-recordings of songs originally written and performed by Curtis.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.neworder.com/newordernow/2018/12/19/movement-definitive-edition.html|title=New Order - New Order - Movement 'Definitive Edition'|access-date=February 23, 2019|archive-date=September 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190913171424/http://www.neworder.com/newordernow/2018/12/19/movement-definitive-edition.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The single's release marks the band's first public use of the "New Order" moniker, which they would retain for the remainder of their career.
*[[10 January]] – A revival of the [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] [[operetta]] ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'' opens at Broadway's [[Gershwin Theatre|Uris Theatre]], starring [[Linda Ronstadt]] and [[Rex Smith (entertainer)|Rex Smith]].
*[[11 January]] – Country singer [[Hank Williams Jr.]] releases his 32nd album, ''[[Rowdy (Hank Williams Jr. album)|Rowdy]]''. It is certified Gold by the [[Recording Industry Association of America|RIAA]].
*[[18 January]] – [[Wendy O. Williams]] of [[Plasmatics|The Plasmatics]] is arrested in [[Milwaukee]] for simulating masturbation with a sledgehammer on stage. In a scuffle with the police Williams is pinned to the floor and receives a cut above the eye requiring twelve stitches.<ref name="Rock Yearbook 1982">{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Rock Yearbook 1982 |url=https://archive.org/details/rockyearbook198200newy/page/22 |location=New York |publisher=Virgin Books Ltd. |page=[https://archive.org/details/rockyearbook198200newy/page/22 22] |date=1981 |isbn=0-312-68784-2 |url-access=registration }}</ref>
*[[24 January]] – [[Aerosmith]] lead singer [[Steven Tyler]] is injured in a motorcycle crash that leaves him hospitalized for two months.
*[[9 February]] – [[Phil Collins]] releases his first solo album, ''[[Face Value (album)|Face Value]]'', whose opening track "[[In the Air Tonight]]" popularizes the [[gated reverb]] drum sound that would become ubiquitous for the next ten years; while the album would end up a smash success, Collins would remain a member of [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]] until 1995.
*[[12 February]] – [[Rush (band)|Rush]] release the highly regarded album [[Moving Pictures (Rush album)|''Moving Pictures'']] which eventually becomes the band's sixth platinum album.
*[[14 February]]
**[[Ultravox]] reach number 2 on the UK Singles Chart with "[[Vienna (Ultravox song)|Vienna]]", but despite huge radio play and massive sales it is subsequently held off the top position for two consecutive weeks by [[Joe Dolce]]'s novelty song "[[Shaddup You Face]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/18593/ultravox/ |title=Ultravox |publisher=Official Charts }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/ultravox-1267134 |title=Ultravox's 'Vienna' tops poll of greatest No 2 singles |date=1 January 2013 |publisher=nme.com}}</ref>
**[[Billy Idol]] leaves the band [[Generation X (band)|Generation X]] to begin a solo career.
*[[25 February]] – The [[23rd Annual Grammy Awards]] are presented in [[New York City|New York]], hosted by [[Paul Simon]]. [[Christopher Cross]], with his [[Christopher Cross (album)|self-titled debut album]] and its single "[[Sailing (Christopher Cross song)|Sailing]]", becomes the first artist to win all four General Field awards in a single ceremony, controversially beating [[Pink Floyd]]'s ''[[The Wall (album)|The Wall]]'' for [[Grammy Award for Album of the Year|Album of the Year]].
*[[14 March]] – Suffering from bleeding ulcers, [[Eric Clapton]] is admitted to United Hospital in [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]], USA. Clapton's 60-city tour of the US is cancelled, and he remains in hospital for a month.
