Editing 1978 in music (section)

===August–December===
*[[August 26]] – 80,000 concertgoers attend [[Mosport International Raceway|Mosport Speedway]] in Ontario for the "[[Canada Jam|Canada Jam Festival]]", featuring sets by [[the Doobie Brothers]], [[Commodores]], [[Kansas (band)|Kansas]], [[Village People]], [[Dave Mason]], the [[Atlanta Rhythm Section]] and [[Triumph (band)|Triumph]].
*[[August 26]] – 67,000 Funk fans assembled at [[Soldier Field]] in [[Chicago, Illinois]] to attend the first annual Funk Festival, billed as "One Nation Under A Groove", featuring [[A Taste of Honey (band)|A Taste of Honey]], [[Parlet]], [[Con Funk Shun]], the [[Bar-Kays]], and [[Parliament-Funkadelic]].
*[[September 7]] – [[The Who]] drummer [[Keith Moon]] dies in a central London flat after a prescription drug overdose at the age of 32.
*[[September 14]]–16 – [[Grateful Dead|The Grateful Dead]] perform three shows in [[Giza]], Egypt, very close to the [[Great Sphinx of Giza|Sphinx]] and [[Great Pyramid of Giza|Great Pyramid]].
*[[October 12]] – [[Nancy Spungen]], the American girlfriend of [[Sex Pistols]] bassist [[Sid Vicious]], is found dead in a New York hotel room of a stab wound. Sid is arrested and charged with her murder.
*[[October 21]] – Founder members [[John Taylor (bass guitarist)|John Taylor]] and [[Nick Rhodes]] name their newly formed band [[Duran Duran]] after the character "Dr. Durand Durand" from the sci-fi film ''[[Barbarella (film)|Barbarella]]'' the day after the film had been broadcast on BBC 1.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://durancompilations.com/early1.html |title=Duran Duran – The Early Days Chapter 1 |publisher=durancompilations.com |access-date=26 May 2022 }}</ref>
*[[October 24]] – [[The Rolling Stones|Rolling Stones]] guitarist [[Keith Richards]] pleads guilty to a reduced charge of possessing heroin in Toronto in 1977. The more serious charge of drug trafficking is dropped and Richards is given a one-year suspended sentence as well as ordered to play a charity concert for the blind.<ref name="keithrichards">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/keith-richards-guilty-but-free-19781130 |title= Keith Richards Guilty – But Free |last1=Flippo |first1=Chet |date=November 30, 1978 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |access-date=November 14, 2013}}</ref>
*[[October 29]] – [[Michael Schenker]] plays his final show with [[UFO (band)|UFO]] in [[Stanford, California]] before leaving the group to rejoin [[Scorpions (band)|Scorpions]].
*November – [[Iron Maiden]] hires lead singer [[Paul Di'Anno]].
*[[November 21]] – French pop star [[Dalida]] performs a concert at New York's [[Carnegie Hall]]. 
*[[November 25]] 
**A now sober [[Alice Cooper]] releases the album ''[[From the Inside (Alice Cooper album)|From the Inside]]'', which tells of his stay in rehab for alcoholism.
**[[Aerosmith]] cuts a concert short after [[Steven Tyler]] suffers cuts to his face from a bottle that shatters upon hitting a stage monitor.
**[[Donna Summer]] becomes the first female artist of the modern rock era to have the number one single (Mac Arthur Park) and album (Live and More) on Billboard charts simultaneously.
*[[November 27]] – [[Def Leppard]]'s permanent drummer [[Rick Allen (drummer)|Rick Allen]] joins the band at the age of 15.
*December – Soviet orchestral conductor defects to the Netherlands while on tour there. 
*[[December 2]] – [[OTI Festival 1978|The seventh edition of the OTI Festival]], the [[Latin America]]n [[Spin-off (media)|spin-off]] of the [[Eurovision Song Contest]] takes place in [[Santiago]], [[Chile]]. The winning country is [[Brazil in the OTI Festival|Brazil]], represented by Denisse de Kalafe with her song "El amor...Cosa tan rara" (Love...Such a strange thing)
*[[December 31]] 
**[[Matthias Jabs]] joins [[Scorpions (band)|Scorpions]], replacing [[Uli Jon Roth]].
**The seventh annual [[Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest|New Year's Rockin' Eve]] special airs on ABC, with performances by [[Barry Manilow]], [[Village People]], [[Chuck Mangione]], [[Tanya Tucker]] and [[Rick James]].
**CBS airs ''New Year's Eve with [[Guy Lombardo]]'' for the final time, nearly two years after the band leader's death and ending a 22-year run that began in 1956.
**The [[Winterland Ballroom]] venue in [[San Francisco]] closes with a New Year's Eve performance by the [[Grateful Dead]], [[New Riders of the Purple Sage]] and the [[Blues Brothers]].
**[[Iron Maiden]] records a demo, consisting of four songs, at Spaceward Studios in Cambridge which would eventually become [[The Soundhouse Tapes]].