Editing 1981 in music (section)

===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.