*[[21 March]] – [[Yellow Magic Orchestra]] release their fourth studio album, ''[[BGM (album)|BGM]]''; the album is the first to make use of the [[Roland TR-808]] [[drum machine]], which would go on to become an influential device in both [[electronic dance music]] and [[hip hop music]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.factmag.com/2015/01/22/the-essential-yellow-magic-orchestra/|title=The Essential... Yellow Magic Orchestra|last=Jones|first=Mikey IQ|date=22 January 2015|website=[[Fact (UK magazine)|FACT Magazine]]|access-date=24 August 2017}}</ref>
*[[27 March]] – [[Ozzy Osbourne]] bites the head off a dove at a [[Columbia Records|CBS]] record label gathering in Los Angeles.<ref name="Melody Maker 4/11/81">{{cite journal |author=[[David Fricke|Fricke, David]] |title=One Ahead For Ozzy |journal=[[Melody Maker]] |publisher=IPC Magazines Ltd. |date=April 11, 1981 |page=4}}</ref>
*[[1 April]] – [[The Go-Go's]] sign to [[IRS Records]].
*[[4 April]] – British pop group [[Bucks Fizz (band)|Bucks Fizz]] wins the 26th [[Eurovision Song Contest 1981|Eurovision Song Contest]], held at the [[Royal Dublin Society|RDS Simmonscourt Pavilion]], Dublin, with the song "[[Making Your Mind Up]]".
*[[11 April]] – [[Van Halen]]'s lead guitarist [[Eddie Van Halen]] marries actress [[Valerie Bertinelli]].
*[[12 April]] – Soviet orchestral conductor [[Maxim Shostakovich]] (son of Dmitri) defects while on tour in [[West Germany]] with his son.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/28/arts/russians-call-defection-of-shostakovich-personal.html|title=Russians Call Defection Of Shostakovich 'Personal'|newspaper=The New York Times|date=28 April 1981}}</ref>
*[[18 April]] – [[Yes (band)|Yes]] announce that they are breaking up. (They would reunite frequently in years to come).
*[[20 April]] – [[The Mamas & the Papas]]' [[John Phillips (musician)|John Phillips]] is sentenced to five years in jail after pleading guilty to drug possession charges. Phillips' sentence would be suspended after thirty days in exchange for 250 hours of community service.
*[[22 April]] – [[Eric Clapton]] is taken to the hospital suffering from bruised ribs and a lacerated shin, following a car accident in [[Seattle|Seattle, Washington]].
*[[26 April]]/[[27 April]]/[[28 April]] – [[Gary Numan]] performs three sold out 'farewell concerts' at [[Wembley Arena]], following his announcement to retire from live work at the height of his popularity. (He would return to live performance less than two years later.)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dangerousminds.net/comments/gary_numans_1981_farewell_concerts |title=GARY NUMAN'S 1981 'FAREWELL' CONCERTS |date=July 17, 2014 |publisher=Dangerous Minds }}</ref>
*[[27 April]] – [[Ringo Starr]] and [[Barbara Bach]] marry, in London, England.

===May–August===
*[[2 May]] – British vocalist [[Sheena Easton]] hits No. 1 in the US with "[[Morning Train (9 to 5)]]" following a swift rise to fame as the result of a reality TV show.
*[[9 May]] – [[Adam and the Ants]] single "[[Stand and Deliver (Adam and the Ants song)|Stand and Deliver]]" enters the UK Singles Chart at number 1.<ref name="aata">{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/18646/adam-and-the-ants/ |title=Adam and the Ants |publisher=Official Charts }}</ref> It remains at number 1 for five consecutive weeks and will sell over one million copies,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/nov/04/uk-million-selling-singles-full-list |title=UK's million-selling singles: the full list |work=The Guardian |date=November 4, 2012 }}</ref> becoming the years third best selling single in the UK.<ref name="best selling"/>
*[[May 11|11 May]] –  The Jamaican [[reggae]] singer [[Bob Marley]] dies from [[cancer]] at the age of 36.
*[[14 May]] – [[Diana Ross]] signs with [[RCA Records]] ([[EMI]] internationally), leaving [[Motown Records]], her label of two decades. The $20,000,000 deal is the most lucrative recording contract in history at that time.
*[[15 May]] – A riot breaks out at [[Ritz (rock club)|The Ritz]] rock club in New York when [[Public Image Ltd]] plays behind a videoscreen while completely different music plays over the club's speakers.
