Editing 1988 in music

{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2011}}
{{Globalize|date=December 2010}}
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1988.
{{YYYY music|1988}}
{{Year nav topic5|1988|music|radio|television|film}}

==Specific locations==
*[[1988 in British music]]
*[[1988 in Norwegian music]]

==Specific genres==
*[[1988 in country music]]
*[[1988 in heavy metal music]]
*[[1988 in hip-hop|1988 in hip hop music]]
*[[1988 in jazz]]

==Events==
===January–March===
*[[January 20]] – The [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] ceremony inducts [[The Beach Boys]], [[The Beatles]], [[The Drifters]], [[Bob Dylan]] and [[The Supremes]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rockhall.com/inductees?name=&field_inductee_induction_year=1988-01-01+00%3A00%3A00&field_induction_category=All|title=Induction Explorer|website=Rock and Roll Hall of Fame}}</ref>
*[[January 28]] – A [[Tampa, Florida]], man files an unusual lawsuit against [[Mötley Crüe]]. Matthew John Trippe, who has a history of mental health issues and trouble with the law, claims that he was secretly hired to pose as [[Nikki Sixx]] and toured, wrote and recorded with the band for a time during 1983 and 1984.<ref name="RS #528-crue">{{cite magazine |last1=Persall |first1=Steve |date=June 16, 1988 |title=A Pair of Sixxes? |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |publisher=Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc. |issue=528 |pages=30 }}</ref> Trippe drops the lawsuit in 1993.
*[[March 2]] – The [[30th Annual Grammy Awards]] are presented in [[New York City|New York]], hosted by [[Billy Crystal]]. [[U2]]'s ''[[The Joshua Tree]]'' wins [[Grammy Award for Album of the Year|Album of the Year]], [[Paul Simon]]'s "[[Graceland (song)|Graceland]]" wins [[Grammy Award for Record of the Year|Record of the Year]] and [[Linda Ronstadt]] & [[James Ingram]]'s "[[Somewhere Out There (An American Tail song)|Somewhere Out There]]" wins [[Grammy Award for Song of the Year|Song of the Year]]. [[Jody Watley]] wins [[Grammy Award for Best New Artist|Best New Artist]].
*[[March 10]] - Pop star [[Andy Gibb]] dies at a hospital in [[Oxford]], England five days after his 30th birthday. 
*[[March 26]] – "[[Man in the Mirror]]" by [[Michael Jackson]] from the ''[[Bad (album)|Bad]]'' album tops the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]. It's the first time in history a solo artist has had four Number One singles from the same album.<ref name="RS #525">{{cite magazine |date=May 5, 1988 |title=Jackson Rules Charts |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |publisher=Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc. |issue=525 |pages=22 }}</ref>

===April–June===
*[[April 7]] – [[Alice Cooper]] almost dies on stage when one of the props, the [[Gallows]], malfunctions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sickthingsuk.co.uk/timelines/t-ryfay.php|title=SickthingsUK – The Unofficial Alice Cooper Site|website=www.sickthingsuk.co.uk|access-date=December 4, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318030447/http://www.sickthingsuk.co.uk/timelines/t-ryfay.php|archive-date=March 18, 2012|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
*[[April 19]] – Former [[rock and roll]] singer [[Sonny Bono]] is inaugurated as the Mayor of [[Palm Springs, California]], USA.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Niemann |first=Greg |date=2022-10-14 |title=CV History: His Candidacy Was at First Considered a Joke—but Mayor Sonny Bono Helped Palm Springs Become the Place It Is Today |url=http://cvindependent.com/2022/10/cv-history-his-candidacy-was-at-first-considered-a-joke-but-mayor-sonny-bono-helped-palm-springs-become-the-place-it-is-today/ |access-date=2024-06-18 |website=Coachella Valley Independent |language=en-US}}</ref>
*[[April 25]] – Rock supermanager [[Doc McGhee]] is sentenced to five years probation after pleading guilty to charges of [[drug smuggling]] stemming from a 1982 seizure of nearly 40,000 pounds of marijuana entering [[North Carolina]] from [[Colombia]].<ref name="RS #528-mcghee">{{cite magazine |last1=DeCurtis |first1=Anthony |date=June 16, 1988 |title=McGhee Placed on Probation |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |publisher=Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc. |issue=528 |pages=29 }}</ref>
*[[April 30]] – The [[Eurovision Song Contest 1988|Eurovision Song Contest]], held in the [[Royal Dublin Society|RDS Simmonscourt Pavilion]], Dublin, is won by [[French-Canadian]] singer [[Celine Dion]], representing [[Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest|Switzerland]] with the song "[[Ne partez pas sans moi]]".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=304|title=Eurovision Song Contest 1988 {{!}} Eurovision Song Contest|website=Eurovision.tv|access-date=2017-02-02}}</ref>
*[[May 14]] – [[Atlantic Records]] stages a concert at [[Madison Square Garden]] celebrating its Fortieth birthday with performances by many of the label's greatest acts of the past. Artists include [[Crosby, Stills & Nash]], [[Iron Butterfly]], [[Ruth Brown]], [[Foreigner (band)|Foreigner]] and [[Wilson Pickett]], but the most talked-about performance is by a reunited [[Led Zeppelin]] with [[Jason Bonham]] on drums.<ref name="RS #529">{{cite magazine |last1=Pond |first1=Steve |date=June 30, 1988 |title=Atlantic's Birthday Bash |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |publisher=Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc. |issue=529 |pages=48–50, 66 }}</ref>
*[[May 27]] – The [[Monsters of Rock Tour 1988]] commences in [[East Troy, Wisconsin]]. [[Van Halen]] headlines with the other acts on the bill consisting of [[Metallica]], [[Scorpions (band)|Scorpions]], [[Dokken]] and [[Kingdom Come (German band)|Kingdom Come]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2012}}
*[[June 10]] – [[Singing Revolution]] begins in [[Estonia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.onthisdeity.com/10th-june-1988-%E2%80%93%C2%A0the-singing-revolution/|title=10th June 1988 – the Singing Revolution|work=Dorian Cope presents On This Deity|access-date=2024-04-13}}</ref>
*[[June 18]] – [[Depeche Mode]] play to a crowd of 60,000 at the [[Rose Bowl (stadium)|Rose Bowl]] in [[Pasadena, California]]. The concert was filmed and recorded by [[D. A. Pennebaker]] for the group's documentary-concert film and live album [[101 (album)|''101'']].
*[[June 27]] – [[Motown Records]] is sold to [[MCA Records|MCA]] and an investment firm for $61 million.<ref name="RS #532">{{cite magazine |last1=Ressner |first1=Jeffrey |date=August 11, 1988 |title=Motown Records Sold |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |publisher=Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc. |issue=532 |pages=17 }}</ref>

===July–September===
*[[July 2]] – [[Michael Jackson]] with fifth single from ''[[Bad (album)|Bad]]'', "[[Dirty Diana]]", he broke the record to have five consecutive charting singles from same album at the top of the ''[[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]'', is the first artist and only male in history to achieve this.{{Citation needed|date=December 2012}}
*[[August 12]] – [[Public Enemy (group)|Public Enemy]] garners publicity by staging a concert at [[Riker's Island]] prison for 250 inmates and 100 journalists.<ref name="RS #541/42">{{cite magazine |date=December 15, 1988 |title=August |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |publisher=Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc. |issue=541/542 |pages=84 }}</ref>
*[[September 6]]–9 – [[Elton John]] auctions off many items from his personal collection, including memorabilia and stage-worn clothing, at [[Sotheby's]] for a total of $8.5 million. John had been known for wearing flamboyant stage costumes during the [[glam rock]] era of the 1970s, but he increasingly abandoned them in later years.{{Citation needed|date=December 2012}}
*[[September 10]] – ''Billboard'' magazine publishes its [[Hot Modern Rock Tracks]] chart for the first time.
*[[September 24]] – [[James Brown]] faces a variety of charges after leading police on an interstate chase, after reportedly breaking into a seminar in an [[Augusta, Georgia]], building he owned an office in, waving a gun and demanding to know who had used his restrooms. Earlier in the year Brown had been arrested on drug and firearms-related charges.<ref name="RS #538">{{cite magazine |last1=Ressner |first1=Jeffrey |date=November 3, 1988 |title=James Brown Arrested After Car Chase |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |publisher=Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc. |issue=538 |pages=27 }}</ref>
*[[September 25]] – The [[Aalto Theatre]], Essen, Germany, opens with a performance of ''[[Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg]]''.<ref>[[:de:Dietmar N. Schmidt|Dietmar N. Schmidt]] (ed.): ''Das Theater von Alvar Aalto in Essen.'' [[:de:G. D. Baedeker Verlag|Baedeker]], Essen 1988, {{ISBN|3-920138-03-1}}</ref>

===October–December===
*[[October 10]] – The new [[Cairo Opera House]] is inaugurated by President [[Hosni Mubarak]] and [[Prince Tomohito of Mikasa]], brother of the Emperor of Japan. The opening ceremony includes a [[kabuki]] performance in recognition of the funds donated by Japan.<ref>[http://www.cairoopera.org/about.aspx About Cairo Opera House.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317092702/http://www.cairoopera.org/about.aspx |date=March 17, 2013 }} Accessed 7 March 2013</ref>
*[[November 7]] – [[John Fogerty]] wins a self-plagiarism lawsuit with [[Fantasy Records]]. The record label had contended that Fogerty's 1985 comeback hit "[[The Old Man Down the Road]]" was too similar to his 1970 [[Creedence Clearwater Revival]] song, "[[Run Through the Jungle]]".<ref name="RS543p15">{{cite magazine |last1=Goldberg |first1=Michael |date=January 12, 1989 |title=Fogerty Wins Unusual Self-Plagiarism Suit |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |publisher=Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc. |issue=543 |page=15 }}</ref>
*[[November 12]] – [[U2]]'s ''[[Rattle and Hum]]'' hits the Number One spot on the U.S. charts, the first [[double album]] to do so since [[Bruce Springsteen]]'s ''[[The River (Bruce Springsteen album)|The River]]'' in 1980.<ref name="RS543p16">{{cite magazine |last1=Ressner |first1=Jeffrey |date=January 12, 1989 |title=Bono Less Than Boffo at Box Office |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |publisher=Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc. |issue=543 |page=16 }}</ref>
*[[December 4]] – Singer [[Roy Orbison]] gives his last concert in [[Akron, Ohio]], USA, before his death from a heart attack.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/08/obituaries/roy-orbison-52-a-singer-famed-for-plaintive-pop-anthems-dies.html|title=Roy Orbison, 52, a Singer Famed For Plaintive Pop Anthems, Dies|last=Pareles|first=Jon|date=1988-12-08|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-05-09|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
* [[December 28]] – [[Madonna]] calls sheriff's officers to the Malibu, California home she shared with her soon-to-be ex-husband [[Sean Penn]]. Penn is rumored to have threatened to attack or kill Madonna, tied her up, and threatened to cut her hair. These rumors have been denied by both Madonna and Penn.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gawker.com/did-sean-penn-beat-up-madonna-an-archaeology-of-hollyw-1748746261|title=Did Sean Penn Beat Up Madonna? An Archaeology of Hollywood's Most Explosive Rumor|last=Trotter|first=J. K.|website=Gawker|date=December 23, 2015 |language=en|access-date=2019-05-09}}</ref>
*[[December 31]] – The 17th annual [[Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest|New Year's Rockin' Eve]] special airs on ABC, with appearances by [[Natalie Cole]], [[Taylor Dayne]], [[DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince]], [[Richard Marx]], [[Reba McEntire]] and [[Frankie Valli]] and [[The Four Seasons (band)|The Four Seasons]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/464521/dick-clarks-new-years-rockin-eve-89|title=Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve '89 (1988) - Overview - TCM.com|website=Turner Classic Movies|language=en|access-date=2019-05-09}}</ref>

===Also in 1988===
* [[Peter Ruzicka]] becomes director of the [[Hamburg State Opera]] and State Philharmonic Orchestra.<ref>Dörte Schmidt, "Ruzicka, Peter", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by [[Stanley Sadie]] and [[John Tyrrell (professor of music)|John Tyrrell]] (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001).</ref>
* [[Andrew Davis (conductor)|Andrew Davis]] begins a term as chief conductor of the [[BBC Symphony Orchestra]], and is appointed musical director of [[Glyndebourne Festival Opera]], effective with the 1989 season.<ref>Alan Blyth, "Davis, Sir Andrew (Frank)", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by [[Stanley Sadie]] and [[John Tyrrell (professor of music)|John Tyrrell]] (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001).</ref>
* "[[I Heard It Through the Grapevine]]" experiences a surge in popularity in the USA sparked by television commercials featuring claymation raisin figures dancing to the song. [[The California Raisins]] version of the song peaks at number 84 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]].

==Bands formed==
* ''See [[:Category:Musical groups established in 1988|Musical groups established in 1988]]''

==Bands disbanded==
''See [[:Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1988|Musical groups disestablished in 1988]]''

==Albums released==
===January–March===
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="2"|Date
!Album
!Artist
!Notes
|-
| rowspan="11" valign="center" align="center" style="background:#FFA07A; textcolor:#000;" | '''J<br />A<br />N<br />U<br />A<br />R<br />Y'''
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;"|4
| ''[[B'Sides Themselves]]'' || [[Marillion]] || B-sides compilation
|-
| ''[[L.A. Guns (album)|L.A. Guns]]'' || [[L.A. Guns]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|11
| ''[[Live: The Road]]'' || [[The Kinks]] || Live
|-
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;"|18
| ''[[If I Should Fall from Grace with God]]'' || [[The Pogues]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Prison Bound]]'' || [[Social Distortion]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;"|19
| ''[[So Far, So Good... So What!]]'' || [[Megadeth]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Tell It to My Heart (album)|Tell It to My Heart]]'' || [[Taylor Dayne]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|25
| ''[[Skyscraper (album)|Skyscraper]]'' || [[David Lee Roth]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;"|?
| ''[[Never Die Young]]'' || [[James Taylor]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Newbuild (album)|Newbuild]]'' || [[808 State]] ||-
|-
| ''[[State of Mind (Front Line Assembly album)|State of Mind]]'' || [[Front Line Assembly]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="25" align="center" valign="center" style="background:#D8BFD8; textcolor:#000;" | '''F<br />E<br />B<br />R<br />U<br />A<br />R<br />Y'''
| style="vertical-align:top;"|1
| ''[[Blow Up Your Video]]'' || [[AC/DC]] ||
|-
| rowspan="4"|2
| ''[[Ain't Misbehavin' (UFO album)|Ain't Misbehavin']]'' || [[UFO (band)|UFO]] || mini-album
|-
| ''[[I'm Your Man (Leonard Cohen album)|I'm Your Man]]'' || [[Leonard Cohen]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Lita (album)|Lita]]'' || [[Lita Ford]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Live+1]]'' || [[Ace Frehley|Frehley's Comet]] || Live EP +1 studio track
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|4
| ''[[Space Wrangler]]'' || [[Widespread Panic]] || Debut Album
|-
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;"|8
| ''[[The Seventh One]]'' || [[Toto (band)|Toto]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Who Killed The JAMs?]]'' || [[The KLF|The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|12
| ''[[Don't Blow Your Top (album)|Don't Blow Your Top]]'' || [[KMFDM]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="4" style="vertical-align:top;"|16
| ''[[All About Eve (album)|All About Eve]]'' || [[All About Eve (band)|All About Eve]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Nada como el sol]]'' || [[Sting (musician)|Sting]] || EP
|-
| ''[[Starfish (album)|Starfish]]'' || [[The Church (band)|The Church]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Tattooed Beat Messiah]]'' || [[Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|17
| ''[[Making Trouble]]'' || [[Geto Boys]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|23
| ''[[Goin' Off]]'' || [[Biz Markie]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="5" style="vertical-align:top;"|29
| ''[[Now and Zen]]'' || [[Robert Plant]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Children (The Mission album)|Children]]'' || [[The Mission (band)|The Mission]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Frenz Experiment]]'' || [[The Fall (band)|The Fall]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Idlewild (Everything but the Girl album)|Idlewild]]'' || [[Everything but the Girl]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Kingdom Come (Kingdom Come album)|Kingdom Come]]'' || [[Kingdom Come (German band)|Kingdom Come]] || Debut
|-
| rowspan="5" style="vertical-align:top;"|?
| ''[[Corrosion (album)|Corrosion]]'' || [[Front Line Assembly]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Falling Up (Kevin Ayers album)|Falling Up]]'' || [[Kevin Ayers]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Hard Machine]]'' || [[Stacey Q]] ||-
|-
| ''[[If You Can't Lick 'Em...Lick 'Em]]'' || [[Ted Nugent]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Pinker and Prouder Than Previous]]'' || [[Nick Lowe]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="27" valign="center" align="center" style="background:#98FB98; textcolor:#000;" |'''M<br />A<br />R<br />C<br />H'''
| rowspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;"|1
| ''[[The Whitey Album]]'' || [[Ciccone Youth]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;"|7
| ''[[Past Masters]]'' || [[The Beatles]] || Compilation
|-
| ''[[Tear Down These Walls]]'' || [[Billy Ocean]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|8
| ''[[Racing After Midnight]]'' || [[Honeymoon Suite]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;"|14
| ''[[From Langley Park to Memphis]]'' || [[Prefab Sprout]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Viva Hate]]'' || [[Morrissey]] || UK
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|15
| ''[[Naked (Talking Heads album)|Naked]]'' || [[Talking Heads]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;"|21
| ''Now That's What I Call Music 11'' (UK series) || Various Artists || Compilation
|-
| ''[[Surfer Rosa]]'' || [[Pixies (band)|Pixies]] || UK
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|22
| ''[[Green Thoughts]]'' || [[The Smithereens]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;"|23
| ''[[Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm]]'' || [[Joni Mitchell]] ||-
|-
| ''[[No Exit (Fates Warning album)|No Exit]]'' || [[Fates Warning]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|24
| ''[[Chase the Kangaroo]]'' || [[The Choir (alternative rock band)|The Choir]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;"|25
| ''[[Heart Attack (Krokus album)|Heart Attack]]'' || [[Krokus (band)|Krokus]] ||-
|-
| ''[[To the Power of Three]]'' || [[3 (1980s band)|3]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The World's Greatest Entertainer]]'' || [[Doug E. Fresh]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="5" style="vertical-align:top;" |28
| ''[[Wings of Heaven]]'' || [[Magnum (band)|Magnum]] ||-
|-
| ''[[On Target]]'' || [[Fastway (band)|Fastway]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Out of the Silent Planet (album)|Out of the Silent Planet]]'' || [[King's X]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Push (Bros album)|Push]]'' || [[Bros (British band)|Bros]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Tenement Year]]'' || [[Pere Ubu]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|29
| ''[[Lefty (album)|Lefty]]'' || [[Art Garfunkel]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="5" |?
| ''[[Destiny (Saxon album)|Destiny]]'' || [[Saxon (band)|Saxon]] ||-
|-
| ''[[House Tornado]]'' || [[Throwing Muses]]
|-
| ''[[Love Hysteria]]'' || [[Peter Murphy (musician)|Peter Murphy]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Pictorial Jackson Review]]'' || [[Felt (band)|Felt]] ||-
|-
| ''[[What Up, Dog?]]'' || [[Was (Not Was)]]
|}

