Editing 1983 in music (section)

===January–April===
*[[January 1]]
**[[ZTT Records]] is founded.
**The [[Merchant Ivory Productions|Merchant Ivory]] film ''[[Heat and Dust (film)|Heat and Dust]]'' is released. On the soundtrack, composed by [[Zakir Hussain (musician)|Zakir Hussain]], Ivory is featured on [[tanpura]] with Hussain (who also appears in the film) on [[tabla]].
*[[January 8]] – The [[UK singles chart]] is tabulated from this week forward by [[Gallup, Inc.|The Gallup Organization]]. In 1984 electronic terminals will be used in selected stores to gather sales information, and the old "sales diary" method will be gradually phased out over the next few years.
*January – [[Surtitles]] are first used in a live opera performance at a [[Canadian Opera Company]] production of ''[[Elektra (opera)|Elektra]]''.<ref>{{cite news|last=Reich|first=Howard|date=1986-10-19|title=Queen of captions|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-queen-of-captions-by-how/159615760/|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-queen-of-captions-by-how/159616094/ 12-13]|access-date=2024-11-23|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>
*[[February 2]] – "Menudomania" comes to New York as 3,500 screaming girls crowd [[Kennedy Airport]] to catch a glimpse of [[Puerto Rico|Puerto Rican]] boy band [[Menudo (band)|Menudo]], who are playing six sold-out shows at the [[Felt Forum]].
*[[February 11]] – [[The Rolling Stones]] concert film ''[[Let's Spend the Night Together (film)|Let's Spend the Night Together]]'' opens in New York.
*[[February 13]] – [[Marvin Gaye]] performs "[[The Star-Spangled Banner]]" before the [[1983 NBA All-Star Game|NBA All-Star Game]].
*[[February 23]] – The [[25th Annual Grammy Awards]] are presented in [[Los Angeles]], hosted by [[John Denver]]. [[Toto (band)|Toto]] win both [[Grammy Award for Album of the Year|Album of the Year]] (for ''[[Toto IV]]'') and [[Record of the Year]] (for "[[Rosanna (song)|Rosanna]]"), while [[Willie Nelson]]'s cover of "[[Always on My Mind#Willie Nelson version|Always on My Mind]]" wins [[Grammy Award for Song of the Year|Song of the Year]]. [[Men at Work]] win [[Best New Artist]].
*[[February 26]] – [[Michael Jackson]]'s ''[[Thriller (Michael Jackson album)|Thriller]]'' album hits #1 on the US charts, the first of thirty-seven (non-consecutive) weeks it would spend there on its way to becoming the biggest-selling album of all time.
*[[February 28]] – [[U2]] release their 3rd album [[War (U2 album)|War]] which debuts at #1 in the UK and produces the band's first international [[New Year's Day (U2 song)|hit single]].
*[[March 2]] – [[Compact disc]]s go on sale in the United States. They had first been released in Japan the previous October.
*[[March 4]] – [[Neil Young]] cancels the remainder of his tour after collapsing backstage in [[Louisville, Kentucky]], United States, after playing for seventy-five minutes.
*[[March 5]] – [[Thompson Twins]] have their first chart success as "[[Love on Your Side]]" enters the Top 10 in the UK.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/19863/thompson-twins/ |title=Thompson Twins |publisher=Official Charts }}</ref>
*[[March 26]] 
**[[Duran Duran]] enter the UK Singles Chart at number 1 with their first UK number 1 single "[[Is There Something I Should Know?]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19830320/7501/ |title=Official Singles Chart Top 100 20 March 1983 – 26 March 1983 |publisher=Official Charts }}</ref>
**[[Tears for Fears]] debut album ''[[The Hurting]]'' reaches number 1 on the UK Albums Chart.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/19830320/7502/ |title=Official Albums Chart Top 100 20 March 1983 – 26 March 1983 |publisher=Official Charts }}</ref> 
*[[April 5]]
**''A Generative Theory of Tonal Music'' by [[Fred Lerdahl]] and [[Ray Jackendoff]] is published.
**US Interior Secretary [[James G. Watt]] causes controversy when he effectively bans the [[Beach Boys]] from a return performance at the Fourth of July festivities in Washington, announcing that [[Wayne Newton]] would perform instead. Watt claims that rock bands attract "the wrong element". That same week President Reagan, himself an avowed Beach Boys fan, presents Watt with a plaster foot with a hole in it.<ref name="Clines, 1983">{{cite news|last1=Clines|first1=Francis X.|title=Watt Reverses Ban on Rock Music at Concert|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/04/08/us/watt-reverses-ban-on-rock-music-at-concert.html|access-date=10 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=8 April 1983}}</ref>
*[[April 9]] – [[David Bowie]] achieves his fourth UK number 1 single with "[[Let's Dance (David Bowie song)|Let's Dance]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/19138/david-bowie/ |title=David Bowie |publisher=Official Charts }}</ref> 
*[[April 11]] – [[Dave Mustaine]] is fired from [[Metallica]] just as the band is set to begin recording its début album. He is replaced by [[Kirk Hammett]].
*[[April 14]] – [[David Bowie]] releases ''[[Let's Dance (David Bowie album)|Let's Dance]]'', his first album since parting ways with [[RCA Records]] and his fifteenth studio album overall. With its deliberate shift to mainstream [[dance-rock]], it would become Bowie's biggest commercial success, at 10.7 million copies sold worldwide.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}
*[[April 18]] – [[Ellen Taaffe Zwilich]] becomes the first woman to win the [[Pulitzer Prize for Music]].
*[[April 23]] – French singer [[Corinne Hermès]], representing [[Luxembourg]], wins the 28th annual [[Eurovision Song Contest 1983|Eurovision Song Contest]], held at [[Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle]] in [[Munich]], with the song "[[Si la vie est cadeau]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://eurovision.tv/event/munich-1983/final|title=Official Eurovision Song Contest 1983 scoreboard|website=[[Eurovision Song Contest]]}}</ref>