*[[16 May]] – [[Adam and the Ants]] tops the UK Albums Chart for the tenth consecutive week with ''[[Kings of the Wild Frontier]]''.<ref name="aata" />
*[[30 May]] – A reformed [[The Human League]] have their first commercial success as "[[The Sound of the Crowd]]" climbs to number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/the%20sound%20of%20the%20crowd/ |title=The Sound of the Crowd |publisher=Official Charts }}</ref>
*[[4 June]] – [[U2]] appears on ''[[The Tomorrow Show]]'' with [[Tom Snyder]], their first U.S. television appearance.
*[[5 June]] – The TV series ''[[Night Flight (TV series)|Night Flight]]'', a variety show featuring music documentaries and videos, is premiered on the [[USA Network]].
*[[6 June]] – ''[[Kerrang!]]'' magazine publishes its first issue. [[Angus Young]] of [[AC/DC]] is on the cover.
*[[30 June]] – [[Jerry Lee Lewis]] is rushed to hospital in Memphis for emergency surgery for a tear in his stomach. Despite being given less than a 50% chance of survival, he eventually pulls through.
*[[13 July]] – [[Duran Duran]] release the single "[[Girls on Film]]". Accompanied by a highly controversial music video that is censored for airplay on [[MTV]] and banned by [[BBC]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://louderthanwar.com/40-years-ago-this-month-duran-duran-released-girls-on-film-the-song-and-its-appearance-on-mtv-was-a-pop-culture-game-changer/ |title=40 years ago, this month, Duran Duran released "Girls On Film" the song and its appearance on MTV was a pop culture game changer |date=31 July 2021 |publisher=louderthanwar.com }}</ref> the song becomes the band's first big hit, eventually peaking at number 5 on the UK Singles Chart during an 11-week chart run.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/19319/duran-duran/ |title=Duran Duran |publisher=Official Charts }}</ref>
* [[27 July]] – [[Stevie Nicks]] releases debut solo album ''[[Bella Donna (album)|Bella Donna]]'', which sold 4 million copies in the US alone.
*[[1 August]] 
**MTV broadcasts for the first time on cable television in the United States, playing music videos 24 hours a day. First to air is "[[Video Killed the Radio Star]]" by [[The Buggles]].
**The success of ''[[Stars On 45]]'' leads to a short-lived medley [[Fads and trends|craze]]. The most successful imitator of the Stars On 45 format is, rather unexpectedly, the [[Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]], whose "Hooked On Classics (Parts 1&2)" reaches number two in the charts.
*[[15 August]] - [[Endless Love (song)|Endless Love]] - [[Diana Ross]] & [[Lionel Richie]] recorded the song for Motown, and it was used as the theme for the [[Franco Zeffirelli]]'s [[Endless Love (1981 film)|film adaptation]] of [[Scott Spencer (writer)|Scott Spencer]]'s novel Endless Love. (Jamie Bernstein, as the character Susan, sings the song during the course of the movie.) Produced by Richie and arranged by [[Gene Page]], it was released as a single from the film's soundtrack in 1981.
*[[23 August]] – The [[Violent Femmes]] are discovered by members of [[The Pretenders]] busking outside a [[Milwaukee]] venue and are invited to play a 10-minute acoustic set as a second opening act in the Pretenders' show that night.

===September–December===
*[[5 September]] – [[Soft Cell]] tops the UK Singles Chart with "[[Tainted Love]]". The song also tops the chart the following week and becomes the second best selling single in the UK in 1981.<ref name="best selling" /> 
*[[11 September]] – [[Iron Maiden]] fires lead singer [[Paul Di'Anno]].
*[[19 September]] 
**[[Simon & Garfunkel]] perform [[The Concert in Central Park|a free reunion concert]] in New York City's [[Central Park]] attended by over 500,000 fans.
**[[Adam and the Ants]] have their second chart-topping single of the year as "[[Prince Charming (Adam & the Ants song)|Prince Charming]]" reach number 1 on the UK Singles Chart. It remains at number one for four consecutive weeks and becomes the years fourth best selling single in the UK.<ref name="best selling" />   
*[[25 September]] – [[The Rolling Stones]] open their US tour in [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania.
*[[26 September]] – [[Iron Maiden]] hires [[Samson (band)|Samson]] lead singer Bruce Bruce AKA [[Bruce Dickinson]] to replace [[Paul Di'Anno]]. [[Bruce Dickinson|Dickinson]] will finish off the last 7 dates of the [[Killer World Tour]].