===April–June===
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="2"|Date
!Album
!Artist
!Notes
|-
| rowspan="33" valign="center" align="center" style="background:#FFA07A; textcolor:#000;" | '''A<br />P<br />R<br />I<br />L'''
| rowspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;"|5
| ''[[Conscious Party]]'' || [[Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Tracy Chapman (album)|Tracy Chapman]]'' || [[Tracy Chapman]] ||-
|-
| ''[[He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper]]'' || [[DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|8
| ''[[Odyssey (Yngwie Malmsteen album)|Odyssey]]'' || [[Yngwie Malmsteen]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;"|11
| ''[[Hairway to Steven]]'' || [[Butthole Surfers]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Seventh Son of a Seventh Son]]'' || [[Iron Maiden]] ||-
|-
| ''[[This Note's for You]]'' || [[Neil Young]] and the Bluenotes ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;"|12
| ''[[Colors (soundtrack)|Colors]]'' || Various Artists || Soundtrack
|-
| ''[[Even Worse]]'' || [["Weird Al" Yankovic]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Lap of Luxury]]'' || [[Cheap Trick]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;"|13
| ''[[Diamond Sun]]'' || [[Glass Tiger]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Aliens Ate My Buick]]'' || [[Thomas Dolby]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Shove It]]'' || [[The Cross (band)|The Cross]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|14
| ''[[Vanishing Vision]]'' || [[X Japan]] || Debut; then known as X
|-
| rowspan="6" style="vertical-align:top;"|18
| ''[[Barbed Wire Kisses]]'' || [[The Jesus and Mary Chain]] || Compilation
|-
| ''[[Crossroads (Eric Clapton album)|Crossroads]]'' || [[Eric Clapton]] || Box Set
|-
| ''[[Savage Amusement]]'' || [[Scorpions (band)|Scorpions]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Eden Alley]]'' || [[Timbuk3]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Innocents (Erasure album)|The Innocents]]'' || [[Erasure (duo)|Erasure]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Reba (album)|Reba]]'' || [[Reba McEntire]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|20
| ''[[History of a Time to Come]]'' || [[Sabbat (English band)|Sabbat]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="4" style="vertical-align:top;"|25
| ''[[Hang Time (album)|Hang Time]]'' || [[Soul Asylum]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Life's Too Good]]'' || [[The Sugarcubes]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Madness (The Madness album)|The Madness]]'' || [[The Madness (band)|The Madness]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Xenon Codex]]'' || [[Hawkwind]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|26
| ''[[Guitar (Frank Zappa album)|Guitar]]'' || [[Frank Zappa]] || Live
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|27
| ''[[Flirt (album)|Flirt]]'' || [[Evelyn King (singer)|Evelyn King]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="6" style="vertical-align:top;"|?
| ''[[Live 1980/86]]'' || [[Joe Jackson (musician)|Joe Jackson]] || Live
|-
| ''[[Ainsi soit je...]]'' || [[Mylène Farmer]] ||-
|-
| ''[[All That Jazz (Breathe album)|All That Jazz]]'' || [[Breathe (British band)|Breathe]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Fur (Jane Wiedlin album)|Fur]]'' || [[Jane Wiedlin]] ||-
|- 
| ''[[Heart of Gold (album)|Heart of Gold]]'' || [[Sofia Rotaru]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Mona Lisa's Sister]]'' || [[Graham Parker]] ||-
|- 
| rowspan="34" valign="center" align="center" style="background:#D8BFD8; textcolor:#000;" | '''M<br />A<br />Y'''
| style="vertical-align:top;"|1
| ''[[The First of a Million Kisses]]'' || [[Fairground Attraction]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|2
| ''[[Melissa Etheridge (album)|Melissa Etheridge]]'' || [[Melissa Etheridge]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="7" style="vertical-align:top;"|3
| ''[[Stronger Than Pride]]'' || [[Sade (band)|Sade]] || -
|-
| ''[[In Effect Mode]]'' || [[Al B. Sure!]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Madness (The Madness album)|The Madness]]'' || [[The Madness (band)|The Madness]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Operation: Mindcrime]]'' || [[Queensrÿche]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Scenes from the Southside]]'' || [[Bruce Hornsby and the Range]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Stay on These Roads]]'' || [[a-ha]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Vivid (Living Colour album)|Vivid]]'' || [[Living Colour]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|5
| ''[[The New Order (Testament album)|The New Order]]'' || [[Testament (band)|Testament]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;"|9
| ''[[Open Up and Say... Ahh!]]'' || [[Poison (American band)|Poison]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Hide Your Heart (album)|Hide Your Heart]]'' || [[Bonnie Tyler]] ||-
|-
| ''[[North and South (album)|North and South]]'' || [[Gerry Rafferty]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;"|10
| ''[[Joy (Teddy Pendergrass album)|Joy]]'' || [[Teddy Pendergrass]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Lovesexy]]'' || [[Prince (musician)|Prince]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|12
| ''[[Invisible Lantern]]'' || [[Screaming Trees]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|13
| ''[[Ram It Down]]'' || [[Judas Priest]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;"|16
| ''[[You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1]]'' || [[Frank Zappa]] || Live
|-
| ''[[Tougher Than Leather]]'' || [[Run-DMC|Run-D.M.C.]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;"|17
| ''[[Battalions of Fear]]'' || [[Blind Guardian]] ||-
|-
| ''[[In the City of Angels]]'' || [[Jon Anderson]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|18
| ''Golden Throats: The Great Celebrity Sing Off'' || Various Artists || Compilation
|-
| rowspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;"|23
| ''[[OU812]]'' || [[Van Halen]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Out of Order (Rod Stewart album)|Out of Order]]'' || [[Rod Stewart]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Up Your Alley (album)|Up Your Alley]]'' || [[Joan Jett|Joan Jett and the Blackhearts]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;"|24
| ''[[Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart]]'' || [[Camper Van Beethoven]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Total Devo]]'' || [[Devo]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Second Sighting]]'' || [[Frehley's Comet]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|30
| ''[[Down in the Groove]]'' || [[Bob Dylan]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|31
| ''[[By All Means Necessary]]'' || [[Boogie Down Productions]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="4" style="vertical-align:top;"|?
| ''[[The Abbey Road E.P.]]'' || [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]] || EP
|-
| ''[[A Bell Is a Cup]]'' || [[Wire (band)|Wire]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Perfect Machine]]'' || [[Herbie Hancock]] ||-
|-
| ''[[People (Hothouse Flowers album)|People]]'' || [[Hothouse Flowers]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="41" valign="center" align="center" style="background:#98FB98; textcolor:#000;" |'''J<br />U<br />N<br />E'''
| rowspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;"|6
| ''[[Britny Fox (album)|Britny Fox]]'' || [[Britny Fox]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|6
| ''[[Provision (album)|Provision]]'' || [[Scritti Politti]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|7
| ''[[Strictly Business (EPMD album)|Strictly Business]]''  || [[EPMD]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|10
| ''[[Small World (Huey Lewis and the News album)|Small World]]'' || [[Huey Lewis and the News]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="6" style="vertical-align:top;"|13
| ''[[Close (Kim Wilde album)|Close]]'' || [[Kim Wilde]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Ain't Complaining]]'' || [[Status Quo (band)|Status Quo]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Conscience (Womack & Womack album)|Conscience]]'' || [[Womack and Womack]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Sur la Mer]]'' || [[The Moody Blues]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Guy (Guy album)|Guy]]'' || [[Guy (band)|Guy]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Survive (Nuclear Assault album)|Survive]]'' || [[Nuclear Assault]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|17
| ''Open All Night'' || [[The Georgia Satellites]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="10" style="vertical-align:top;"|20
| ''[[Nobody's Perfect (Deep Purple album)|Nobody's Perfect]]'' || [[Deep Purple]] || Live
|-
| ''[[Outrider (album)|Outrider]]'' || [[Jimmy Page]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Chicago 19]]'' || [[Chicago (band)|Chicago]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Roll with It (album)|Roll with It]]'' || [[Steve Winwood]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Reg Strikes Back]]'' || [[Elton John]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Confessions of a Pop Group]]'' || [[The Style Council]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Don't Be Cruel (album)|Don't Be Cruel]]'' || [[Bobby Brown]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Let It Bee]]'' || [[Voice of the Beehive]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Heart Break]]'' || [[New Edition]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Instinct (Iggy Pop album)|Instinct]]'' || [[Iggy Pop]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="4" style="vertical-align:top;"|21
| ''[[Forever Your Girl]]'' || [[Paula Abdul]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Information Society (album)|Information Society]]'' || [[Information Society (band)|Information Society]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Long Live the Kane]]'' || [[Big Daddy Kane]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Lullaby (Book of Love album)|Lullaby]]'' || [[Book of Love (band)|Book of Love]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;"|24
| ''[[Fearless (Eighth Wonder album)|Fearless]]'' || [[Eighth Wonder (band)|Eighth Wonder]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Power Metal (album)|Power Metal]]'' || [[Pantera]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="5" style="vertical-align:top;"|27
| ''[[Heavy Nova (album)|Heavy Nova]]'' || [[Robert Palmer (singer)|Robert Palmer]] ||-
|-
| ''[[20 Years of Jethro Tull]]'' || [[Jethro Tull (band)|Jethro Tull]] || Box Set
|-
| ''[[Eternal Nightmare (Vio-lence album)|Eternal Nightmare]]'' || [[Vio-lence]] || Debut
|-
| ''[[Outside the Gate]]'' || [[Killing Joke]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Riders Radio Theater (album)|Riders Radio Theater]]'' || [[Riders in the Sky (band)|Riders in the Sky]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;"|28
| ''[[In God We Trust (Stryper album)|In God We Trust]]'' || [[Stryper]] ||-
|-
| ''[[It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back]]'' || [[Public Enemy (group)|Public Enemy]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Lead Me On (Amy Grant album)|Lead Me On]]'' || [[Amy Grant]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|29
| ''[[Dimension Hatröss]]'' || [[Voivod (band)|Voivod]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|30
| ''[[Indispensable: The Best of Michael Franks]]'' || [[Michael Franks (musician)|Michael Franks]] || Compilation
|-
| rowspan="4" style="vertical-align:top;"|?
| ''[[Coming Back Hard Again]]'' || [[The Fat Boys]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Dream of Life]]'' || [[Patti Smith]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Tighten Up Vol. 88]]'' || [[Big Audio Dynamite]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Y Kant Tori Read (album)|Y Kant Tori Read]]'' || [[Y Kant Tori Read]] || featuring [[Tori Amos]]
|}

===July–September===
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="2"|Date
!Album
!Artist
!Notes
|-
| rowspan="17" valign="center" align="center" style="background:#FFA07A; textcolor:#000;" | '''J<br />U<br />L<br />Y'''
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;"|4
| ''[[Kylie (album)|Kylie]]'' || [[Kylie Minogue]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Wide Awake in Dreamland]]'' || [[Pat Benatar]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;"|5
| ''[[South of Heaven]]'' || [[Slayer]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Temple of Low Men]]'' || [[Crowded House]] ||-
|- 
| ''[[Long Cold Winter]]'' || [[Cinderella (band)|Cinderella]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;"|11
| ''[[Substance (Joy Division album)|Substance]]'' || [[Joy Division]] || Compilation
|-
| ''[[UB40 (album)|UB40]]'' || [[UB40]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Wild Wild West (album)|Wild Wild West]]'' || [[The Escape Club]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|12
| ''[[Brian Wilson (album)|Brian Wilson]]'' || [[Brian Wilson]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|23
| ''Now That's What I Call Music 12'' (UK series) || Various Artists || Compilation
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|25
| ''[[View from the House]]'' || [[Kim Carnes]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|28
| ''[[Reek of Putrefaction]]'' || [[Carcass (band)|Carcass]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="5" style="vertical-align:top;"|?
| ''[[Imaginos]]'' || [[Blue Öyster Cult]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Best of Thompson Twins: Greatest Mixes]]'' || [[Thompson Twins]] || Remixes
|-
| ''[[Cocktail (1988 film)|Cocktail]]'' || Various Artists || Soundtrack
|-
| ''[[The Indescribable Wow]]'' || [[Sam Phillips (singer)|Sam Phillips]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Train Above the City]]'' || [[Felt (band)|Felt]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="40" style="background:#D8BFD8; textcolor:#000;" valign="center" align="center" | '''A<br />U<br />G<br />U<br />S<br />T'''
| rowspan="5" style="vertical-align:top;"|1
| ''[[Winger (album)|Winger]]'' || [[Winger (band)|Winger]] || Debut
|-
| ''[[Chimes of Freedom (EP)|Chimes of Freedom]]'' || [[Bruce Springsteen]] || Live EP
|-
| ''[[Punishment for Decadence]]'' || [[Coroner (band)|Coroner]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Red Rose for Gregory]]'' || [[Gregory Isaacs]] ||-
|-
| ''[[So Good (Mica Paris album)|So Good]]'' || [[Mica Paris]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="7" style="vertical-align:top;"|2
| ''[[Back to Avalon]]'' || [[Kenny Loggins]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room]]'' || [[Dwight Yoakam]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Greatest Hits Live (Carly Simon album)|Greatest Hits Live]]'' || [[Carly Simon]] || Live
|-
| ''[[Let It Roll (Little Feat album)|Let It Roll]]'' || [[Little Feat]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Rumour (album)|The Rumour]]'' || [[Olivia Newton-John]] ||-
|-
| ''[[A Salt with a Deadly Pepa]]'' || [[Salt-n-Pepa]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth]]'' || [[Rich Mullins]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|4
| ''[[Follow the Leader (Eric B. & Rakim album)|Follow the Leader]]'' || [[Eric B & Rakim]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|5
| ''[[Simple Pleasures (Bobby McFerrin album)|Simple Pleasures]]'' || [[Bobby McFerrin]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;"|8
| ''[[Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (album)|Don't Be Afraid of the Dark]]'' || [[Robert Cray]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Dragon's Kiss]]'' || [[Marty Friedman (guitarist)|Marty Friedman]] || Debut
|-
| ''[[What Good Is Grief to a God?]]'' || [[D.I. (band)|D.I.]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;"|9
| ''[[Out of This World (Europe album)|Out Of This World]]'' || [[Europe (band)|Europe]] ||-
|-
| ''[[It Takes Two (album)|It Takes Two]]'' || [[Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;" |12
| ''[[Hangin' Tough]]'' || [[New Kids on the Block]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Leprosy (album)|Leprosy]]'' || [[Death (metal band)|Death]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="4" style="vertical-align:top;" |15
| style="vertical-align:top;" |''[[Dangerous Age]]'' || [[Bad Company]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Homesick Heroes]]'' || [[Charlie Daniels]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Short Sharp Shocked]]'' || [[Michelle Shocked]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Soul Searchin' (Glenn Frey album)|Soul Searchin']]'' || [[Glenn Frey]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" |23
|''[[Nothing's Shocking]]'' || [[Jane's Addiction]] ||-
|-
|''[[Two Nuns and a Pack Mule]]'' || [[Rapeman]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|24
| ''[[Young Man Running]]'' || [[Corey Hart (singer)|Corey Hart]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|26
| ''[[Interior Design (album)|Interior Design]]'' || [[Sparks (band)|Sparks]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|29
| ''[[Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt. 2]]'' || [[Helloween]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="6" style="vertical-align:top;"|30
| ''[[1988 Summer Olympics Album: One Moment in Time]]'' || Various Artists ||-
|-
| ''[[Chameleon Days]]'' || [[Yanni]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Danzig (album)|Danzig]]'' || [[Danzig (band)|Danzig]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Other Roads]]'' || [[Boz Scaggs]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Slow Turning]]'' || [[John Hiatt]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Vixen (Vixen album)|Vixen]]'' || [[Vixen (band)|Vixen]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="4" style="vertical-align:top;"|?
| ''[[16 Lovers Lane]]'' || [[The Go-Betweens]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Interior Design (album)|Interior Design]]'' || [[Sparks (band)|Sparks]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Viva Santana!]]'' || [[Santana (band)|Santana]] || Compilation with unreleased tracks
|-
| ''[[Tucker (soundtrack)|Tucker]]'' || [[Joe Jackson (musician)|Joe Jackson]] || Soundtrack
|-
| rowspan="41" style="background:#98FB98; textcolor:#000;" valign="center" align="center" |'''S<br />E<br />P<br />T<br />E<br />M<br />B<br />E<br />R'''
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;"  | 1
|  |''[[Cold Lake (album)|Cold Lake]]'' || [[Celtic Frost]] ||-
|-
| ''[[I 2 (EYE)]]'' || [[Michael W. Smith]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" |5
| ''[[Rank (album)|Rank]]'' || [[The Smiths]] || Live
|-
| ''[[Peepshow (album)|Peepshow]]'' || [[Siouxsie and the Banshees]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="1" |6
| ''[[...And Justice for All (album)|...And Justice for All]]'' || [[Metallica]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="1" |8
| ''[[Suffer (album)|Suffer]]'' || [[Bad Religion]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="4" |12
| ''[[Spirit of Eden]]'' || [[Talk Talk]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Ancient Heart]]'' || [[Tanita Tikaram]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Sunshine on Leith (album)|Sunshine on Leith]]'' || [[The Proclaimers]] ||-
|-
| ''[[VIVIsectVI]]'' || [[Skinny Puppy]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="6" |13
| ''[[Eazy-Duz-It]]'' || [[Eazy-E]] ||-
|-
| ''[[How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today]]'' || [[Suicidal Tendencies]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Power (Ice-T album)|Power]]'' || [[Ice-T]] ||-
|-
| ''[[See the Light (The Jeff Healey Band album)|See the Light]]'' || [[Jeff Healey|Jeff Healey Band]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Them (King Diamond album)|Them]]'' || [[King Diamond]] ||US
|-
| ''[[Truth and Soul]]'' || [[Fishbone]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="1" |16
| ''[[From Enslavement to Obliteration]]'' || [[Napalm Death]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="8" |19
| ''[[Watermark (Enya album)|Watermark]]'' || [[Enya]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Staring at the Sun (Level 42 album)|Staring at the Sun]]'' || [[Level 42]] || UK
|-
| ''[[Buster (soundtrack)|Buster]]'' || [[Phil Collins]] et al. || Soundtrack
|-
| ''[[State of Euphoria]]'' || [[Anthrax (American band)|Anthrax]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Blow My Fuse]]'' || [[Kix (band)|Kix]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Blue Bell Knoll]]'' || [[Cocteau Twins]] ||-
|-
| ''[[New Jersey (album)|New Jersey]]'' || [[Bon Jovi]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Tender Prey]]'' || [[Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="4" |20
| ''[[Any Love (album)|Any Love]]'' || [[Luther Vandross]] ||-
|-
| ''[[BulletBoys (album)|BulletBoys]]'' || [[BulletBoys]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Land of Dreams (Randy Newman album)|Land of Dreams]]'' || [[Randy Newman]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Workers Playtime (album)|Workers Playtime]]'' || [[Billy Bragg]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" |21
|''[[B'z (album)|B'z]]''
|[[B'z]]
|Debut
|-
| ''[[Pound for Pound (Anvil album)|Pound for Pound]]'' || [[Anvil (band)|Anvil]] ||-
|-
|25
| ''[[Lincoln (album)|Lincoln]]'' || [[They Might Be Giants]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="4" |26
| ''[[Revolutions (Jean Michel Jarre album)|Revolutions]]'' || [[Jean Michel Jarre]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Peace in Our Time (Big Country album)|Peace in Our Time]]'' || [[Big Country]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Metal Rhythm]]'' || [[Gary Numan]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Boingo Alive]]'' || [[Oingo Boingo]] || Compilation + Live
|-
| rowspan="1" |28
| ''[[Let's Get It Started (album)|Let's Get It Started]]'' || [[MC Hammer]] || [[Capitol Records|Capitol]] re-release of [[Feel My Power|1987 debut]] 
|-
| rowspan="4" |?
| ''[[Big Time (Tom Waits album)|Big Time]]'' || [[Tom Waits]] || Live
|-
| ''[[Hell-O]]'' || [[Gwar|GWAR]] ||-
|-
| ''[[In Battle There Is No Law]]'' || [[Bolt Thrower (band)|Bolt Thrower]] ||-
|-
| ''[[La pistola y el corazón]]'' || [[Los Lobos]] ||-
|-
|}

