Editing 1985 in music (section)

==Events==
===January–March===
*[[January 1]] – The newest music video channel, [[VH1|VH-1]], begins broadcasting on American cable. It is aimed at an older demographic than its sister station, [[MTV]]. The first video played is [[Marvin Gaye]]'s rendition of "[[The Star-Spangled Banner]]".<ref>{{cite book|author=Mitchell E. Shapiro|title=Cable Television Prime Time Programming, 1990–2010|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A3UwxekfBf4C&pg=PA217|date=10 January 2014|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-9258-9|pages=217}}</ref>
*[[January 11]]
**One of the biggest music festivals in the world begins in [[Rio de Janeiro]], Brazil. [[Rock in Rio]] had an audience of 1.5 million people, and featured [[Iron Maiden]], [[Nina Hagen]], [[The B52's]], [[Go Go's]], [[Queen (band)|Queen]], [[Rod Stewart]], [[James Taylor]] and [[AC/DC]], along with Brazilian artists such as [[Gilberto Gil]], [[Elba Ramalho]], [[Barão Vermelho]] and [[Paralamas do Sucesso]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Dave DiMartino|title=Music in the 20th Century (3 Vol Set)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sB4GDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA536|date=15 April 2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-46430-3|pages=536}}</ref>
**[[Willie Dixon]] sues [[Led Zeppelin]] over the song "[[Whole Lotta Love]]", on the grounds that it contains too many similarities to his own song "You Need Love". The lawsuit is settled out of court.{{Citation needed|date=December 2012}}
*[[January 28]] – Various artists, under the group name [[USA For Africa]], including [[Ray Charles]], [[Bob Dylan]], [[Michael Jackson]], [[Billy Joel]], [[Cyndi Lauper]], [[Steve Perry]], [[Kenny Loggins]], [[Willie Nelson]], [[Lionel Richie]], [[Smokey Robinson]], [[Kenny Rogers]], [[Diana Ross]], [[Paul Simon]], [[Bruce Springsteen]], [[Huey Lewis]], [[Tina Turner]], [[Sheila E.]], [[Harry Belafonte]], [[Lindsey Buckingham]], [[Kim Carnes]], [[Dionne Warwick]], [[Waylon Jennings]], [[Bob Geldof]] and [[Stevie Wonder]], record the song "[[We Are the World]]", written by Jackson and Ritchie.
*[[February]] – Just months after the [[compact disc]] release of his sixteenth and most recent studio album, ''[[Tonight (David Bowie album)|Tonight]]'', and nearly two years after the initial CD release of its predecessor, ''[[Let's Dance (David Bowie album)|Let's Dance]]'', [[RCA Records]] reissues [[David Bowie]]'s previous fourteen studio albums plus four [[greatest hits album]]s on the format. Consequently, Bowie becomes the first major artist to have his entire catalog converted to CD.
*[[February 14]]
**[[Whitney Houston]] releases her [[Whitney Houston (album)|debut album]].
*[[February 22]]
**The "[[One Night with Blue Note]]" concert, celebrating the relaunch of [[Blue Note Records]] and featuring over 30 jazz greats, is held at [[The Town Hall (New York City)|The Town Hall]] in New York. [[Freddie Hubbard]], [[Herbie Hancock]], [[Jack DeJohnette]], [[McCoy Tyner]] and [[Grover Washington, Jr.]] are just a few of the performers.
*[[February 26]] – The [[27th Annual Grammy Awards]] are presented in [[Los Angeles]], hosted by [[John Denver]]. [[Lionel Richie]]'s ''[[Can't Slow Down (Lionel Richie album)|Can't Slow Down]]'' wins [[Grammy Award for Album of the Year|Album of the Year]], while [[Tina Turner]]'s "[[What's Love Got to Do with It (song)|What's Love Got to Do with It]]" wins both [[Record of the Year]] and [[Grammy Award for Song of the Year|Song of the Year]]. [[Cyndi Lauper]] wins [[Best New Artist]].
*[[March 9]] – [[Tears for Fears]] album ''[[Songs from the Big Chair]]'' debuts at number two on the UK Albums Chart. Enjoying massive sales, it spends 29 consecutive weeks on the top 10 and remain on the chart for another 50 weeks until September 1986.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/25022/tears-for-fears/ |title=Tears for Fears |publisher=Official Charts}}</ref>
*[[March 27]] – The South African Broadcasting Corporation bans [[Stevie Wonder]]'s music in response to Wonder dedicating the [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] he had won the night before to [[Nelson Mandela]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F00E4DD1438F934A15750C0A963948260 |title=Stevie Wonder Music Banned in South Africa |agency=Associated Press |date=March 27, 1985 |work=The New York Times |access-date=July 15, 2008}}</ref>
*[[March 28]] – A wax likeness of [[Michael Jackson]] is unveiled at [[Madame Tussaud's]] in London, UK.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mj-in-the-early-80s.com/1985.htm |title=Michael Jackson, 1985  |year=2005 |publisher=Michael Jackson in the Early 1980s|access-date=July 15, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080613235221/http://www.mj-in-the-early-80s.com/1985.htm| archive-date=June 13, 2008| url-status= dead}}</ref>