*[[16 October]] – [[The Human League]] release ''[[Dare (album)|Dare]]''. A huge commercial and critical success, it would spend 69 weeks on the UK Albums Chart including four weeks at number 1<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/18435/human-league/ |title=The Human League |publisher=Official Charts }}</ref> and be certified platinum in the UK,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/ |title=The Human League Dare |publisher=BPI |access-date=June 18, 2022 |archive-date=May 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507201753/https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> and gold in the US.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/#search_section |title=The Human League Dare |publisher=RIAA }}</ref> 
*[[26 October]] – [[Iron Maiden]] plays its first show with [[Bruce Dickinson]] as the new lead singer in [[Bologna, Italy]].
*[[27 October]] – The [[British Phonographic Industry]] takes out newspaper ads unveiling its new slogan: "[[Home Taping Is Killing Music]]". The ads advocate a levy on blank cassette tapes.<ref name="Rock Yearbook 1983">{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Rock Yearbook 1983 |location=New York |publisher=Virgin Books Ltd. |page=9 |date=1982 |isbn=0-312-68785-0}}</ref> 
*[[31 October]] – Punk band [[Fear (band)|Fear]] makes a memorable appearance on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''. A group of fans storm the stage and damage TV equipment while [[moshing]], resulting in the show cutting to commercial.
*[[18 November]] – While sitting in Tom's Restaurant in New York City, [[Suzanne Vega]] composes the song "[[Tom's Diner]]".
*[[21 November]] – [[Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark]] hits number 3 on the UK Albums Chart with their third album ''[[Architecture & Morality]]''. Including three UK top-5 singles, "[[Souvenir (song)|Souvenir]]", "[[Joan of Arc (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark song)|Joan of Arc]]" and "[[Maid of Orleans (The Waltz Joan of Arc)|Maid of Orleans]]", it will remain on the chart for 37 weeks<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/18250/orchestral-manoeuvres-in-the-dark/ |title=OMD |publisher=Official Charts}}</ref> and be certified platinum in the UK.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/ |title=OMD Architecture & Morality |publisher=BPI |access-date=June 18, 2022 |archive-date=May 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507201753/https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[11 December]] – [[The Human League]] reach number one on the UK Singles Chart with [[Don't You Want Me]]. The song remains at number one for five consecutive weeks and become the years  best selling single in the UK.<ref name="best selling">{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-50-best-selling-songs-of-1981__32604/ |title=The Official Top 50 best-selling songs of 1981 |publisher=Official Charts |date=5 March 2021 }}</ref> 
*[[18 December]] – An estimated 35 million people around the world watch a live satellite transmission of a [[Rod Stewart]] concert at the [[Los Angeles Forum]]. It is the first broadcast of its kind since Elvis Presley's "[[Aloha from Hawaii]]" special in 1973.
*[[31 December]] – The tenth annual [[Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest|New Year's Rockin' Eve]] special airs on ABC, with appearances by [[Four Tops]], [[Rick Springfield]], [[Barry Manilow]], [[Alabama (American band)|Alabama]] and [[Rick James]].

===Also in 1981===
* The organ at the famous [[Heinävesi Church]] in Finland is renewed, using locks from the original organ.
* [[Alice Cooper]] drastically changes his appearance, leaving behind his trademark make-up and donning a military uniform.
* [[Synthpop]] enjoys mainstream popularity in the UK, with groups such as [[Ultravox]], [[Depeche Mode]], [[Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark]] and [[The Human League]] releasing hit singles and albums. The Human League's "[[Don't You Want Me]]" and [[Soft Cell]]'s "[[Tainted Love]]" become the years best selling singles in the UK.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-50-best-selling-songs-of-1981__32604/ |title=The Official Top 50 best-selling songs of 1981 |publisher=Official Charts |date=5 March 2021 }}</ref>
* [[Menudo (band)|Menudo]]'s golden era (1981–1985) begins in Latin America, parts of Europe and Asia.
* [[Brad Whitford]] leaves [[Aerosmith]] and is replaced by [[Rick Dufay]].
* [[Hal Willner]] "invents" the modern [[tribute album]] with ''Amacord Nino Rota''.