===October–December===
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="2"|Date
!Album
!Artist
!Notes
|-
| rowspan="44" valign="center" align="center" style="background:#FFA07A; textcolor:#000;" | '''O<br />C<br />T<br />O<br />B<br />E<br />R'''
| style="vertical-align:top;"|1
| ''[[Breakwater (album)|Breakwater]]'' || [[Lennie Gallant]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;"|3
| ''[[Nö Sleep at All]]'' || [[Motörhead]] || Live
|-
| ''[[Flying Colours (Chris de Burgh album)|Flying Colours]]'' || [[Chris de Burgh]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Talk Is Cheap]]'' || [[Keith Richards]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;"|4
| ''[[Critical Beatdown]]'' || [[Ultramagnetic MCs]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Silhouette (album)|Silhouette]]'' || [[Kenny G]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="4" style="vertical-align:top;"|10
| ''[[Rattle and Hum]]'' || [[U2]] || Soundtrack; Studio + Live
|-
| ''[[Introspective]]'' || [[Pet Shop Boys]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Barcelona (Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé album)|Barcelona]]'' || [[Freddie Mercury]] and [[Montserrat Caballé]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Imagine: John Lennon (soundtrack)|Imagine: John Lennon]]'' || [[John Lennon]] et al. || Soundtrack
|-
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;"|11
| ''[[The Land of Rape and Honey]]'' || [[Ministry (band)|Ministry]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Touch (Sarah McLachlan album)|Touch]]'' || [[Sarah McLachlan]] || [[Arista Records]] re-release
|-
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;"|14
| ''[[Money for Nothing (album)|Money for Nothing]]'' || [[Dire Straits]] || Compilation
|-
| ''[[Broadway the Hard Way]]'' || [[Frank Zappa]] || Live
|-
| rowspan="6" style="vertical-align:top;"|17
| ''[[Big Thing (Duran Duran album)|Big Thing]]'' || [[Duran Duran]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Blood Fire Death]]'' || [[Bathory (band)|Bathory]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Eponymous (album)|Eponymous]]'' || [[R.E.M.]] || Compilation
|-
| ''[[New Light Through Old Windows]]'' || [[Chris Rea]] || Remixes
|-
| ''[[Fisherman's Blues]]'' || [[The Waterboys]] ||-
|- 
| ''[[Copperhead Road]]'' || [[Steve Earle]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="6" style="vertical-align:top;"|18
| ''[[Daydream Nation]]'' || [[Sonic Youth]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Everything (The Bangles album)|Everything]]'' || [[The Bangles]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Negotiations and Love Songs]]'' || [[Paul Simon]] || Compilation
|-
| ''[[Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1]]'' || [[Traveling Wilburys]] || US
|-
| ''[[Giving You the Best That I Got (album)|Giving You the Best That I Got]]'' || [[Anita Baker]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Martika (album)|Martika]]'' || [[Martika]] || Debut
|-
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;"|21
| ''[[Look Sharp! (Roxette album)|Look Sharp!]]'' || [[Roxette]] ||Sweden
|-
| ''[[QR (album)|QR]]'' || [[Quiet Riot]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="5" style="vertical-align:top;"|24
| ''[[Living Years]]'' || [[Mike and the Mechanics|Mike + The Mechanics]] || US
|-
| ''[[Rage (T'Pau album)|Rage]]'' || [[T'Pau (band)|T'Pau]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Serpent's Egg (album)|The Serpent's Egg]]'' || [[Dead Can Dance]] ||-
|-
| ''[[I Am Kurious Oranj]]'' || [[The Fall (band)|The Fall]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Into a Secret Land]]'' || [[Sandra (singer)|Sandra]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;"|25
| ''[[In the Spirit of Things]]'' || [[Kansas (band)|Kansas]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Till I Loved You (album)|Till I Loved You]]'' || [[Barbra Streisand]] ||-
|-
| ''[[You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2]]'' || [[Frank Zappa]] || Live
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|27
| ''[[El Ritmo Mundial]]'' || [[Los Fabulosos Cadillacs]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;"|31
| ''[[Ultramega OK]]'' || [[Soundgarden]] || Debut
|-
| ''[[Choba B CCCP]]'' || [[Paul McCartney]] || USSR-only release
|-
| ''[[Bug (Dinosaur Jr. album)|Bug]]'' || [[Dinosaur Jr.]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="4" style="vertical-align:top;"|?
| ''[[No Rest for the Wicked (Ozzy Osbourne album)|No Rest for the Wicked]]'' || [[Ozzy Osbourne]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Greatest Hits of All Times – Remix '88]]'' || [[Boney M.]] || Remix
|-
| ''[[Amnesia (Richard Thompson album)|Amnesia]]'' || [[Richard Thompson (musician)|Richard Thompson]] ||-
|-
| ''[[My Nation Underground]]'' || [[Julian Cope]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="36" valign="center" align="center" style="background:#D8BFD8; textcolor:#000;" | '''N<br />O<br />V<br />E<br />M<br />B<br />E<br />R'''
| rowspan="7" style="vertical-align:top;"|1
| ''[[American Dream (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album)|American Dream]]'' || [[Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young]] ||-
|-
| ''[[20 (Harry Connick, Jr. album)|20]]'' || [[Harry Connick, Jr.]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Flag (Yello album)|Flag]]'' || [[Yello]] ||-
|-
| ''[[The Great Adventures of Slick Rick]]'' || [[Slick Rick]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Oasis (Roberta Flack album)|Oasis]]'' || [[Roberta Flack]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Reach for the Sky (Ratt album)|Reach for the Sky]]'' || [[Ratt]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Shaday]]'' || [[Ofra Haza]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;"|7
| ''[[Beast from the East]]'' || [[Dokken]] || Live
|-
| ''[[The Memphis Sessions]]'' || [[Wet Wet Wet]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;"|8
| ''[[Green (R.E.M. album)|Green]]'' || [[R.E.M.]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Straight out the Jungle]]'' || [[The Jungle Brothers]] ||-
|-
| ''Endless War'' || Realm || Debut
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|10
| ''[[California (American Music Club album)|California]]'' || [[American Music Club]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|14
| ''[[All or Nothing (Milli Vanilli album)|All or Nothing]]'' || [[Milli Vanilli]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="5" style="vertical-align:top;"|15
| ''[[Greatest Hits (Journey album)|Greatest Hits]]'' || [[Journey (band)|Journey]] || Compilation
|-
| ''[[Smashes, Thrashes & Hits]]'' || [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]] || Compilation Remixed +2 new tracks
|-
| ''[[Gems (Aerosmith album)|Gems]]'' || [[Aerosmith]] || Compilation
|-
| ''[[The Live Album]]'' || [[Robert Earl Keen]] || Live
|-
| ''[[The Trinity Session]]'' || [[Cowboy Junkies]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;"|16
| ''[[Goodbye Girl (Miyuki Nakajima album)|Goodbye Girl]]'' || [[Miyuki Nakajima]] ||-
|-
| ''[[Leprosy (album)|Leprosy]]'' || [[Death (metal band)|Death]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|18
| ''[[Kings of Metal]]'' || [[Manowar (band)|Manowar]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="6" style="vertical-align:top;"|21
| ''[[Greatest Hits (1988 Fleetwood Mac album)|Greatest Hits]]'' || [[Fleetwood Mac]] || Compilation +2 new tracks
|-
| ''[[Delicate Sound of Thunder]]'' || [[Pink Floyd]] || Live
|-
| ''[[Isn't Anything]]'' || [[My Bloody Valentine (band)|My Bloody Valentine]] || Debut
|-
| ''Now That's What I Call Music XIII'' (UK series) || Various Artists || Compilation
|-
| ''The Land Before Time: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' || Various Artists || Soundtrack
|-
| ''[[Bummed]]'' || [[Happy Mondays]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;"|22
| ''[[Beaches (soundtrack)|Beaches]]'' || [[Bette Midler]] || Soundtrack
|-
| ''[[CK (album)|CK]]'' || [[Chaka Khan]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|23
| ''[[Ancient Dreams]]'' || [[Candlemass (band)|Candlemass]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|25
| ''[[Hold an Old Friend's Hand]]'' || [[Tiffany Darwish|Tiffany]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|28
| ''[[Hold Me in Your Arms (album)|Hold Me in Your Arms]]'' || [[Rick Astley]] || UK
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|29
| ''[[G N' R Lies]]'' || [[Guns N' Roses]] ||-
|-
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;" |?
|[[Front by Front|''Front By Front'']]
|[[Front 242]]
| -
|-
| ''[[Mademoiselle chante...]]'' || [[Patricia Kaas]] ||-
|- 
| rowspan="4" valign="center" align="center" style="background:#98FB98; textcolor:#000;" |'''D<br />E<br />C<br />E<br />M<br />B<br />E<br />R'''
| style="vertical-align:top;"|6
| ''[[Almost Acoustic]]'' || [[Jerry Garcia]] || Live
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|9
| ''[[Empnefsi!]]'' || [[Anna Vissi]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|13
| ''[[The Best Years of Our Lives (Neil Diamond album)|The Best Years of Our Lives]]'' || [[Neil Diamond]] ||-
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|28
| ''[[Sub Pop 200]]'' || Various Artists ||-
|}

===Release date unknown===
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
* ''The Acapella Project'' – [[Glad (band)|Glad]]
* ''[[Atomic Arena]]'' – [[Barren Cross]]
* ''[[Born 2 B Blue]]'' – [[Steve Miller (musician)|Steve Miller]]
* ''[[Can't Buy a Miracle]]'' – [[Randy Stonehill]]
* ''[[The Chess Box]]'' – [[Chuck Berry]] (compilation)
* ''[[Colin James (album)|Colin James]]'' – [[Colin James]]
* ''Come out Fighting'' – [[Greg X. Volz]]
* ''[[Don't Forget the Struggle, Don't Forget the Streets]]'' – [[Warzone (band)|Warzone]]
* ''[[The Dubliner's Dublin]]'' – [[The Dubliners]]
* ''[[English Rebel Songs 1381-1984]]'' – [[Chumbawamba]]
* ''[[Flowers in the Rain (album)]]'' – [[Mad at the World]]
* ''[[Go Off!]]'' – [[Cacophony (band)|Cacophony]]
* ''[[Godflesh (EP)|Godflesh]]'' – [[Godflesh]] (EP)
* ''[[Greg Howe (album)|Greg Howe]]'' – [[Greg Howe]]
* ''[[Hallowed Ground (Skin Yard album)|Hallowed Ground]]'' – [[Skin Yard]]
* ''[[Home Is Where the Heart Is (David Grisman album)|Home Is Where the Heart Is]]'' – [[David Grisman]]
* ''[[The House of Love (1988 album)|The House of Love]]'' – [[The House of Love]]
* ''[[Human Sacrifice (album)|Human Sacrifice]]'' – [[Vengeance Rising]]
* ''[[I Crush Bozo]]'' - [[Happy Flowers]]
* ''[[I Used to Be an Animal]]'' – [[Eric Burdon]] 
* ''[[In Heat (Black 'N Blue album)|In Heat]]'' – [[Black 'N Blue]]
* ''[[Irish Heartbeat]]'' – [[Van Morrison]] & [[The Chieftains]]
* ''[[It Won't Be Long]]'' – [[Shout (band)|Shout]]
* ''[[King Kobra III]]'' – [[King Kobra]]
* ''[[Let's Spin!]]'' – [[The Swirling Eddies]]
* ''[[Little Love Affairs]]'' – [[Nanci Griffith]]
* ''[[Live (Bad Brains album)|Live]]'' – [[Bad Brains]]
* ''[[The Live Brain Wedgie/WAD]]'' – [[Ween]]
* ''[[Live to Die (Bride album)|Live to Die]]'' – [[Bride (band)|Bride]]
* ''[[Lovely (The Primitives album)|Lovely]]'' – [[The Primitives]]
* ''[[Lucinda Williams (album)|Lucinda Williams]]'' – [[Lucinda Williams]]
* ''[[Mistress Music]]'' – [[Burning Spear]]
* ''[[My Gift to You (Alexander O'Neal album)|My Gift to You]]'' – [[Alexander O'Neal]]
{{col-2}}
* ''[[No Man's Land (record label)|No Man's Land]]'' – Various Artists
* ''[[Nothing Exceeds Like Excess]]'' – [[Raven (band)|Raven]]
* ''[[Nothing Wrong]]'' – [[Red Lorry Yellow Lorry]] 
* ''[[On Fire!]]'' – [[Petra (band)|Petra]] 
* ''[[Perpetual Burn]]'' – [[Jason Becker]]
* ''[[Phil Keaggy and Sunday's Child]]'' – [[Phil Keaggy]]
* ''A Place to Stand'' – [[Geoff Moore|Geoff Moore + The Distance]]
* ''[[Prostitute (Toyah album)|Prostitute]]'' – [[Toyah Willcox|Toyah]]
* ''[[Radio Free Albemuth (album)|Radio Free Albemuth]]'' – [[Stuart Hamm]]
* ''Read All About It'' – [[Newsboys]]
* ''[[Reel Life (Boy Meets Girl album)|Reel Life]]'' – [[Boy Meets Girl (band)|Boy Meets Girl]] 
* ''[[Remote (Hue & Cry album)|Remote]]'' – [[Hue and Cry (band)|Hue & Cry]]
* ''Rock in a Hard Place'' – [[Bloodgood]]
* ''[[Rough Night in Jericho (album)|Rough Night in Jericho]]'' – [[Dreams So Real]]
* ''[[Savvy Show Stoppers]]'' – [[Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet]]
* ''[[Shadowland (k.d. lang album)|Shadowland]]'' – [[k.d. lang]]
* ''[[Shake Sugaree]]'' - [[Taj Mahal (musician)|Taj Mahal]]
* ''[[Silence Screams]]'' - [[Resurrection Band|REZ]] 
* ''[[Soliloquy for Lilith]]'' – [[Nurse With Wound]]
* ''[[Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films]]'' – Various Artists
* ''[[STP Not LSD]]'' – [[Angry Samoans]]
* ''[[Streets of This Town]]'' – [[Steve Forbert]]
* ''[[Swastikas for Noddy]]'' – [[Current 93]]
* ''[[Time Odyssey (album)|Time Odyssey]]'' – [[Vinnie Moore]] 
* ''[[Today (Galaxie 500 album)|Today]]'' – [[Galaxie 500]]
* ''[[Tommy Page (album)|Tommy Page]]'' – [[Tommy Page]]
* ''[[Too Late for Living]]'' – [[Saint]]
* ''Tough Love'' – [[Idle Cure]]
* ''[[Volunteer (Sham 69 album)|Volunteer]]'' – [[Sham 69]]
* ''[[The Walking]]'' – [[Jane Siberry]]
* ''[[The Winter of '88]]'' – [[Johnny Winter]]
* ''[[Workin' Band]]'' – [[Nitty Gritty Dirt Band]]
* ''[[Yeah, Whatever]]'' – [[Moev]]
{{col-end}}