===April–June===
*[[April 1]] – After months of squabbling, [[David Lee Roth]] leaves [[Van Halen]] to begin a solo career.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.geocities.com/dan_halen27/history/roth_era.html |title=Chronology |date=n.d. |last=Dan Halen |access-date=July 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091024114004/http://geocities.com/dan_halen27/history/roth_era.html |archive-date=October 24, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[April 7]] – [[Wham!]] becomes the first Western pop group to perform in China when they play a concert in [[Beijing]]'s [[Workers Stadium]] during an historic 10-day visit.
*[[April 10]] – [[Madonna]] begins her very first tour, [[The Virgin Tour]] (named after her ''[[Like a Virgin (album)|Like a Virgin]]'' album) in [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], USA.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ultimatemadonna.com/the_virgin_tour/ |title=The Virgin Tour |last=Madonnatribe |date=n.d. |access-date=July 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080714062616/http://www.ultimatemadonna.com/the_virgin_tour/ |archive-date=July 14, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[April 20]] – [[Tears for Fears]] single "[[Everybody Wants to Rule the World]]" becomes their highest-charting single in the UK as it reach number two on the singles chart, held off the top position for two consecutive weeks by "[[We are the World]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19850421/7501/ |title=Official Singles Chart Top 100 21 April 1985 – 27 April 1985 |publisher=Official Charts}}</ref>
*May – Russian singer [[Valery Leontiev]] starts his 10-date tour "Alone with all" and it becomes an instant hit. Queues for tickets blocked the traffic on a few central streets of [[Leningrad]].
*[[May 4]] – With "[[La det swinge]]" by [[Bobbysocks!]], Norway scores its first win at the [[Eurovision Song Contest]], in Gothenburg, Sweden.
*[[May 13]] – [[Dire Straits]] release their fifth studio album, [[Brothers in Arms (album)|''Brothers in Arms'']]. The album becomes highly successful in part because of its unusually high sound quality, the result of it being recorded entirely [[Digital recording|digitally]] as opposed to with standard [[Analog recording|analog]] [[magnetic tape]]. The album additionally serves as a [[killer app]] for the [[compact disc]] format, becoming the first album to sell more copies on CD than on [[phonograph record]], and goes on to become the highest selling album of the 1980s in the UK.
*[[June 11]] – [[Madonna]] ends [[The Virgin Tour]] at [[Madison Square Garden]] in New York, USA.

===July–September===
*[[July 13]] – The [[Live Aid]] concert takes place in [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]], London, UK, and [[JFK Stadium]] in [[Philadelphia]], USA. The headlining acts at the latter venue included a [[Led Zeppelin]] reunion, the first since their 1980 disbandment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.herald.co.uk/local_info/live_aid.html#prog |title=Live Aid Programme |last=mdh |year=1995 |access-date=July 15, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080607124201/http://www.herald.co.uk/local_info/live_aid.html| archive-date=June 7, 2008| url-status= live}}</ref> The former venue, however, becomes the more notable of the two over the years, in part due to the high acclaim of [[Queen (band)|Queen]]'s performance of "[[Radio Ga Ga]]", which serves as the band's comeback in the United Kingdom (Queen would still remain a pariah in the United States in the wake of ''[[Hot Space]]'' until after [[Freddie Mercury]]'s death six years later). With a little help from the British [[Concorde]] jet, singer [[Phil Collins]] manages to perform at both venues. This would be the last time [[Duran Duran]] would perform together with the original line up until they reunited to record their 2004 album [[Astronaut (Duran Duran album)|Astronaut]]. On this day they would also have the number 1 song on the US Billboard charts with their [[James Bond]] theme to the film ''[[A View to a Kill]]''.
*[[September 6]] – [[Michael Jackson]] purchases the publishing rights for most of [[the Beatles]]' music for $47 million, much to the dismay of [[Paul McCartney]], against whom he is bidding.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mjcafe.net/the%20legend%20speeches%20&%20faq/b4.htm |title=When did Michael buy the Beatles' songs? |year=2008 |last=MJ Cafe |access-date=July 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080601020857/http://www.mjcafe.net/the%20legend%20speeches%20%26%20faq/b4.htm |archive-date=June 1, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[September 19]] – The [[Parents Music Resource Center]]'s (P.M.R.C.) [[United States Senate]] hearing on rock censorship begin in Washington, D.C. [[Heavy metal music|Heavy metal]] singer [[Dee Snider]] of [[Twisted Sister]], rock star [[Frank Zappa]] and [[Country music|country]] singer [[John Denver]] testify against the P.M.R.C.
*[[September 22]] 
**The [[Farm Aid]] concert is held in [[Champaign, Illinois]], USA.
**[[Massimo Bogianckino]], general manager of the [[Paris Opera]] and former head of both the [[Maggio Musicale Fiorentino]] and [[La Scala]], is elected mayor of [[Florence]].<ref>Peter Nichols, "Opera Head to be Mayor of Florence", ''The Times'' issue 62252 (September 25, 1985): 8H.</ref>

===October–December===
*[[October 26]] – "[[Saving All My Love for You]]" by [[Whitney Houston]] tops the [[Billboard Hot 100]]. It was [[Whitney Houston|her]] first of 7 consecutive number-one singles through [[1988 in music|1988]].
*[[December 5]] – The first fully [[Digital audio|digital]] [[reggae]] single, [[Wayne Smith (musician)|Wayne Smith]]'s "(Under Me) [[Sleng Teng]]", is recorded at [[Prince Jammy]]'s studio; it is the beginning of [[ragga]] style reggae.<ref>{{Cite web|title=BBC – Radio 1Xtra – Black History – 1985|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/1xtra/blackhistory/years/1985|access-date=2021-08-22|website=BBC Radio 1Xtra|language=en-GB}}</ref>
*[[December 23]] – Two young fans of [[Judas Priest]] in [[Sparks, Nevada]] shoot themselves, one fatally, after listening to the band's records. A lawsuit is brought against the group in 1986 claiming that they were compelled by [[backmasking|backwards]] subliminal messages hidden in their music.
*[[December 31]] – The fourteenth annual [[New Year's Rockin' Eve]] special is aired on ABC television, with appearances by [[Four Tops]], [[The Judds]], [[Barry Manilow]], [[The Motels]], [[Tears for Fears]] and [[The Temptations]].

===Also in 1985===
*Several hundreds of thousands of US dollars in publishing royalties are released to the surviving members, and families of the deceased members, of the British music group, [[Badfinger]]. Two band members, [[Pete Ham]] and Tom Evans, previously committed suicide due to financial problems.{{Citation needed|date=April 2008}}
*''[[Metal Edge]]'' magazine is launched.
*[[Roger Waters]] announces his intention to leave [[Pink Floyd]]; describing the band as "a spent force creatively", he would spend the next two years in a legal battle with his now-former bandmates over the rights to the "Pink Floyd" name and other associated assets.