==Singles released in 1988==

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: left;"
|-
!Date
!Song
!Artist
|-
|January 16
|"[[Man in the Mirror]]"
|[[Michael Jackson]]
|-
|February 25
|"[[Where Do Broken Hearts Go]]"
|[[Whitney Houston]]
|-
|April 16
|"[[Please Don't Go Girl]]"
|[[New Kids on the Block]]
|-
|April 18
|"[[Dirty Diana]]"
|[[Michael Jackson]]
|-
|May 16
|"[[Don't Be Cruel (Bobby Brown song)|Don't Be Cruel]]"
|[[Bobby Brown]]
|- 
|June 10 
|"[[Waiting for a Star to Fall]]" 
|[[Boy Meets Girl (band)|Boy Meets Girl]] 
|-
|June 27
|"[[Girl You Know It's True (song)|Girl You Know It's True]]"
|[[Milli Vanilli]]
|- 
|July 11
|"[[Another Part of Me]]" 
|[[Michael Jackson]]
|-
|October 11
|"[[My Prerogative]]"
|[[Bobby Brown]]
|-
|October 24
|"[[Smooth Criminal]]" 
|[[Michael Jackson]]
|-
|November 7
|"[[You Got It (The Right Stuff)]]"
|[[New Kids on the Block]]
|-
|December 27
|"[[Roni (song)|Roni]]"
|[[Bobby Brown]]
|-
|}

== Biggest hit singles ==
The following songs achieved the highest [http://tsort.info/music/yr1988.htm chart positions]
in the charts of 1988.

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
|-
! <big>#</big>
! Artist
! Title
! Year
! Country
! Chart Entries
|-
| 1  || [[Phil Collins]] || [[A Groovy Kind of Love]] || 1988 || {{flagicon|UK}} || UK 1 - Sep 1988 (15 weeks), US Billboard 1 - Sep 1988 (25 weeks), Holland 1 - Sep 1988 (12 weeks), Switzerland 1 - Oct 1988 (23 weeks), Poland 1 - Sep 1988 (17 weeks), Belgium 1 - Oct 1988 (10 weeks), Eire 1 for 2 weeks - Sep 1988, Canada RPM 1 for 3 weeks - Oct 1988, Australia 1 for 1 week - Nov 1988, Europe 1 for 1 week - Oct 1988, Norway 2 - Sep 1988 (16 weeks), Italy 2 of 1988, Germany 3 - Jan 1989 (5 months), ODK Germany 3 - Sep 1988 (23 weeks) (13 weeks in top 10), Springbok 3 - Jan 1989 (4 weeks), Sweden 4 - Sep 1988 (7 weeks), US Gold (certified by RIAA in Jan 1989), Germany Gold (certified by BMieV in 1989), Austria 6 - Nov 1988 (4 months), Japan (Tokyo) 7 - Nov 1988 (12 weeks), Canada 7 of 1988, South Africa 11 of 1989, US Radio 23 of 1988 (peak 1 8 weeks), Australia 23 of 1988, US BB 29 of 1988, US CashBox 29 of 1988, ARC 41 of 1988 (peak 1 12 weeks), POP 65 of 1988, Brazil 75 of 1989, Germany 103 of the 1980s (peak 3 16 weeks), UKMIX 770, UK Silver (certified by BPI in Sep 1988), RYM 193 of 1988
|-
| 2  || [[Bobby McFerrin]] || [[Don't Worry Be Happy]] || 1988 || {{flagicon|USA}} || US Billboard 1 - Jul 1988 (26 weeks), Austria 1 - Nov 1988 (4 months), Germany 1 - Jan 1989 (5 months), ODK Germany 1 - Oct 1988 (23 weeks) (10 weeks at number 1) (15 weeks in top 10), Canada RPM 1 for 2 weeks - Oct 1988, Australia 1 for 6 weeks - Nov 1988, Europe 1 for 6 weeks - Nov 1988, Germany 1 for 10 weeks - Nov 1988, Grammy in 1988, UK 2 - Sep 1988 (11 weeks), Holland 2 - Oct 1988 (11 weeks), Switzerland 2 - Oct 1988 (21 weeks), Belgium 2 - Oct 1988 (10 weeks), Germany Platinum (certified by BMieV in 1989), Springbok 4 - Dec 1988 (11 weeks), US Gold (certified by RIAA in Jan 1989), Norway 5 - Oct 1988 (10 weeks), South Africa 5 of 1989, Sweden 13 - Oct 1988 (4 weeks), Poland 13 - Sep 1988 (11 weeks), POP 13 of 1988, Canada 14 of 1988, Japan (Tokyo) 19 - Nov 1988 (4 weeks), Germany 23 of the 1980s (peak 1 16 weeks), Switzerland 26 of 1989, US CashBox 28 of 1988, Brazil 30 of 1988, US Radio 32 of 1988 (peak 1 8 weeks), US BB 37 of 1988, Scrobulate 92 of happy, Italy 97 of 1989, RIAA 301, RYM 94 of 1988
|-
| 3  || [[U2]] || [[Desire (U2 song)|Desire]] || 1988 ||{{flagicon|Ireland}} || UK 1 - Oct 1988 (13 weeks), Japan (Tokyo) 1 - Nov 1988 (14 weeks), Poland 1 - Oct 1988 (13 weeks), Italy 1 for 2 weeks - Oct 1988, Eire 1 for 4 weeks - Sep 1988, Canada RPM 1 for 4 weeks - Nov 1988, New Zealand 1 for 5 weeks - Oct 1988, Australia 1 for 2 weeks - Oct 1988, Holland 2 - Sep 1988 (11 weeks), US Billboard 3 - Oct 1988 (17 weeks), Belgium 3 - Oct 1988 (9 weeks), US Gold (certified by RIAA in Jan 1989), KROQ 4 of 1988, Norway 5 - Oct 1988 (8 weeks), Canada 5 of 1988, Switzerland 9 - Oct 1988 (12 weeks), ODK Germany 9 - Oct 1988 (14 weeks) (3 weeks in top 10), Italy 10 of 1988, Germany 11 - Oct 1988 (2 months), Sweden 12 - Oct 1988 (3 weeks), Holland free40 20 of 1988, Austria 23 - Nov 1988 (1 month), ARC 34 of 1988 (peak 1 12 weeks), US Radio 54 of 1988 (peak 3 8 weeks), US BB 56 of 1988, Acclaimed 2038 (1988), UK Silver (certified by BPI in Oct 1988), RYM 65 of 1988
|-
| 4  || [[Billy Ocean]] || [[Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car]] || 1988 ||{{flagicon|Trinidad}}/{{flagicon|UK}} || US Billboard 1 - Feb 1988 (20 weeks), Holland 1 - Jan 1988 (13 weeks), Norway 1 - Feb 1988 (13 weeks), Belgium 1 - Jan 1988 (15 weeks), Eire 1 for 1 week - Feb 1988, Canada RPM 1 for 4 weeks - Apr 1988, Canada 1 of 1988, Australia 1 for 5 weeks - Apr 1988, Springbok 1 - Apr 1988 (23 weeks), UK 3 - Feb 1988 (11 weeks), Switzerland 3 - Mar 1988 (13 weeks), Germany 3 - Mar 1988 (3 months), ODK Germany 3 - Feb 1988 (18 weeks) (9 weeks in top 10), Australia 4 of 1988, US CashBox 6 of 1988, US Radio 6 of 1988 (peak 1 10 weeks), Sweden 7 - Feb 1988 (3 weeks), South Africa 7 of 1988, Austria 8 - Apr 1988 (4 months), US BB 15 of 1988, Poland 19 - Mar 1988 (10 weeks), ARC 23 of 1988 (peak 1 13 weeks), Switzerland 26 of 1988, Brazil 52 of 1988, OzNet 261, Germany 303 of the 1980s (peak 3 11 weeks), UK Silver (certified by BPI in Mar 1988)
|-
| 5 || [[Guns 'N Roses]] || [[Sweet Child o' Mine]] || 1988 || {{flagicon|US}} || US Billboard 1 - Jun 1988 (24 weeks), US CashBox 1 of 1988, US (Sup) Platinum (certified by RIAA in Dec 2008), US Radio 4 of 1988 (peak 1 10 weeks), US Gold (certified by RIAA in Jun 2005), US BB 5 of 1988, UK 6 - Aug 1988 (52 weeks), ARC 6 of 1988 (peak 1 14 weeks), Brazil 6 of 1988, POP 6 of 1988, nuTsie 8 of 1980s, France 10 - Sep 1988 (1 week), Switzerland 15 - Jun 1989 (6 weeks), Scrobulate 15 of hard rock, Vinyl Surrender 18 (1987), Holland 24 - Sep 1988 (10 weeks), 24 in 2FM list, Sweden 27 - Jul 2008 (1 week), Belgium 29 - Oct 1989 (1 week), Poland 33 - Sep 1988 (5 weeks), TheQ 36, UK Songs 2013-23 peak 40 - Jan 2014 (5 weeks), Canada 50 of 1988, Japan (Tokyo) 72 - Nov 1988 (2 weeks), DMDB 83 (1988), Acclaimed 109 (1987), Belgium 180 of all time, Rolling Stone 196, RIAA 210, RYM 10 of 1988
|}

=== U.S. best selling singles ===
The following singles achieved the highest [http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1988.htm chart positions] in the U.S. in 1988.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Position !! Song Title !! Artist !! Highest Position !! weeks at #1
|-
| 1 || [[Faith (George Michael song)|Faith]] || [[George Michael]] || 1 || 4
|-
| 2 || [[Need You Tonight]] || [[INXS]] || 1 || 1
|-
| 3 || [[Got My Mind Set on You]] || [[George Harrison]] || 1 || 1
|-
| 4 || [[Never Gonna Give You Up]] || [[Rick Astley]] || 1 || 2
|-
| 5 || [[Sweet Child o' Mine]] || [[Guns N' Roses]] || 1 || 2
|}

==Top selling albums of the year in the US==
# [[George Michael]] – ''[[Faith (George Michael album)|Faith]]''
# [[Madonna]] – ''[[You Can Dance]]''
# [[Michael Jackson]] – ''[[Bad (album)|Bad]]''
# [[Guns N' Roses]] – ''[[Appetite for Destruction]]''

==Top 40 Chart hit singles==
The following singles achieved the highest chart positions in the U.S. in 1988.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%;"
! <big>Song title</big> 
! <big>Artist(s)</big> 
! <big>Release date(s)</big> 
! <big>[[Billboard Hot 100|US]]</big>
! <big>[[UK Singles Chart|UK]]</big>
! <big>Highest chart position</big>
! <big>Other Chart Performance(s)</big>
|-
|| "[[1-2-3 (Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine song)|1-2-3]]" || [[Gloria Estefan]] & the [[Miami Sound Machine]] || {{Date table sorting|061988}}|June 1988 || 3 || 9 || 3 ( United States) || [[1-2-3_(Gloria_Estefan_and_Miami_Sound_Machine_song)#Chart_performance|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Angel (Aerosmith song)|Angel]]" || [[Aerosmith]] || {{Date table sorting|011988}}|January 1988 || 3 || 69 || 3 (United States) ||  2 (U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock) - 14 (Canada)
|-
|| "[[Angel of Harlem]]" || [[U2]] || {{Date table sorting|121988}}|December 1988 || 14 || 9 || 1 (Canada, New Zealand) || [[Angel_of_Harlem#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Another Lover]]" || [[Giant Steps (band)|Giant Steps]] || {{Date table sorting|061988}}|June 1988 || 13 || n/a || 13 (United States) || 10 (U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play) - 12 (U.S. Cash Box Top 100 Singles) 
|-
|| "[[Another Weekend (Five Star song)|Another Weekend]]" || [[Five Star]] || {{Date table sorting|051988}}|May 1988 || n/a || 18 || 12 (Ireland) || 23 (U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles) - 24 (Netherlands [Dutch Single Top 100])
|-
|| "[[Any Love (Luther Vandross song)|Any Love]]" || [[Luther Vandross]] || {{Date table sorting|081988}}|August 1988 || 44 || 31 || 31 (Australia) || 1 (U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles) - 12 (U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary)
|-
|| "[[Anything for You (Gloria Estefan song)|Anything For You]]" || [[Gloria Estefan]] || {{Date table sorting|031988}}|March 1988 || 1 || 10 || 1 (United States) || 1 (U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary) - 2 (Netherlands [Dutch Top 40]/[Single Top 100]) - 3 (U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Songs) - 5 (Belgium) - 11 (Australia) - 19 (Ireland)
|-
|| "[[Atmosphere (Joy Division song)|Atmosphere]]" (re-release) || [[Joy Division]] || {{Date table sorting|081988}}|August 1988 || n/a || 34 || 5 (New Zealand) || n/a
|-
|| "[[Blue Monday (New Order song)|Blue Monday 1988]]" || [[New Order (band)|New Order]] || {{Date table sorting|041988}}|April 1988 || 68 || 3 || 1 (New Zealand) || [[Blue_Monday_(New_Order_song)#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Breakaway (Big Pig song)|Breakaway]]" || [[Big Pig]] || {{Date table sorting|051988}}|May 1988 || 60 || 89 || 1 (New Zealand) || 7 (U.S. Billboard Dance Club SOngs) - 8 (Australia) - 10 (Canada)
|-
|| "[[Buffalo Stance]]" || [[Neneh Cherry]] || {{Date table sorting|111988}}|November 1988  || 3 || 3 || 2 (Greece, Switzerland, West Germany) || [[Buffalo_Stance#Charts_and_certifications|See chart performance entry]]
|-
||"[[Cuddly Toy (song)|Cuddly Toy]]" || [[Roachford]] || {{Date table sorting|051988}}|May 1988  || 25 || 4 || 4 (US Billboard Hot 100) || [[Cuddly_Toy_(song)#Charts |See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[I Owe You Nothing]]" || [[Bros (British band)|Bros]] || {{Date table sorting|061988}}|June 1988 || n/a || 1 || 1 (United Kingdom) || [[I_Owe_You_Nothing#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Knocked Out]]" || [[Paula Abdul]] || {{Date table sorting|051988}}|May 1988 || 41 || 21 || 21 (United Kingdom) || [[Knocked_Out|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Man in the Mirror]]" || [[Michael Jackson]] || {{Date table sorting|021988}}|February 1988 || 1 || 21 || 1 (United States) || [[Man_in_the_Mirror#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Never Tear Us Apart]]" || [[INXS]] || {{Date table sorting|081988}}|August 1988 || 7 || 24 || 2 (Canada) || [[Never_Tear_Us_Apart#Charts_and_certifications|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[New Sensation]]" || [[INXS]] || {{Date table sorting|051988}}|May 1988  || 3 || 25 || 1 (Canada) || [[New_Sensation#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|| "[[Nothin' but a Good Time]]" || [[Poison (band)|Poison]] || {{Date table sorting|041988}}|April 1988 || 6 || 35 || 6 (US Billboard Hot 100) || 10 (Australia) - 19 (US Mainstream Rock [Billboard]) 
|-
|| "[[Simply Irresistible (song)|Simply Irresistible]]" || [[Robert Palmer (singer)|Robert Palmer]] || {{Date table sorting|061988}}|June 1988 || 2 || 44 || 1 (Australia) || 1 (U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks) - 2 (U.S. Cash Box) - 2 (Canada) - 6 (New Zealand) - 10 (France) - 57 (West Germany)
|-
|| "[[Under the Milky Way]]" || [[The Church (band)|The Church]] || {{Date table sorting|021988}}|February 1988 || 24 || 90 || 22 (Australia) || [[Under_the_Milky_Way#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|}

===Other Chart hit singles===
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* "[[Bad Medicine (song)|Bad Medicine]]" – [[Bon Jovi]]
* "[[Beat Dis]]" – [[Bomb The Bass]]
* "[[Behind the Wheel]]" – [[Depeche Mode]] (released in 1987)
* "[[Better Be Home Soon]]" – [[Crowded House]]
* "[[Big Fun (Inner City song)|Big Fun]]" – [[Inner City (band)|Inner City]]
* "[[The Blood That Moves The Body]]" – [[a-ha]]
* "[[Blue Monday (New Order song)|Blue Monday 1988]]" – [[New Order (band)|New Order]] (remix)
* "[[Born to Be My Baby]]" – [[Bon Jovi]]
* "[[Boys (Summertime Love)]]" – [[Sabrina Salerno]] (released in 1987)
* "[[Bring the Noise]]" – [[Public Enemy (band)|Public Enemy]]
* "[[Buffalo Stance]]" – [[Neneh Cherry]]
* "[[Candle In The Wind#1986 live version|Candle In The Wind]]" – [[Elton John]] (live)
* "[[Cars and Girls|Cars And Girls]]" – [[Prefab Sprout]]
* "[[Chains of Love (Erasure song)|Chains of Love]]" – [[Erasure (duo)|Erasure]]
* "[[Circle in the Sand]]" – [[Belinda Carlisle]]
* "[[Como Tu Mujer]]" – [[Rocío Dúrcal]]
* "[[Crash (The Primitives song)|Crash]]" – [[The Primitives]]
* "[[Cross My Heart (Eighth Wonder song)|Cross My Heart]]" – [[Eighth Wonder (band)|Eighth Wonder]]
* "[[Cult of Personality (song)|Cult of Personality]]" – [[Living Colour]]
* *[[Dear (Cobalt no Kanata e)]]" – [[Yōko Oginome]]
* "[[Desire (U2 song)|Desire]]" – [[U2]]
* "[[Devil Inside (INXS song)|Devil Inside]]" – [[INXS]]
* "[[Dirty Diana]]" – [[Michael Jackson]]
* "[[Divine Emotions]]" – [[Narada Michael Walden]]
* "[[Doctorin' the House]]" – [[Coldcut]] featuring [[Yazz|Yazz and the Plastic Population]]
* "[[Doctorin' the Tardis]]" – [[The KLF|The Timelords]]
* "[[Domino Dancing]]" – [[Pet Shop Boys]]
* "[[Don't Believe the Hype]]" – [[Public Enemy (band)|Public Enemy]]
* "[[Bomb the Bass|Don't Make Me Wait]]/Megablast" – [[Bomb the Bass]]
* "[[Don't Talk Dirty to Me]]" – [[Jermaine Stewart]]
* "[[Don't Worry, Be Happy]]" – [[Bobby McFerrin]]
* "[[Dreaming (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark song)|Dreaming]]" – [[Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark]]
* "[[Endless Summer Nights]]" – [[Richard Marx]]
* "[[Est-ce que tu viens pour les vacances ?]]" – [[David et Jonathan]]
* "[[Ėtoile des neiges]]" – [[:fr:Simon et les Modanais|Simon et les Modanais]]
* "[[Everlasting (Natalie Cole album)|Everlasting]]" – [[Natalie Cole]]
* "[[Every Rose Has Its Thorn]]" – [[Poison (American band)|Poison]]
* "[[Everything Your Heart Desires]]" – [[Hall & Oates]]
* "[[Fast Car (Tracy Chapman song)|Fast Car]]" – [[Tracy Chapman]]
* "[[Fiesta (The Pogues song)|Fiesta]]" – [[The Pogues]]
* "[[The Flame (Cheap Trick song)|The Flame]]" – [[Cheap Trick]]
* "[[Fine Time]]" – [[New Order (band)|New Order]]
* "[[First Time (Robin Beck song)|First Time]]" – [[Robin Beck]]
* "[[Foolish Beat]]" – [[Debbie Gibson]]
* "[[Four Letter Word (Kim Wilde song)|Four Letter Word]]" – [[Kim Wilde]]
* "[[Free Nelson Mandela]]" – [[The Specials|Special AKA]]
* "[[Fría Como el Viento]]" – [[Luis Miguel]]
* "[[Fu-ji-tsu]]" – [[Shizuka Kudo]]
* "[[Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car]]" – [[Billy Ocean]]
* "[[Girlfriend (Pebbles song)|Girlfriend]]" – [[Perri "Pebbles" Reid|Pebbles]]
* "[[Girl You Know It's True (song)|Girl You Know It's True]]" – [[Milli Vanilli]]
* "[[La Gitane (Ma tête tourne...)]]" – [[Félix Gray]]
* "[[Giving You the Best That I Got (song)|Giving You the Best That I Got]]" – [[Anita Baker]]
* "[[Good Life (Inner City song)|Good Life]]" – [[Inner City (band)|Inner City]]
* "[[Good Tradition]]" – [[Tanita Tikaram]]
* "[[Got My Mind Set on You]]" – [[George Harrison]]
* "The Great Commandment" – [[Camouflage (band)|Camouflage]]
* "[[Hands to Heaven]]" – [[Breathe (British band)|Breathe]]
* "[[Heart (Pet Shop Boys song)|Heart]]" – [[Pet Shop Boys]]
* "[[Heaven Knows (Robert Plant song)|Heaven Knows]]" - [[Robert Plant]]
* "[[Heaven is a Place on Earth]]" – [[Belinda Carlisle]] (released in 1987)
* "[[Hey Mister Heartache]]" – [[Kim Wilde]]
* "[[Hold Me in Your Arms (Rick Astley song)|Hold Me In Your Arms]]" – [[Rick Astley]]
* "[[Hold On to the Nights]]" – [[Richard Marx]]
* "[[Hole in My Heart (All the Way to China)]]" – [[Cyndi Lauper]]
* "[[Hot in the City]]" – [[Billy Idol]]
* "[[House Arrest (song)|House Arrest]] (The Beat Is Law)" – [[Krush]] (released in 1987)
* "[[Hungry Eyes]]" – [[Eric Carmen]]
* "[[I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That]]" – [[Elton John]]
* "[[I Don't Want to Be a Hero]]" – [[Johnny Hates Jazz]]
* "[[I Don't Want to Live Without You]]" – [[Foreigner (band)|Foreigner]]
* "[[I Don't Want to Talk About It]]" – [[Everything but the Girl]]
* "[[I Don't Want Your Love]]" - [[Duran Duran]]
* "[[I Get Weak]]" – [[Belinda Carlisle]]
* "[[I Hate Myself for Loving You]]" – [[Joan Jett and the Blackhearts]]
* "[[I Know You Got Soul (Eric B. & Rakim song)|I Know You Got Soul]]" – [[Eric B. & Rakim]]
* "[[I Owe You Nothing]]" – [[Bros (British band)|Bros]]
* "[[I Saw Him Standing There]]" – [[Tiffany Darwish|Tiffany]]
* "[[I Should Be So Lucky]]" – [[Kylie Minogue]]
* "[[I Want You Back (Bananarama song)|I Want You Back]]" – [[Bananarama]]
* "[[I Want Your Love (Transvision Vamp song)|I Want Your Love]]" – [[Transvision Vamp]]
* "[[I Want to Be Your Man]]" – [[Roger Troutman|Roger]]
* "[[I'll Always Love You (Taylor Dayne song)|I'll Always Love You]]" – [[Taylor Dayne]]
* "[[I'll Be There for You (Bon Jovi song)|I'll Be There for You]]" – [[Bon Jovi]]
* "[[I'll Be With You]]" – [[T'Pau (band)|T'Pau]]
* "[[Im Nin'Alu]]" – [[Ofra Haza]]
* "[[I'm Not Scared (song)|I'm Not Scared]]" – [[Eighth Wonder (band)|Eighth Wonder]]
* "[[In The Air Tonight]]" – [[Phil Collins]] (remix)
* "[[Is This Love (Whitesnake song)|Is This Love]]" – [[Whitesnake]]
* "[[It Takes Two (Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock song)|It Takes Two]]" – [[Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock]]
* "[[It Would Take a Strong Strong Man]]" – [[Rick Astley]]
* "[[Jody (song)|Jody]]" – [[Jermaine Stewart]]
* "[[Joe le taxi]]" – [[Vanessa Paradis]] (released in 1987)
* "[[Johnny B. Goode]]" – [[Judas Priest]]
* "[[Jour de neige]]" – [[Elsa Lunghini]]
* "[[Just Got Paid (Johnny Kemp song)|Just Got Paid]]" – [[Johnny Kemp]]
* "[[Just Like Paradise]]" – [[David Lee Roth]]
* "[[The King of Rock 'N' Roll]]" – [[Prefab Sprout]]
* "[[Kokomo (song)|Kokomo]]" – [[The Beach Boys]]
* "[[Left to My Own Devices]]" – [[Pet Shop Boys]]
* "[[Les Parfums de sa vie (Je l'ai tant aimée)]]" – [[Art Mengo]]
* "[[A Little Respect]]" – [[Erasure (duo)|Erasure]]
* "[[Look Away]]" – [[Chicago (band)|Chicago]]
* "[[Love Bites (Def Leppard song)|Love Bites]]" – [[Def Leppard]] (released in 1987)
* "Love Changes (Everything)" – [[Climie Fisher]] (remix/released in 1987)
* "[[The Lover in Me (Sheena Easton song)|The Lover In Me]]" – [[Sheena Easton]]
* "[[Lucretia My Reflection]]" – [[The Sisters of Mercy]]
* "[[Make It Real]]" – [[The Jets (Minnesota band)|The Jets]]
* "[[Make Me Lose Control (song)|Make Me Lose Control]]" – [[Eric Carmen]]
* "Mary's Prayer" – [[Danny Wilson (band)|Danny Wilson]] (released in 1987)
* "[[Man in the Mirror]]" – [[Michael Jackson]]
* "[[Mercedes Boy]]" – [[Perri "Pebbles" Reid|Pebbles]]
* "[[Mistletoe and Wine]]" – [[Cliff Richard]]
* "[[Monkey (song)|Monkey]]" – [[George Michael]]
* "[[My Prerogative]]" – [[Bobby Brown]]
* "[[Mystify (song)|Mystify]]" – [[INXS]] (released 1989 in the UK)
* "[[Need You Tonight]]" – INXS (released in 1987)
* "[[Never Knew Love Like This]]" – [[Alexander O'Neal]]
* "[[Never Tear Us Apart]]" – INXS
* "[[Never Trust a Stranger]]" – [[Kim Wilde]]
* "[[New Sensation]]" – [[INXS]]
* "[[Nothin' but a Good Time]]" – [[Poison (American band)|Poison]]
* "[[Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You]]" – [[Glenn Medeiros]] (United Kingdom peak)
* "[[Nuit de folie]]" – [[Début de Soirée]]
* "[[One More Try (George Michael song)|One More Try]]" – [[George Michael]]
* "[[One (Metallica song)|One]]" – [[Metallica]]
* "[[The Only Way Is Up]]" – [[Yazz|Yazz and the Plastic Population]]
* "[[Orange Crush (song)|Orange Crush]]" – [[R.E.M.]] (released 1989 in the UK)
* "[[Orinoco Flow]]" – [[Enya]]
* "[[Pamela (song)|Pamela]]" – [[Toto (band)|Toto]]
* "[[Paradise (Sade song)|Paradise]]" – [[Sade (band)|Sade]]
* "[[Paradise City]]" – [[Guns N' Roses]]
* "[[Parents Just Don't Understand]]" – [[DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince]]
* "The Payback Mix" – [[James Brown (musician)|James Brown]]
* "[[People Are Strange]]" – [[Echo & the Bunnymen]]
* "[[People Have the Power]]" – [[Patti Smith]]
* "[[Perfect Strangers (Anne Murray song)|Perfect Strangers]]" – [[Anne Murray]]
* "[[Piano in the Dark]]" – [[Brenda Russell]]
* "[[Pink Cadillac (song)|Pink Cadillac]]" – [[Natalie Cole]] (#2 Switzerland, #4 Ireland, Canada)
* "[[Pour Some Sugar on Me]]" – [[Def Leppard]] (released in 1987; #2 US)
* "[[Pourvu qu'elles soient douces]]" – [[Mylène Farmer]] (#1 France)
* "[[Push It (Salt-n-Pepa song)|Push It]]/Tramp" – [[Salt-N-Pepa]]
* "[[Put a Little Love in Your Heart]]" – [[Annie Lennox]] & [[Al Green]]
* "[[Quand je t'aime]]" – [[Demis Roussos]] (#3 FR)
* "[[Quelque chose dans mon cœur]]" – [[Elsa Lunghini]] (#2 FR)
* "Quelque part au Soleil" – [[Dalida]]
* "The Race" – [[Yello]]
* "[[Rag Doll (Aerosmith song)|Rag Doll]]" – [[Aerosmith]]
* "[[Real Gone Kid]]" – [[Deacon Blue]]
* "[[Revolution Baby]]" – [[Transvision Vamp]]
* "Rise To The Occasion (Hip Hop Mix)" – [[Climie Fisher]] (remix/released in 1987)
* "[[Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree]]" – [[Mel Smith|Mel]] & [[Kim Wilde|Kim]] (released December 1987)
* "[[Rok da House]]" – The [[Beatmasters]] featuring [[The Cookie Crew]] (remix/released in 1987)
* "[[Roll with It (Steve Winwood song)|Roll With It]]" – [[Steve Winwood]]
* "[[Run's House (song)|Run's House]]" – [[Run-D.M.C.]]
* "[[Rush Hour (Jane Wiedlin song)|Rush Hour]]" – [[Jane Wiedlin]]
* "[[I Say a Little Prayer]]" – [[Bomb The Bass]]
* "[[Say It Again (Jermaine Stewart song)|Say It Again]]" – [[Jermaine Stewart]]
* "[[Secret Land]]" – [[Sandra (singer)|Sandra]]
* "[[Shaday]]" – [[Ofra Haza]]
* "[[Shake for the Sheik]]" – [[The Escape Club]]
* "[[Shake Your Thang|Shake Your Thang (It's Your Thing)]]" – [[Salt-N-Pepa]] featuring [[Experience Unlimited|E.U.]]
* "[[Shattered Dreams]]" – [[Johnny Hates Jazz]] (USA release)
* "[[Ship of Fools (Erasure song)|Ship of Fools]]" – [[Erasure (duo)|Erasure]]
* "[[Ship of Fools (Robert Plant song)|Ship of Fools]]" – [[Robert Plant]]
* "[[Sidewalking]]" – [[The Jesus and Mary Chain]]
* "[[Sign Your Name]]" – [[Terence Trent D'Arby]] (released in 1987)
* "[[Simply Irresistible (song)|Simply Irresistible]]" – [[Robert Palmer (singer)|Robert Palmer]]
* "[[Slip Away (Clarence Carter song)|Slip Away]]" – [[Gregg Allman]]
* "[[Smooth Criminal]]" – [[Michael Jackson]] 
* "[[So Emotional]]" – [[Whitney Houston]] (released in 1987)
* "[[Spotlight (Madonna song)|Spotlight]]" – [[Madonna]]
* "[[Spring Love]]" – [[Stevie B]]
* "[[Stand (R.E.M. song)|Stand]]" – [[R.E.M.]]
* "[[Stand Up for Your Love Rights]]" – [[Yazz]]
* "[[Stay on These Roads]]" -[[a-ha]]
* “[[Staying Together (song)|Staying Together]]” – [[Debbie Gibson]]
* "[[Stop! (Erasure song)|Stop!]]" – [[Erasure (duo)|Erasure]]
* "Stutter Rap (No Sleep 'Til Bedtime)" – [[Morris Minor and the Majors]] (#4 UK, #2 Australia)
* "[[Superfly Guy]]" – [[S-Express]]
* "[[Suedehead]]" – [[Morrissey]]
* "[[Sweet Child o' Mine]]" – [[Guns N' Roses]] (released in 1987)
* "[[Take Me to Your Heart (Rick Astley song)|Take Me To Your Heart]]" – [[Rick Astley]]
* "[[Tall Cool One (Robert Plant song)|Tall Cool One]]" - [[Robert Plant]]
* "[[Teen Age Riot]]" – [[Sonic Youth]]
* "[[That's the Way I Wanna Rock 'n' Roll]]" – [[AC/DC]]
* "[[Theme from S-Express]]" – [[S-Express]]
* "[[Touched by the Hand of God]]" – [[New Order (band)|New Order]]
* "[[Tougher Than the Rest]]" – [[Bruce Springsteen]]
* "[[Together Forever (Rick Astley song)|Together Forever]]" – [[Rick Astley]]
* "[[Toy Soldiers (song)|Toy Soldiers]]" – Martika
* "Tribute (Right On)" – [[The Pasadenas]]
* "[[Twist and Shout]]" – [[Salt-N-Pepa]]
* "[[Twist in My Sobriety]]" – [[Tanita Tikaram]]
* "The Twist (Yo Twist)" – Fat Boys & [[Chubby Checker]]
* "Two Hearts" – [[Cliff Richard]]
* "Two Strong Hearts" – [[John Farnham]]
* "[[Un Roman d'amitié|Un Roman d'amitié (Friend You Give Me a Reason)]]" – [[Elsa Lunghini]] and [[Glenn Medeiros]]
* "[[Waiting For A Star To Fall]]" – [[Boy Meets Girl (band)|Boy Meets Girl]] (released on December 10, 1988)
* "[[Walking Away (Information Society song)|Walking Away]]" – Information Society (#9 US)
* "[[The Way You Make Me Feel]]" – [[Michael Jackson]]
* "[[We Call It Acieed]]" – [[D Mob]] featuring [[Gary Haisman]] (#3 UK)
* "[[Wee Rule]]" – [[Wee Papa Girl Rappers]]
* "[[Welcome to the Jungle]]" – [[Guns N' Roses]]  (released in 1987)
* "[[We'll Be Together (Sandra song)|We'll Be Together]]" – [[Sandra (singer)|Sandra]]
* "[[(What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me]]" – [[Alexander O'Neal]]
* "[[What I Am]]" – [[Edie Brickell & New Bohemians]] (released 1989 in the UK)
* "[[What You See Is What You Get]]" – [[Madonna]]
* "[[What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)]]" – [[Information Society (band)|Information Society]] (#3 US)
* "[[When It's Love]]" - [[Van Halen]]
* "[[When You Come]]" – [[Crowded House]]
* "[[Wild World (song)|Wild World]]" – [[Maxi Priest]]
* "[[Wishing Well (Terence Trent D'Arby song)|Wishing Well]]" – [[Terence Trent D'Arby]] (released in 1987)
* "A Word in Spanish" — Elton John
* "[[Yé ké yé ké]]" – [[Mory Kanté]] (#1 Belgium, Finland, Netherlands, Spain)
* "[[You Came]]" – [[Kim Wilde]]
* "[[You Have Placed a Chill in My Heart]]" – [[Eurythmics]]
}}

==Notable singles==



{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%;"
! <big>Song title</big> 
! <big>Artist(s)</big> 
! <big>Release date(s)</big> 
! <big>Other Chart Performance(s)</big>
|-
|"[[A Little Respect]]" || [[Erasure (duo)|Erasure]] || {{Date table sorting|091988}}|July 1988 || [[A_Little_Respect#Charts_3|See Chart performance entry]]
|-
|"[[Ain't No Half-Steppin']]" || [[Big Daddy Kane]] || {{Date table sorting|071988}}|July 1988 || 53 (US Billboard Hot Black Singles)
|-
|"[[Ana Ng]]" || [[They Might Be Giants]] || {{Date table sorting|041988}}|April 1988 || 11 (US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks)
|-
|"[[Bring the Noise]]" || [[Public Enemy]] || {{Date table sorting|021988}}|February 1988 || 56 (US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks)
|-
|"[[Carolyn's Fingers]]" || [[Cocteau Twins]] || {{Date table sorting|061988}}|June 1988 || 2 (US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)}
|-
|"[[Cars and Girls]]" || [[Prefab Sprout]] || {{Date table sorting|021988}}|February 1988 || 41 (Australia) - 44 (UK Singles Chart)
|-
|"[[Children's Story]]" || [[Slick Rick]] || {{Date table sorting|041988}}|April 1988 || 2 (US Billboard Hot Rap Singles) - 5 (US Billboard Hot Black Singles) - 39 (US Billboard Dance Club Songs)
|-
|"Coldsweat" || data-sort-value="Sugarcubes"|[[The Sugarcubes]] || {{Date table sorting|011988}}|January 1988 || 2 (UK Indie Charts) - 65 (UK Singles Chart)
|-
|"[[Crash (The Primitives song)|Crash]]" || data-sort-value="Primitives"|[[The Primitives]] || {{Date table sorting|021988}}|February 1988 || [[Crash_(The_Primitives_song)#Charts_2|See Chart performance entry]]
|-
|"[[Cult of Personality (song)|Cult of Personality]]" || [[Living Colour]] || {{Date table sorting|071988}}|July 1988 || [[Cult_of_Personality_(song)#Charts|See Chart performance entry]]
|-
|"[[Deanna (song)|Deanna]]" || data-sort-value="Cave, Nick"|[[Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds]] || {{Date table sorting|101988}}|October 1988 || 4 (UK Indie Charts)
|-
|"[[Devil Inside (INXS song)|Devil Inside]]" || [[INXS]] || {{Date table sorting|021988}}|February 1988 || [[Devil_Inside_(INXS_song)#Charts|See Chart performance entry]]
|-
|"[[Dominion (song)|Dominion]]" || data-sort-value="Sisters of Mercy"|[[The Sisters of Mercy]] || {{Date table sorting|021988}}|February 1988 || 7 (Ireland) - 13 (UK Singles Chart) - 30 (US Billboard Dance Club Songs)
|-
|"[[Elephant Stone]]" || data-sort-value="Stone Roses"|[[The Stone Roses]] || {{Date table sorting|091988}}|September 1988 ||  86 (Australia) - 4 (Ireland) - 8 (UK Singles Chart) '''Note:''' ''The reissue of the single charted in 1990.''
|-
|"[[Everyday Is Like Sunday]]" || [[Morrissey]] || {{Date table sorting|051988}}|May 1988 || 3 (Irish Singles Chart) - 9 (UK Singles Chart) - 76 (Dutch Single Top 100)
|-
|"[[Fast Car]]" || [[Tracy Chapman]] || {{Date table sorting|041988}}|April 1988 || [[Fast_Car#Charts|See Chart performance entry]]
|-
|"[[Feed Me with Your Kiss]]" b/w "Keep the Glove" || [[My_Bloody_Valentine_(band)|My Bloody Valentine]] || {{Date table sorting|091988}}|September 1988 || n/a
|-
|"[[Follow the Leader (Eric B. & Rakim song)|Follow the Leader]]  || [[Eric B. & Rakim]] || {{Date table sorting|071988}}|July 1988 || 11 (US Billboard Dance Club Songs) - 16 (US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs) - 21 (UK Singles Chart) - 75 (Netherlands)
|-
|"[[Freak Scene]]" b/w "Believe Me"  || [[Dinosaur Jr.]] || {{Date table sorting|103188}}|October 1988 || n/a
|-
|"[[Gigantic (song)|Gigantic]]" || [[Pixies (band)|Pixies]] || {{Date table sorting|081988}}|August 1988 || 93 (UK Singles Chart)
|-
|"[[I Believe in You (Talk Talk song)|I Believe In You]]" || [[Talk Talk]] || {{Date table sorting|091988}}|September 1988 || 43 (New Zealand) - 65 (Netherlands [Single Top 100]) - 85 (UK Singles Chart)
|-
|"[[If I Should Fall from Grace with God]]" || [[The Pogues]] || {{Date table sorting|011988}}|January 1988 || [[If_I_Should_Fall_from_Grace_with_God#Charts|See Chart performance entry]]
|-
|"[[Into Temptation (song)|Into Temptation]] || [[Crowded House]] || {{Date table sorting|121988}}|December 1988 || 20 (Dutch Single Top 100) - 38 (New Zealand) - 59 (Australia) - 64 (Canada)
|-
|"[[Left to My Own Devices]]" || [[Pet Shop Boys]] || {{Date table sorting|111988}}|November 1988 || [[Left_to_My_Own_Devices#Charts|See Chart performance entry]]
|-
|"[[Lucretia My Reflection]] || data-sort-value="Sisters of Mercy"|[[The Sisters of Mercy]] || {{Date table sorting|061988}}|June 1988 || 20 (UK Singles Charts) - 22 (Ireland) - 30 (US Billboard Dance Club Songs)
|-
|"[[The Mercy Seat (song)|The Mercy Seat]]" || data-sort-value="Cave, Nick"|[[Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds]] || {{Date table sorting|061988}}|June 1988 || 3 (UK Indie Charts)
|-
|"[[Mother (Danzig song)|Mother]]" || [[Danzig (band)|Danzig]] || {{Date table sorting|081988}}|August 1988 || [[Mother_(Danzig_song)#Charts|See Chart performance entry]]
|-
|"[[New Sensation]]" || [[INXS]] || {{Date table sorting|011988}}|January 1988 || [[New_Sensation#Charts|See Chart performance entry]]
|-
|"[[Never Tear Us Apart]]" || [[INXS]] || {{Date table sorting|061988}}|June 1988 || [[Never_Tear_Us_Apart#Charts|See Chart performance entry]]
|-
|"[[Orange Crush (song)|Orange Crush]]" || [[R.E.M.]] || {{Date table sorting|121988}}|December 1988 || [[Orange_Crush_(song)#Charts|See Chart performance entry]]
|-
|"[[Orpheus (David Sylvian song)|Orpheus]]" || data-sort-value="Sylvian, David"|[[David Sylvian]] || {{Date table sorting|051988}}|May 1988 || n/a
|-
|"[[Reptile (song)|Reptile]]" || data-sort-value="Church"|[[The Church (band)|The Church]] || {{Date table sorting|071988}}|July 1988 || 94 (Australia) - 27 (U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart)
|-
|"[[Sidewalking]]" || data-sort-value="Jeus and Mary Chain"|[[The Jesus and Mary Chain]] || {{Date table sorting|031988}}|March 1988 || 20 (Irish Singles Chart) - 23 (New Zealand) - 30 (UK Singles Chart) - 95 (Europe)
|-
|"[[Sister Madly]]" || [[Crowded House]] || {{Date table sorting|081988}}|August 1988 || 26 (New Zealand) - 66 (Australia) - 92 (Canada)
|-
|"[[South of Heaven]]" || [[Slayer]] || {{Date table sorting|071988}}|July 1988 || n/a
|-
|"[[Streets of Your Town]]" || data-sort-value="Go-Betweens"|[[The Go-Betweens]] || {{Date table sorting|071988}}|July 1988 || 30 (New Zealand) - 68 (Australia) - 80 (UK Singles Chart)
|-
|"[[Suedehead]]" || [[Morrissey]] || {{Date table sorting|021988}}|February 1988 || 2 (Irish Singles Chart) - 5 (UK Singles Chart) - 18 (Finland) - 30 (Dutch Single Top 100) - 45 (Australia)
|-
|"[[The Evil That Men Do (song)|The Evil That Men Do]]" || [[Iron Maiden]] || {{Date table sorting|081988}}|August 1988 || n/a
|-
|"[[The King of Rock 'n' Roll]]" || [[Prefab Sprout]] || {{Date table sorting|031988}}|March 1988 || 6 (Ireland) - 7 (UK Singles Chart)
|-
|"[[Teen Age Riot]]" b/w "[[Silver Rocket]]"/"Kissability" || [[Sonic Youth]] || {{Date table sorting|101988}}|October 1988 || 20 (U.S. Billboard Alternative Airplay)
|-
|"[[There She Goes (The La's song)|There She Goes]]" || [[The La's]] || {{Date table sorting|111988}}|November 1988 || [[There_She_Goes_(The_La%27s_song)#Charts|See Chart performance entry]]
|-
|"[[Trick of the Light (The Triffids song)|Trick of the Light]]" || data-sort-value="Triffids"|[[The Triffids]] || {{Date table sorting|011988}}|January 1988 || 73 (UK Singles Chart) - 77 (Australia)
|-
|"[[Touch Me I'm Sick]]" || |[[Mudhoney]] || {{Date table sorting|081988}}|August 1988 || n/a
|-
|"[[Under the Milky Way]]" || data-sort-value="Church"|[[The Church (band)|The Church]] || {{Date table sorting|021988}}|February 1988 || [[Under_the_Milky_Way#Charts|See chart performance entry]]
|-
|"[[Was There Anything I Could Do?]]" || data-sort-value="Go-Betweens"|[[The Go-Betweens]] || {{Date table sorting|101988}}|October 1988 || 16 (US Modern Rock Tracks [Billboard])
|-
|"[[You Made Me Realise]]" || [[My Bloody Valentine (band)|My Bloody Valentine]] || {{Date table sorting|081988}}|August 1988 || 2 (UK Indie Chart)
|}

===Other Notable singles===
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
*"[[A Kissed Out Red Floatboat]]" - [[Cocteau Twins]]
*"[[Can You Feel It (Larry Heard song)|Can You Feel It]]" - [[Larry Heard|Fingers Inc.]]
*"Christine" - [[The House of Love]]
*"Destination" - [[The Church (band)|The Church]]
*"[[Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie (song)|Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie]]" - [[Goodbye Mr Mackenzie]]
*"Hail" - [[Straitjacket Fits]]
*"[[House We Used to Live In]]" - [[The Smithereens]]
*"[[Is This the Life]]" - [[Cardiacs]]
*"[[Liar,_Liar_(The_Castaways_song)#Debbie_Harry_version|Liar, Liar]]" - [[Debbie Harry]]
*"Nobody's Twisting Your Arm" b/w "I'm Not Always So Stupid" - [[The Wedding Present]]
*"[[Secret Garden (T'Pau song)|Secret Garden]]" - [[T'Pau (band)|T'Pau]]
*"[[(She Was A) Hotel Detective]]" – [[They Might Be Giants]]
*"[[Thousands Are Sailing]]" - [[The Pogues]]
*"Tugboat" - [[Galaxie 500]]
*"Only Dreaming (Wide Awake)" - [[Red Lorry Yellow Lorry]]
*"Out of My Hands" - [[Died Pretty]]
*"[[Surrender (Suicide song)|Surrender]]" – [[Suicide (band)|Suicide]]
*"Towers of Strength" – [[Died Pretty]]
*"Viento" - [[Caifanes]]
}}

== Classical music ==
* [[Gerald Barry (composer)|Gerald Barry]] – ''Cheveux-de-frise''
* [[Luciano Berio]] – ''Sequenza XI''
* [[George Crumb]] – ''Zeitgeist (Tableaux Vivants)'' for two amplified pianos
* [[Mario Davidovsky]] – ''Synchronisms No. 9'' for violin and tape
* [[Joël-François Durand]] – ''Die innere Grenze'' for string sextet
* [[Lorenzo Ferrero]] – ''La cena delle beffe'' (incidental music)
* [[Michael Finnissy]] – ''Red Earth'' for orchestra
* [[Henryk Górecki]] – String Quartet No. 1, "Already it is Dusk"
* [[Stephen Hartke]] – ''Pacific Rim Overture''
* [[Vagn Holmboe]] – Symphony No. 12, M. 338
* [[Wojciech Kilar]] – ''Choralvorspiel'' (Choral Prelude) for chamber string orchestra
* [[Witold Lutosławski]] – Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
* [[Frederik Magle]] – ''We Are Afraid (Vi er bange)'', cantata for choir and chamber orchestra<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.magle.dk/scrapbook.html#1988|title=Frederik Magle – Scrapbook|author=magle.dk|access-date=29 June 2012}}</ref>
* [[Carin Malmlöf-Forssling]] – String Quartet No. 1, "''Silverkvartetten''"
* [[António Chagas Rosa]] – Piano Sonata
* [[Kaija Saariaho]] – ''Petals'' for cello and electronics
* [[Bogusław Schaeffer]] – Concerto for Piano Duet and Orchestra
* [[Alfred Schnittke]] 
** Concerto for Piano four hands and Orchestra
** Piano Quartet
** Symphony No. 5 (Concerto Grosso No. 4)
** ''Klingende Buchstaben''
* [[Peter Sculthorpe]] – ''Kakadu''
* [[Philip Sparke]] – Concerto Grosso
* [[Bent Sørensen (composer)|Bent Sørensen]]
** ''Angels' Music'' for string quartet
** ''Camelot by Night'' for bass flute and guitar
** ''La Notte'' for piano and orchestra
* [[Tōru Takemitsu]] – ''Tree Line'' for chamber orchestra
* [[John Tavener]] – ''The Akathist of Thanksgiving''
* [[Takashi Yoshimatsu]] – Concerto for Bassoon "Unicorn Circuit"

=== Opera ===
* [[Philip Glass]] – ''[[1000 Airplanes on the Roof]]''
* [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]] – ''[[Montag aus Licht]]'' (La Scala, Milan, May 7)

== Jazz ==
{{Main|1988 in jazz}}

== Musical theater ==
* ''[[Bitter Sweet (operetta)|Bitter Sweet]]'' ([[Noël Coward]]) – London revival
* ''[[Chess (musical)|Chess]]'' ([[Tim Rice]], [[Benny Andersson]] & [[Björn Ulvaeus]]) – Broadway production opened at the [[Imperial Theatre]] and closed after 65 performances
* ''[[The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)|The Phantom of the Opera]]'' ([[Andrew Lloyd Webber]]) –  Broadway production opened at the [[Majestic Theatre (Broadway)|Majestic Theatre]], and has the longest continuous run in Broadway history, with over 10,000 performances to date
* ''[[Sarafina! (musical)|Sarafina]]'' – Broadway production opened at the [[James Earl Jones Theatre|Cort Theatre]] and ran for 597 performances

== Musical films ==
* ''[[Bird (1988 film)|Bird]]''
* ''[[Bridge (1988 film)|Bridge]]''
* ''[[The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years]]''
* ''[[Daisy (1988 film)|Daisy]]''
* ''[[Dhwani]]''
* ''[[Imagine: John Lennon]]''
* ''[[La Bailanta]]''
* ''[[Moonwalker]]''
* ''[[Rattle and Hum#Film|Rattle and Hum]]''<ref>{{cite book|author1=Dr Karen Burland|author2=Professor Stephanie Pitts|title=Coughing and Clapping: Investigating Audience Experience|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2jPjBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA35|date=28 December 2014|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-4724-1029-0|pages=35}}</ref>
* ''[[Satisfaction (1988 film)|Satisfaction]]''
* ''[[Tapeheads]]''<ref name="StrongGriffin2008">{{cite book|author1=Martin Charles Strong|author2=Brendon Griffin|title=Lights, camera, sound tracks|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aSYKAQAAMAAJ|year=2008|publisher=Canongate|isbn=978-1-84767-003-8|page=358}}</ref>
* ''[[Tougher Than Leather (film)|Tougher Than Leather]]''<ref>{{cite book|author1=Alfred Krautz|author2=Hille Krautz|author3=Joris Krautz|title=Encyclopedia of film directors in the United States of America and Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rWZZAAAAMAAJ|year=1997|publisher=Saur|isbn=978-3-598-21502-5|page=188}}</ref>

== Births ==
* [[January 14]]
** [[Mikalah Gordon]], ''[[American Idol]]'' contestant
** [[Jordy (singer)|Jordy]], French singer
* [[January 15]] 
** [[Jessica Poland]], American singer-songwriter
** [[Skrillex]], American musician and DJ
* [[January 16]]
** [[FKA Twigs]], born Tahliah Barnett, English singer-songwriter,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/09186960/filing-history/MzEwNjAxNTY1NWFkaXF6a2N4/document?format=pdf&download=0|title=Certificate of Incorporation of a Private Limited Company {{!}} Female Reclining Ltd|access-date=18 February 2021}}</ref> dancer, advocate and actress
** [[Alex Gonzaga]], Filipina singer
* [[January 20]] – [[Victoria Asher]], American musician
* [[January 21]] 
** [[Glaiza de Castro]], Filipino actress and singer<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.radiorepublic.ph/glaiza-de-castro-holds-birthday-concert/|title=Glaiza de Castro holds birthday concert|publisher=Radio Republic|date=January 28, 2016|access-date=October 21, 2016}}</ref>
** [[AGA (singer)|AGA]], Hong Kong singer-songwriter
* [[January 24]] - [[Jade Ewen]], English actress and singer
* [[January 25]] – [[Yasmien Kurdi]], Filipina pop singer
* [[February 3]] – [[Super Junior|Cho Kyu Hyun]], Korean pop singer (Super Junior)<ref>{{cite book|author=Mark Russell|title=K-Pop Now!: The Korean Music Revolution|page=39|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=etDZAwAAQBAJ|date=29 April 2014|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|isbn=978-1-4629-1411-1}}</ref>
* [[February 6]] – [[Bailey Hanks]], American actress and singer
* [[February 7]] 
** [[Ai Kago]], Japanese pop singer<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/277811/profile | title=加護亜依のプロフィール | trans-title=Ai Kago's profile | work=[[Oricon]] | language=ja | access-date=2020-01-20}}</ref>
** [[Lee Joon]], South Korean idol singer (MBLAQ), dancer, actor and model<ref>{{cite book|author=Mark Russell|title=K-Pop Now!: The Korean Music Revolution|page=64|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=etDZAwAAQBAJ|date=April 29, 2014|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|isbn=978-1-4629-1411-1}}</ref>
* [[February 8]] – [[Ao Li]], Chinese operatic bass-baritone
* [[February 11]]
** [[Junjun (singer)|Li Chun]], Chinese singer
** [[Paul Kim (musician, born 1988)|Paul Kim]], South Korean singer
* [[February 13]] – [[Mike Posner]], American singer-songwriter, poet, DJ and music producer
* [[February 17]] – [[Rod Michael]], American singer ([[B3 (band)|B3]])
* [[February 18]] – [[Changmin]] ("Max"), Korean pop singer
* [[February 20]] – [[Rihanna]], Barbadian pop singer
* [[February 22]] – [[Jay Fung]], Hong Kong singer-songwriter
* [[February 23]] – [[Ashley Cooper (singer)|Ashley Cooper]], New Zealand pop singer
* [[February 27]] – [[JD Natasha]], born Natasha Jeannette Dueñas, American Latin music artist
* [[February 28]] 
** [[Milly Edwards]], ''Australian Idol'' contestant
** [[Markéta Irglová]], Czech songwriter
* [[March 2]] 
** [[James Arthur]], English singer-songwriter
** [[Kate Alexa]], Australian pop rock singer
** [[Esther Povitsky]], American actress, singer, comedian, writer and producer
** [[Nadine Samonte]], German pop singer
* [[March 6]] – [[Agnes Carlsson]], Swedish pop singer<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/AgnesOfficial/|title=Agnes English biography|work=agnescarlsson.se|publisher=Agnes Carlsson and Roxy Recordings|access-date=17 January 2010}}</ref>
* [[March 8]] 
** [[Benny Blanco]], American record producer, songwriter, musician (Dating [[Selena Gomez]]) 
** [[Johnny Ruffo]], Australian singer, songwriter, dancer, actor and television presenter (d. 2023)
* [[March 10]] – [[Patrick Henry Hughes]], American tenor and trumpeter
* [[March 15]] – [[Lil Dicky]], American comedy-rapper
* [[March 16]] – [[Jhené Aiko]], American singer-songwriter and rapper<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/jhen%C3%A9-aiko/18275|title=Jhené Aiko|website=Grammys|access-date=1 November 2020}}</ref>
* [[March 17]] – [[Grimes (musician)|Grimes]] (born Claire Boucher), Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, engineer, record producer, visual artist, feminist, activist and producer (collaborator of [[Hana (American musician)|Hana]]) 
* [[March 18]]
** [[Agir (singer)|Agir]], Portuguese singer and composer<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.last.fm/pt/music/AGIR/+wiki|title=Biografia de AGIR – Músicas gratuitas, vídeos, shows, estatísticas e fotos na Last.fm.|website=Last.fm|language=pt|access-date=16 September 2017}}</ref>
** [[Soukaina Boukries]], Moroccan singer
* [[March 25]] 
** [[Big Sean]], American rapper
** [[Ryan Lewis]], American musician
* [[March 27]] – [[Jessie J]], English singer-songwriter<ref>{{cite book|author=Jessie J|title=Nice to Meet You|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7OtWA2CuN7gC&pg=PT10|date=27 September 2012|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-4711-2580-5|pages=10}}</ref>
* [[March 31]] – [[Conrad Sewell]], Australian singer-songwriter
* [[April 17]] – [[Takahiro Moriuchi]], Japanese singer ([[One Ok Rock]])
* [[April 19]] – [[Alfie Arcuri]], Australian singer-songwriter
* [[April 24]] – [[Natalie Zahra]], ''Australian Idol'' contestant
* [[April 25]] – [[Sara Paxton]], American singer, actress
* [[April 27]] 
** [[Alfred Hui]], Hong Kong singer
** [[Lizzo]], born Melissa Jefferson, American singer-songwriter, actress, rapper and activist
** [[Pop Wansel]], American record producer, musician and songwriter
* [[April 29]] 
** [[Younha]], Japanese and Korean pop singer
** [[Michael Ray (singer)|Michael Ray]], American country music singer-songwriter
* [[May 5]]
** [[Adele]], English singer-songwriter<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/jan/27/popandrock.britawards2008|title=Mad about the girl |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |date=27 January 2008 | access-date=23 April 2010 | first=Sylvia | last=Patterson|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101120110927/http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/jan/27/popandrock.britawards2008|archive-date=20 November 2010|url-status=live}}</ref>
** [[Brooke Hogan]], American actress, singer-songwriter and wrestler
** [[Skye Sweetnam]], Canadian singer-songwriter, actress and music video director ([[Sumo Cyco]]) 
* [[May 8]] – [[Trisha Paytas]], American Internet personality, actress and singer-songwriter
* [[May 11]] – [[Ace Hood]], American rapper<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.complex.com/music/2018/05/ace-hood-celebrates-30th-birthday-trust-the-process-2-undefeated|title=Ace Hood Celebrates His 30th Birthday With 'Trust The Process 2: Undefeated'|author=Marco Margaritoff|date=May 11, 2018|website=complex|access-date=20 September 2020}}</ref>
* [[May 13]] – [[Casey Donovan (singer)|Casey Donovan]], ''Australian Idol'' winner, 2004
* [[May 18]] – [[Tanner Wayne]], American drummer ([[Underminded]], [[Chiodos]] and [[Scary Kids Scaring Kids]])
* [[May 19]] - Matteo Milleri, American DJ and producer ([[Grimes]]) 
* [[May 21]] – [[Park Gyu-ri]], South Korean idol singer<ref>{{cite book|author=Mark Russell|title=K-Pop Now!: The Korean Music Revolution|page=94|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=etDZAwAAQBAJ|date=29 April 2014|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|isbn=978-1-4629-1411-1}}</ref>
* [[May 22]] – [[Roy English]], also known as Jagwar Twin, American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer
* [[May 24]] – [[Billy Gilman]], American country singer
* [[May 27]] - [[J-Min]], South Korean singer-songwriter
* [[June 1]]
** [[Christine and the Queens|Héloïse Letissier]], French singer-songwriter ([[Christine and the Queens]])
** [[Nami Tamaki]], Japanese singer
* [[June 2]] – [[Danny Parker (songwriter)|Danny Parker]], American songwriter 
* [[June 3]] – [[Dave East]], American rapper
* [[June 6]] – [[Neha Kakkar]], Indian pop singer
* [[June 7]] – [[Michael Cera]], Canadian actor, comedian, producer and singer-songwriter<ref name="Chase's2019">{{cite book|author=((Editors of Chase's))|title=Chase's Calendar of Events 2020: The Ultimate Go-to Guide for Special Days, Weeks and Months|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6dKpDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA313|date=24 September 2019|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-64143-316-7|pages=313}}</ref>
* [[June 9]] – [[Mae Whitman]], American actress, voice actress and singer<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no99026349.html |title=Whitman, Mae, 1988- |website=Library of Congress Name Authority File |access-date=2018-07-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716082409/http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no99026349.html |archive-date=2018-07-16 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[June 11]] – [[Weyes Blood]], American musician 
* [[June 12]] – [[Dave Melillo]], American singer-songwriter
* [[June 14]] – [[Kevin McHale (actor)|Kevin McHale]], American actor, singer, dancer and radio personality<ref>{{cite web|title=Glee: Kevin McHale|url=http://www.wetpaint.com/glee/kevin-mchale|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108122106/http://www.wetpaint.com/glee/kevin-mchale|archive-date=January 8, 2015|website=[[Wetpaint]]}}</ref>
* [[June 16]]
** [[Banks (singer)|Banks]], American singer-songwriter<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.californiabirthindex.org/birth/jillian_rose_banks_born_1988_18362295 |title=Jillian Rose Banks, Born 06/16/1988 in California |website=[[California Birth Index]] |access-date=June 16, 2018}}</ref>
** [[Keshia Chanté]], Canadian urban singer
* [[June 18]] – [[Josh Dun]], American multi-instrumentalist and producer ([[House Of Heroes]], [[Twenty One Pilots]])r<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fueledbyramen.com/news/happy-birthday-josh-dun-93901|title=Happy Birthday Josh Dun!|publisher=[[Fueled by Ramen]]|date=June 18, 2013|access-date=June 27, 2014|archive-date=May 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505155913/http://www.fueledbyramen.com/news/happy-birthday-josh-dun-93901|url-status=dead}}</ref> 
* [[June 20]] – [[May J.]], Japanese R&B singer
* [[June 21]] – [[Beatrice Egli]], Swiss singer
* [[June 22]] 
** [[Miliyah Kato]], Japanese R&B singer
** [[Vicky Psarakis]], Greek-American vocalist-singer-songwriter, lead singer of [[The Agonist]]
* [[June 23]]
** [[Isabella Leong]], Hong Kong singer, actress and model
** [[Jasmine Kara]], Swedish singer-songwriter
* [[June 24]] – [[Nichkhun Horvejkul]], Thai singer
* [[June 27]] – [[Colin Tilley]], American music video director and film maker
* [[June 28]] – [[Julian Waterfall Pollack]], American jazz pianist and composer
* [[June 29]] – [[Martina Šindlerová]], Slovak pop singer
* [[July 2]] – [[Amali Ward]], ''Australian Idol'' contestant
* [[July 6]] 
** [[Katy Tiz]], British singer 
** [[Brittany Underwood]], American actress and singer
* [[July 7]] – [[Kaci Brown]], American pop/R&B singer
* [[July 8]] 
** [[Reinaldo Zavarce]], Venezuelan actor and singer
** [[Shocka]], English rapper and mental health advocate
* [[July 11]] – [[Natalie La Rose]], Dutch singer-songwriter and dancer
* [[July 12]] – [[Melissa O'Neil]], ''[[Canadian Idol]]'' winner, Canadian singer and actress
* [[July 13]] 
** [[Tulisa Contostavlos]], English singer-songwriter and member of [[N-Dubz]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Tulisa - The Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4TatDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT9|date=6 August 2012|publisher=John Blake|isbn=978-1-78219-043-1|pages=9}}</ref>
** [[Colton Haynes]], American actor, model and singer
** [[Mitch Rowland]], American songwriter and multi-instrumentalist ([[Harry Styles]])
* [[July 17]] – [[Anderson East]], American rhythm and blues singer/songwriter
* [[July 19]] – [[Charlene Soraia]], English singer-songwriter and mental health activist
* [[July 20]] – [[Julianne Hough]], American dancer, singer and actress<ref>{{cite book|author=Joel Whitburn|title=Joel Whitburn's Music Stars: Brief Bios of Every Recording Artist who Ever Charted|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V-NWAAAAYAAJ|year=2009|publisher=H. Leonard Corporation|isbn=978-0-89820-176-5|page=121}}</ref>
* [[July 24]] – [[Han Seung-yeon]], South Korean singer and actress<ref>{{cite book|author=Mark Russell|title=K-Pop Now!: The Korean Music Revolution|page=94|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=etDZAwAAQBAJ|date=April 29, 2014|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|isbn=978-1-4629-1411-1}}</ref>
* [[July 25]] – [[Sarah Geronimo]], Filipina pop singer
* [[July 28]] – [[Nick Santino (musician)|Nick Santino]], American singer-songwriter and guitarist ([[A Rocket to the Moon]])
* [[July 31]] – [[Ruston Kelly]], American country singer-songwriter ([[Kacey Musgraves]])
* [[August 2]]
** [[Chris Sebastian]], Australian singer-songwriter (two time contestant of ''[[The Voice Australia]]'', one time on [[Seal (singer)|Seal]] get to round 16 (2012) and won on team [[Kelly Rowland]] (2020), brother of [[Guy Sebastian]])
** [[Brittany Hargest]], American pop singer
* [[August 3]]
**[[Sierra Ferrell]], American singer-songwriter and musician
**[[Shelley FKA DRAM]], American rapper, singer, and record producer
* [[August 4]] – [[Tom Parker (singer)|Tom Parker]], English singer-songwriter ([[The Wanted]]) (d. 2022)
* [[August 13]] – [[MØ]], Danish singer-songwriter 
* [[August 16]] – [[Rumer Willis]], American singer and actress 
* [[August 18]] – [[G-Dragon]], Korean rapper, singer-songwriter and producer
* [[August 19]] – [[Hoodie Allen]], American rapper, singer-songwriter
* [[August 21]]
** [[Paris Bennett]], American singer
** [[Kacey Musgraves]], American country singer-songwriter<ref>{{cite book|author=((Editors of Chase's))|title=Chase's Calendar of Events 2020: The Ultimate Go-to Guide for Special Days, Weeks and Months|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6dKpDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA421|date=24 September 2019|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-64143-316-7|pages=421}}</ref>
* [[August 23]] – [[Alice Glass]], Canadian singer-songwriter
* [[August 24]] – [[Kelly Lee Owens]], Welsh electronic musician
* [[August 25]] – [[Alexandra Burke]], English singer-songwriter and actress, ''X Factor'' winner<ref>{{cite book|title=Alexandra Burke - A Star is Born|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xzitDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT11|date=15 October 2009|publisher=John Blake|isbn=978-1-78418-520-6|pages=11}}</ref> 
* [[August 26]] 
** [[Erik Hassle]], Swedish pop singer-songwriter
** [[Evan Ross]], American actor and musician ([[Diana Ross]], [[Ashlee Simpson]]) 
* [[August 27]] – [[Alexa Vega]], American musical performer, actor and pop singer
* [[September 3]] – [[Devon Welsh]], Canadian singer-songwriter ([[Majical Cloudz]], [[Grimes (musician)|Grimes]]) 
* [[September 6]] 
** [[Max George]], English singer-songwriter and actor
** [[Gustav Schäfer (musician)|Gustav Schäfer]], German rock drummer ([[Tokio Hotel]])
* [[September 12]]
** [[Amanda Jenssen]], Swedish singer
** [[Petros Iakovidis]], Greek singer
** [[Matt Martians]], American record producer
* [[September 14]] – [[Muni Long]], American singer and songwriter
* [[September 16]] – [[Teddy Geiger]], American singer-songwriter
* [[September 19]] – [[Reigan Derry]], Australian singer-songwriter
* [[September 22]] – [[Bethany Dillon]], American Christian-music artist
* [[Sana Saeed]], Indian actress
* [[September 26]] 
** [[James Blake (musician)|James Blake]], English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer (Jameela Jamil, Theresa Waymen)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH2Bw8dusHg  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/pH2Bw8dusHg| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=James Blake on his 23rd Birthday, Limit To Your Love|via=YouTube|date=26 September 2011|access-date=18 February 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
** [[Lilly Singh]], Canadian vlogger, singer, rapper and artist
* [[September 27]] – [[Alma (French singer)|Alma]], French singer-songwriter<ref>{{cite journal|last1=HB-Abada|first1=Gabrielle|title=Eurovision 2017 : ALMA, itinéraire d'une enfant de Miami gâtée par la voix...|journal=[[Le Courrier de Floride]]|date=2 April 2017|url=https://courrierdefloride.com/2017/04/02/eurovision-2017-alma-itineraire-dune-enfant-de-miami-gatee-voix/|access-date=14 April 2017|language=fr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170415013425/https://courrierdefloride.com/2017/04/02/eurovision-2017-alma-itineraire-dune-enfant-de-miami-gatee-voix/|archive-date=2017-04-15|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[September 28]] 
** [[Esmée Denters]], Dutch singer and YouTuber
** [[Hana Mae Lee]], American actress, model, singer and fashion designer (''[[Pitch Perfect]]'')
* [[September 30]] – [[Jyongri]], Japanese pop singer
* [[October 2]] – [[Andreas Moe]], Swedish singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist
* [[October 2]] – [[Brittany Howard]], American singer-songwriter
* [[October 3]] – [[ASAP Rocky|A$AP Rocky]], American rapper, producer, part of the ASAP mob<ref>{{cite web|title=ASAP Rocky|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/soundof/2012/artists/asaprocky/#p00mbxh5|work=BBC|access-date=June 17, 2013|archive-date=December 30, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111230132514/https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/soundof/2012/artists/asaprocky/#p00mbxh5|url-status=live}}</ref> ([[Rihanna]]}
* [[October 4]] 
** [[Jessica Benson]], American R&B singer
** [[Melissa Benoist]], American actress and singer<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Rose |first1=Lacey |last2=O'Connell |first2=Michael |last3=Sandberg |first3=Bryn Elise |last4=Stanhope |first4=Kate |last5=Goldberg |first5=Lesley |date=August 28, 2015 |title=Next Gen Fall TV: 10 Stars Poised for Breakouts |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/next-gen-fall-tv-10-817493 |url-status=live |access-date=December 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161129043945/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/next-gen-fall-tv-10-817493 |archive-date=November 29, 2016}}</ref>
* [[October 5]] – [[Kevin Olusola]], Nigerian musician, beatboxer, cellist, rapper, record producer and singer-songwriter
* [[October 11]] – [[Knut Eirik Kokkin]], Norwegian singer
* [[October 12]] – [[Calum Scott]], English singer-songwriter
* [[October 14]]
** [[Kobra Paige]], Canadian singer and songwriter
** [[Pia Toscano]], American singer
* [[October 17]] 
** [[Dami Im]], Korean-born Australian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist
** [[Nikki Flores]], American Independent pop singer, musician, songwriter and vocal producer
* [[October 20]] 
** [[Risa Niigaki]], Japanese pop singer
** [[ASAP Ferg|A$AP Ferg]], American rapper, part of the ASAP mob
** [[Balqees (singer)|Balqees]], Emirati singer
* [[October 28]] – [[Jamie xx]], English musician, DJ, record producer and remixer
* [[November 2]] – [[Elgiazar Farashyan]], Belarusian singer
* [[November 6]] 
** [[Emma Stone]], American actress, musical star and singer
** [[Conchita Wurst]], Austrian singer and drag queen, Eurovision Song Contest 2014 winner<ref>{{cite web|url=http://conchitawurst.com/bio/ |title=Conchita Wurst: Biography |access-date=26 May 2015 |website=ConchitaWurst.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525014439/http://conchitawurst.com/bio/ |archive-date=25 May 2015 }}</ref> 
* [[November 7]] – [[Tinie Tempah]], English rapper, singer-songwriter<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.capitalfm.com/artists/tinie-tempah/photos/facts/|title=Tinie Tempah: Ten Facts About The 'Trampoline' Rapper|website=Capitalfm.com|access-date=27 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923124456/http://www.capitalfm.com/artists/tinie-tempah/photos/facts/|archive-date=23 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[November 8]] – [[Pauli Lovejoy]], English drummer, recording artist, music director and model
* [[November 10]]
** [[Chisaki Hama]], Japanese singer
** [[Cazzi Opeia]], Swedish DJ, producer, singer and songwriter
* [[November 16]] 
** [[Siva Kaneswaran]], Irish singer, model, actor and songwriter 
** [[Sampha]], English singer-songwriter and record producer
* [[November 26]] – [[Blake Harnage]], American songwriter, music producer, multi-instrumentalist and composer
* [[November 28]] – [[Scarlett Pomers]], American singer/actress
* [[November 30]] – [[Eir Aoi]], Japanese singer<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aoieir.com/bio/|title=Biography|publisher=藍井エイル（Aoi Eir）Official Website|access-date=March 22, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130205004715/http://www.aoieir.com/bio/|archive-date=February 5, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[December 1]] 
** [[Tyler Joseph]], American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and rapper ([[Twenty One Pilots]])
** [[Zoë Kravitz]], American actress, singer and model (lolawolf)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vq4DAAAAMBAJ&q=zoe+kravitz+born+venice&pg=PA57|title=Bonet, Kravitz Have Baby Girl 7 Lbs., Name Her Zoe| work=[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]]|date= December 19, 1988|page=57|publisher=Johnson Publishing Company}}</ref> 
* [[December 6]] – [[Sandra Nurmsalu]], Estonian musician<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allstarz.ee/vaata_artiste/502.html|title=Sandra Nurmsalu|publisher=Allstarz.ee|language=et |access-date=31 May 2019}}</ref>
* [[December 7]] 
** [[Emily Browning]], Australian actress and singer (''[[Sucker Punch (2011 film)|Sucker Punch]]'', ''[[God Help the Girl]]'', ''[[Plush (film)|Plush]]'')
** [[Toru Yamashita]], Japanese singer ([[One Ok Rock]])
** [[Benjamin Clementine]], English-born singer-songwriter
* [[December 12]] – [[Hahm Eun-jung]], South Korean singer<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hancinema.net/korean_Ham_Eun-jeong.php|title=Ham Eun-jeong (함은정, Korean actress, singer)|website=HanCinema|language=en-US|access-date=2017-11-20}}</ref>
* [[December 14]]
** [[Awkwafina]], American rapper, comedienne, actor 
** [[Vanessa Hudgens]], American actor, singer, dancer
* [[December 16]] – [[Park Seo-joon]], South Korean actor and singer
* [[December 19]] – [[Casey Burgess]], Australian singer-songwriter and actress
* [[December 21]] – [[Alexa Goddard]], English pop/R&B singer, YouTuber
* [[December 23]] – [[Eri Kamei]], Japanese pop singer
* [[December 25]] – [[Marco Mengoni]], Italian singer-songwriter<ref>{{cite web|url=https://notiziemusica.it/la-vita-privata-di-marco-mengoni/curiosita/|date=December 25, 2020|title=Tutto su Marco Mengoni, una delle più belle voci del nostro pop|website=Notizie Musica|author=Lorenzo Martinotti|language=it|access-date=February 15, 2021}}</ref>
* [[December 26]] – [[Veronika Eberle]], German violinist
* [[December 27]] 
** [[Hayley Williams]], American singer-songwriter, musician, businesswoman and activist ([[Paramore]])
** [[Lou Yixiao]], Chinese singer
* [[December 28]] – [[Florrie]], English singer-songwriter, drummer and model
* [[December 31]] – [[Holly Holyoake]], Welsh classical soprano singer
* Unknown – [[Jihae (musician)|Jihae]], South Korean rock singer and actress

== Deaths ==
*[[January 3]] – [[John Dopyera]], stringed instrument maker, 94
*[[January 19]] – [[Evgeny Mravinsky]], conductor
*[[February 3]] – [[Radamés Gnattali]], Brazilian composer, 81
*[[February 9]] – [[Kurt Herbert Adler]], conductor and opera administrator
*[[February 14]] – [[Frederick Loewe]], composer of musicals, 86<ref>{{cite book|author=Steven Suskin|title=Show Tunes, 1905-1991: The Songs, Shows, and Careers of Broadway's Major Composers : Revised and Expanded|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BpoYAAAAIAAJ|year=1992|publisher=Limelight Editions|isbn=978-0-87910-146-6|page=364}}</ref>
*[[February 16]] – [[Jean Carignan]], fiddler, 71
*[[February 17]] – [[Alexander Bashlachev]], Russian singer, 27 (falling from height)
*[[February 24]] – [[Memphis Slim]], blues musician, 72
*[[February 27]] – [[Gene de Paul]], pianist and composer, 68
*[[March 6]] – [[Jeanne Aubert]], singer and actress, 88
*[[March 7]] – [[Divine (actor)|Divine]], singer and drag entertainer, 42 (heart failure)<ref>{{cite book|author=Bernard Jay|title=Not Simply Divine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m0jQr2HfvsoC&pg=PA12|date=10 August 1994|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-671-88467-3|pages=12}}</ref>
*[[March 8]] – [[Henryk Szeryng]], violinist<ref>{{cite book|author=Krajowa Agencja Informacyjna (Poland)|title=Biuletyn informacyjny|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9AfVAAAAMAAJ|year=1988|page=5}}</ref>
*[[March 10]] – [[William Wordsworth (composer)|William Wordsworth]], Scottish composer
*[[March 10]] – [[Andy Gibb]], singer, 30 (myocarditis)<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-03-12-mn-868-story.html |title=Gibb's Death Tied to Natural Causes |date=12 March 1988 |newspaper=LA Times |publisher=[[UPI]] |access-date=19 April 2012}}</ref>
*[[March 12]] – [[Gianna Pederzini]], operatic mezzo-soprano, 88
*[[March 15]] – [[Frank Perkins (composer)|Frank Perkins]], American song composer
*[[March 20]] – [[Gil Evans]], Canadian jazz pianist, composer and bandleader
*[[April 3]] – [[Kai Ewans]], Danish jazz musician
*[[April 7]] – [[Cesar Bresgen]], Austrian composer
*[[April 9]]
** [[Brook Benton]], 56 (complications of spinal meningitis)
** [[David Prater]], of [[Sam & Dave]], 50 (car accident)
*[[April 15]] – [[Youri Egorov]], Soviet classical pianist, 33 (complications of AIDS)
*[[April 20]] - [[Frederick Sharp (baritone)|Frederick Sharp]], English baritone, 76<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|date=2002|entry=Sharp, Frederick (Charles)|encyclopedia=Grove Music Online|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O003372|author=[[Elizabeth Forbes (musicologist)|Elizabeth Forbes]]|title=Sharp, Frederick }}</ref>
*[[April 29]] – [[James McCracken]], tenor, 61
*[[May 1]] – [[Claude Demetrius]], songwriter
*[[May 10]] – [[Ciarán Bourke]], folk musician (The Dubliners), 53 (brain damage)
*[[May 13]] – [[Chet Baker]], jazz musician, 58 (head injuries from fall)<ref>{{cite book|author=Jeroen de Valk|title=Chet Baker: His Life and Music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kG0ZAQAAIAAJ|year=2000|publisher=Berkeley Hills Books|isbn=978-1-893163-13-3|page=2}}</ref>
*[[May 21]] – [[Sammy Davis Sr.]], vaudeville performer, 87
*[[May 22]] – [[Dennis Day]], US singer, 72
*[[May 25]] – [[Martin Slavin]], composer and music director, 66
*[[June 12]] – [[Marcel Poot]], Belgian composer, 87
*[[June 22]] – [[Jesse Ed Davis]], guitarist, 43
*[[June 25]] 
**[[Hillel Slovak]], [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]], guitarist, 26 (speedball overdose)
**[[Jimmy Soul]], American singer, 45 (heart attack)
*[[July 2]] – [[Eddie Vinson]], jazz/blues musician, 70
*[[July 18]]
** <!--July 18-->[[Joly Braga Santos]], Portuguese composer and conductor, 64
** <!--July 18-->[[Nico]], German singer, 49 (brain haemorrhage)<ref>{{cite book|title=The New York Times Biographical Service|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_j4oAQAAIAAJ|year=1988|publisher=New York Times & Arno Press|page=830}}</ref>
*[[July 20]] – [[Richard Holm (tenor)|Richard Holm]], German operatic tenor
* [[July 28]] – [[Pete Drake]], American record producer and pedal steel guitar player, 55 (emphysema)
* August – [[Tenor Saw]], dancehall artist, 21 (road accident)
*[[August 8]] – [[Félix Leclerc]], folk singer, 74<ref>{{cite book|author=National Library of Canada|title=National Library News: Nouvelles de la Bibliothèque Nationale|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ILXiAAAAMAAJ|year=1988|publisher=National Library of Canada|page=1}}</ref>
*[[August 9]] – [[Giacinto Scelsi]], composer and poet, 83<ref>{{cite book|author=Mark Morris|title=A Guide to 20th-century Composers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ph8KAQAAMAAJ|year=1996|publisher=Methuen|isbn=978-0-413-45601-4|page=268}}</ref>
*[[August 14]]
** [[Roy Buchanan]], American guitarist, 48 (suicide)
** [[Robert Calvert]], South African writer, poet, and musician, 43 (heart attack)<ref>{{cite book|author=Colin Larkin|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music: Brown, Marion - Dilated Peoples|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8gkKAQAAMAAJ|year=2000|publisher=MUZE|isbn=978-0-19-531373-4|page=141}}</ref>
*[[August 19]] – Sir [[Frederick Ashton]], British choreographer, 83<ref>{{cite book|title=The New York Times Biographical Service|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_j4oAQAAIAAJ|year=1988|publisher=New York Times & Arno Press|page=923}}</ref>
*[[August 22]] – [[Frances James (soprano)|Frances James]], operatic soprano, 85
*[[August 24]]
** [[Kenneth Leighton]], English composer
** [[Nat Stuckey]], American country singer
*[[September 17]] – [[Hilde Gueden]], operatic soprano, 71
*[[September 22]] – [[Rezső Sugár]], Hungarian composer, 68
*[[September 23]] – [[Arwel Hughes]], composer and conductor
*[[September 26]] – [[Lord Melody]], calypso musician, 62
*[[October 7]] – [[Billy Daniels]], singer, 73
*[[October 15]] – [[Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji]], English composer, music critic and pianist<ref>Roberge, Marc-André (2020). [https://roberge.mus.ulaval.ca/srs/07-prese.htm ''Opus sorabjianum: The Life and Works of Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji'']. Retrieved 1 August 2020.</ref>
*[[October 18]] – Sir [[Frederick Ashton]], dancer and choreographer
*[[October 19]] – [[Son House]], blues musician<ref>{{cite book|author=Nick Talevski|title=The Encyclopedia of Rock Obituaries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=beMTAQAAIAAJ|year=1999|publisher=Omnibus|isbn=978-0-7119-7548-4|page=195}}</ref>
*[[October 20]] – [[Mogens Wöldike]], Danish conductor
*[[November 8]] – [[Warren Casey]], US theatre composer, lyricist, writer, and actor, 53 (AIDS-related)
*[[November 13]]
**[[Antal Doráti]], conductor, 82<ref>{{cite book|author1=John Warrack|author2=Ewan West|title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WbDbuLJPKBgC&pg=PA136|date=7 March 1996|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|isbn=978-0-19-280028-2|pages=136}}</ref>
**[[Jaromír Vejvoda]], Czech composer, 86
*[[November 24]] – [[Irmgard Seefried]], operatic soprano, 69<ref>{{cite book|author=Paul Griffiths|title=The Penguin Companion to Classical Music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NHnuAAAAMAAJ|year=2005|publisher=Penguin Group|isbn=978-0-14-051559-6|page=729}}</ref>
*[[November 26]] – [[Antonio Estévez]], composer
*[[November 30]] – [[Charlie Rouse]], saxophonist, 64
*[[December 2]] – [[Tata Giacobetti]], Italian singer and lyricist ([[Quartetto Cetra]])
*[[December 6]] – [[Roy Orbison]], singer, 52 (heart attack)<ref>{{cite book|author=Brock Helander|title=The Rockin' '60s: The People who Made the Music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0A31AAAAMAAJ|year=1999|publisher=Schirmer Books|isbn=978-0-02-864873-6|page=274}}</ref>
*[[December 16]] – [[Sylvester (singer)|Sylvester]], R&B singer, disco performer, 41 (complications from AIDS)
*[[December 21]] – [[Paul Jeffreys]], bassist ([[Cockney Rebel]]), 36 (killed in the crash of [[Pan Am Flight 103]])
*[[December 25]] – [[Evgeny Golubev]], Russian composer, 78
*[[December 26]] – [[Pablo Sorozábal]], Spanish composer, 91<ref>{{cite book|author=Vincent J. Cincotta|title=Zarzuela: The Spanish Lyric Theatre : a Complete Reference|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZxMYAQAAIAAJ|year=2003|publisher=University of Wollongong Press|isbn=978-0-86418-700-0|page=85}}</ref>
*''date unknown'' 
**[[Kenneth Morris (composer)|Kenneth Morris]], gospel composer and publisher, 71
**[[Håkan Parkman]], Swedish composer, arranger and choral director, 33 (drowned)

== Awards ==
* The following artists are inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]]: [[The Beach Boys]], [[The Beatles]], [[The Drifters]], [[Bob Dylan]], and [[The Supremes]].

=== Grammy Awards ===
* [[30th Annual Grammy Awards|Grammy Awards of 1988]]

===[[Country Music Association]] Awards===
* [[1988 Country Music Association Awards]]

=== Eurovision Song Contest ===
* [[Eurovision Song Contest 1988]]

==Charts==
* [[List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1988]]
* [[1988 in British music#Charts]]
* [[List of Oricon number-one singles of 1988]]

==See also==
* [[:Category:Record labels established in 1988|Record labels established in 1988]]

==References==
{{reflist|35em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1988 In Music}}
[[Category:1988 in music| ]]
[[Category:20th century in music]]
[[Category:Music by year]]